Getting a GPS-Fix can take a long time especially with an internal GPS receiver. If you are moving, it will even take longer to get the GPS-Fix, so when using a navi like TomTom you should wait for the fix (between a few seconds and more than 20 minutes) befor you start your trip. And when you switch of your phone (standby) or even when you close the application, the GPS module will shut off immediately. When you restart your application or switch on the phone you will have to wait to get a new GPS-fix. This will be quit fast but still annoying. I like to take geotagged pictures (footprints) but befor taking the first picture I have to wait a few minutes and if I don't keep my phone switched on all the time I have to wait another 20 seconds for each next picture.
As far as I know, there are two reasons for the GPS module to get switched of:
1. When short pressing power button (suspend state) or not useing the phone for a few minutes (unattended state) the GPS module gets switched off. This can be fixed quit easily by using these reg-keys (I am not sure if "GPS0:", "GPD0:" and "COM4:" are realy all needed?!). But this only helps if the program which uses the GPS module keeps on running even if the phone is in suspend because of the second reason:
2. When closing the last program which uses GPS, the GPS module gets switched off as well. With some programs you don't even have to close them. When you switch of your phone most of the programs (like TomTom) enter suspend state not using GPS anymore and the GPS module is shut off even if you use the reg-keys from above just because there is no program using GPS in that situation.
A small program together with the reg-keys should do the trick. This program should always run even if the phone is in suspend mode and it should interact with the MS GPS intermediat driver all the time to keep GPS alive.
Features:
- run as a service
The program should always run (hidden from taskmanager) but must not be active (keeping GPS alive) all the time.
- taskbar integration (WM6.5.x compatible)
There should be a symbol in the taskbar indicating the status of the program. Something like red for inactive, yellow for active/connecting and green for active with gps-fix. Pressing the icon should bring up a menu for activate, deactivate and config.
- Program to switch between active and inactive
With such a program it would be possible to switch the program state with an applauncher or via mortscript or you can map this program to a hardware-button. Maybe parameters like "on", "off" and "toggle" can be used with a shortcut?!
Nice to have:
- status led
Configure one of the phones LEDs as an indicator for this service. LED off = service inactive, LED blinking = connecting, LED on = GPS fix.
- auto off
User can choose after how many hours the service will deactivte itself (GPS is still usable but not always on).
- scheduler
Who needs GPS when sleeping or during work?
- multilingual
I could do the german translation!
- gps-tracking
The frequency and the location of the logfile should be configurable and there should be more parameters for the programswitcher: "trackon", "trackoff", "tracktoggle". The taskbaricon should indicate the status of the tracker as well.
- prevent suspend when switching off the phone
Programs like tomtom would keep on running even if you press the powerbutton and you could use it for audio-navigation. With the display shut off the power consumption should be much less.
These are just a few ideas I had when thinking about this program. I already searched the forum and found this interesting thread. It's the one with the reg-keys. If someone is willing to write this program he may find some useful information in that thread
Does such a program already exist? Isn't it a good idea? Will someone write this program?
PS: Sorry for my bad english!
http://www.modaco.com/content/i9x0-omnia-http-omnia-modaco-com/303583/gps-keep-alive-v1-3/
Is this what you need?
Download: http://www.4shared.com/get/s_7izPqr/GPS_Controller_CAB_v1_3.html
Looks very promissing but I still have to do a bit more testing.
Related
my data connection won't automatically disconnect, even if i change the setting in tweak HD, or change it directly in teh registry (the GPRS_bye thing).
i thought this was draining my battery (i was lucky to get 15 hours), as it was pretty much connected all the time ( i have it set to chekc email every 2 hours on 5 different accounts)
it was pretty annoying that i was charging the phone overnight, and it wasn't even lasting until the next evening.
but by mistake i have discovered something (could even be in the user manual, i dont know?) and i have found it very useful so i though i would let you know!
if you are just on the home tab, just press the hang up key, and it will disconnect the data! so now whenever i check the time/read a text message/pretty mcuh every time i look at my phone, i press the hang up button when i've finished.
now my battery easily lasts 2 days (normally dies half way through the third day if i'm stupid enough to leave it long enough) - so i am much happier with the phone as a whole.
i also wondered if its possible to turn off data completely overnight?
e.g. is there a task scheduler, so i can schedule the nodata program to run say from 00:00 to 07:00?
Thanks
The above 'finding' is the function of 'End Key'. You can find and configure in 'Settings'.
As for disabling overnight your data connection you could try 'Outlook email Scheduler'
"h..p://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=438970&highlight=gmail" and have it manually synching an night time.
brillinat works great! i used this key to lock HD but stop all connections is much better choice.
