title: Android memory/battery usage
body: <p>Since I was unable to run a service every day at 0:00, I decided to run it every 50 sec (by AlarmManager). I read that running a service every 1 sec kills the battery. I tried out my program with 1 sec refresh rate as well as with 50 secs refresh rate. For this I used various applications to measure the memory usage and the cpu usage. Here are the results:</p>
  
  <p><strong>Memory usage:</strong></p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><p>Android Booster</p>
  
  <p>1 sec: 5.1 - 7.5 MB </p>
  
  <p>50 sec: 5.5-7.2MB</p></li>
  <li><p>Memory Usage/Memory Manager</p>
  
  <p>1 sec: 24.5MB</p>
  
  <p>50 sec: 23MB</p></li>
  <li><p>Usage Timelines</p>
  
  <p>1 sec: 24MB</p>
  
  <p>50 sec: 22.7 MB</p></li>
  <li><p>Watchdog Task Manager</p>
  
  <p>1 sec: 14.6MB</p>
  
  <p>50 sec: 12-14MB</p></li>
  <li><p>Android Assistant:</p>
  
  <p>1 sec: 4MB</p>
  
  <p>50 sec: 7MB</p></li>
  </ul>
  
  <p><strong>CPU usage:</strong></p>
  
  <ul>
  <li><p>Usage Timelines</p>
  
  <p>1 sec: 2%</p>
  
  <p>50 sec: 0%</p></li>
  <li><p>Watchdog Task Manager</p>
  
  <p>1 sec: 1.3%-1.9%</p>
  
  <p>50 sec: 0.1%</p></li>
  <li><p>Android Assistant:</p>
  
  <p>1 sec: 2%-3%</p>
  
  <p>50 sec: 0.4%-2%</p></li>
  </ul>
  
  <p>All in all we can say that the memory usage has not changed but the cpu usage has changed spectacularly. As all used applications show different data, I cannot be sure how much memory/cpu my app uses but this little investigation showed me that running a service every 1 sec really is a pain in the ass for the cpu. Or isn't it? What is your opinion about it?</p>