New Windows Phone 8.1.1 build 14203 due soon, brings real-time Live Tile for Battery Saver

Earlier today, Microsoft unleashed a new update for their Battery Saver app. At the time, there was no changelog posted, so instead we had to infer the changes, some of which were obvious.

Tonight, Microsoft has updated the changelog in the Store, and it is a whopper, with many details about the refreshed system app. Even more, the changelog refers to Windows Phone 8.1 build 14203. The current Windows Phone 8.1.1 build for the Preview for Developers program is 14192, meaning there is a good chance Windows Phone users are about to get another OS update very soon.

Evidently, the newest build of Windows Phone 8.1.1 enables a 'Real Time Live Tile' for Battery Saver, which is the first of its kind for Windows Phone. The other big new feature that the 14203 Windows Phone 8.1.1 update brings is the ability for users to add Battery Saver to the Quick Settings found in the Action and Notification Center.

Battery Save Store

Battery Saver 1.0.14201.0 Changes

  • Foreground vs Background metrics: Usage bars now show foreground and background showing you how much power a particular app consumes whether you're using it or not using it.
  • Time Filters: We've added a filter also in the usage view where you can now specify the timeframe of data to look at. Can now show data from the last day, 2 days or a week.
  • What Does Battery saver do anyway?: Re-worded the settings page to more clearly indicate what battery saver mode does.
  • Real Time Live Tile: If you pin the battery saver app to start, it now updates in real time! (Requires build 8.1.14203 or higher.)
  • Quick Settings: You can now add battery saver to the quick settings menu and cycle through the battery saver options there. (Requires build 8.1.14203 or higher.)
  • Turn On until next charge: We added a new option to let users turn on battery saver until next charge!
  • Improved Battery usage scaling: The usage data now scales to actual device battery capacity with full width mapping to 100% capacity. Additionally, the bars now use a logarithmic scaling algorithm to make the bars more visible when usage is small for a particular app.

There is no word when an update for the Preview for Developers, although the last one did roll out on a Thursday nearly three weeks ago. Updates for the program are usually timed around three to four weeks apart, meaning Windows Phone users are just about due.

Today, Windows 10 Preview users received a major update, and Microsoft may be trying to time things more closely together especially before the forthcoming holidays.

Are you excited about a real-time Live Tile for Battery Saver?

Thanks, Süha K., for the tip!

Daniel Rubino
Editor-in-chief

Daniel Rubino is the Editor-in-chief of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft since 2007 when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, laptops, next-gen computing, and for some reason, watches. Before all this tech stuff, he worked on a Ph.D. in linguistics, watched people sleep (for medical purposes!), and ran the projectors at movie theaters because it was fun.

320 Comments
  • This is sweet... Keep it up MS..
  • New oS update. Can't wait
  • Agreed. Can't wait. Hopefully it brings openvpn support!!!!
  • I hope it brings reliable VPN support of existing L2TP
  • Yes... That too :/ vpn and device encryption for non Enterprise devices is a must. Why MSFT haven't already done this is - well nuts, frankly.
  • The only thing is will the carries release the update
  • It's the developers preview so the carriers don't have a say in it
  • It's minor but significant. So DP for I'm guessing
  • Well I think microsoft should soon get mobile data on action center .! It will be quite helpful :)
  • DUUUUUDE!!! I totally agree, that's essential.
  • And for those of us with plenty of cheap data should have the option til let it be used. Like having video uploads to OneDrive via mobil data. The saving bit is fine, but why on earth isn't there an option not to save :P
  • I'm not hurting for data after at&t new double the data
  • And toggle between 2G and 4G. Anything above 2G kills my battery.
  • You can choose what you want to use in settings. No quick access for it tho.
  • Yes there is quick access. Use 8bit Tiles and link the tile of your choice to Cellular settings. It's what I do and it works fine.
  • +930 True... I have changed my to 2G and the battery lasted more than 10 hours.
  • MS will never implement mobile data to the action center, as the 24/7 mobile data connection is critical for their cloud craps to connect and track every single movement of the device owner (=you). If they offer quick ON/OFF switch to the avarage user, those may even consider to turn off mobile data during times they dont use the internet. And that would be a disaster to MS. So instead of giving the CHOICE to the user to turn ON/OFF mobile data from action center, they try to hide the ON/OFF switch as deep in the OS as possible, and make the switch OFF procedure as inconvenient as possible.