You can leave the "hold button" feature as lock phone and it will still work to turn off the connections of your mobile internet.
For mine, 'single press' shuts down the HSDPA connection, 'hold' locks the phone.
How did you set it so you have only to press the button instead of holding it down to terminate the connection?
Is there any way to switch off the data connection altogether, orange wanna charge me a small fortune to connect. i've already got them to disconnect it but the phone still makes an attempt to connect for weather email etc. is there any way to force it to use the wireless connection only??
You don't need to change anything....well, I didn't. Pressing just once will turn my orange internet (HSPDA) off.
Is there any way to switch off the data connection altogether, orange wanna charge me a small fortune to connect. i've already got them to disconnect it but the phone still makes an attempt to connect for weather email etc. is there any way to force it to use the wireless connection only??
The HD Tweak program (Availabe on these forums) has an option to set up which connections you want to disable. You can perminantly turn off Orange interent from there.
superb!!!
will look later.
cheers
binarysi
Hello,
How do I disable the:
- Loading indicator (when starting up a prog the Windows logo shows up)
- Lighting up of the keypad
- LED indicator when GPS is activated
...when the GPS function is activated.
The context of my question is;
I have a prog installed which sends an stealth sms with the device coords when lost or stolen to the phonenumber I make the request from.
All goes stealth except when the device is activating the GPS function to get the coords. The loading indicator shows up 3 secs and the keypad lights up. Allthoug very brief, this offcourse could make the thief aware that the device is doing something suspicious.
It would be very cool if these could be disabled just for the GPS function. I'm afraid however that these are general functions that can only be disabled permanently or not at all.
So my questions are:
- Can the 3 above named actions be disable for GPS activation only? If so, how would I do that? What registry keys need to be edited?
- If they cannot be disabled for GPS only, is there a way to disable them at all?
I'm looking for an app that can enable & disable wifi at certain times of the day/days of the week etc.
Basically so that while I'm working, my wifi is switched off to preserve battery power, but when I'm out at lunch or home in the evening the wifi is on automatically.
I looked around the site at things like wifiprofiles app, and monsterwifi app etc but unless I missed something I don't think they allow shedules for when wifi automatically switches on & off do they?
Sorry if I'm being thick or missed another option!
you should check out phoneAlarm Pro -- I've been using this for years, it is a powerhouse of control for all sorts of things -- profiles (automatically switchable) include WiFi on/off as well as Data, Ringtones, Volume, Backlight, customizable alerts, etc. I could go on and on... this is my one and only "must have" app!
oh, and of course it's skinnable! you can find plenty of skins and support in the pocketmax.net forums...
Thanks for that. Installed the demo version.
In theory it's spot on, but in practise I can't get the automatic (scheduled) profile switching to work.
I set a time for it to swap from 'Out of hours' to 'Work' and noticed my phone still shows as having the ringer on even though I set the Work profile to be silent etc.
What I don't understand is the relationship between the profiles in this software and the profiles that the phone uses normally.
Ie when installed, I can't see anything that illustrates what profile this software thinks it is currently using, just the usual volume/ringer icon at the top of the screen.
If I change the system volume with the hardware volume button for instance, does this directly influence what profile gets used on Phonealarm? Or should Phonealarm disable the system related profiles/volume control etc?
Me = a bit confused!
yeah, it can get a bit daunting at times cuz it does so much...
can I assume you're on WM 6.5 and Manila/Sense? back in the day, phoneAlarm ran as a Today screen app (still can) -- but now with 6.5/manila it can run as a 'background host' -- so you don't really see it unless you call it up. you can have an Icon 'stick' to the taskbar, but I keep mine hidden and have a key shortcut to bring up "paHost". now, depending on the skin used, you can see what profile is active as well as alarms, status, time, weather, etc...
basically, the profiles 'overtake' the WM settings -- they're still there, just set by phoneAlarm. for example, you can still change the volume as usual, but on the next profile change it will be reset per the profile's settings.
the profile schedules and the custom email/sms alarm are probably the most difficult to understand (or to get working as you'd expect) -- I would recommend downloading the 'user guide' -- it explains things far better than I could here.
lastly -- get familiar with the forum! the FAQ and Support threads cover just about everything, and "Penguin" (the developer/moderator) is really very responsive to everyone's questions and/or needs.
maybe an example would be helpful...
here's how I do it -- when I arrive at work, I plug my HD into a cradle at my desk and it (usually) stays there all day. the ActiveSync connection triggers the "work" profile, which sets volumes/tones, turns on bluetooth headset, etc. etc.
now once I unplug it -- it switches to "car" profile, as I'm (usually) now on my way home. note the "on end" setting in screenshot #2.
when I get home, I manually switch to "home" profile. this would be where you could get into location-based rules -- from gps, cell tower, etc. -- to automatically know you're home, but I don't have them set up at the moment.
then, it will switch to "night" mode at 10:00pm, turning off bluetooth, data, lowering volume & screen brightness, etc. etc.
when I get to work the next day we start all over again. (also note weekdays, as in you could do something different on the weekends)
I hope this helps you -- I think once you get the hang of it this is a truly awesome app. I'll be happy to answer any specific questions you have if I can. Good Luck!
