I was finally able to download the BB app, but under settings the only options I currently have are FAQ's and activate. Activate means I have to given them my CC# and set up an account. I just want to verify that in order to get to the settings to stop this madness, do I need to activate (and give them my CC#?). This is crazy.
I didn't have to give them my CC# or activate the app. I wonder if they tweaked the settings around so that we cannot disable updates until we pay for the app. I did mines back when I first got my tbolt which was mid-March. I'd suggest asking someone who's done this more recently for better directions. Sorry I couldn't be of more help.
Other things to try to help with battery life that doesn't totally cripple your phone:
1. Turn brightness down
2. Remove all battery helper/saver apps and task killers - they don't help at all. When I first rooted I had Android Assistant which helped with battery life, but after 2 days my battery was draining 10% every hour, and I noticed that app was using 73% of my system resources. Uninstalled instantly, restarted the phone and it was good again.
3. Set sync frequency for your social widgets/apps (facebook, twitter, etc.) to sync slower
4. DISABLE GPS I don't know if this was the case for you- but the weather widget that is loaded default on the screen is based on current GPS location, so everytime the application updates it relies on GPS, which drains your battery heavily (i.e. if you drive from one city to another and weather is set to sync frequently, it'll keep using your GPS to detect your location and update the weather accordingly). I would disable all GPS (standalone, VZ location services, google location services) and remove the clock/weather widget from the screen, then add it manually again and select a city (or a couple of cities) to sync weather for instead of letting it rely on GPS.
5. Menu -> Settings -> Accounts & Sync, there should be a couple of accounts in there (like Backup Assistant, Gmail, etc.) that is set to sync automatically. Disable what you don't use (like I have news and stocks disabled from sync-ing), and set the sync frequency to longer (like 1 hr vs. 30 mins or 3 hrs vs. 1 hr for weather).
6. Restart phone periodically - when I notice my battery is drainer faster than normal, I just restart the phone. After a restart, it closes whatever is running in the background that is draining the battery we're not aware of.
Finally, the thing that I found to help the most is just to drain the battery down to below 10% every use and charge it back to fully. I know it has no memory and doesn't really matter, but I feel like that has helped me tremendously because it calibrates the battery. I do that everyday the first month when I got my tbolt and I can say my battery have improved. I think once the system learn your using habits, it'll know what to keep and what to disable, battery life will improve (which is why a task killer is not necessary). Give it a couple weeks to learn.
I'm running the stock battery on my tbolt (which is 1400 mAh, smaller than the 1450 on the incredible 2) and I have 4G on all day but I can get through about 17 hours of moderate use, and 12-13 hours on heavy use (play games 1-2 hours, use navigation, check emails, txt, etc.) with minimal problems.
I hope this helps!
