I used to like keeping gps on even if I'm not using it, so that in case my phone gets lost or stolen, I can track it down. But sometimes I check my home screen and see that gps is active (the icon in the notification bar) although I'm not running any apps (even in the background) that would require a gps fix.
So my question is, is there an app out there (or is it possible to develop such an app) that would keep logs of what apps or services are using the gps, so that I can track down the app using it?
It would also be useful to find out if there are any apps 'calling home' without my knowledge, and draining my battery in the process.
So..any suggestions???
Just a shameless bump...come on, no one has heard of such an app or thinks it would be useful??
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On a unit like this HD2, how do apps run in background? Do all apps use power just being there? Like Album app. Does it use up more power? Or like Google map. Does it use power? Or does it keep my GPS on if I have that feature enabled in it, while in background?
I'm trying to figure out how much apps I should be really closing to save battery.
more processing power used, more battery used
Ok, that I knew. What I'm wondering is if a app is in background, does that automaticly mean it's running? Example: Google Map. If it's in bacgound, is it still tracking where I am? Or will it only update when I have it on my main screen? Or lets say it uses my GPS. When in bacgound, is my GPS on or does it turn it off, and only turn it back on once I move it to my main screen?
kivine said:
more processing power used, more battery used
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All apps, whether in the background or not, only use power when they "do" something. This is normally in the event of user interaction. Obviously, if you're watching a video or listening to music then the app is doing stuff without you interacting, but most apps have buttons and textboxes and lists etc. that require you to touch the screen in order to interact with them. In the case of applications like that, they literally sit there and do nearly nothing. They only react.
Of course an application in memory causes the device to utilise more memory and therefore more battery, but it's such an insignificant amount that you may as well say it's not using any. Try running 10 different apps that require input - notes, the remote desktop login screen, internet explorer on the blank page etc. - and see how much battery gets used. I doubt you'll see a significant increase.
Also bear in mind that there are apps that poll for information. There are apps that sit in memory and keep checking on the state of various things so that they can react to them. (Apps that do stuff when you rotate the phone - that kind of thing.) These are obviously active when they check things, so they can use more battery.
In your particular examples, it would be down to the software. Does the google maps app recognise that it's not in the foreground and stop polling gps information? That's purely down to the application and only Google (or the developers) could answer that specific question.
I think that's about it. Hope this helps
After a week or so with the Captivate, one thing that bugs me is that when putting google maps in the background by pressing the home key-in other words, trying to multitask...it stops the gps. When going back to maps it has to regain a lock again..no small task for the captivate. Is there any way to "force" the app not to hibernate when in the background? This also happens if the backlight goes out. Very poor rendition of multitasking, unless I'm missing something
It is done so to conserv battery power. It is by design of GMaps. Keep a satellite lock consumes a lot of juice. Since you're not even look at the map when it is in the background or screen turns off, why waste your battery juice?
Some apps, like Google's My Track app will keep satellite lock on when it is recording your track even if you put the app to background or turn the screen off. That makes sense.
If the GPS on Captivate works properly, it should take no more than 10 seconds to re-accquire the lock. No big deal for other normal working Android phones.
Also, if you use the Navigation feature of Google Maps, it'll continue tracking you with the screen off.
I usually only use Maps to look for things, then I'll use Navigation if I'm actually using it for directions.
If you have the get position test app in LBSTestMode running in the background first before you run maps, it will keep the GPS locked on. I have a shortcut to open LBSTestMode.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
copilot live is only $5 through the market, it will keep the GPS running in the background, also allows you to download maps per region, so no churning through dataplans... its nice, a little buggy getting it setup... but tracks perfectly on my froyo captivate
Tracker Booster keeps the gps running in the background, as does mytracks and LBStestmode, as was mentioned
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897
Thanks for the quick replies guys. Makes sense I suppose..what is the "get position test app in LBStestmode"? Sorry for the newb question
Gingerbread doesn't allow apps to turn on/off GPS anymore (CM still does but it's missing some features for my device that I can't live without). Only system apps can do this these days.
As I use Tasker to automate a lot of stuff this quite sucks. I tried making Tasker a system app but the latest version still refuses to toggle GPS.
Thus my request: Could someone please create 2 tiny apps that just turn GPS on/off that can be moved to system and used by other apps to toggle that setting?
Why do you need to do that?
Just keep gps on, it doesn't do anything while it's not in use by some app. In particular, it doesn't contribute to battery drain while inactive.
some apps use GPS while in background, e.g. Google Maps. So having GPS enabled does drain the battery
XlAfbk said:
some apps use GPS while in background, e.g. Google Maps. So having GPS enabled does drain the battery
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Strange, I don't think I've ever seen that happen. The only time I see the GPS in use indicator on my notification bar is when an app like maps, my tracks etc is in the foreground. Just checked that as soon as I switch away from maps by hitting the home button, the GPS indicator vanishes.
Sent from my COS-DS using XDA App
XlAfbk said:
some apps use GPS while in background, e.g. Google Maps. So having GPS enabled does drain the battery
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Click to collapse
drbobb is right. Having GPS enabled does not mean that the actual hardware is on all the time. It merely means that android will allow apps to use it, at which point the GPS hardware will become active. So having it "ON" is just a permission thing.
