What's the difference between having location services on or off? I know this might be a dumb question, but the little compass icon seems to always be in the notification bar on my DNA. I can't remember if it was always like that or if it only started after downloading Tasker last week. I tried uninstalling Tasker, but it's still there all the time. I know I can turn it off in settings, but should I? Do I need Verizon, Standalone, and Google location services?
Also- lately Maps has been showing up at the top of the list for battery usage. Every day it shows like 60-70% usage with the next closest in the teens. I haven't used maps a lot, and it hasn't really seemed to affect battery life, but I'm wondering if this is related to location services. Has anyone else seen this? Thanks!
For me personally, when I left Verizon Location Services on my battery drained extremely fast and the little location services icon showed that it was active (three lines coming off the right side). When I turned Verizon services off and disabled location updating in Maps my battery increased enormously and the icon no longer showed activity constantly.
I now leave only Google location services on and manually turn on GPS when I need it. No issues since.
Sent from my HTC6435LVW
Thrillhouse847 said:
For me personally, when I left Verizon Location Services on my battery drained extremely fast and the little location services icon showed that it was active (three lines coming off the right side). When I turned Verizon services off and disabled location updating in Maps my battery increased enormously and the icon no longer showed activity constantly.
I now leave only Google location services on and manually turn on GPS when I need it. No issues since.
Sent from my HTC6435LVW
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My battery actually hasn't been draining all that fast, it just seems to show that "maps" uses 60-70% of the battery even in a day where I don't open the application once. I leave gps on but as others have mentioned the phone only uses it when it needs to (evidenced by the satellite icon in the notification bar). I have had gps on since I got the phone but in the first few weeks maps showed as using more like 5-10% of the battery. Can anyone explain what I lose by turning off each of Verizon, Google and Standalone location services?
Standalone is for actual GPS navigation I believe. Where as Google location service is used for getting location for weather and whatnot. I leave Google on all the time and only use standalone for navigation. But I may be completely wrong lol
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk 2
DbZ Gokuu said:
Standalone is for actual GPS navigation I believe. Where as Google location service is used for getting location for weather and whatnot. I leave Google on all the time and only use standalone for navigation. But I may be completely wrong lol
Sent from my HTC6435LVW using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
Nope, you're correct.
I had issues with the weather widget showing incorrect location if Verizon Services is enabled. I only use Google services and enable stand alone for navigation use.
qwertpiratej said:
My battery actually hasn't been draining all that fast, it just seems to show that "maps" uses 60-70% of the battery even in a day where I don't open the application once. I leave gps on but as others have mentioned the phone only uses it when it needs to (evidenced by the satellite icon in the notification bar). I have had gps on since I got the phone but in the first few weeks maps showed as using more like 5-10% of the battery. Can anyone explain what I lose by turning off each of Verizon, Google and Standalone location services?
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Click to collapse
I figured it out... leaving NFC enabled all the time for some reason shows up as Maps usage in battery life. I turned NFC off, and the next day Maps was back down to around 5%.
qwertpiratej said:
I figured it out... leaving NFC enabled all the time for some reason shows up as Maps usage in battery life. I turned NFC off, and the next day Maps was back down to around 5%.
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Click to collapse
qwertpiratej said:
My battery actually hasn't been draining all that fast, it just seems to show that "maps" uses 60-70% of the battery even in a day where I don't open the application once. I leave gps on but as others have mentioned the phone only uses it when it needs to (evidenced by the satellite icon in the notification bar). I have had gps on since I got the phone but in the first few weeks maps showed as using more like 5-10% of the battery. Can anyone explain what I lose by turning off each of Verizon, Google and Standalone location services?
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Click to collapse
I do not use NFC at all, It has been disabled since day 1. I have noticed my MAPS taking up 40-50% of the battery and I never use it. The only thing I enable is googles location services. and when I do use maps, I turn GPS on manually and then off when finished.
My FIX:
When I opened up MAPS, I went into settings > location settings and set location reporting to do not update your location.
This knocked MAPS off my battery usage list
Related
This has been driving me nuts for weeks, so I figured I'd share the info.
Recent releases of Google Maps has been causing intermittent problems for lots of people recently, and seems to especially affect users of CyanogenMod 7. What I kept wondering was why several instances of Google Maps would show up in Advanced Task Manager. But what really confused me, was why my battery stats showed Google Maps drawing almost as much battery usage as my WiFi, which is basically on all day.
