stock rom
If i leave gps on.... and all the apps i have that may use gps (travel, voucher etc) do not run in the back ground,
except google maps.... will this really drain random battery throughout the day.
The reason I ask this is when using google maps...i see the gps symbol on the top of my phone, but once i back out of it...the symbol disappears, and when i go back into it to resume what i was doing the symbol turns back on and the gps has to find my location all over again.
Hence I come to the conclusion that the gps is not 'always on' when you don't need or (given you don't have any dodgy apps)
Then I could turn off googles location sharing thing, because if I am correct you need that on if you want to use location services without gps?
SGS2 uses sirfstar IV
http://www.sys-con.com/node/1822443
http://www.csr.com/products/25/sirfstariv-gsd4t
This is a modern GPS chip, it don't think it uses much battery. I've always GPS on and I've no battery issues. And I agree that it seems that the chip is set to some kind of standby when not in use so turning off the GPS in the settings (or notfication pull down) seems more like a privacy thing than power related.
Thanks for confirming. Will now try leaving gps on and location services off and see what happens. sometimes gps on its own takes a few extra seconds to locate you...might be annoying with certain apps
If you refuse location sharing you will not be able to use WIFI positioning service, but can still use cell tower positioning if your GPS is off. Personally I never use WPS since WIFI use a whole lot of power so I always keep it off. There are situations where it's useful (i.e. inside downtown can't get a GPS signal), so you can decide if you want it or not.
I usually keep my GPS off too, since when I open maps I just want to look at map, I don't need to know my exact location (and use the extra power).
My Galaxy S2 GPS sucks the battery life when I keep it on. My partner keeps his Galaxy S2 GPS on and the icon only comes on when something like Maps loads but immediatly goes away when you you exit Maps. Mine seems to stay on all the time and I can't see any obvious process running all of the time (except Maps). I monitor the battery usage with a tool and GPS is certainly running my battery down far quicker than if I turn it off.
Anyone else experiencing the same?
marklyn said:
My partner keeps his Galaxy S2 GPS on and the icon only comes on when something like Maps loads but immediatly goes away when you you exit Maps. Mine seems to stay on all the time and I can't see any obvious process running all of the time
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the GPS setting turned on all the time, but my GPS only really turns on when I open an app that uses GPS, like Maps or Facebook. Just like your partner.
I actually want to keep it on all the time... like yours
Can you send me your /etc/gps.conf and /etc/sirfgps.conf ?
I'm not sure if that's what control this behaviour.
Noed said:
I have the GPS setting turned on all the time, but my GPS only really turns on when I open an app that uses GPS, like Maps or Facebook. Just like your partner.
I actually want to keep it on all the time... like yours
Can you send me your /etc/gps.conf and /etc/sirfgps.conf ?
I'm not sure if that's what control this behaviour.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only had the gps.conf, not the sirfgps.conf file. Attached here.
I have to turn on GPS only when I need it for something and turn it off, otherwise it clearly drains my battery, in pretty quick fashion.
I had to rename it gps.txt to upload it.
Keeping GPS on is not draining your battery, because its realy turning on, only on application requests. Battery drain may come from some buggy app, which not close it GPS connection. You can easily see this by your GPS indicator. No indicator - no app using GPS atm - no battery drain, flashing indicator - GPS trying to lock ur position, indicator on - GPS is used and got lock on sattelites.
incident404 said:
its realy turning on, only on application requests
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is there a way to keep GPS always on, independent of an application request?
I want to control it on/off manually
I leave GPS on all the time. Only works when apps request / need it. No battery life issues for me.
Sent from my GT-I9100
Related
In the past, when I have had devices with GPS when I start up the app that uses it, GPS starts automaticaly and stops when you close the app.
now whenever I use Google maps or such I always forget to star GPS first is there a setting?.
I just leave the GPS on all the time. My observation is that it doesn't do anything unless an app uses it. My settings are:
Use wireless networks - not checked
Use GPS satellites - checked
Use assisted GPS - unchecked
I have all three options checked for quicker gps locks...
I never have GPS enabled unless I need it. I have the toggle on the home screen in my power control Widgets config.
I am wondering though, why would you have location by wireless networks not enabled?
Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk
I don't use location by wireless networks because I will not agree to Google's terms of service to do so. By agreeing you allow Google to collect location info from your phone even when there are no apps using any location services. I honestly think that this is why some people have battery issues when they leave GPS on. I do not see any way to opt out of this collection of information even if you turn use wireless networks off.
I don't use the assisted GPS because it states on the settings page that the GPS is more accurate without it.
I see the same battery life with GPS on or off.
The whole point is battery life, I dont use the gps all the time and I have a mugen 1800 battery but that still need charging after about 6 hours even with gps off.