  • You exaggerated a little. It is not in DEEEEEP inside the OS. Just you have to go settings. They don't need mobile data to track things. There are many ways to do that. :) Posted via the Windows Central App for Android
  • @jangle13 they do have a say over firmware. but this is a potential os update and one that i think i was just pushed.... im installing it now ill check the build in a second  
  • NEW UPDATE WAS JUST PUSHED TO MY ICON CHECK NOW!! :)   yea i can confirm it is build 14203
  • Cant download apps and games over 20mb . Before i could download below 100mb from store. anyone noticed?
  • I'm glad live tiles are finally LIVE tiles. It separates wp from ios
  • Numbers vs info.
  • How do you know
  • Yeah but actual "live" tiles can only be done by MS and not by other devs which is sad
  • I have a feeling Windows 10 will change that..
  • Really do hope so
  • I'm using appy weather and the live tile only updates when I open the app... is this the normal behavior then or am I doing sonerhing wrong?
  • The developer of that app possibly has not implemented the tiles to update every minute, or maybe it's not possible at all in WP
  • That's not true I've implemented live tiles (more than 1 live tiles) in my apps: TimeNoti and PlayStation.Blog. TimeNoti has 11 live tiles in total all updates every minute.
  • But that wasn't possible in 8.0 right? Those 8.0 apps aren't being updated to support updating tiles by the minute
  • Yup, It's only available in WP8.1 that's to via trick.
  • Yeah, I can't wait for true live tile XAML in my live tiles. I have an app "Clock Tile HD" that will be perfect for this! Moving clock hands will be great. Right now I have to use a few tricks in 8.1 to update the tile every minute.
  • but how does for example whatsapp do it? when i get a message the tile is updated in an instant
  • Push notifications can always update tiles, but this doesn't exactly make them live tiles.
  • Yes that's a trick by WhatsApp using push notifications. However, 3rd party devs can't create animated tiles like Xbox Music, nor can they update the tiles (in under 30 mins) using local phone data like battery status. Push notifications would require a dev to maintain some form of back-end.
  • Not exactly true. The app 'Analog Clock Tile' Updates every minute and I defintely see it as a LIve Tile.
  • I think those apps were only possible after 8.1, which may have added that functionality. In 8.0, I frequently saw devs complaining in their app descriptions how tiles can't update in under 30 mins.
  • Live tiles without push notification internet back-end database started to work only since WP8.1. In WP8.0 it was totally broken if you didnt have internet connection. Crazy it may sound, but that was the truth. A major product defect, you can guess MS didnt advertise this anywhere. Pro developers had to interrogate some MS support staff on the WP developer forum to admit the truth.
  • Anybody else find that 8.1.1 chews up battery life much faster than 8.1 did?
  • no
  • Turn off location for a day
  • Make Disply Sensitivity "Normal"
  • Nice..)
  • Cell data in quick settings are way more useful.....
    -------------------
    As for GDR2 for preview... I wonder where it is.
  • Yes, please add this too
  • I totally don't get it. Why do "live" Live Tile of Battery Saver receive such an welcome?! I see it is not a big deal, since we can always know the level of battery precisely and the time, v.v...many info in Action Center with just a very little wipe down, even without unlocking the screen.
  • Yes, that is absolutely useful.
  • Hope the next update IS GDR2 *cries*
  • I don't think so: read this twitter status https://twitter.com/Nawzil8/status/528797789371658240   Build 14203 is a build of GDR1 branch
  • gdr2 with that battery update would be much better...
  • Perhaps the next build allows for a wider breadth of customization of for quick settings.
  • Need data on of setting badly currently im using livetile for this
  • A quick setting for volume control would be handy as well so you can toggle between volume and vibrate on, vibrate only and off.
  • In the latest preview for developers you can already do the toggle volume for apps, notifications and vibrate on/off, no? Just tap the icons
  • This can sort of be done since windows phone 8.1 just press the volume keys and tap the little arrow on the top right there you have vibrate on/off and tapping the bell icon silences on/off
  • If you're in the US, you can always put Quiet Hours in the action center and then it's just a swipe and a click to silence your phone. If you're not in the US, you could always complain to Microsoft about why a Do Not Disturb function should be disassociated from a personal assistance application.  
  • Is this really necessary now though? Once wifi is on, that's takes over data use, right? I have unlimited, but use wifi when available and that handles it all for me. Options are nice, but how much do you really need that one?
  • Everybody doesn't have unlimited data pack... And it's already available on competing platforms... And how difficult would it be for them to provide a data toggle in action center
  • Yes I don't see why this is so hard for MS
  • High priority for me, was kinda disappointed when i came to know that it's not there in the action center... People without unlimited data or WiFi have to keep switching the data on and off... So for us it's most commonly used setting other than brightness settings, helps to be in the action center...
  • I usually have unlimited data (if not using some other countries SIM card) but during the night I like to switch all the connection off leaving just the phone to receive calls. Since the silient hours are not implemented outside cortana that's the only way to avoid IM during the night..
