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GPS automatic on/off with google maps

Please forgive me if there is a topic on this matter, but I didn't find it.
In order to save baterry juice, I'm looking for an app which switch on automatically the GPS (and all its options) when I open Googlemaps (or another map/GPS app) and then switch off the GPS when Google maps goes off (for me Google maps shut down automatically with TaskPanel killer list when my mobile go sleep).
Do you know such an app?
Thanks in advance.

oavon said:
Please forgive me if there is a topic on this matter, but I didn't find it.
In order to save baterry juice, I'm looking for an app which switch on automatically the GPS (and all its options) when I open Googlemaps (or another map/GPS app) and then switch off the GPS when Google maps goes off (for me Google maps shut down automatically with TaskPanel killer list when my mobile go sleep).
Do you know such an app?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Such app is named: Android OS.
I don't understand, why do you want to do everything on your own, if Android already does these things for you and does them much, much better, than you could? Why do you people install all these task killers and other apps, which will probably degrade your battery life and cause some issues?

oavon said:
Please forgive me if there is a topic on this matter, but I didn't find it.
In order to save baterry juice, I'm looking for an app which switch on automatically the GPS (and all its options) when I open Googlemaps (or another map/GPS app) and then switch off the GPS when Google maps goes off (for me Google maps shut down automatically with TaskPanel killer list when my mobile go sleep).
Do you know such an app?
Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For switch on/off gps on enter googlemaps, and others you can use Locale and one or two plug-ins for do that.

The GPS only takes power when it is in use. What you are asking for isn't needed. Turning off the GPS will just stop programs from being able to use it.
So leave GPS turned on, and it will only use power when a program asks for it. It will only ACTUALLY be on when you load google maps.

I believe there's a power widget that can help you. It comes with the Nexus, at least, but can probably be found here or on the market.

Clarkster said:
So leave GPS turned on, and it will only use power when a program asks for it. It will only ACTUALLY be on when you load google maps.
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Click to collapse
That's true only if Google Maps is your only program interested in your current location.
In all other cases it perfectly makes sense to disable GPS as long as you don't want it to be used.
Tasker (http://tasker.dinglisch.net/) is another program that's perfect for this kind of task. IMHO far better than Locale.

Thanks a lot for all your answers, I understand better know how android works.
So I will let the GPS option ON, with no worry for the battery.
I will set taskpanel to Kill maps (and my citybike app) when the mobile goes sleep.
And will try tasker, sounds nice.

oavon said:
Thanks a lot for all your answers, I understand better know how android works.
So I will let the GPS option ON, with no worry for the battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Same for task killing. As I said before, Android does these things for you, you don't have to worry about them. You could have some game running in a background and this will have no impact on your battery or UI smoothness. But killing all tasks will probably cut down your battery life.
One exception is when some app is bugged and it eats CPU power without any reason. But I don't think it is common.

Sorry to bring up an old thread, but some of the information here is not very accurate. At least not for everyone.
It appears to be true that there is not much battery disadvantage when you leave the GPS on (I'm currently working up a big semi-scientific review of this). I also use Latitude, though. Latitude itself also will not use too much battery power. When the two are combined, however, they can kill your battery. I'm talking 50% power drain over 2 hours as opposed to 4% over 2 hours.
I would like to leave Latitude on and have GPS when I need it. Therefore I am going to use tasker to shut off the GPS except for the apps that need it. The network location that Android provides in the meantime is good enough for Latitude.
Until Latitude does a better job of managing the GPS connection I don't see another alternative.

gthing said:
It appears to be true that there is not much battery disadvantage when you leave the GPS on
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Click to collapse
There is *no* such disadvantage, cause GPS is turned off anyway.
gthing said:
Latitude itself also will not use too much battery power. When the two are combined, however, they can kill your battery.
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Click to collapse
Hmm.. Latitude doesn't use GPS for me :-/
EDIT:
And you don't have to do tests: if there is GPS icon in notification bar, then your battery is drained for sure. If there isn't, then everything is ok. It's very simple.

oavon said:
Please forgive me if there is a topic on this matter, but I didn't find it.
In order to save baterry juice, I'm looking for an app which switch on automatically the GPS (and all its options) when I open Googlemaps (or another map/GPS app) and then switch off the GPS when Google maps goes off (for me Google maps shut down automatically with TaskPanel killer list when my mobile go sleep).
Do you know such an app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use the "Auto-Enable GPS for Maps" application, which switches both WiFi and GPS on when you launch Maps, Navigation, Local or Latitude, and restores them to their old state (e.g. switched off) when you quit these apps.
Google Play Store link: play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.duniti.mapsgps

How do i find which app drains the battery?

