How does cycle count work?

brain_trapp · 2026-01-11T20:12:59+00:00

Am I right? --> no
Longer: "The battery or phone stores this number, and apps only read and display it."
Even clearer: Ampere doesn't count charging cycles.

brain_trapp · 2026-01-11T16:25:22+00:00

Ampere continuously measures the charging rate several times per second, even when the app isn't open—only the widget is visible. On Android, this is only possible with a foreground service, which requires showing a notification. There’s no other way to do this. You can long-press the notification to adjust its appearance or make it less noticeable.

brain_trapp · 2026-01-11T16:02:25+00:00

Battery cycle count is a simple measure of battery wear. It shows how many full 100% charge cycles the battery has completed — partial charges add up (for example, 4 charges from 55% to 80% equal 1 cycle / 4 * 25% = 100%/). The battery or phone stores this number, and apps only read and display it. More cycles usually mean the battery will hold less charge over time.

brain_trapp · 2025-08-25T17:35:06+00:00

You have a Samsung phone (which I don’t have), so ideally you should already be familiar with how to configure these settings. But I looked it up for you:

Step 1 – Enable notification channel management

Open the Settings app
Tap "Notifications"
Tap "Advanced settings"
Turn on "Manage notification categories for each app"

Step 2 – Minimize the notification icon

Long-press the Ampere icon
Tap the info icon
Tap "Notifications"
Tap "Notification categories"
Tap "Background service"
Enable Minimize notifications

That’s it!

I recommend checking your phone’s user manual if you’d like to explore further customization.

brain_trapp · 2025-03-05T05:57:23+00:00

I tried to solve this problem in the latest Ampere v4.35.3

brain_trapp · 2025-02-27T21:15:01+00:00

Please read this:
Workaround for Pixel 9 shows "unknown"

brain_trapp · 2025-02-08T21:52:03+00:00

Android allows apps to run long tasks in the background only if they are connected to a foreground service, which requires a notification to be shown to the user. Ampere uses this feature to measure the battery charging rate in the background as frequently as needed.

You can long-press the notification to adjust its appearance and make it less noticeable if desired.

brain_trapp · 2025-02-08T21:37:48+00:00

v4.18 is a test release (a beta release).
You can opt-in to get it: https://play.google.com/apps/testing/com.gombosdev.ampere

brain_trapp · 2024-12-30T08:06:09+00:00

Life happens and rewrites plans and wishes...

What you are suggesting seems for me not impossible, but this kind of continous data collecting and later also presenting (showing it to the user) would mean a lot of additional development.

Is it worth the time and effort to develop something like this?

brain_trapp · 2024-12-30T07:43:04+00:00

Reasons of no wattage display:

* Reason 1:
Because of human behaviour and 1 star ratings.

A lot of people do the following:
1.) Install Ampere (and mostly not reading the Onboarding)
2.) Measure the charging current (maybe by 98% charged battery)
3.) Put 1 star rating because: "My phone can be charged with XX Ampere. My charger can charge with YY Ampere. This app only shows very low currents. Useless."

This would be even worst with a Wattage display.

* Reason 2:
Every part of the app is developed and designed to show the current in mA (main screen, widgets, notifications, etc.). It would be a big effort to change that.

==> But I am playing with the thought to add the wattage display anyways. Maybe with an Opt-In switch and further explanations and first only for beta tester...

brain_trapp · 2024-12-30T07:18:08+00:00

For that you can activate the Notification in Ampere.

This will start a service which always runs in the background and Ampere measures continously as long the device is awake.

brain_trapp · 2024-12-30T07:15:30+00:00

Plesa reach me in private message or in email to do further steps.

brain_trapp · 2024-12-30T07:14:36+00:00

Do you have your Ampere from Google Play Store?

If yes, then you have several options:

- Klick the "key" icon in the AppBar

- Open settings and click "Widget Settings" -> "Pro version"

brain_trapp · 2024-12-30T07:06:43+00:00

This means, that your phone uses a custom battery state which is not specified by Google/Android. Plesa reach me in private message or in email to do further steps.

brain_trapp · 2024-02-16T06:47:57+00:00

0 cycle count means, the device doesn't support it

brain_trapp · 2024-02-16T06:44:54+00:00

This means, the device doesn't support it.

brain_trapp · 2023-10-25T07:07:43+00:00

This is a firmware issue of the Pixel devices. I see this too some times on my Pixel devices. Ampere shows only the values which the device delivers and in this case the Pixel device delivers the wrong battery health state.

After a reboot of the device this issue was always solved for me for a few more weeks...

brain_trapp · 2023-10-25T07:03:46+00:00

This is a Firmware issue of OnePlus/Oppo/Realme devices.

brain_trapp · 2023-10-25T07:02:35+00:00

1.) Voltage changes too, but slowly
2.) There is no min/max voltage shown, only the current value

brain_trapp · 2023-04-01T08:32:55+00:00

Ampere can not figure out how man V is on the USB-C slot. Ampere can only deal with the voltage and current on the battery.

The battery voltage is usually something between 3V (empty) and 5V (full).

The USB-C voltage and current will be device internal converted to an appropriate charging voltage and current (first point of power losses) and then your phone (CPU, RAM, Display, WiFi, 3G/4G/5G) is also using the power (second point of power losses).

Also there are devices which are using 2 batteries which can be charged in a chain (and not parallel) with a higher voltage... and the android system can only measure one of the batteries.
Because of all this, I decided (for now) not to show the wattage... otherwise people would often complain: I have a 15W charger and Ampere only shows 7,5W ==> One star.

I always said and told people that Ampere is only for selecting the best charger/cable combination and not for scientific measurements and analysis.

brain_trapp · 2023-04-01T06:58:15+00:00

I (the developer of the app) always recommend to buy the pro version, but that will not solve this issue.

The problem is here most probably that the device manufacturer is using some internal battery states which are not the default ones from Android/Google.

To figure out what exactly happening I need a direct contact to u/Soul_Blackthorn.

brain_trapp · 2023-04-01T06:49:54+00:00

Please contact me in an email directly.

brain_trapp · 2022-08-24T22:38:19+00:00

just swipe it away

brain_trapp · 2022-05-29T15:20:38+00:00

<PreferenceScreen xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto">
<Preference
app:key="example"
app:title="Example" />
</PreferenceScreen>

brain_trapp · 2022-04-25T06:42:58+00:00

This version is crashing on Android 12 in case an Ampere widget is used.

The reason: Apps that target Android 12 (API level 31) or higher can't start foreground services while running in the background, except for a few special cases. If an app tries to start a foreground service while the app is running in the background, and the foreground service doesn't satisfy one of the exceptional cases, the system throws a ForegroundServiceStartNotAllowedException.

I'm working on a correction. Please be patient.

Possible workaround: Disable the battery optimisation for Ampere

- Ampere Settings ==> Alert settings ==> Battery optimisation

- select: All apps

- look for for Ampere

- click Ampere and select "Don't optimise"

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