Power Meter App?

[rocketboy]

Hi. I'd like a power meter type app that I can pin to the home screen, but I haven't been able to find any. Something like that little icon on the desktop system tray that can say the percent power and how many hours are left. Anyone have a recommendation?

 

[Jake52]

I was thinking about the same thing!!! A quick search in the store really didn't come up with anything.

If nothing like this exists, I was thinking about paying the 20 dollar fee to sign up for a developer account and make something. A simple live tile that shows the battery percentage and the time left would be all I would want. It would also be nice to have a battery graph and some historical data too. I have no idea if these APIs are open for Windows 8.1 but we'll have to see.

 

[MBytes]

Isn't there a Windows power management API... I recall there is one....

This perhaps? PowerReadDCValue function (Windows)
I am too busy to implement it and test right now due to school.

 

[Jake52]

Isn't there a Windows power management API... I recall there is one....

This perhaps? PowerReadDCValue function (Windows)
I am too busy to implement it and test right now due to school.

That might be it. Or there is this one: GetSystemPowerStatus function (Windows)

I don't want to turn this into an app development thread but it does look like there are APIs that could help build a battery app for Windows 8.1. It would also be cool to be able to change power profiles quickly, maybe have different profiles set up and you can switch through them without having to go into the settings. Hmmmmmm.

 

[MBytes]

That might be it. Or there is this one: GetSystemPowerStatus function (Windows)

I don't want to turn this into an app development thread but it does look like there are APIs that could help build a battery app for Windows 8.1. It would also be cool to be able to change power profiles quickly, maybe have different profiles set up and you can switch through them without having to go into the settings. Hmmmmmm.

I do have a software that control an Nvidia performance (I don't have an AMD graphic card to implement AMD GPUs as well, so it's Nvidia only for now), and overclock it (if you want, and how you want), based on what you run. The idea was to reduce fan noise in desktop and reduce heat on laptops powered by Nvidia GPUs, and increase their battery life. It does this, by forcing the GPU at minimum speed when on Windows, browsing folder or playing videos, but when you need performance, such as playing a game, it will clock the GPU at normal speed. Got a heavy demanding game? You can apply an overclock profile, just for this particular game, and when you quit the game, you are back to minimum power as you are on the desktop. It uses a community support catalog of games and applications. You can also create, if you want, medium speed profile, where the GPU is clock at any in between frequencies, to reduce performance, but extend game time on battery. Overclock Automatically and Manage Nvidia's GPU's speed - Graphic Card Performance, when Needed - Best OC Tool - Nv GPU Pro

I guess, I could implement a version of it, where instead of controlling the GPU performance (to my knowledge Intel doesn't allow any control), it switches between Windows power plans, and perhaps more. It can share the same catalog of games and application as my other software.

 

[sr1030nx]

Hi. I'd like a power meter type app that I can pin to the home screen, but I haven't been able to find any. Something like that little icon on the desktop system tray that can say the percent power and how many hours are left. Anyone have a recommendation?

I would definitely buy an app that would do this.

 

[WG Rowland]

I'm wondering if there's an issue with how modern tiles update that would keep the battery app from staying current. While I have VS2012, I don't have any experience with "modern UI" apps, but it seems like the ones that update always seem to lag considerably (weather app being a good example). A battery app would be awesome, but only if it stays up to date.

 

[MBytes]

Modern UI apps updates aren't live. It's made on purpose to not drain your battery by having an active network connection in the case it needs network, or CPU, by processing or calling things continuously.

 

[yeewiz]

Mbytes, sounds like you're a developer? Why don't live tiles work reliably, meaning they stop updating, , i.e., weather apps? And wouldn't a battery app have the same updating issue?

 

[MBytes]

I have not yet dived in the world of Windows 8 Apps, so I don't know how exactly how it works.
But from my understanding, apps send a notification to Windows, where Windows will pile them up, and after a while will execute them. This is done to avoid live tiles from eating your CPU and reduce system battery life.

Now, like anything, bad or buggy software can be stuck by not updating a live tile. Maybe the server is busy, maybe it uses some secondary server just for the live tile, which might be down or busy, maybe it only works once and the program has a bug which doesn't pull again. They are many reasons why its not working.

The Weather, and Mail apps seams to be working well for me. Sometimes the Weather app temperature is outdated, but that is because Windows is holding it, or the app itself is made to refresh very slowly (once, twice, or 3 times a day, perhaps?)

But due to the Windows taking control of the Live Tile notification, it blocks apps from being able to display relevantly to you: temps, battery life, CPU clock and such.
Hence, why you don't have such apps available.

Perhaps one day it will open up, but Microsoft is trying it's best to showcase that Windows 8 can run on a tablet and have great battery life, like ARM based systems, and as for it Windows 8 RT/Surface 2, shows that you can have great battery life despite running a heavy and powerful OS such as Windows.