  • I don't know if any of you have experienced this but my phone uses WiFi and cellular at the same time. I get the "arrows" near the icons for both cell and WiFi. This happens often. I do not have unlimited data so thats the problem.
  • Yes, mine does that also.
  • There's a setting that allows data to be used if your Wi-Fi is considered weak. Uncheck that option, remember that WP especially on my 1520 wifi sometimes remain connected but it would just be stale.
  • When you are on wifi you are not using your Plan data.
  • For me it might also be useful to actually have more places in the quick settings menu. Like scrolling on the side to show more or something like that. I really like the simple design of WP but when the design gets before usability I'm not so happy anymore..
  • I just hope they aren't adding anything that will not carry over to W10. Actually seing how W10 is supposed to pretty much completely replace WP, I'd rather they concentrated on that.
  • Updates are always welcome.
  • Should add mobile internet to quick settings too.
  • ^^this
  • Yep, its such an obvious feature I don't know why they left it out in the first place.
  • Awesome..finally as MS is shifting focus to WP
  • Relax it's just one small feature.
  • Yes, but its a feature that should have been left out. That's why people are happy. So many small tweeks that Android has had for years are slowly coming to WP. And that's awesome :)
  • Okay, do not download once released then, coz its a small feature :-P bro, updates should always be welcomed as those will bring in something new, hope you get it :-)
  • Should've been there in 8.1 but it's nice they're finally doing something with it. The menus where you select app usage and duration still needs to be fixed though.
  • Yeah that looks like the work of a 10 year old
  • Not bad. I'll take it. Can't complain about added features
  • Wait, wasn't the battery tile live already? I mean it does show the battery status?
  • Right, but it updates in increments. There are not really many 'live' Live Tiles, except for some clock ones.
  • So you mean something that updates the battery status on the live tile every minute (that's the soonest possible)?
  • Or even faster. Like instant. Like its on Xbox Music. If you stop the playback the live tiles stops with the current act and dispalys just the icon...
  • 1 minute is the smallest available interval when the app isn't running.
  • I know. Im a dev. But Microsoft does not have this limits. :) look at Cortana live tile. An animated live tile, something that we cant do. The same is with xbox music. And both are instant without this 1 min interval.
  • There are reasons - power usage!  Think how many bad devs exist and how quickly the phone battery would die if everything updated in real real time. Perhaps some new APIs will come which permit more tile updates now the battery feedback tools are better (and dev tools) as it should be more obvious when misbehaving apps exist.
  • I know. I'm just saying that MS does not have this limits and therefore they can make such live tiles...
  • Why on earth would even bad devs update everything real-time? And even if they somehow managed to do that, wouldn't it just be another point of differentiation for the good ones?
  • I think before the tile would simply update on a set schedule but now they mean it will reflect in real time exactly what the battery meter is reporting at any given point.
  • Gotcha, thanks!
  • +1. By the way, is there a way to upvote comments? I hope in the next version of WC, it will support up/down votes :)
  • It exists on their website, just not on the app yet, but they did say features similar to those that were introduced for the web version of WC would be brought to the app and if i remember correctly, up/down voting is one of them.
  • Great news!!! Updating...
  • Please make the updates faster ! PLEASE
  • So Daniel, the wp update includes just "real time live tiles" nothing else included?
  • It may include many more features or just another minor one. I believe Daniel only based the assumption from the change log of the battery saver app and not from info coming from his sources. (come up to the same assumption just by reading the change log of the app).
  • Correct. Build 14203 likely includes many other fixes and improvements, but this is just one we can point to tonight as definitely coming.
  • Hopefully it fixes live tiles issue, when I scroll really fast live tiles become blank and I need to wait for second until they return to normal. Wp8 didn't have any of this.
  • I know. It's sad that every update for Windows Phone compromises performance and uniformity in the name of making it more like Android.
  • Yup, WP8.1 is slower than WP8.0 in many aspects. You can see that by looking at the new Universal controls as well, if you take a ScrollViewer in WP8.1 and 8.0 you'll see that the one in 8.0 is much smoother. Same thing happens when you change the pivot page in WP8.0 or when the CommandBar gets updated with new Buttons (you can see that by opening Xbox music and panning through the panorama).
    I hope that with W10 the new controls will be as fast as they were in 8.0 :)
  • I was experiencing this on my 920 but not at all on my 930, so im thinking it's due to processing power.
  • How many tiles do you have? Omg...
  • And this build could be the GDR 2?
  • Maybe not... https://twitter.com/Nawzil8/status/528797789371658240
  • I'm hoping they fix the ever increasing OS space usage. Upto 5.6gb. Should only be 2.4gb. Its not clearing out install files. Etc.