Thanks for the assistance mate.
I think I've got the hang of it now after your posts and looking at the manual (I should have learned by now!). There's a few bits I'm not 100% certain about but it's mainly doing what I want and looks promising.
The phone is guzzling battery power since I installed it but I think I have found why. I have found that the wifi logo is visible all the time but red instead of blue, and previously this was not the case. I notice in the settings it describes toggling 'wireless lan' on or off but not perhaps in the same way as going into comm manager and selecting Wifi on or off. Not sure how I can get round but I need to make it turn off properly as it's burning my battery like the clappers!!
I like it though apart from teething problems!
Hello!
I just bought a HTC Desire (was using an iPhone 3G until a few days ago).
I haven't rooted (yet?), so I'm running stock 2.1. Didn't install any task manager.
I have a few questions I couldn't find answers to...hope you'll help me!
Maybe they are just differences between Android and IOS, everything is so different from the iPhone...
1. Why doesn't wifi turn off when I turn off the screen? The only option I found is to turn it off after 15 min (I don't see the point).
2. I turned off every autosync in every possible setting/app. (turned it off in all apps such as Newsrob, etc). When I'm out I continue to see the HSDPA icon with blinking arrows, as if something was transferring data. I only have the Astrid todo widget and battery snap. no weather, no mail, nothing else.
3. Do I have to switch off wifi and gps using the power widget? If so, why? On the iPhone if you don't use them they won't drain the battery...if I don't open Maps, why would I want to turn off GPS? Isn't it off by default?
4. Sometimes when I receive a text message and I read it, the 'Messages' icon displays a little '1' for a while, then disappears (don't know exactly when).
5. Since I turned off autosync, I have to open mail, press menu, hit refresh to check if I have new mail. I checked the 'Refresh on open' in the default mail app (not gmail). This works, but once the app is in the background and I switch to it, it won't count as a new 'open', so it won't check for new mail and I have to go through 2 additional keypresses. Frustrating, since mail is my most used app. This happens in both mail apps.
6. Is there a way to enable the clockwise landscape rotation?
7. Is there a way to enable a gesture to perform the 'back' action on the browser via the touchscreen? Maybe I need to get used to it, but for now I really don't like to hit the physical 'back' button.
8. The compass works randomly. Sometimes, using Maps, it's perfectly smooth and accurate. Then I close maps, open it again (i.e. switch to it, since it's in background) and it's a mess, doesn't work with the phone on a flat surface but moves if I hold it up vertically. Weird. Also, do I need gps activated to use it?
9. The auto-brightness is way too bright indoors, way too dim outdoors. I tried to trust it for a few days, but always end up going to the power widget and activate the lowest setting while indoor and the highest while outdoors. Any fixes for it?
Quite a long post, I'm sorry...
Thank you, this forum already helped me figure out a lot of stuff
I haven't had my desire long but here's my n00b point of view...
1. So your listening to streaming music the screen goes off your wifi goes off too personally i just leave wifi on unless i'm on holiday.
2. I have never turned off any auto sync options, If you want to be sure of not incurring extra charges, untick data roaming in mobile network settings.
3. My gps is set to off, If i use maps it switches on unless my desire is magical
4. I have had the 1 stick around before too, I have seen an answer to this before but i have forgotten where.
5. you could use the sync widget, or get a task killer to force close the mail app.
6.
7. Dolphin browser has gestures
8. Its been a while since i used the compass because i know where i am i believe a message popped up about enabling gps otherwise it would use the network to determine position or some such thing.
9.
6. enable rotation in settings/display
9. the auto brightness works off the light sensor so no, i have no problem with it tho works fine for me
1. In Advance Settings of my WiFi I found a sleep policy with 3 options:
a) After 15min. b) Never when plugged in. c) Never. I think that 15th minutes is fine, It wont drain so much power.
2. You could use a program like APNDroid to disable mobile internet, there is a widget for faster ON/OFF switch.
3. In Android programs can't change GPS status and you have to turn off/on manually. But for my personal option if the GPS is turned on it won't drain power if you not using it.
