Develop Bugs

How long will the battery last with GPS use?

Has anyone tested how long the battery lasts when using GPS?

PaulusUK said:
Has anyone tested how long the battery lasts when using GPS?
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I can't imagine any reason to just run the GPS.. What context? Car navigation? GPS Tracking? What?
The Tilt used about 120mA just for the GPS, I suspect the TP2 would be very close to that.

As a handheld GPS for walking.
I use a program called Memory Map which has terrain maps and plots routes, waypoints etc.
The GPS would need to be on all the time, but the screen could be off and just turned on when I need to glance at the route/map
I used to get just under 2 hours from my Diamond and about 2 1/2 hours from my m700 - so I had to carry some external batteries

PaulusUK said:
As a handheld GPS for walking.
I use a program called Memory Map which has terrain maps and plots routes, waypoints etc.
The GPS would need to be on all the time, but the screen could be off and just turned on when I need to glance at the route/map
I used to get just under 2 hours from my Diamond and about 2 1/2 hours from my m700 - so I had to carry some external batteries
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For thst sort of usage, I'd honestly suggest getting a bluetooth GPS unit. Does MUCH better under cover (trees, urban 'trees', etc) and takes a huge load off of the device.
I've gone on 3-4 hour hikes using TrackMe, which sounds like a similar program, and was only down 20% on battery. That'd get me WAY more battery life than my legs had in 'em.
Good luck, I'll check out Memory Map. I'm a geogeek, I collect all sorts of GPS related software.

PaulusUK said:
Has anyone tested how long the battery lasts when using GPS?
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I have a question regarding GPS. Once you've started using GPS, do you have to manually turn it off (like WiFi or BlueTooth) or does it cycle off automatically?

hempel said:
I have a question regarding GPS. Once you've started using GPS, do you have to manually turn it off (like WiFi or BlueTooth) or does it cycle off automatically?
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it will turn off automatically when you exit the program

khaytsus said:
For thst sort of usage, I'd honestly suggest getting a bluetooth GPS unit. Does MUCH better under cover (trees, urban 'trees', etc) and takes a huge load off of the device.
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Wouldn't bluetooth communication also drain the power?
Which would be worse - the BT or the GPS working?

TP2 GPS battery usage
My TP2 lasted 2.5 hours using Memory-Map in full mapping mode, where I had to plot map I created on PC.
Tunc

superflyboy said:
Wouldn't bluetooth communication also drain the power?
Which would be worse - the BT or the GPS working?
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erm... Perhaps not you, but I answered this very question somewhere else already.. anyway...
Bluetooth is very low power. And obviously if I'm saying the GPS uses hordes of power and to use a Bluetooth device because of power, the internal GPS is worse (much worse). How much worse? Same workload, same software, BT vs internal GPS on the Kaiser (same GPS as TP2) was a difference of 100mAh. 8.3% more battery drain per hour.
Bluetooth GPS also has other advantages...
Faster fix
More accurate
More sensitive
More options (in terms of which GPS you get and what features IT has)
Disadvantages
One more small thing to carry around
In terms of features, I keep saying I'm going to upgrade my BT GPS to the Columbus V900 (or other like models). It'll act like a normal BT GPS, or self-logger to a memory card, even a 'stealth' mode which logs a point every N minutes which you could effectively let run for a week without running out of battery and years before filling a 1G memory card.. Also you can attach voice notes to a coordinate, or 'mark' a spot with a button push, both of which you could refer to later by viewing the resulting data in Google Earth or other means.

GPS (power?) problem since 6.5 upgrade.

Hope someone on here can help. I use a topo map software called "Memory Map" when i go out walking, hiking. While my TP2 was running 6.1 the app worked fine. However, since i put 6.5 (Energy Rom) onto the phone, i've run into a problem.
As long as the screen is turned on, the gps is working and tracking just fine. But as soon as the screen is turned off, or goes to ''standby', the GPS also seems to go to sleep. I turn the screen back on, and after a couple of seconds, the GPS also kicks back in and starts tracking again.
99% certain its a 6.5 issue. Memory map has worked fine for the last 2 years on my old beater QTEK 9100, and was working on the TP2 when it was 6.1. By 'working', i mean i could fire up the app, put the phone in my pocket, whip it out 1/2 hour later and the map would show where i had walked and where i was now.
I don't have that now. If i pull the phone out and turn on the screen, the 'track' jumps from where i last had the screen on to where i am now. As i said, the GPS seems to have to gone to sleep with the screen.
Any ideas, settings i might need to look for?
Thanks.

Try gpstweaker, a gps power management utility, or marathon, a gps tracker with power management capabilities.

treo...not! said:
Try gpstweaker, a gps power management utility, or marathon, a gps tracker with power management capabilities.
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Thanks, i'll look at those.