  • More than 8GB for me... :P
  • Update: A new preview version for wp8.1.1 is available. Check for updates!
  • :trollface:
  • Where? Lol I don't see any :P
  • Try check again. I got it ady, will install later on.
  • Are you sure? I just checked, I don't have one :(
  • Lies.
  • Nothing here in UK.. And nothing officially stated via twitter.
  • Let me guess, it's probably a long overdue update.
  • Meanwhile, in Verizon Land.... :'(
  • Preview for developers bypasses the carrier update route. Just not firmware. So you'll be able to get this on Verizon. :D Hopefully one day they'll do firmware preview or something.
  • Much like android does
  • Yeah... Why is this such an accomplishment for WP? It's a no brainer, and should've been there from the beginning.
  • I have no use for the notification center.  The live tile, however, is precisely where this update needs to be, so I'm looking forward to that.
  • No use for notification centre? It's easily my most used 8.1 addition. Being able to check notifications without going beyond the lock screen is v.v.useful. & I don't have to pan around my screen trying to work out what app just pinged me :)
  • I totally agree with you. The only thing the notification center does for me is show me exact times on things. If live tiles could do this, no one would need the notification center at all. I mean, its kinda lame we need a notification center anyway because isn't that the whole point of live tiles??
  • Do you plan to put every app on your start screen, though? I don't. I'm always unpinning this or that to make my screen "cleaner". If I get 20 notifications at once, I'd rather see them all in one place than go app to app seeing if any have a counter on the tile. And yes, I have gotten 12-15 at one time...9-10 of which were FB...and today the advanced warfare app popped up 10 telling me someone applied for my clan even though it was one person. That happened twice today.
  • I do see where you are coming from but it just feels too much like every other OS in my opinion. I mean, why not just move away from live tiles and just have a "home" screen like iOS or Android? Might as well if we don't need the so called "live tiles" anymore, right?
  • Agreed. The notification center feels very redundent when you have a glance screen, a lock screen, and live tiles. Wish I could disable it and just use the drop down action center.
  • The more options the merrier. For ppl who dont get lots of notifications a day, it might seem useless but for those of us who receive over 100's from apps that our essential to our everyday use, it makes it easier to see if there if the notification is of urgence or from who rather than having to find out which apps we might have gotten the notification on and having to open the app just to realize it was an unnecessary notification. I have 4 mailboxes that I use, sms, whatsapp, viber, Skype, facebook that i get 100's of notifications from (and im sure im not,the only one), some urgent and some not really, so the notification center is a nice and quick way for us to have an overview of the notifications we received, as opposed to figuring it out. In the case of messaging apps for example, u can see who sent the last few msgs as opposed to a count or the last msg. The way i see it, notification center for a more detailed breakdown of notifications, the live tiles are a nice reminder and lockscreen is simply a quick glance...but thats just my opinion.
  • Trust me, I do see what you mean as I do use the notification center as well but everything just kinda feels jumbled and rushed to me honestly. I know MS is just trying to please people but I just wish we had a more polished and "complete" OS honestly. I'm sure I'm not using the right words with all this and I don't know any other way to get my point across unfortunately. Idk I almost feel like there is just too much going on and its kind of annoying maybe?? Idk lol.
  • Hope MS updates notification center too before Windows 10 gets released. Actionable notification, etc.
  • November is almost over. Where is the rollout for stock windows phone? And where is the Lumia camera app we were promised?
  • Almost over?
  • dude, it's still November 13!
  • Lol... "almost over"... Powned!
  • Thanks for making my day!
  • That's great about a new build on the horizon. Can't wait.
    Just updated the battery saver app and pinned it. It's just an icon though it needs a percentage to br useful..
  • Amazing! Lets do similar for data sense!
  • Why?
  • While they're at it they should put the cellular data toggle in data sense, too.
  • Isn't it battery sense?
  • Nope
  • You can have the Battery Saver in the Action Center with a little update, and we wait almost a year for the Cellular (3g/4g) in the Action Center ¬¬
  • Not really important... As you said, still not here after a year. Maybe that is telling you something....
  • Yes, it's telling me that: Soon = More than a Year
  • Android can say that a feature is not importante, because they have +70% market share..
  • Problems with Carriers. Believe me.
  • Six months... Now a year.
  • But what about denim?
  • What about it?
  • I think he is just wondering like everyone else,why we haven't gotten it yet and we are instead getting another build of cyan.
  • This isn't a build of cyan. Cyan is a firmware update
  • You know what I meant. No need to get all technical...
  • But it matters because ms has less control over the release of denim than a minor software update.
