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Hi.
I played around with some applications using GPS and noticed that my Xperia was pretty warm a few hours after I closed down the last GPS application and the battery was drained a little bit faster than usual.
I then tried to start Google Maps and instantly(!) got a GPS fix.
So my theory is that the GPS remained ON since last time it was used.
Is there any way to see if the GPS is active or not and how to prevent the GPS to remaining being ON after the application isnt using it anylonger.
I doubt it was GPS. GPS alone would hardly warm the device (IMHO). It must have been some program running, or something preventing standby. Wasn't whole google maps running ?
if you havnt changed ur location after the deactivation of GM, thats quite normal behaviour.
it (other GPS SOftware aswell) seem to check if the last known location is the same and if it's the same, u get an instant fix.
my n95 behaved the same
I didnt use Google Map.. I used AmazeGPS.
And My Xperia gets a little hot when running GPS. =)
No applications was running at all after i closed AmazeGPS.
a small note.. after opening google maps, enabling GPS and then shutting down GPS and closing google maps again my xperia is getting colder.
So my guess is that AmazeGPS enabled the GPS.. and then the GPS was constantly on until google maps reinitiated and closed the GPS again.
So.. Is there any application(for the today screen maybe) that can show if the GPS infact is enabled or disabled?
Hey guys - have a question for those of you that have used Dream/Magic.. I notice that most of the really interesting Android apps are location-aware apps.. which got me wondering whether people constantly leave their GPS on and if so, how this goes with the battery life. Or are most of these location aware apps using tower-based triangulation?
For example, some apps let you know if one of your friends is in the area - surely such an app would be kind of useless if your friend had to intentionally turn both GPS and the app on before leaving home.
Thanks!
My understanding is that the Android API has a location call which will use whatever is available... cell tower triangulation, wifi hotspot location and GPS. So apps will just default to the most accurate in any given circumstance, no need to leave on GPS to necessarily get the location features.
Personally I leave GPS and WiFi on and I get about 18 hours out of the battery with some talktime and fairly heavy usage on the screen. I don't get enough for two days even if I turn everything off so the way I see it I'm resigned to charging every day and might as well have the features
georgefrs said:
My understanding is that the Android API has a location call which will use whatever is available... cell tower triangulation, wifi hotspot location and GPS. So apps will just default to the most accurate in any given circumstance, no need to leave on GPS to necessarily get the location features.
Personally I leave GPS and WiFi on and I get about 18 hours out of the battery with some talktime and fairly heavy usage on the screen. I don't get enough for two days even if I turn everything off so the way I see it I'm resigned to charging every day and might as well have the features
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Click to collapse
Your understanding is not correct. As a programmer, you can specify minimum required accuracy, which means that you can force it to require GPS over cell tower.
@rahux: cell tower location doesn't use any extra power since it is connected to the cell towers anyways. Regarding "leaving your gps on", that is really an inaccurate way of saying "not force-disabling the gps". The gps does NOT consume any extra power just because you have it enabled in the system settings... it only consumes power when an application/service is actually USING it, and you can tell when something is using it because the GPS icon will be visible. In other words, if all your gps-aware software is well behaved, then there is NEVER any reason to disable the gps, and if any of your gps-aware software is NOT well behaved, then you should probably uninstall that software rather than disabling the gps.
@lbcoder
That makes sense. Thanks That makes a lot of sense. Just curious - how long would it take to get a GPS signal then? I know my current WinMo phone always takes over a minute to find satellites, sometimes longer (on a clear day in the suburbs). Suppose it doesn't really matter anyway.
Thanks!
I leave it on solely because of "Wheres my Android". I get a GPS fix in less than 5 seconds and [knock on wood] if I ever lose my phone, I want the GPS ability. The developer had written somewhere that you used to be able to force GPS on through the app remotely but that functionality was removed.