It's not exact, but with nothing else going on, WiFi seems to drain about 2% per hour. So basically Google Maps was doubling my non-screen related battery drain for no reason. The part that made this hard to track down is that it went away after a reboot, and only seemed to start lagging after the phone had been on for a few hours during the day, where it would start lagging like it was continuously starting and stopping a CPU-hungry process in the background.
Based on an offhand comment someone said in the GSB thread, I went into Menu -> Settings -> Location & security, and unchecked 'Use wireless networks'. I saw that the Google Maps battery drain was still going, so I rebooted. I mean... it's CM7, so you can put a satellite toggle in the notification area if you need location data. No need to keep it on all the time, right?
So far this reboot has been up for 40-hours, and I'm at 83% after being unplugged for 7 hours with mixed usage. Google Maps isn't even in my list of apps that have used battery power. I'm not going to declare this "problem solved!" but it might work out for you if you've been having similar problems.
I'm using gsb 3.6 and haven't had any of the problems with navigation that other people have had. I keep location turned off and set it like that whenever I install a new rom. You may be on to something.
Sent from my GSB v3.6 using XDA App
trifthen said:
Based on an offhand comment someone said in the GSB thread, I went into Menu -> Settings -> Location & security, and unchecked 'Use wireless networks'. I saw that the Google Maps battery drain was still going, so I rebooted. I mean... it's CM7, so you can put a satellite toggle in the notification area if you need location data. No need to keep it on all the time, right?
So far this reboot has been up for 40-hours, and I'm at 83% after being unplugged for 7 hours with mixed usage. Google Maps isn't even in my list of apps that have used battery power. I'm not going to declare this "problem solved!" but it might work out for you if you've been having similar problems.
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Click to collapse
I tried this a few days ago. I have seen an increase in battery performance. Thanks trifthen!
Thanks this helped a lot
stock rom
If i leave gps on.... and all the apps i have that may use gps (travel, voucher etc) do not run in the back ground,
except google maps.... will this really drain random battery throughout the day.
The reason I ask this is when using google maps...i see the gps symbol on the top of my phone, but once i back out of it...the symbol disappears, and when i go back into it to resume what i was doing the symbol turns back on and the gps has to find my location all over again.
Hence I come to the conclusion that the gps is not 'always on' when you don't need or (given you don't have any dodgy apps)
Then I could turn off googles location sharing thing, because if I am correct you need that on if you want to use location services without gps?
SGS2 uses sirfstar IV
http://www.sys-con.com/node/1822443
http://www.csr.com/products/25/sirfstariv-gsd4t
This is a modern GPS chip, it don't think it uses much battery. I've always GPS on and I've no battery issues. And I agree that it seems that the chip is set to some kind of standby when not in use so turning off the GPS in the settings (or notfication pull down) seems more like a privacy thing than power related.
Thanks for confirming. Will now try leaving gps on and location services off and see what happens. sometimes gps on its own takes a few extra seconds to locate you...might be annoying with certain apps
If you refuse location sharing you will not be able to use WIFI positioning service, but can still use cell tower positioning if your GPS is off. Personally I never use WPS since WIFI use a whole lot of power so I always keep it off. There are situations where it's useful (i.e. inside downtown can't get a GPS signal), so you can decide if you want it or not.
I usually keep my GPS off too, since when I open maps I just want to look at map, I don't need to know my exact location (and use the extra power).
My Galaxy S2 GPS sucks the battery life when I keep it on. My partner keeps his Galaxy S2 GPS on and the icon only comes on when something like Maps loads but immediatly goes away when you you exit Maps. Mine seems to stay on all the time and I can't see any obvious process running all of the time (except Maps). I monitor the battery usage with a tool and GPS is certainly running my battery down far quicker than if I turn it off.
Anyone else experiencing the same?
marklyn said:
My partner keeps his Galaxy S2 GPS on and the icon only comes on when something like Maps loads but immediatly goes away when you you exit Maps. Mine seems to stay on all the time and I can't see any obvious process running all of the time
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Click to collapse
I have the GPS setting turned on all the time, but my GPS only really turns on when I open an app that uses GPS, like Maps or Facebook. Just like your partner.
I actually want to keep it on all the time... like yours
Can you send me your /etc/gps.conf and /etc/sirfgps.conf ?
I'm not sure if that's what control this behaviour.
Noed said:
I have the GPS setting turned on all the time, but my GPS only really turns on when I open an app that uses GPS, like Maps or Facebook. Just like your partner.
I actually want to keep it on all the time... like yours
Can you send me your /etc/gps.conf and /etc/sirfgps.conf ?
I'm not sure if that's what control this behaviour.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I only had the gps.conf, not the sirfgps.conf file. Attached here.