  • Two things: 1. It's not up to MS. Denim (like Cyan and every other update) if firmware and has to go through the carries. 2. We are not getting another build of Cyan, we are getting another build of WP. Firmware and OS are two separate things. They ate usually released together so the hardware the firmware controls is better optimized for the OS.
  • I know this. Been on WP since WP7 thank you.
  • ​About #1.. you are wrong: Firmware updates are, for all devices, up to OEMs; people who bought their devices through carriers will have to wait for them as well but, again, only these users. My 920 is a CV (Country Variant) device and updates availability is depending solely upon the OEM.... which happens to be MS. ​
  • It is up to Microsoft; just like Apple they can easily say fuck you carriers we care about our customers that buy our Lumia phones so we will update their phones whenever we want. But it seems Microsoft are pussies and can't do what is best for end users like Apple does with their iPhone updates. Carriers need to be cut out of the picture completely when it comes to OS and firmware updates. And don't listen to the idiots that tell you that carriers need to test updates for your phone to work, that is complete BS, since any unlocked phone works just as well with the carrier while receiving updates independantly of any carrier.          
  • Well according to windows person Greg via twitter, he said denim wont offer much.
  • Link?
  • Hyeeeeh kyaah hyaaah haa hyet haa!!!
  • Pardon me but your comment comes across like grunts.
  • It was a joke... Link as in Hyperlink and Link as in Legend of Zelda, Link? Couldn't post pictures so posted the grunts that Link is famous for.. Not familiar with Legend of Zelda? That's okay, It's a game by Nintendo...  
  • What i wonderis  if there's gonna be any other new realtime live tile :3
  • That's what I was wondering too. How open will this be to devs? A stopwatch or timer on a tile would be darn useful. (except you'd have to open the app to pause, stop until actionable tiles come around)
  • Useful and battery hungry... Today you have 1 minute updates, IMHO it is enough.
  • No.
  • im still wondering if the % next to each app is exactly how much battery % it draws, I mean, if my phone is at 100%, and then I use Skype for a while and it says Skype used 20%, does it mean that it used exactly 20% of the battery and im at 78-79%(considering other tasks consume 0-1%)? anyway, I might get happier if they fixed the brightness settings, seriously, there is a suggestion on uservoice dating back to 2011 asking for a proper way to manage display brightness, 3 fixed options wont cut it, for no one, "low" is actually brighter than automatic when it detects a dark room, the hell is ms thinking? I've seen ipods going so low on brightness that people are unable to find the slider and revert it, how can we support a 2014 OS which lacks such critical-basic functionality? and then to make things worse we had nokia fixing things like that(brightness profiles) in which case they forbid users with older phones from benefiting from it. I think its time for Nadella to start using his CEO whip, there seems to be a lot of lazy devs and others addressing less than critical issues
  • On some of the handsets you can manually adjust each of the there settings, my low setting is almost as low as it can go, for bedtime.
  • that's what im saying, nokia took the opportunity to attract more people to their newer devices, pathetic
  • All of your grievances are solved with any of the *30 series phones. So either pony up and pay your money, or be content with what you have.
    I'm perfectly happy with the screen brightness situation on my 1020. Automatic takes it below the 'low' brightness setting. & high sears my retinas! Low and medium suit other user scenarios.
    The only frustration I have is that battery saver no longer dims the screen further, and it also no longer switches off the navigation buttons. Annoying (especially in a dark room)
  • So let me get this straight. You're saying having a slider that you can't see in some instances is a "proper way to manage display brightness?"
  • Yes.
  • I agree in a way... I know my 930 is a bit too bright while driving at night ;)
    Probably wasn't an issue when I had a smaller screen... But is now.
  • Updates are good...speaking of updates, VERIZON!!!!!!!!!!
  • Can't say I'm excited for a live tile, no.
  • I'm not doing the update for my 830 since its my primary phone, I'll update my 1020 to see how it is.
  • What does "in real time tiles"? What will change?
  • The battery drain will be higher I guess.
  • Current tiles update every 20 minutes (I think) or depending on the dev's set interval. This will update as your battery drains. For example, some third party battery apps have live tiles. The tile will say 90% when your battery is 70% because they don't update in real time. Only when you open the app, does it say 70%.
  • Tiles can update every minute...
  • Why isn't it implemented then? Especially for apps who should, like battery apps.
  • No idea... Maybe tile update intervals are restricted to app type?
    I think data sense having a live, live tile, would be more useful than battery level though... Hopefully this coming update brings live live tiles to all apps! :)
  • There are several apps with 1 minute update.
  • Better battery is a battery app which updates every minute.
  • Why dont they add mobile data on/off to the quick settings, not this.. NOT THIS
  • They might do...let's wait and see.