I have a g1 & with my GPS enabled I am only down about 25% of my charge on the average day of probably about 15 hours of intermintent use mainly on messaging & web apps.. And some apps do not work with the cell location, but do with GPS.. 1 being an atm location finder for my bank,,
I always leave mine on. The difference in battery life is minimal. The only time you need to worry is if you have an app misbehaving in the background that is checking your location CONSTANTLY. My favorite GPS Speedometer app does this, once you run it there's no way to get it to release the GPS and it will kill your entire battery in just a couple of hours.
But under normal circumstances, simply leaving the hardware enabled isn't going to make any significant change to your battery life, it all depends on how much your background processes are using it.
just got a vibrant just now, new to the tmobile game and i lvoe the phone because i tryed it out as a demo at t-mobile store. only thign i was scared was about the bar problems which i heard are for osme people not all and gps which is coming in a fix. i just turned on the phone nad i noticed while playing with it the battery notification is off track compared to the real battery% is this a fixable in an update or whats the soultion? also friend of mine said it lags after putting apps on there? any word on that? thanks.
Please use the search function.
Im having 0-2 bars on my phone of siginal! My first t-mobile phone and its a lemon i might just resell it
You should just get an iPhone 4.... you seem more on the level of an apple user.
bigg12x said:
Im having 0-2 bars on my phone of siginal! My first t-mobile phone and its a lemon i might just resell it
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try holding with your right hand
Sent from my Samsung Vibrant using XDA App
Yes the battery level is a common problem, but doesn't affect the phone performance. To see the actual battery level go to settings->about phone or download the t-mobile app my account/my device.
As for the bars, as others have reported the connection still works well even though it may display few or no bars. Again, not a big deal.
As for the gps, I have realized that it works really well OUTSIDE but sucks inside. To test this idea, disable "use wireless networks" in settings->location and security, but leave gps enabled. Then go outside and see how long it takes for your location to lock on in google maps. Then go inside and do the same. I have consistently noticed that the gps locks on accurately and quickly if I am outside, but takes horribly long inside. However, wireless network location compensates for the horrible gps signal when inside.
The battery thing is normal for android (i dont know why android hasnt fixed this yet) there are apps and widgets that can correctly display the percentage.
The signal this is not a big deal, its possible you are in a moderate coverage for tmobile. Do a few test calls, you will notice the call is still flawless.
Its not a lemon
I'm sure there will be some kind of software fix for this in the near future. in the mean time, I suggest downloading an app called "battery indicator" from the market.
Sent from Samsung Vibrant using XDA App
bigg12x said:
Im having 0-2 bars on my phone of siginal! My first t-mobile phone and its a lemon i might just resell it
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Click to collapse
The signal is fine but the bar readout is wrong. Have you tried calls? Data? They work fine I'm sure and I know that from experience.
sigeltek said:
You should just get an iPhone 4.... you seem more on the level of an apple user.
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Click to collapse
LOL. Classic .....ROLF....
@bigg12x, try doing a complete reset on the phone. It wouldn't hurt. Also, the things you've heard from your friend is pretty dramatic. There's no serious issues...just some software quirks that can be ironed out.
Chalup said:
Yes the battery level is a common problem, but doesn't affect the phone performance. To see the actual battery level go to settings->about phone or download the t-mobile app my account/my device.
As for the bars, as others have reported the connection still works well even though it may display few or no bars. Again, not a big deal.
As for the gps, I have realized that it works really well OUTSIDE but sucks inside. To test this idea, disable "use wireless networks" in settings->location and security, but leave gps enabled. Then go outside and see how long it takes for your location to lock on in google maps. Then go inside and do the same. I have consistently noticed that the gps locks on accurately and quickly if I am outside, but takes horribly long inside. However, wireless network location compensates for the horrible gps signal when inside.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Or the battery app which shows the Percentage on the notifications bar
so an update is possible to fix that signal bar display
Chalup said:
..........
As for the gps, I have realized that it works really well OUTSIDE but sucks inside. To test this idea, disable "use wireless networks" in settings->location and security, but leave gps enabled. Then go outside and see how long it takes for your location to lock on in google maps. Then go inside and do the same. I have consistently noticed that the gps locks on accurately and quickly if I am outside, but takes horribly long inside. However, wireless network location compensates for the horrible gps signal when inside.