But to go back to my original question is there a setting or app to allow the turning on of gps when its needed
Settings/Location and security. Maybe search the market for a widget
Sent from my Dell Streak using Tapatalk
henly said:
The whole point is battery life, I dont use the gps all the time and I have a mugen 1800 battery but that still need charging after about 6 hours even with gps off.
But to go back to my original question is there a setting or app to allow the turning on of gps when its needed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use tasker to automate turning on the GPS when you run specific apps.
As I wrote before I leave GPS on all the time with no adverse effect on battery life. I honestly believe that you only have issues with the GPS and battery life (when not using nav) if you accept the Google terms of service for location by wireless networks. Even if you then turn off that settings there is no way to revoke the permissions you give Google so they can use your GPS in the background for their data collection.
Interesting mine says uncheck to reduce network usage. What froyo are you running? But network usage is the main battery life consumer on my phone, I may go a couple days with that unchecked to see what the effects are even though I have no problems with my battery life.
Here's my phone info:
is there a way to have the gps turned off, but for certain apps, it will turn on automatically? im on litening rom 1.5 but havent found a way to figure this out ..
That could be done by an app like Tasker. You would have to buy it though.
Edit: Just checked.Tasker can't do it. It gives some note stating on stock gingerbread the GPS can't be changed without user intervention.
ha. that sucks balls. but thanks anyways, now i can stop searching for it..
I have GPS turned on all the time, with no noticable loss in battery life. The battery is only depleted when an application uses the GPS (such as google maps or Navigation) It may occasionaly be used to get a fix for weather updates but that will only be for a few seconds every few hours.
Hey guys, I don;t really use GPS on my Galaxy Player 4'', but I have notices that it will all the sudden display the GPS icon in the notification area even when it is off. I have disabled GPS and the "Use wireless networks" option, but the icon will appear at least once a day and won't disappear until I reboot the device. It just keeps blinking over and over until I reboot the device.
I have noticed it drains my battery way to quick when that icon appears (uses about 10% when the deviced is locked), which is crazy because it uses about (2%) battery power when it is locked during the night and the player does not shows that GPS icon in the notification area. I have killed pretty much every single application I have been able to kill to find out what app is trying to use GPS, but the icon won't go away no matter what process I kill. I use juicedefender and it has really improve my battery life, but when that icon appears, my device still will waste about 10% battery power even when it is locked with no apps running. Cannot explained why this is happening.
Has any of you had this problem?
Thank you
Try reseting to factory default, my batttery life on galaxy 4.0 is incredible.
I've had the same problem on my 5.0. I figured out it was an app that was constantly trying to get a gps signal. Simply going into the app and the exiting out seems to solve it however. It still happens but going into the app and exiting out helps. I would try to figure out which app is constantly trying to connect and if you don't use it very frequently uninstall it.
Dampfire said:
I've had the same problem on my 5.0. I figured out it was an app that was constantly trying to get a gps signal. Simply going into the app and the exiting out seems to solve it however. It still happens but going into the app and exiting out helps. I would try to figure out which app is constantly trying to connect and if you don't use it very frequently uninstall it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Difficult to pinpoint this app.
Do anybody know any way to log what app is using (or trying to use) GPS?
I noticed this happening today. I have my notification bar hidden, so not sure how often this happens. I could make it go away by turning on GPS and GPS Test, then back off. I checked for apps that might be trying to find a location in running services, killed a couple "maybes", but the icon kept blinking. Only app I installed today was Simple Calendar Widget, but didn't see anything in it's options that would be pinging location...
I have Power Tudor that shows how much juice apps are using while you monitor them, the only app there that looked like it could be was something like "system_1025" or something like that.... nothing I could find to stop it.
Dampfire said:
I've had the same problem on my 5.0. I figured out it was an app that was constantly trying to get a gps signal. Simply going into the app and the exiting out seems to solve it however. It still happens but going into the app and exiting out helps. I would try to figure out which app is constantly trying to connect and if you don't use it very frequently uninstall it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
tcat007 said:
I noticed this happening today. I have my notification bar hidden, so not sure how often this happens. I could make it go away by turning on GPS and GPS Test, then back off. I checked for apps that might be trying to find a location in running services, killed a couple "maybes", but the icon kept blinking. Only app I installed today was Simple Calendar Widget, but didn't see anything in it's options that would be pinging location...
I have Power Tudor that shows how much juice apps are using while you monitor them, the only app there that looked like it could be was something like "system_1025" or something like that.... nothing I could find to stop it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also use Simple Calendar Widget, but I don't think it's the reason.
Did you use Samsung Dive recently? I did, in order to test the ring, lock and location service provided from within Dive. The service running on device tries to establish a GPS connection even if GPS is disabled. I didn't make a location trace, only a simple location test.
After reboot GPS icon do not show up any more ...
Looks like Google Latitude might be the culprit. Try opening it and signing out of that service. Also go into "Settings" --> "Location and security" and uncheck "Use Sensor Aiding". Once I turned those off the GPS Notification went away.