If you are worried about GPS background apps (really Maps does that? I will surely test this), then I would highly recommend LBE Privacy Guard. Set the app up in such a way that Maps will need to ask you for permission to switch on GPS hardware. I tried this with the android browser because it uses GPS when you start it at google.com. Works like a charm!
well, it is as it is. this thread is not intended as a discussion thread about whether someone thinks disabling GPS is unneccessary. it's a request for an app that just turns on GPS and quits.
Is there a definitive list of current apps that drain battery (whether on purpose or accidentally) in the background?
I have about a dozen apps installed and one that seems to consistently drain battery in the background is the Bank of America app. I'll notice my drain increasing dramatically throughout the day after I've used the app. Many hours later, I will see a Force Close message for the app.
I don't know what it's doing in the background, but it doesn't show up in the Running Applications or Services (I checked after I used and closed the app). Nonetheless, the Force Close message appears 4-6 hours later.
Has anyone else noticed similar behavior with the Bank of America app?
First make sure you don't have unneeded sync connections running. They are the fastest way to kill your battery.
Go to Settings > Accounts & Sync - Turn off the sync connections you don't need, especially anything HTC.
Use a task manager like ADT to monitor what apps are running. Some apps, like the ones included in the ROM will just run again, so no point in killing them. You could also use a battery monitoring app.
I've optimized my phone per best practices on these forums, but I'm talking about specific applications that may be buggy. The FC on the Bank of America app is unusual because it didn't show up in the Running Applications list, yet was killed later.
Are these Force Close messages (I've seen them for Bank of America and Pandora so far) Gingerbread killing off the app for memory? It usually happens many hours after I've opened the application.
This is my method: I kill all programs using the built-in task manager. Then I head to Running Services and whatever is there, it's draining battery.
Sent from my HTC Sensation 4G using XDA Premium App
I would like to disable the ability to disable the GPS in the phones for use with an "invisible fence" app.
I don't care if the toggle in the notification area goes off or on, but I would like the phone to enable GPS on bootup, and just keep it on regardless.
Any ideas?
Why would you want it to stay on? It is a huge battery hog.
voldomart13 said:
Why would you want it to stay on? It is a huge battery hog.
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mrcpu said:
I would like to disable the ability to disable the GPS in the phones for use with an "invisible fence" app.
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I think I was pretty clear in the original post.
WTF is an invisible fence app??
and any app that requires GPS, will use GPS as needed. OLD Facebook app version for example, as long as it was on your screen, GPS was constantly locking. But it would kill the battery in less than 2 hours from full charge. so the facebook app changed the gps to lock once every so often, while the app is open on screen.
Other apps run a background service to access GPS at a set or random interval. Google Latitude for example. Not on screen, but will check-in or update location when-ever.
As you see the APP needs to have the set permissions, and options selected.
and in the end. your battery is dead in 2 hours with what you *think* you want
TRusselo said:
WTF is an invisible fence app??
and any app that requires GPS, will use GPS as needed. OLD Facebook app version for example, as long as it was on your screen, GPS was constantly locking. But it would kill the battery in less than 2 hours from full charge. so the facebook app changed the gps to lock once every so often, while the app is open on screen.
Other apps run a background service to access GPS at a set or random interval. Google Latitude for example. Not on screen, but will check-in or update location when-ever.
As you see the APP needs to have the set permissions, and options selected.
and in the end. your battery is dead in 2 hours with what you *think* you want
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This is not correct. (at least on the apex rom I'm running).
If you turn off the GPS in settings (not using the toggle on the notification bar), then fire up google maps, the first thing it does is tell you that not all the options for locating the user are turned on, and to go to settings and turn on GPS.
I recall reading somewhere that Google disabled the ability for apps to turn the GPS on and off. They could query it if it was enabled, but couldn't turn it on if it was off.
If the user can turn it off in settings, then that defeats the purpose. I want the GPS on all the time, regardless of settings.
I don't care about battery life, I have 4 captivates in this house, I am well aware of their capabilities and limitations. And I don't really care if you think it's a good idea or not, all I'm asking is if anybody knows of a way.
there is a difference between switching GPS "on" and having GPS activated or locking signal.
in the android settings or with any toogle app, you can turn GPS on or off.
I have it ON 24/7, I bet you do too.
you turn GPS "on", so apps CAN use/activate it if they try to.
you turn GPS "off" to prevent apps from using it, thus reducing battery drain and increasing security.
having GPS on 24/7 doesn't do crap to battery, it depends on the apps, and how they are programmed to use GPS, and if they were programmed to work like you want, they would work like I SAID.
there have been apps that used GPS like you suggested. THEY GOT FIXED. you really dont understand how fast it drains the battery.
and i dont mean to offend, but you also dont understand how the apps interact with the GPS.
Originally Posted by mrcpu
I would like to disable the ability to disable the GPS in the phones for use with an "invisible fence" app.
I think I was pretty clear in the original post.
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No. You weren't, WHAT THE FRICK an invisible fence app? and how does using the LARGE font help?
house full of captivates? did your dad get a family plan?