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Click to collapse
i've never had a dedicated GPS unit (Garmin, Tom-tom & magellan) that would get a signal inside my house - i've always been told GPS is line of sight, and anything from house roof, tree cover and heavy overcast or fog would block GPS signal - considering those satellites don't have onboard generators,suspect the signal they're shooting is that great in terms of wattage
smh @ samsung not even addressing the problem and how they will take care of it wow what a company!
Chalup said:
As for the gps, I have realized that it works really well OUTSIDE but sucks inside. To test this idea, disable "use wireless networks" in settings->location and security, but leave gps enabled. Then go outside and see how long it takes for your location to lock on in google maps. Then go inside and do the same. I have consistently noticed that the gps locks on accurately and quickly if I am outside, but takes horribly long inside. However, wireless network location compensates for the horrible gps signal when inside.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have obviously never used GPS before. If it connects at all when you are inside, you are ahead of the game. I have a $600 Garmin Nuvi that will not connect when I am sitting in my car in the garage.
i am able to make calls even showing zero bars of service, its not a big deal. the phone's other attributes out weight a single flaw
I am in BUM-FU## NC tonight, in a mill built in the 1800's with 22 inch brick walls... and I made a phone call perfectly. My parents live in a converted old River Mill.
This phone and T Mobile rock. My brother (iPhone), mother and father (Motorola RAZRs) could not make a phone call as their phones display "No Service".
HAHAHAHA
The bar reading on Vibrant looks too conservative.
I did a side by side comparison at the corp store with my nexus one and found Vibrant has one fewer bar than nexus one.
tl;dr version:
1) Switch data on. (not wifi, data. Has to be data.)
2) ? ? ?
3) PROFIT.
looong version:
I kept wondering why GPS would find many satellites, but would often not lock onto them, or would take a very very long time to lock (around 10 mins or so). Then I noticed that it works fine when data is switched on, and locks within a few seconds.
You should get a lock as soon as you're "fully connected to Google", and "go green" for people who have that enabled.
This is the a part in agps at work Assisted GPS. Click to check the wikipedia article on it.
Accuracy is still a problem, and testing with a friend's DHD, I was getting around 10-6m accuracy, and he generally got 2-4m.
And Samsung's GPS software sucks too. glgps daemon's internal smoothing algorithms are still there, and it's annoying.
~Rawat
Rawat said:
tl;dr version:
1) Switch data on. (not wifi, data. Has to be data.)
2) ? ? ?
3) PROFIT.
looong version:
I kept wondering why GPS would find many satellites, but would often not lock onto them, or would take a very very long time to lock (around 10 mins or so). Then I noticed that it works fine when data is switched on, and locks within a few seconds.
You should get a lock as soon as you're "fully connected to Google", and "go green" for people who have that enabled.
This is the a part in agps at work Assisted GPS. Click to check the wikipedia article on it.
Accuracy is still a problem, and testing with a friend's DHD, I was getting around 10-6m accuracy, and he generally got 2-4m.
And Samsung's GPS software sucks too. glgps daemon's internal smoothing algorithms are still there, and it's annoying.
~Rawat
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Click to collapse
If you go to the Location Settings, and Untick "Use wireless networks" and Untick "Use sensor aiding"
You will get a GPS lock even without DATA. BUT, it will take longer.
Not on my Sgs... with those unchecked and cold start I still get a lock within 10 secs. So something funky in Sgs ii his stuff.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using Tapatalk
So does the SGS2 have similar GPS issues to the original? I'm currently on the Samsung Captivate and have a preorder in for the SGS2. One of the big reasons I'm looking to spend 800 bucks to upgrade is to be done with GPS issues on my phone. If this won't be the case maybe I need to give up on Samsung and wait for HTC to release a dual core beast on AT&T bands...