What does sensor aiding do anyway? Sure doesn't help the Compass!
I had the same issue with my HTC ONE M8 I did the same process as you. Went into my settings found my battery usage and saw what was draining my battery. It was groupon. So I force stopped the app and the GPS notification went away.
Hello all!
Since yesterday, when I updated the firmware of my phone, the GPS icon has been shown constantly in the notification bar. It did not use to happen before. I am afraid it might be draining more battery than needed but I don't want to turn off GPS completely as I wanted it to be "ready to use" whenever I need to use, for example, Google Maps.
Is there something I can do? How can I control which app's might be using GPS connection in every moment?
Thank you!
+1
Every once in a while I see the GPS icon light up for a couple of seconds without apparent reason. I have no auto geo locating widget or so running, which might be an obvious guess.
Edit: just noticed I had weather information enabled on the lock screen so that may be the cause.
What's the difference between having location services on or off? I know this might be a dumb question, but the little compass icon seems to always be in the notification bar on my DNA. I can't remember if it was always like that or if it only started after downloading Tasker last week. I tried uninstalling Tasker, but it's still there all the time. I know I can turn it off in settings, but should I? Do I need Verizon, Standalone, and Google location services?
Also- lately Maps has been showing up at the top of the list for battery usage. Every day it shows like 60-70% usage with the next closest in the teens. I haven't used maps a lot, and it hasn't really seemed to affect battery life, but I'm wondering if this is related to location services. Has anyone else seen this? Thanks!
For me personally, when I left Verizon Location Services on my battery drained extremely fast and the little location services icon showed that it was active (three lines coming off the right side). When I turned Verizon services off and disabled location updating in Maps my battery increased enormously and the icon no longer showed activity constantly.
I now leave only Google location services on and manually turn on GPS when I need it. No issues since.
Sent from my HTC6435LVW
Thrillhouse847 said:
For me personally, when I left Verizon Location Services on my battery drained extremely fast and the little location services icon showed that it was active (three lines coming off the right side). When I turned Verizon services off and disabled location updating in Maps my battery increased enormously and the icon no longer showed activity constantly.
I now leave only Google location services on and manually turn on GPS when I need it. No issues since.
Sent from my HTC6435LVW
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My battery actually hasn't been draining all that fast, it just seems to show that "maps" uses 60-70% of the battery even in a day where I don't open the application once. I leave gps on but as others have mentioned the phone only uses it when it needs to (evidenced by the satellite icon in the notification bar). I have had gps on since I got the phone but in the first few weeks maps showed as using more like 5-10% of the battery. Can anyone explain what I lose by turning off each of Verizon, Google and Standalone location services?
Standalone is for actual GPS navigation I believe. Where as Google location service is used for getting location for weather and whatnot. I leave Google on all the time and only use standalone for navigation. But I may be completely wrong lol
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk 2
DbZ Gokuu said:
Standalone is for actual GPS navigation I believe. Where as Google location service is used for getting location for weather and whatnot. I leave Google on all the time and only use standalone for navigation. But I may be completely wrong lol
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope, you're correct.
I had issues with the weather widget showing incorrect location if Verizon Services is enabled. I only use Google services and enable stand alone for navigation use.
qwertpiratej said:
My battery actually hasn't been draining all that fast, it just seems to show that "maps" uses 60-70% of the battery even in a day where I don't open the application once. I leave gps on but as others have mentioned the phone only uses it when it needs to (evidenced by the satellite icon in the notification bar). I have had gps on since I got the phone but in the first few weeks maps showed as using more like 5-10% of the battery. Can anyone explain what I lose by turning off each of Verizon, Google and Standalone location services?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I figured it out... leaving NFC enabled all the time for some reason shows up as Maps usage in battery life. I turned NFC off, and the next day Maps was back down to around 5%.
qwertpiratej said:
I figured it out... leaving NFC enabled all the time for some reason shows up as Maps usage in battery life. I turned NFC off, and the next day Maps was back down to around 5%.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
qwertpiratej said:
My battery actually hasn't been draining all that fast, it just seems to show that "maps" uses 60-70% of the battery even in a day where I don't open the application once. I leave gps on but as others have mentioned the phone only uses it when it needs to (evidenced by the satellite icon in the notification bar). I have had gps on since I got the phone but in the first few weeks maps showed as using more like 5-10% of the battery. Can anyone explain what I lose by turning off each of Verizon, Google and Standalone location services?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I do not use NFC at all, It has been disabled since day 1. I have noticed my MAPS taking up 40-50% of the battery and I never use it. The only thing I enable is googles location services. and when I do use maps, I turn GPS on manually and then off when finished.
My FIX:
When I opened up MAPS, I went into settings > location settings and set location reporting to do not update your location.
This knocked MAPS off my battery usage list