Batter drain after gps usage.

so i found something strange.
the phone will last 24 hrs and lose about 5-10% battery life with light usage.
if i use google maps or any other gps app, the battery after the app is exited / task list show no running tasks, the battery will drain in under 8 hrs. or faster.
my only guess is, tho the app is not running the gps chip is still tracking / fixing to location with nothing making the calls. sort of like a stale process that does not list.
any other fixes for this besides a reboot?

It probably doesn't release the gps resources since they are shared with the other apps that use the gps. I haven't really got the result you're getting, maybe others can confirm or provide solutions.

GPS Power Drain
Yes, I get this from time to time, as I did on all my previous HTC devices. Supposedly, if you exit the program properly (ie, X to close), the program releases the GPS use and power drain stops. Many times, this seems not to happen and power draw continues at a high rate. When this happens, a soft reset is all that seems to stop it.
I have searched this issue for several years and tried many different settings and apps to close/edit resources, but it still occurrs from time to time, with no real pattern.
Guess we have to live with it and do soft reset if power draw is too high after GPS use. I have just gotten in the habit after using TOMTOM for a trip to reset the phone, just to be sure it kills the GPS usage.

My Kaiser used to do this often, I'd have to soft reset to get the drain from the GPS to go away, but I have yet to see this happen on the Tilt 2 and I use the built-in GPS quite a lot actually... I use it for Waze, TomTom, iGO, GPSToday.. I even use it in GCzII for geocaching a bit although the built-in GPS still blows for accuracy.

[Q] GPS and Battery Drain

I've spent much of the last year honing my DHD for battery life with custom ROM's and automation apps like the fantastically versatile app TASKER. With it, I can automate just about any task such as turning on a data connection for 3 minutes every 4 hours to sync all my bits and pieces.
I als use another app, Juice Plotter to record a historical graph of batter use over time. It also has a widget which shows me amount of charge left in hours.
I've been using Tasker to automatically turn my GPS on when I open an app which uses it like CoPilot, Maps, etc... I've always thought that this would save battery life but recently ran a test where it's been left on continuously and I haven't noticed any difference in power use. I wonder if it only really turns on when needed and the GPS on is more of a standby until used, when it's immediately available.
I use tracking software should my phone get lost so would like GPS on constantly, but thinks that Prey and Avast! can turn it on when required anyway. I just haven't tested them.
Any thoughts?

use juice defender and autokiller memory optimizer

Zebede said:
I've spent much of the last year honing my DHD for battery life with custom ROM's and automation apps like the fantastically versatile app TASKER. With it, I can automate just about any task such as turning on a data connection for 3 minutes every 4 hours to sync all my bits and pieces.
I als use another app, Juice Plotter to record a historical graph of batter use over time. It also has a widget which shows me amount of charge left in hours.
I've been using Tasker to automatically turn my GPS on when I open an app which uses it like CoPilot, Maps, etc... I've always thought that this would save battery life but recently ran a test where it's been left on continuously and I haven't noticed any difference in power use. I wonder if it only really turns on when needed and the GPS on is more of a standby until used, when it's immediately available.
I use tracking software should my phone get lost so would like GPS on constantly, but thinks that Prey and Avast! can turn it on when required anyway. I just haven't tested them.
Any thoughts?
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GPS is turned off until an application with permission to discover your fine location uses that permission. If you turned off GPS, it shouldn't turn on anyway, but if you turn it on that is when it will start searching.

GPS is constantly "ON"

I have my GPS enabled. Half of the time I'm using my phone, everything is good, everything works fine. But during the other half of the times, the GPS is constantly on the notification bar. I try restarting my phone, still up there in the notification bar with a 'solid' gps icon which says "Location set by GPS"... I can even turn the GPS off, and then on again, and it still doesn't fix the issue. As i turn on my "Maps" app for the first time, my location is already "accurate to 3 meters" before it even loads the map graphics... How do i figure out which app is causing this, and how do i stop this? it's irritating. I have to constantly check my phone to make sure the GPS isn't active and draining my battery. And please, don't say "Just turn off the GPS". Android is designed to work with the GPS enabled. Even if the GPS is toggled "on", it shouldn't be using it unless it needs it, therefore using zero battery. (Just like wifi is supposed to). thanks.

I have the same issue and it seems like it's Maps that's constantly trying to turn on GPS. Once I have GPS off, my battery life is a lot better. Tried uninstall Maps, clear data, re-install...but the issue is still there but not all the time...very annoyed.

Another reason might be an app that is using gps in the background. Facebook, twitter, and other apps might be the problem?
Sent from my SGH-T999

If you have your google search settings on to make local search better, then the GPS will be on.
Facebook, Maps are all GPS hogs.
Just turn it off and on when you need it, the GPS on the S3 locks in seconds anyway, so its not a problem.