I usually charge my Sensation at night, but i noticed for two times that when i charged the phone in full at the evening, then gamed or so, and left the battery at 60% or so, on morning i find the battery dead. I would like to find out which app does the draining...
How?

I just looked at all the running applications (Settings>Applications>Running) & looked at the running time for each. Find out which one is running more than it should.

I know that if you leave WiFi and WiFi Calling on overnight, the battery will die. I just turn off WiFi when I'm not using it.
I got an app that is linked in this thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=15527276
It can show what is using your battery.

Shorty, i installed your app, it says that maps is using like i times more resources than android system for the wake time. What app is maps? I didn,t use gps or navigation apps for a few days.
Sent from HTC Sensation

Watch Dog does this

Which Watch Dog?
Watchdog Task Manager
Watchdog Task Manager Lite
3G Watchdog Pro
App Watchdog Pro
Please be more specific

camspy said:
Shorty, i installed your app, it says that maps is using like i times more resources than android system for the wake time. What app is maps? I didn,t use gps or navigation apps for a few days.
Sent from HTC Sensation
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google Maps. sign out of latitude, it's in the options

camspy said:
Shorty, i installed your app, it says that maps is using like i times more resources than android system for the wake time. What app is maps? I didn,t use gps or navigation apps for a few days.
Sent from HTC Sensation
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I think that is the Google Maps app. Probably what xnifex said.

Well, i signed out of Latitude 2 days ago. 1st day it passed the night pretty well and also all the day, till i charged it in the evening, played a few games and left it for the second night at 75% battery.
In the morning it is dead again
Shorty's app doesn't show anything that may help

you did check under partial wake time?

Yes, nothing special.
Android system on #1, total time 6 min
then the rest.
Total for all time, the same for total since boot and last unplugged...
Weird

Tool to manage which apps can use GPS?

I have an app that seems to be making uneccesary use of GPS as reported by my system info on whats using up my battery.
I would like a tool to turn GPS on/off on a per-app basis, so some apps are led to think GPS is off and other apps see GPS as being on and proceed to use it.
Any suggestions?

Bump
Sent from my HTC Sensation XE with Beats Audio using Tapatalk

tk_xda said:
I have an app that seems to be making uneccesary use of GPS as reported by my system info on whats using up my battery.
I would like a tool to turn GPS on/off on a per-app basis, so some apps are led to think GPS is off and other apps see GPS as being on and proceed to use it.
Any suggestions?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i don't think someone would make such an app this is very useless... better switch it on and off...what app is that?

matt95 said:
i don't think someone would make such an app this is very useless... better switch it on and off...what app is that?
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Click to collapse
Not useless. I want maps app to quickly get to GPS without me explicitly turning it on each time, but when I am not running maps, most other apps be barred from GPS to limit battery drain. I go one app hitting if for no good reason.

Advanced Task Killer

Does Advanced Task Killer drain my battery even if I'm not using autokill or killing any tasks at all? Like if I just leave it there, will it still drain.
And one important question as well, if a AOL's notification icon appears in the status bar, but I don't see it on the running services list, is the app still running in the background?
Does anyone have bad battery by using WidgetLocker or Weatherbug? I can't tell what is usingy battery
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium

NekoNyapii said:
Does Advanced Task Killer drain my battery even if I'm not using autokill or killing any tasks at all? Like if I just leave it there, will it still drain.
And one important question as well, if a AOL's notification icon appears in the status bar, but I don't see it on the running services list, is the app still running in the background?
Does anyone have bad battery by using WidgetLocker or Weatherbug? I can't tell what is usingy battery
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok first, throw out ATK. the only reason you should use it is to kill a rogue app that has a bad memory leak, or is stuck in a race condition. and you can do this through the settings in any rom, so there is no need for an app.
Second, do you use an AOL app? if so then if it has an icon on the status bar then yes it is running and it has the ability to drain your battery. if its not showing up in the running services, then its not really running. its a neat trick where the app puts a notification in the bar then closes. and when you click it it reopens to where it was.
As for widgetlocker, i used it for a long time and if its setup right it shouldnt drain battery. it all depends on the widgets you have on both your lockscreen and your homescreen. widgets that use alot of battery will do so, while well written ones will not.
anyway, before i get too far off track. if you think a certian app is sucking your battery dry, use an application to freeze it, or just uninstall it and run the phone for a full charge cycle to see if it improves or stays the same. if it gets better, and you used the phone the same way, than that app is the culprit.

