[SP3] Another new bug? Background Apps

[spasell]

My battery life has been much worse since the last firmware update.

One thing I noticed was background apps or apps running in the background.

So, I decided to do a little test.

I opened 4 apps - Netflix, WSJ, IE, and NFL Mobile.

I let them run for 5 minutes...then I closed them all out like normal.

I then looked at Task Manager and then were ALL still running. Could not swipe in from left and see them open. They just are running in the background. What gives? Anyone else have this issue?

I feel this is what is causing my battery drain but cannot figure out why? It's never been an issue in the past.

 

[afnan_mc]

All modern apps continue to run in the background. I find it quite annoying. If you reopen said apps, you'll likely notice that the app continues from where you last left off. I believe this is why they tend to keep running. I admit, I find it very useful at times but I would appreciate the option to disable it. For me, they haven't proven to be much of a battery hog, however.

 

[spasell]

All modern apps continue to run in the background. I find it quite annoying. If you reopen said apps, you'll likely notice that the app continues from where you last left off. I believe this is why they tend to keep running. I admit, I find it very useful at times but I would appreciate the option to disable it. For me, they haven't proven to be much of a battery hog, however.

I have had SP3 now from the very beginning and when I closed apps, Modern Apps included, they never ran automatically in the background.

I run Netflix a lot. When I used to close it, you'd never see it running in task manager. Now, it's there running until I force it closed.

 

[CliveSinclair]

Apart from the Firmware update, have you had any software/OS updates. Background app (rogue running ones) are not a new thing in any OS. In fact many developers create apps just to 'kill' those background apps. Have you killed them from within task manager? And if so, do they autostart?

 

[spasell]

Apart from the Firmware update, have you had any software/OS updates. Background app (rogue running ones) are not a new thing in any OS. In fact many developers create apps just to 'kill' those background apps. Have you killed them from within task manager? And if so, do they autostart?

I've done all the updates as they come. Fully up to date. I'm running regular standard apps. Wsj, Netflix, Weather, Nexgen Reader. Same as I have since I got it back when it was released. Back then prior to all firmware updates any time I closed out any of those apps they never ran in the background.

I was getting 8 hours or more on a charge. After this last firmware it's more like 4.5 or 5 doing the same activities.

 

[stephen_az]

I have had SP3 now from the very beginning and when I closed apps, Modern Apps included, they never ran automatically in the background.

I run Netflix a lot. When I used to close it, you'd never see it running in task manager. Now, it's there running until I force it closed.

You should check the device manager, event viewer, and Windows Update history to troubleshoot the battery issue. I am waiting on an exchange of a second SP3 in as many weeks after the 11/18 firmware update trashed both my original device and its replacement. The firmware installation failed on both and appears to have compromised something on the motherboards. Clean resets, wipes, and then clean resets from a flash drive using a downloaded recovery image could not resolve - still stuck with performance issues, device failures, and corrupted drivers. My bet is the factory is using multiple revisions of some chips (same chip and model number but with minor variations) and the firmware has been tested without that consideration. Even a Surface tech who otherwise wanted to deny the problem actually acknowledged that was a possibility when he realized I had more than a passing understanding of this stuff. Quite frankly it is as likely as a bad production run being brought to light by firmware problems. Hopefully your issue is not as difficult as mine. BTW, in spite of the fact that firmware complaints are front and center in their own forum, they do not want to address this subject. They would rather make people jump through hoops and then send out replacements.

As for modern apps still running, they should still be visible in task manager even after you close them. Sorry but even if you did not notice, that has always been the case. They should not, however, be using any CPU cycles. If they are after closing then that is a problem.

 

[spasell]

I ran an interesting battery report. It says that based on my current usage, I would average 6:57 of battery and it's design was built for 7:08.

Connected standby says I would based on use now get 138:10 and design capacity was 141:35.

When I first used my SP3 when it was delivered, I measured it and was getting 8 hours+. However, I did a clean reinstall of system 4 days ago so perhaps the longer I use it the better the report would measure.

Just seems odd that battery life worse for me lately. Over the last 3 days, I unplugged at 7:30am and left, 30 minute drive in sleep state. There was actually a 2% drop in battery in 30 minutes in it's sleep or connected Standby state.

I fired it back up at 8:30am and when I went to shut it down for lunch at 1pm, I had 12% left!

This was my routine for last 3 days.

What was I doing? Typing emails via Outlook for a lot of that time. I also had Word open and was writing up a few documents.
Checked Facebook and my Fantasy football team update via IE
I watched 1 15 minute video via IE for a lecture I needed to watch for work.

The vast majority of the time is spent answering email, composing email, and using either Word or PowerPoint setting up and editing PPT's. Also use it to evaluate reports and documents.

Used Evernote and OneNote as well to capture and save ideas during that time.

When I first received the SP3 back in the summer, I can tell you following almost the same routine, I would usually see my battery hit 10% around 3:30pm sometimes 4pm. I'd put it into connect standby with 10% left and have 10% left when I returned home to plug in.

