Better Wifi On/Off: Rule-based Wi-Fi manager for Android

There are a variety of Android apps on the Google Play Store that allow you to lessen battery consumption. There are apps that prevent apps from running in the background, apps that clear your phone’s RAM, and an app that controls your Wi-Fi connections.

If you have read our article about the Sentry app, you’re familiar that these kind of apps can save your battery power by controlling your Wi-Fi connection. Doing so will prevent apps from automatically updating or syncing data in the background, and thus lessen power consumption.

Another app has also surfaced and aims to help you save battery power by controlling the Wi-Fi connection. The Better Wifi On/Off app is a rule-based Wi-Fi manager for Android that disables your Wi-Fi connection when not in use or keep the Wi-Fi connection open when your phone is plugged in to the USB cable or the charger.

Launching the app will bring you to its main interface that consists of shortcut buttons that allow you to instantly control the app. You can also find the activity log on the main menu. On the main interface, you can instantly toggle to disable the app, hold Wifilock (keep the Wi-Fi connection running), and enable high performance Wi-Fi lock (high performance Wi-Fi and keep the radio awake). Just tap on the check box and mark the feature you want to enable.

To fully customize the app, you can head over to the settings menu and change your desired actions. The settings menu lets you tell the app when to turn on the Wi-Fi, what to do when your phone is plugged in, and when to turn the Wi-Fi off.

For turning the Wi-Fi on, you can select three options: when screen is unlocked, when screen is turned on, or if your device is charging. These options let you tell the app when it will enable the Wi-Fi connection when you use your phone. You can enable the Wi-Fi after unlocking your phone, so you won’t have to go to the notification menu or to Settings just to enable Wi-Fi connection. This will help lessen battery consumption and to avoid unnecessary Internet connection or avoid apps from utilizing the connection when not in use. Enabling to keep the connection on while your phone is plugged in can also be useful when you want an active Internet connection without having to sacrifice battery life. Other options to keep the Wi-Fi on include connecting to a specified SSID whitelist and specifying a connection timeout.

The app also allows you to specify certain actions when your phone is connected to the computer or the charger, such as wakelock when plugged, lock Wi-Fi connection, and high performance Wi-Fi lock. Since your phone is connected and your battery is not losing its juice, you can allow the app to enable Internet connection at all times. I find this option useful when downloading a big file and you don’t have to keep the screen on to keep the connection active.

For disabling Wi-Fi connection, you can selection options to turn the connection off when the device is unplugged, when the screen is turned off, and or after a specified duration.

The Better Wifi On/Off app is still currently running as a beta and is not yet available on the Google Play Store. APKs are available at XDA Developers Forum for testing but will be fully released soon on the Google Play Store.

Although running as a beta, the app was able to disable the Wi-Fi connection and perfectly performed my customized settings. The app has ads, and the dev has mentioned that the app will be a free download once it is released on the Google Play Store. Ads will only appear at the bottom of the screen which is not a hindrance while using the app. A pro version will also be available soon to remove the ads.

Check out the WiFi On/Off app and let us know if you noticed some improvements with your battery life when using the app.

(banner photo uses Shutterstock image “aerial Full collection of icons” by Pavel Ignatov)