  • No one has said they aren't. We only know about this because of the app change log. Don't be so reactionary... We kinda have to wait and see...
  • The app is so ugly now. Who did those hyperlink-style drop-down menus? I really don't like this trend at all. They just seem to add stuff in there. This is a system tool that if Windows Phone would work perfectly, we would never have to use it. Instead of making the system smarter and get more juice out of the battery, they add more bars, more menus, more bla. If I wanted this, I would have bought an Android device. Where is the more modern and smarter way to handle battery on a *smart*phone? /rant
  • I wish Samsung ATIV S had this update! No Windows Blue for ATIV S owners.
  • You can use Dev Preview too.
  • This and denim, yes.
  • Bit ugly but great new features this is what beta is all about look & feel may change. Be nice to see battery usage for screen though
  • Uhm, this is not a beta, sir.
  • Now thats what I call an update! See Microsoft this is why you should always add a changelog alongside your App-updates, people get excited and know stuff is happening.
  • So now Battery Saver will ironically consume even more battery? I'm actually pretty excited for the time filters, though...
  • I'm pretty sure you can block battery saver in battery saver haha
  • The tile will stop updating, then.
  • Yeah. But it's good they give you the option :)
  • F*ck yeah, I tipped something first!
  • An OS update for an app....
  • You got it completely wrong !
  • gdr2preview instead of an update for the battery saver would be more useful...that's what we all are waiting,that and denim... c'mon microsoft you can do much better than this...
  • I bet that battery saver team is not the one working on the OS.
  • There was an article some time ago about gdr2 that said it is to include organised settings menu(which is terribly needed as the settings menu is a complete mess). What about that update?
    Another thing needed is definitely the cellular data toggle in the action centre.
  • I already see a battery gauge on the top of my phone (next to the time) all the time. My phone (Icon) easily lasts 1 to 2 days on a charge so I'm not one to really care if I have 68% of a charge left vs. 67% of a charge less. A live battery tile would simply just take up more space on my start screen that I'd rather use for something else. But, then again, that's just me :-) So, no, I'm not really looking forward to it though I do want the phone to offer options so others will be more accepting of it ;-)
  • let the check for updates hammering begin  :) edit:  nothing yet   lol
  • btw i unpined the tile. how can i pin it to the screen again?.
  • Go to battery saver in the app list. Hold, pin to start.
  • Real time? I doubt its monitoring it continuously - just more frequently than the 30 sec (or was it a minute?) possible before?
  • Nice with real time live tile. I do hope a new build/app updates will fix two things I feel they ruined. I use Battery Saver (the option to conserve battery life) always and before 8.1 the icon at the top (default battery icon) followed the actual battery level even when the battery saver icon showd, now it's just half full with a shield. Also, glance screen was much better as ot only showed the battery saver icon when I was low (20%) so that I avoided any sudden critical battery messages. Now after the latest glance screen update it is always visible since I have Battery Saver on all the time. Because of that I have received a few sudden critical battery level messages. 
  • Don't use battery saver... But sounds nice ;)
  • I have it set so it turns on automatically at 20% charge. But now and then I'll switch on "now until next charge" if I want background updates turned off. It's pretty handy, and I'm glad they brought this feature back. I was really disappointed when it disappeared in WinPho 8.1 (or was it straight 8? I can't remember.), so I'm glad it's back!
  • Love the continued support!! :D ​
  • Whens very soon
  • I love it, and I can not wait for PFD update
  • Let's hope bug fixes are included as well. I haven't been able to connect USB since 2 updates ago.
  • As long as it doesn't drain the battery! I currently have Battery Saver background disabled and turned OFF because it drained too much battery in 8.1 DP.
  • My 1520 takes almost 7 hrs to charge the battery this needs to be improved. I'm glad 8.1 will be soon.
  • Mine doesn't... You must have a lot running in the background..
  • I close all apps before recharging. 
     
  • Nevertheless, yes, the 1520's battery life isn't like it used to be... But, if it's taking that long to charge then you might need to do a hard reset... But, in word wait for this next update.. Most likely tomorrow...
  • So get a 5 amp charger and see how long it takes.
  • The update sounds great! Looking forward to being able to more closely see any wayward apps killing battery life!
  • Hey Daniel, does this REAL TIME LIVE TILE feature can be used by other 3rd party apps? Can others apps live tile be real time???
  • I doubt it, or else your battery will only last 3 hours lol. I think they will wait until windows 10 to implement this feature in the SDK. You know some devs are irresponsible and wont even warn or ask the user that when they pinned the live tile it would run a constant process in the background lol then the user bashes windows phone and says it has crappy battery bla bla. you see the picture lol
  • My phone's capacitive buttons doesn't turn off on battery saver (NL 1520). Anyone with the same issue?