Klathmon said:
ok first, throw out ATK. the only reason you should use it is to kill a rogue app that has a bad memory leak, or is stuck in a race condition. and you can do this through the settings in any rom, so there is no need for an app.
Second, do you use an AOL app? if so then if it has an icon on the status bar then yes it is running and it has the ability to drain your battery. if its not showing up in the running services, then its not really running. its a neat trick where the app puts a notification in the bar then closes. and when you click it it reopens to where it was.
As for widgetlocker, i used it for a long time and if its setup right it shouldnt drain battery. it all depends on the widgets you have on both your lockscreen and your homescreen. widgets that use alot of battery will do so, while well written ones will not.
anyway, before i get too far off track. if you think a certian app is sucking your battery dry, use an application to freeze it, or just uninstall it and run the phone for a full charge cycle to see if it improves or stays the same. if it gets better, and you used the phone the same way, than that app is the culprit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh sorry I didn't mean AOL app I meant like any app that has a notification icon on status bar. And do you know any good apps to monitor what is using the CPU or causing the battery drain?
And I know ATK is not really needed, but does it still drain battery if you don't use autokill or kill any tasks?
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium

NekoNyapii said:
Oh sorry I didn't mean AOL app I meant like any app that has a notification icon on status bar. And do you know any good apps to monitor what is using the CPU or causing the battery drain?
And I know ATK is not really needed, but does it still drain battery if you don't use autokill or kill any tasks?
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i couldnt tell you if it does or not, but if it does not have a service or process running then its not hurting anything.
as for monitoring cpu or battery drain. i use a program called "System Tuner Pro" it costs money, but it tells you what apps are using how much cpu time in seconds. Any app like that will help, but its not a perfect system, it just helps point you in the right direction.
Last Note, the developer of "System Tuner Pro" is a good friend of mine, so i might be bias in using it

Klathmon said:
i couldnt tell you if it does or not, but if it does not have a service or process running then its not hurting anything.
as for monitoring cpu or battery drain. i use a program called "System Tuner Pro" it costs money, but it tells you what apps are using how much cpu time in seconds. Any app like that will help, but its not a perfect system, it just helps point you in the right direction.
Last Note, the developer of "System Tuner Pro" is a good friend of mine, so i might be bias in using it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I just downloaded System Tuner Pro, its awesome. I have it on recording right now, hopefully it doesnt drain too much battery.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium

While recording it will, buy it also will show you EVERYTHING that is happening on your phone
Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk

Klathmon said:
While recording it will, buy it also will show you EVERYTHING that is happening on your phone
Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk
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Click to collapse
Yeah I paid for the app. Do you know if the Maps app eats a lot of battery as well? Its always in the running services.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium

There is a reason Maps is always running. When an app wants to get location data, it can call on GPS. GPS will return the distance from 3 (or more) satellites, various times, and latitude and longitude. This information is useless to the majority of apps that use it, so they will have to convert it to something useful (like nearby address or a city name).
Now, Google knew this, and instead of making each app that needs a city or address figure it out on its own (which would most likely be a slow, resource hungry process) Google made its Maps program open source. So now these apps can just make a call to the always running maps process and it returns an address, city name, nearby supermarkets, ect...
This app is also responsible for your phone being able to get a rough position without having GPS turned on, it gets WIFI data, Cell tower names, and various other things to figure out roughly where you are in the world. This lets apps like WeatherBug to get your city without ever using GPS.
So thats why its always running, and there is no need to try and kill it ever. Maps is a very well written program, and your better off just letting it do its thing. (if you try to fight it, it's probably going to win )

I do believe I have an answer to this. I found today that, after I finally sat down and finished rooting and flashing and installing and rebooting and updating and all the rest of the happy stuff that equals a much happier user, that ATK did infact drain my battery in an exponencial amount. Prior to that, it was ok. After running CM7, in about 2 hours it drained my battery almost to dead. Now, i work in radio shack, so I've had my phone on the charger and my battery was still dying. So in all haste, remove ATK!!!