TheSopranos16 said:
So does the SGS2 have similar GPS issues to the original?
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I have no experience with the earlier Galaxy's but I can compare it to a G2 and G2X. There are three GPS settings: Use wireless networks (cell and Wi-Fi), use GPS satellites, and use sensor aiding. With "use wireless networks" checked and Wi-Fi off it just locked and loaded for me in Google maps in less than a minute from a poor location. With only "GPS satellites" checked it took closer to 2 minutes. It was accurate down to my street address both times. In order of speed from "activation" to "usable" I'd rank the phones in this order: G2, G2X, SGS2. While a bit slower to lock than the others it's fine (accuracy, holding lock) for me. Someone from the EU uses Tracks to measure his walks and was complaining about the street-level accuracy. You might want to check out that thread.
I personally never ever would use the WiFi- and Sensor functions as GPS replacement.
Why?
1) It is responsible for the collection of the location data and sending it to Google.
2) It costs battery power.
3) Why using when the GPS fixes fast enough? What's the problem with waiting for 10 seconds for a fix?
The fix can be made quicker by DL'ing the "GPS Status & Toolbox" app and using it for DL'ing the actual valid GPS sat vectors. That helps the GPS to fix quicker.
Cheers
Zap
Mine is very slow to lock, despite having plenty of sats visible with good strength.
This is compared to 4 different ZTE Blades that showed me how quick locking can be, even indoors.
There is a tool on the market called GPS Aids which was developed for the Galaxy and I'm keen to discover whether this can improve the SGS2.
However, it requires rooting and I'm reluctant to do so as I may decide to replace my phone if it can't be sorted.
Is anyone who is rooted willing to carry out some tests using that or other tools to see whether performance can be improved? I'd really appreciate it.
TheSopranos16 said:
So does the SGS2 have similar GPS issues to the original? I'm currently on the Samsung Captivate and have a preorder in for the SGS2. One of the big reasons I'm looking to spend 800 bucks to upgrade is to be done with GPS issues on my phone. If this won't be the case maybe I need to give up on Samsung and wait for HTC to release a dual core beast on AT&T bands...
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Click to collapse
I've used GPS a few times, and it works fine. Accuracy is a bit weak sometimes (compared to other phones) but it's fine for navigation, and even using mytracks or similar. (although when it goes off on mytracks it'll take a while to get back due to Samsung's inane smoothing)
prusling said:
Mine is very slow to lock, despite having plenty of sats visible with good strength.
This is compared to 4 different ZTE Blades that showed me how quick locking can be, even indoors.
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Click to collapse
Not sure why it's like this, but you have to have data enabled for it to get a quick lock on SGS II, otherwise it'll take a few mins.
I'll give GPS AIDS a test later on. Maybe.
My gps has been spot on from day one-locks in seconds and google maps always puts me in right room of house or parking space etc. The blue accuacy circle is bigger on sgs2 then sgs1 but the reall accuacy is tons better.
--deleted--
Hi everybody.. i have downloaded an app called GPS aids v 2.0 and this has helped me in getting a lock in under 15 secs after which i fire up Sygic and it hardly takes 10 secs to lock my position.
Do put in a thanks if it helps somebody
Just got my att s4. First things first. No lag here... but more to my question. Are any of you getting high gmaps usage in batter screen? Also I force stop it and it re-opens. 5 minutes later.... any suggestions?
Google maps is always running.... do you have GPS on? or that family map thing?
Not sure about family map... idk what that is but yes all location services are on. Found this usage odd as I came from a gnex and it didnt have. It
That is pretty high utlization..... and abnormal actually... try rebooting and charge to full and then monitor again
ive always noticed gmapps tends to run alot on its own, even with gps off. i typically just disable it in application manager, then simply enable it if its ever needed.
I always frezze goggle maps and use waze for gps
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
Its google now. Disable it (and turn off automatic location updates in maps) and you will be good.
Same thing here, turned GPS off and usage goes away.
Questions and help issues go in Q&A
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