  • Here! I have a Lumia 820 and I don't want to reset my phone for the third time in 3 months because of this.I have searches forums and Microsoft answers. They only have one answer, hard reset. No hopes from MS as they don't even consider it as a bug.
  • Same here for my L1520
  • Same here with 1020... :(
  • Hopefully it fixes the many bugs of 8.1.1.2... Like the never ending resuming, the non functioning start screen key, and whatever els... Oh, the constant screen dimming, and flickering.. SMDH!
  • So the screen can't even dine when it gets hungry? (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ That's cruel man, cruel... :P
  • Lol!!! You know what I mean.
  • Imagine dining with a phone. "Could you pass me the salt, iPhone?" *bends* xD
  • And the battery saver bug still haunting people including me. Are they going to address that in this update.
  • What battery saver bug?
  • While battery saver on the screen brightness doesn't dim and the Navigation button's lights doesn't switch off.
  • Same here
  • No problem like this on my ATIV S. Must be a Lumia firmware bug.
  • So they are "adding" the ability the ability to turn on Battery Saver until the next charge? Lolol You'll have to pry 7.5 and 8.0 from my cold dead hands.
  • Looks like they aren't sure what the app did and didn't do. Lol
  • Nah, just in typical MS fashion, they "upgraded" (8.1, aka 1 step forward, 2 steps back) and now will work just to get back to where they were. Then when they are basically *right there* they will throw in the towel and completely concede whatever market it is. Or just leave people hanging. /not_bitter_at_all
  • There is already an option to turn it on until next charge.
  • I'm ready for folders etc.. On my 1520 ATT..
  • Uhm, I've had the, on until next charge, like... Forever?
  • Hope they can split out phone, it is nearly always the main culprit. What is the use of it, need gps, Bluetooth, calls etc. I think no one at Microsoft actually uses battery saver.
  • This is good but what about update 2 and Lumia denim
  • this... that's what we are waiting for... hope this is the update2 preview. denim? well maybe next year
  • So for ATT Lumia 1020 we will be waiting until 2016 to get the official Windows Phone 8.1.1 build 14203. Still waiting for the damn folders update with Denim firmware.    
  • Sorry, its off topic, however I want to know that can we rearrange the contents of settings. Why those are so random, I mean normally things are either alphabetically arranged or as per usage or can be customized.
  • Please put the Settings in order in the next update and let me click a letter like in contacts.
  • I still think they should add a sliding function to the action centre to have more settings available, like Android.
  • While this is very thoughtful of MS, it is still confounding why the Data connection toggle has not yet been incorporated into Quick Settings of the Action Centre.
  • Hope this update will fix L925 secondary MIC problem
  • I still remember how cool the rumored GDR2 features that were rumored back in September sounded, particularly the resortable Settings menu, the Cellular data toggle in the quick settings menu, and other stuff.  I hope this stuff is coming soon.
  • Does it get rid of the splashscreen, too?
  • Which splashscreen?
  • Bing the the WP10 on!
  • It's good if they provide password protection to uninstall an app
  • Wow MS has been busy! These are alot of the features I was hoping would be added! Can wait to see it in action.
  • Now we are talking!!
    Only if Microsoft now allows 8 quick action buttons since almost everyone uses more than 4.
    I want Rotation lock, WiFi, Quiet hours, Bluetooth, Airplane mode, Brightness, Battery Saver and hopefully Mobile data.
  • Quiet hours needs a lot of work, should be able to set per Calender entry. Ie certain people at certain times. In my case anyhow
  • Need a camera update...
  • Not Bad I love updating OS
  • Fingers Crossed it includes Denim firmware too
  • Sorry, but firmware updated aren't delivered through DP.
  • Will a update about live lock screen.
  • Am excited, hope the new pd update works more on battery life
  • What the hell even though I updated app live tile still doesn't work .... Whyyyyy why you give such hope -_-
  • WP need a new update little things need fixing like, you can't even sit a ring tone to the phones messages ,you can't even edit a phone number with out sitting off a phone call.
  • Now this is really useful!Rocker MS!But I hope the new option to keep until the next recharge is the same as the old one in windows 8 which went missing.
  • Meh.
  • After the update I noticed something terrible I remember when you turn the battery saver on , screen brightness is lowed Dramatically but now It doesn't do this!
  • It happened for me on last update.still screen brightness doesn't lower
  • Yup :/
  • Isn't "turn battery on until next charge" already integrated?
  • Seems like it's simply a rewording of "from now until next charge" which it is titled at present
  • Live tiles are becoming more live!?
  • rearangable settings?