jaywillsoul said:
I do believe I have an answer to this. I found today that, after I finally sat down and finished rooting and flashing and installing and rebooting and updating and all the rest of the happy stuff that equals a much happier user, that ATK did infact drain my battery in an exponencial amount. Prior to that, it was ok. After running CM7, in about 2 hours it drained my battery almost to dead. Now, i work in radio shack, so I've had my phone on the charger and my battery was still dying. So in all haste, remove ATK!!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also go here and read.
http://geekfor.me/faq/you-shouldnt-be-using-a-task-killer-with-android/

Klathmon said:
There is a reason Maps is always running. When an app wants to get location data, it can call on GPS. GPS will return the distance from 3 (or more) satellites, various times, and latitude and longitude. This information is useless to the majority of apps that use it, so they will have to convert it to something useful (like nearby address or a city name).
Now, Google knew this, and instead of making each app that needs a city or address figure it out on its own (which would most likely be a slow, resource hungry process) Google made its Maps program open source. So now these apps can just make a call to the always running maps process and it returns an address, city name, nearby supermarkets, ect...
This app is also responsible for your phone being able to get a rough position without having GPS turned on, it gets WIFI data, Cell tower names, and various other things to figure out roughly where you are in the world. This lets apps like WeatherBug to get your city without ever using GPS.
So thats why its always running, and there is no need to try and kill it ever. Maps is a very well written program, and your better off just letting it do its thing. (if you try to fight it, it's probably going to win )
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I used system tuner to prevent maps from starting up and it doesnt show up in running services anymore. It seems like my battery is a lot better this way.
The only time I really use maps is for gps. I use gps, maps turns on and then when I turn gps off, maps doesnt run in the background anymore. That's the only reason why im keeping system tuner I have no other need for location service.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium

And plus I don't see why Maps always needs to be running. When I need it for location services, then it could just start up then, no need to always keep it running, I really do believe it drains a lot of my battery.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium

[Q] Maps shows up as my #1 battery eater

When I look at my battery stats at the end of the day, Maps is ALWAYS in 1st place for eating my battery. It shows that it consumes about 30-40% of my battery. Now for the weird part... I haven't run maps during that cycle at all. I have tried cold booting and leaving maps alone. I have tried killing the maps application. It doesn't seem to have an effect.
I am assuming this is an error and that Maps isn't eating my battery. Does anyone have any insight here?
I am rooted, lock bootloader, stock ROM.

Blueback22 said:
When I look at my battery stats at the end of the day, Maps is ALWAYS in 1st place for eating my battery. It shows that it consumes about 30-40% of my battery. Now for the weird part... I haven't run maps during that cycle at all. I have tried cold booting and leaving maps alone. I have tried killing the maps application. It doesn't seem to have an effect.
I am assuming this is an error and that Maps isn't eating my battery. Does anyone have any insight here?
I am rooted, lock bootloader, stock ROM.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm pretty sure the stock battery stats aren't very accurate. You could also bloatware freeze maps.

I've noticed lately that I've had to kill GPS a few times.
Don't know if it's Maps, something else Google or Weather Bug.
Check for the GPS icon lower right corner (1st icon) to see if it's attempting to get a fix.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda premium

GPS is off
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Blueback22 said:
GPS is off
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
I noticed the same thing and started turning wifi off while not in use. Once it was off, Maps no longer showed up as being the greatest battery hog (usually doesn't even make it onto the list now). Though this is annoying that I have to remember to turn wifi off, it seems to resolve the drain.
The only question is, is this due to Maps pinging the wifi to get the current location (I don't need my location while the device is off, they should offer a setting to turn that off)? OR, is it some issue with the battery stats and Maps is just a false positive?
EDIT: I should note that I do not have latitude turned on (so it would need to be a setting other than that to turn off whatever other wifi processing it is doing).

I see the same thing. At first, I just turned off the wifi, and it didn't show up as using the battery, now I just ignore it. It doesn't actually seem to actually be using that much of the battery.
Sent from my ASUS Transformer Pad TF700T using xda app-developers app

i am also facing the same problem. am i thinking should i just freeze it and see how it behave ?

Turn off location settings
I had the same problem too, which I resolved by going into Maps->Settings->Location Settings and then un-ticking everything that was ticked. Maps then no longer needs to stay awake and log your location everywhere you go. The app now only shows up on the battery list when I've actually been using it.