I have to turn on GPS only when I need it for something and turn it off, otherwise it clearly drains my battery, in pretty quick fashion.
I had to rename it gps.txt to upload it.
Keeping GPS on is not draining your battery, because its realy turning on, only on application requests. Battery drain may come from some buggy app, which not close it GPS connection. You can easily see this by your GPS indicator. No indicator - no app using GPS atm - no battery drain, flashing indicator - GPS trying to lock ur position, indicator on - GPS is used and got lock on sattelites.
incident404 said:
its realy turning on, only on application requests
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Click to collapse
Is there a way to keep GPS always on, independent of an application request?
I want to control it on/off manually
I leave GPS on all the time. Only works when apps request / need it. No battery life issues for me.
Sent from my GT-I9100
I've always been under the assumption that it's best to turn GPS entirely off when I don't need it to help save on battery life. I was just reading a thread on another site and it gave me the impression that if it's turned on and the icon is not showing on the status bar, like it does when I'm using Maps, then it's not really tying up any CPU time and draining the battery.
Would that be accurate?
Im pretty sure its true, if maps isn't running, GPS doesnt need to fetch data therefore power isn't used by the GPS radio to fetch coodinates
Sent from my LG-P500 using XDA App
Rores said:
Im pretty sure its true, if maps isn't running, GPS doesnt need to fetch data therefore power isn't used by the GPS radio to fetch coodinates
Sent from my LG-P500 using XDA App
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Yup, although sometimes if GPS is enabled, an app may turn it on when it really doesn't need to, which can sometimes cause battery drain.
Explicitly turning it off prevents this.
Yeah when I think about it, unlike wifi which can always be looking for a connection and BT will also be listening for a device to pair with, GPS doesn't really seem to 'look' for anything, it simply pulls data down upon request.
Do you guys specifically turn it off when it's not in use and by doing it, have you honestly noticed much of a difference?
I'm getting to the point where I'm micromanaging my phone too much and need to step back and just let the phone... be a phone.
i have a tasker profile set up that only turns on the GPS for the apps that i have it configured for, then turns GPS off after the app closes....
So I just noticed in BBS under partial wakelocks that I have 52mins worth of 'NetworkLocationLocator' with a count of 740. I've been having some odd battery drain today and no clue why. I've also noticed that Maps is in 'Running Services' and sometimes there are 2 of them and they can't be stopped.
I've opened Maps only after noticing this and GPS has been off. I run a weather widget but location is turned off. Nothing else I have installed uses any type of location feature (that I know of).
Any ideas what's causing this 52mins of wakelocks?
Kadin said:
So I just noticed in BBS under partial wakelocks that I have 52mins worth of 'NetworkLocationLocator' with a count of 740. I've been having some odd battery drain today and no clue why. I've also noticed that Maps is in 'Running Services' and sometimes there are 2 of them and they can't be stopped.
I've opened Maps only after noticing this and GPS has been off. I run a weather widget but location is turned off. Nothing else I have installed uses any type of location feature (that I know of).
Any ideas what's causing this 52mins of wakelocks?
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Click to collapse
Did you accidentally turned on Latitude?
Nope, never used it. Not even sure what its for. Lol
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
It is in gmaps. Once you sigbed in, it will use network location all the time. And there is no obvious way to sign out until you dig deep into the menus.
What it does is broadcasting your location to your friend 24/7.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using XDA App
dig deep into which menus? i dont seem to have any options in google maps itself, besides a couple map cache options, and labs..
Some where in those menu trees, probably related to latitude, there its a button to sign out the latitude. Google made it so difficult to stop latitude to force you keep using it.
Edit: on latitude screen, menu-> settings. On top of the settings screen, trap on the text 'sign out latitude'.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using XDA App
oh, i never use latitude..
i did start it up just to verify i was signed out like you said..
i still have a maps service started that when killed, comes right back..
gps is off, all location based stuff is off, i kill maps service, it comes right back..
i thought maybe this was keeping maps service open, must be something else.
After digging through the internetz, I finally found how to stop Google Services from draining battery. It's not a ROM issue. It's a Google 4.2.2 issue.
Location Services> uncheck Wi-FI & mobile network location.
I had amazing battery improvement all day yesterday with Wi-Fi netwok location unchecked. Even more evidence, my battery would drain 12-14% overnight with the Google Services issue. After having it unchecked last night, it only drained 2% overnight.
To confirm, I booted up this morning with it uncheck, Google services was way on the bottom of the list. I checked Wi-Fi network location a few hours ago, Google Services is now second on the battery stats list.
