It looks like at least on some ROMs battery is drained faster when GPS is enabled (and no application is using it - at least GPS icon is not shown in notification bar) than when GPS is disabled.
Is this a bug or normal behavior?
If this is normal behavior, then why that happens and is there any way (other than disabling GPS when not using it) to turn this feature off?
DavisNT said:
It looks like at least on some ROMs battery is drained faster when GPS is enabled (and no application is using it - at least GPS icon is not shown in notification bar) than when GPS is disabled.
Is this a bug or normal behavior?
If this is normal behavior, then why that happens and is there any way (other than disabling GPS when not using it) to turn this feature off?
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Number 1 rule for saving battery: TURN OFF ANY FEATURE IF YOU DON'T PLAN ON USING IT.
Even if you are not using GPS software, the phone still feeds electricity to your GPS receiver if GPS is enabled. That's not a bug, its just the way things work.
yep it seems to waste battery whenever enabling wifi/bluetooth/gps and not using it
Related
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.
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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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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.
If i turn gps on, but dont actually use it (no gps icon), will it drain my battery?
Tik_Tak said:
If i turn gps on, but dont actually use it (no gps icon), will it drain my battery?
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No, there are no drain: disabling gps via widget or menu simply force gps off even if required by app, but leaving has no power drain if is not enable by application request
Thank you
Unless the satellite icon is in your address bar GPS is off, but remember that it may not show when geo tagging pictures etc, so if you've taken a lot of pics indoors your phone may still be draining your battery by requesting locations via gps or the network.
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?
I have been using llama (Llama on Google Play) since my early days on the OG Atrix and now on the Atrix 2. Moving to the ICS leak, I've noticed that GPS control has been disabled, and after searching I see that Google removed the ability for user programs to enable/disable the GPS.
However, the llama website says this about it:
Android fixed the hack that applications used to turn GPS on and off in Gingerbread (Android 2.3). Bear in mind that Android manages GPS power usage by itself: if no applications are using GPS, then the GPS hardware isn't turned on and using power. The tickbox in the settings is simply permission to use GPS.
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One of the few places I've found that corroborates that statement is this post from a Droid Razr forum (forgive the cross-post): Post on another forum, which eventually says
GPS is turned on by default after updating to ICS. That said, turning it off really won't save battery. It's a myth that just having GPS switched on will drain your battery. GPS will only use battery when it's active, and it's only active when the crosshairs are flashing in the notification bar. That will only happen when you have an app running that uses GPS. So, as long as you're not running something that's using GPS, leaving GPS switched on will not drain any more battery than leaving it switched off.
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Now, obviously there are many programs that might be running in the background that like to use the GPS, and it still seems like there are times I wouldn't want to let anything use the GPS which means the GPS chip should never power on.
Here's the question finally: given the plethora of advice that says to turn off the GPS when not in use, what are you doing with the GPS in ICS?
In my case, Llama can't turn off the GPS for me anymore, so unless I couple Llama with something like Smart Actions (which apparently can turn off the GPS), the GPS is staying on most of the time. I'm going to try leaving the GPS on all the time to see how much it affects my battery.
close tiantam
hi,
i had same problem that profile scheduler did not switch on/off the gps once i upgreded to ICS.
there is a work around for your apk (to turn on/off gps), pls search for "secure settings" at play store which will serve as plug-in for your apk.
unfortunately, it did not compitable with profile scheduler.
i had tried to put profile scheduler as system apk, did not work.
only motorola default profile manager will toggle the gps.
hope this helps.
As far as I can see, the only advantage to the location battery saving mode is that it deactivates your device's GPS. If that's the only savings, then I tend to just leave it on its high accuracy setting. It's sort of a pain to be reminded of this when flipping on the maps or navigation apps which require GPS. And, I don't have that take over the GPS in rogue fashion. Are there other advantages of the location battery saving mode besides simply deactivating GPS?
floepie said:
As far as I can see, the only advantage to the location battery saving mode is that it deactivates your device's GPS. If that's the only savings, then I tend to just leave it on its high accuracy setting. It's sort of a pain to be reminded of this when flipping on the maps or navigation apps which require GPS. And, I don't have that take over the GPS in rogue fashion. Are there other advantages of the location battery saving mode besides simply deactivating GPS?
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Not that I know of. But GPS is a nasty battery drain depending on how many apps will do background requests of where you are (NlpWakeLock), which will go though the GPS if you have it set on high accuracy. It also kinda depends on how fast your gps can locate you, so if you are near a window it will consume less. Overall, I'd discourage you to leave it on, and if you really cant stand to turn it on when you need it, buy Tasker and make profiles to auto turn it on when needed
tylerdurden83 said:
Not that I know of. But GPS is a nasty battery drain depending on how many apps will do background requests of where you are (NlpWakeLock), which will go though the GPS if you have it set on high accuracy. It also kinda depends on how fast your gps can locate you, so if you are near a window it will consume less. Overall, I'd discourage you to leave it on, and if you really cant stand to turn it on when you need it, buy Tasker and make profiles to auto turn it on when needed
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I don't know if that's accurate. That is, when the device has a wakelock and it has to do with those location nlp wakelocks, I don't believe the GPS is activated. GPS is only on when you see the icon in the notification bar as far as I'm aware. For instance, if I select "device only" or turn location completely off, I don't see the nlp wakelocks. I can only best guess that those background location services from Google only use your cell tower proximity to approximate location. In my experience, I don't detect any difference whatsoever between "high accuracy" and "battery saving" mode other than the nuisance of having to flip on GPS for maps, navigation, etc. when in battery saving mode.
floepie said:
I don't know if that's accurate. That is, when the device has a wakelock and it has to do with those location nlp wakelocks, I don't believe the GPS is activated. GPS is only on when you see the icon in the notification bar as far as I'm aware. For instance, if I select "device only" or turn location completely off, I don't see the nlp wakelocks. I can only best guess that those background location services from Google only use your cell tower proximity to approximate location. In my experience, I don't detect any difference whatsoever between "high accuracy" and "battery saving" mode other than the nuisance of having to flip on GPS for maps, navigation, etc. when in battery saving mode.
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I recommend setting location to device only. That's the only way to subdue the Nlp wakelocks. Battery drain is irrelevant unless you are using your GPS for hours a day. Battery drain is actually worse with wifi and network assistance because of the wakelocks.
Aerowinder said:
I recommend setting location to device only. That's the only way to subdue the Nlp wakelocks. Battery drain is irrelevant unless you are using your GPS for hours a day. Battery drain is actually worse with wifi and network assistance because of the wakelocks.
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Right, I'd just as soon keep it there. But, when I switch to device only, within 24 hours I get massive wakelocks from Search in the form of "entries refresh". When this happens, Google Now goes a bit berzerk in that it loses connection and can't refresh. Very strange.
floepie said:
I don't know if that's accurate. That is, when the device has a wakelock and it has to do with those location nlp wakelocks, I don't believe the GPS is activated. GPS is only on when you see the icon in the notification bar as far as I'm aware. For instance, if I select "device only" or turn location completely off, I don't see the nlp wakelocks. I can only best guess that those background location services from Google only use your cell tower proximity to approximate location. In my experience, I don't detect any difference whatsoever between "high accuracy" and "battery saving" mode other than the nuisance of having to flip on GPS for maps, navigation, etc. when in battery saving mode.
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There's an xposed module that puts the old gps active icon back in the status bar for kitkat. I find it quite useful.
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