4. It bugs me too, It was the same on Windows Mobile.
5. I don't use mail programs on Desire and I'm sorry that I can't help you.
6. Not found my me - asking same question ?
7. Dolphin browser .
8. For me is working fine, but I don't lose myself often
9. I'm using manually brightness settings, but in sunny days AMOLED screen makes me crazy.
6. For this one you need a custom rom as the default rom only allows anti-clockwise rotation I believe
9. The Auto Brightness is rubbish, The power widget is your best and fastest option, Give Extended Controls a look if you dont want a full 1x4 widget bar
On android devices it was always possible to switch localisation services and GPS separately.
You could keep localisation services turned on (with wifi and phone) and turn off GPS to spare battery.
Now with android pie and new smasung settings it is all or nothing as there is onlys one setting :
I can turn on localisation and it turns on GPS
But if you turn it off, it disables everykind of localisation : GPS but also wiifi ...
Has anyone noticed this and is there a workaround ?
I'm not a fan of the always enabled GPS
I really do not like this at all. I have typically always kept GPS off as far back as Jellybean, favoring Locations battery saving mode, unless I needed navigation or something like that. GPS is power hungry and there's no reason to have to have it always enabled. I know Pie is supposed to help with battery usage and I honestly can't judge whether or not it really does yet as this is day two for me.
Pie is supposed to prevent apps from accessing sensors in the background but I've read that this doesn't apply to GPS so this whole thing is probably part of a marketing thing giving Google as well as app devs the ability to monetize ads based on specific location of us the users. Location is frequently wrong about where I am anyway, showing me a street over and even though I have WiFi and Bluetooth scanning enabled. As a result, my Safe Unlock no longer works when I'm home (only location I have enabled) which sucks. With Oreo I saw this somewhat often and only after I had been home for a while would the Safe Unlock work properly and I accepted this as a consequence of having Location in battery saving mode but now I'm not sure. I just no that with Pie, so far, Safe Unlock hasn't functioned once. My designated home WiFi that I'm on as I type should cause Safe Unlock to do it's thing but it's not. Maybe Location or Safe Unlock are broken. I have seen reports of both regarding Pie so I can't blame it in Samsung. I guess I'll have to try to figure out which of these features is broken.
I'm not sure if this is related to the Location issue but I also noticed that Samsung+ is not working for me. When I first tried to open it I got a notification that I need to have location enabled, I agreed (it was anyway), then I was shown a red screen with error or format codes that force closed faster than I could decipher it. This could be related or could have been broken in an update. Other than for ad purposes, and I don't recall seeing any other than Samsung ads in the Samsung app, I don't know why Samsung+ needs to access location services as it only works in the US and the network tells the app I'm in the US as well as the tower I'm accessing. I suppose it's another attempt to collect user info related to WiFi, Mac address and Bluetooth. I only got the "enable location" request the first couple of times I tried opening the app but the red error screen and FC both still occur. I tried to get a screenshot but I could only manage about half of the screen before it FC'd. I attached the partial pic. It's the bottom half of the screen. When it closes, the app window seems to slide up like when you close apps in the recents view. This brings up another complaint...Screenshot is slow to respond so events like this are next to impossible to capture. I'll have to get a camera out and try.
dronarg said:
On android devices it was always possible to switch localisation services and GPS separately.
You could keep localisation services turned on (with wifi and phone) and turn off GPS to spare battery.
Now with android pie and new smasung settings it is all or nothing as there is onlys one setting :
I can turn on localisation and it turns on GPS
But if you turn it off, it disables everykind of localisation : GPS but also wiifi ...
Has anyone noticed this and is there a workaround ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I noticed this. I use 'Tasker' app as a workaround. I set Location Mode to High Accuracy when using Navigation apps, and set to Battery Saving after closing the Navigation app. You can also just create a widget on home screen to toggle Location Mode to High Accuracy or Battery Saving.
I confirmed this setting by using 'Power Toggles' app widget. When the GPS toggle in widget is highlighted, it means on High Accuracy mode, if not highlighted it's on Battery Saving mode.
dronarg said:
On android devices it was always possible to switch localisation services and GPS separately.
You could keep localisation services turned on (with wifi and phone) and turn off GPS to spare battery.
Now with android pie and new smasung settings it is all or nothing as there is onlys one setting :
I can turn on localisation and it turns on GPS
But if you turn it off, it disables everykind of localisation : GPS but also wiifi ...
Has anyone noticed this and is there a workaround ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have yet to notice any adverse battery performance since I've been on pie and I've been on it since the start of the official betas. I was annoyed at first because I had always used battery save mode but really it's been a non issue for me.