No idea what's causing the issue, but unchecking Wi-Fi network location seems to cure the symptom.
h_10 said:
After digging through the internetz, I finally found how to stop Google Services from draining battery. It's not a ROM issue. It's a Google 4.2.2 issue.
Location Services> uncheck Wi-FI & mobile network location.
I had amazing battery improvement all day yesterday with Wi-Fi netwok location unchecked. Even more evidence, my battery would drain 12-14% overnight with the Google Services issue. After having it unchecked last night, it only drained 2% overnight.
To confirm, I booted up this morning with it uncheck, Google services was way on the bottom of the list. I checked Wi-Fi network location a few hours ago, Google Services is now second on the battery stats list.
No idea what's causing the issue, but unchecking Wi-Fi network location seems to cure the symptom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Err...No offense, but you didn't find a "secret" that people didn't know about. Location services constantly uses wifi and mobile signals to pinpoint your location. It's a ground-based GPS-type system, and it drains battery.
I mean it's good that you fixed the issue on your phone, but doing a bit of research would have uncovered this a long time ago (way before 4.2.2)
wifi & mobile network location has never caused this significant of a battery drain before on any device or any previous android release. i switch between the s4 and a galaxy nexus running 4.1.2. google services isn't even a blip on battery usage page on my gnex. i've been using android since jan 2009 with the OG droid and this is the first time that i've ever had to uncheck that box because of significant adverse impacts to battery. google services has never been a battery hog until just very recently.
i didn't claim that i discovered it. i admitted that i found this solution on the web.
i posted this because i've read complaints about google services battery drain on a few different rom threads in the development section where people are incorrectly blaming the rom releases for the google services issue.
cool that it wasn't news to you, but it may be news to others.
h_10 said:
After digging through the internetz, I finally found how to stop Google Services from draining battery. It's not a ROM issue. It's a Google 4.2.2 issue.
Location Services> uncheck Wi-FI & mobile network location.
I had amazing battery improvement all day yesterday with Wi-Fi netwok location unchecked. Even more evidence, my battery would drain 12-14% overnight with the Google Services issue. After having it unchecked last night, it only drained 2% overnight.
To confirm, I booted up this morning with it uncheck, Google services was way on the bottom of the list. I checked Wi-Fi network location a few hours ago, Google Services is now second on the battery stats list.
No idea what's causing the issue, but unchecking Wi-Fi network location seems to cure the symptom.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Isn't this the option that allows Google Now to calculate distance and time for cards that appear?
jvcjbl said:
Isn't this the option that allows Google Now to calculate distance and time for cards that appear?
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Click to collapse
I'm not sure. I disabled Google Now a week ago trying to resolve the Google Services battery drain issue.
jvcjbl said:
Isn't this the option that allows Google Now to calculate distance and time for cards that appear?
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Click to collapse
It is. Disabling this will disable google now as well. I have this battery drain issue since my S3 from June last year. I need to disable wifi location to save battery life when I am on 4.0.4, 4.1, 4.1.2 and 4.2.2. It is always like that for me.
Anyone else having problems with Maps and battery usage? All location services turned off, haven't even opened maps, and it is at the top of my baytery usage, saying GPS is constantly running in background when all location setting are off. Uninstalled and reinstalled to no avail. I've been getting fantastic battery life but still not sure why this is happening. Suggestions?
Sent from my VS985 4G using XDA Free mobile app
Deleted -- figured out what I was asking
gramenz said:
Anyone else having problems with Maps and battery usage? All location services turned off, haven't even opened maps, and it is at the top of my baytery usage, saying GPS is constantly running in background when all location setting are off. Uninstalled and reinstalled to no avail. I've been getting fantastic battery life but still not sure why this is happening. Suggestions?
Sent from my VS985 4G using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try using app ops and set maps Keep Awake to off. Worth a try. You'd have to enable it again when you do actually use maps most likely though
- Sent From My G3
To help improve your battery life check out my guide http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=54342046
or just use greenify-
gramenz said:
Anyone else having problems with Maps and battery usage? All location services turned off, haven't even opened maps, and it is at the top of my baytery usage, saying GPS is constantly running in background when all location setting are off. Uninstalled and reinstalled to no avail. I've been getting fantastic battery life but still not sure why this is happening. Suggestions?
Sent from my VS985 4G using XDA Free mobile app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you ever get this figured out? I am having a similar issue with Map My Ride. I back out of the app, even force stop it, and switch location to battery saving, but map my ride will still show at the top of the list even the next day and it says the GPS has been on for several hours.