That is why I know definitively there's been a change in battery performance, and yet, I've added no new programs or really changed the way in which I use the machine.

Bottom line..when I first received my SP3 loved it. I still do LIKE it, but Love is not the word any longer. I was ready to pull the trigger on almost 30 of these for our sales team until my first yellow banding issue I described earlier. My replacement didn't have that issue and longer and was fine, but once the firmware updates started hitting it's been downhill ever since.

 

[Cleavitt76]

The modern apps in the background situation is by design and it's like that on all Windows 8.x systems, not just the SP3. Those background apps are managed by the OS and killed if resources are needed for other non-background tasks. They really shouldn't affect battery life since they are basically just "paused" and stored in memory. I'm guessing your battery issues are being caused by something else and you just started noticing this background app behavior because you were investigating the battery issue. However, I suspect it's a red herring.

If it really bothers you, you can force modern UI apps to close completely by dragging the app from the top border to the bottom border (same as the normal method of closing while using touch) and then pausing for a couple seconds before you let go of the mouse button or lift your finger. You will know when you can let go of the mouse because the app that you are dragging will do a flip animation.

BTW: the recent battery issues you are having may just be related to OS maintenance that was running in the background or waking the system from sleep. Monthly Windows updates were pushed out earlier this week for example.

 

[spasell]

The modern apps in the background situation is by design and it's like that on all Windows 8.x systems, not just the SP3. Those background apps are managed by the OS and killed if resources are needed for other non-background tasks. They really shouldn't affect battery life since they are basically just "paused" and stored in memory. I'm guessing your battery issues are being caused by something else and you just started noticing this background app behavior because you were investigating the battery issue. However, I suspect it's a red herring.

If it really bothers you, you can force modern UI apps to close completely by dragging the app from the top border to the bottom border (same as the normal method of closing while using touch) and then pausing for a couple seconds before you let go of the mouse button or lift your finger. You will know when you can let go of the mouse because the app that you are dragging will do a flip animation.

BTW: the recent battery issues you are having may just be related to OS maintenance that was running in the background or waking the system from sleep. Monthly Windows updates were pushed out earlier this week for example.

That's the problem. These Modern Apps do not appear on the left side at all to be able to swipe down.

I will open, for instance, Box App, or Netflix App, or WSJ app...when I am done, I move my cursor to upper right hand of screen and X out of it. It's not present on the left side of the screen BUT when I look at Task Manager it is showing that these apps are still running.

This NEVER EVER happened when I first got my SP3, so I'm not sure what everyone is saying that they run all the time. Yes, that would be the case if I just hit the Windows key and went to something else...I understand how the left side of the screen works....My issue is that now, despite having actually closed them out, they still appear under Processes in Task Manager. I have to highlight them and End Task whereas in the past, once I clicked that X in the upper right of the app, I NEVER saw them again in Task Manager.

Sorry, but they were never there before. How do I know? I like my machine to run optimal performance and I used to check that all the time. Never saw them running ever when I closed them out properly.

Now they are always still there on the Task Manager under Processes. That was never the case before.

And it's not that it "bothers" me...It only bothers me that the battery performance seems to be HALF of what it was prior to the last Firmware update, and since I've never seen these closed apps in Task Manager before, it made me believe they are using battery despite closing them out properly.

Right now, for instance, it's 2:35pm my time. I booted up my SP3 at 12:45pm at 99%. My battery is now at 76%. So, at 40% brightness, and using IE to look up info and Outlook running, I've lost close to 25% of my battery in just under 2 hours? Really?

Maybe that is normal and I'm just losing it.

 

[MKairys]

I just tried this with the Netflix app on my sp3. If I close it by dragging down from the top or using the mouse on the little X at the top, the process goes suspended then disappears after a couple of seconds.

I see I have other suspended processes from apps I've run in the past... Certainly no suspended process is consuming battery

 

[spasell]

I just tried this with the Netflix app on my sp3. If I close it by dragging down from the top or using the mouse on the little X at the top, the process goes suspended then disappears after a couple of seconds.

I see I have other suspended processes from apps I've run in the past... Certainly no suspended process is consuming battery

View attachment 91644

Obviously I have an issue, again, with my machine because that is not the case with mine. Or, if it is, something else is chewing up the battery.

So, I will say it again....when I first had the SP3, would run task manager all the time, and when closing apps, they did not show up at all any longer.

Now, they do. Recap - Apps closed, didn't show before updates....Apps closed, showing now, after multiple updates

 

[spasell]

So Here are my suspended apps. One of them, NFL, uses a lot of CPU. You can see it says "suspended". I decided to click out of it and leave it in "suspended" mode when my battery was at 75%. My battery is at 57% 67 minutes later AFTER I closed the keyboard cover and walked away from it.

Sorry..can't tell me that everything is working properly and these apps don't continue to draw power at a dramatic rate.

 

[spasell]

Can someone take a look at this energy report and help me identify what I am looking at here that might be causing battery problems?