  • Is that the 8.1 update 1? When will it be released?
  • It's in the article. You should read it.
  • Im glad here in europé we aint stuck on carriers! Simfree is the real deal when it comes to new firmware releases that is yeehaaa.....
  • Real time live tile, GREAT!! But... for Battery Saver?!?!?!?!?! My live tiles are having a very hard time showing Twitter updates twice an hour, LinkedIn updates once per hour and Facebook updates... well once or twice per DAY?! Shouldn't this have had a higher priority? Why would anyone need a live tile for battery saver when this info is reached quicker via the action center?
  • I'd personally like a graphic equaliser for xbox music before a battery saver app. I already have a third party battery app that does everything I want.
  • It already showed real time battery life when pinned to the start screen
  • The battery saver is available in the store, downloaded it 6 hours ago. Two features will only be available once W8.1 is also updated.
  • when can we have data on/off toggle in notification center bar?
  • Will tat update correct the Nokia account logging in problem?? It's too bad I'm not able to use the mix radio app. Atleast Microsoft can make it such tat login with the MS id is possible instead of Nokia account
  • Does this solve the button lights turn off glitch in battery saving mode?
  • No... :(
  • Turn On until next charge: We added a new option to let users turn on battery saver until next charge!
    Wow, just like in WP7!  
  • Update error... :(
  • Dope!
  • I really love the battery saver mode ..Its useful in managing apps according to power needs :) Thanks MS
  • Please.
  • It should be called Battery Sense. :)
  • They've already had turn on until next charge since windows phone 7...
  • Just got this feature update?
  • I am currently using official cyan update on Lumia 720 but I want to have app folder function Of GRD1 so is there any update coming??
  • Download Preview for Developers and get the latest 8.1.1 update which allows folders
  • and verizon will still SUCK
  • Doesn't matter a whit to me.  I have it turned off, I use Battery Sense to monitor usage through the day.  I charge every night, regardless of anything else.  But having said that, perhaps the third bullet point will finally explain to new WP folks what BS really does.  Almost everyone to this point thinks that when it's on, you use less of the battery.  No, kiddies, it shuts off selected apps and functions when a low set point is triggered, trying to leave the phone function working. But I'm sure all the older WP users who are misinformed will continue to be.  Another zombie myth.  It will be around for many years. 
  • Im bored with WP as of lately. All MS does is support app development for ios and android where is the love for us? Where are our apps? Could give a damn about this update, all I want is WP to be fist not third. No flagship phone ether, wtf? Im I the only one who feels like giving up on this platform? I have been a loyal Ms customer since windows mobile 5, never owned an iPhone or an android device. But at this point il willing to try other things. :(
  • The skype, office, OneNote in short all MS apps are a joke here on WP, while on ios or Android they are like wow, MS keeps leaving us in the cold
  • Well if they keep this up they might as well stop WP development because people will just give up. Im pretty much done with WP.
  • I know this is a developer section, but still waiting for Denima OTA for all Lumia devices :/
  • I hope the battery icon shows real battery status behind the battery saver icon.
  • They should fix xbox music video 1st !
  • I am sure even turning on/off Mobile data will be added in this build along with battery saver. 
  • That turn on battery saver until next charge feature was already available
  • Anyone with 14203 update? I owned Lumia 635) :(
  • I am up-to-date but not working WhatsApp
  • Battery saver needs to show Since last charge, as some of us are needing to charge 2 times or more a day. Maybe option to charge whilst OFF, this will save battery from being raped as its currently being used whilst charging, which is never good
  • so it is THAT EASY to add stuff to action center? Why not adding DATA ON/OFF and change the wifi behavior (click on/off // hold to open up the wifi settings)
  • I love updates!
  • Very nice.....am waiting patiently...lol.  Will keep checking...  
  • Unable to update on my L1320.. (dev unlocked) it shows only "pending".. why?
  • What phone has 90% battery left after 19 hours usage.. Obviously a fake photo. http://m.softpedia.com/microsoft-may-launch-windows-phone-8-1-1-update-b.... ..
  • There is already an option to turn battery saver on until next charge.
    Also they should call it battery sense, like data sense and storage sense etc.
  • Come on native MKV support ! HEVC would be nice too.
  • I want a no password locked kids corner.
  • Not sure if it's already been mentioned, but I just got the update on my Icon (Verizon).
  • Got it. Apart from the battery tile did not see much changes. I wish they would release some native file manager with all the capabilities like on android.
  • This is a very nice update. Up to now, I have been using  Insider Pro app, which does the same thing plus give you more system info and shortcuts to toggle other settings like wi-fi, blutooth, etc. The stats view is also great add on and frankly worth the getting the Pro version. This is an all-in-one app.