Let's sort this out be me declaring some of my assumptions.
-GPS is generally turned off because it would consume battery power unneccessarily when the phone is on, but is not using a feature that requires the GPS.
-For geotagging and Footprints, if the GPS is turned on only when needed, then it would need time to fire up and get a lock on satellites once those features are opened.
-Therefore, if I wanted to geotag a photo, time would be needed to get a lock on the satellites.
Fact: Locking onto satellites takes more than a few seconds in areas with good reception. It will take longer when in high multipath environments. (Incidentally, I use Trimble GPS units professionally. Even our sub-foot accurate, $12,000 units will easily take 30+ seconds to get a lock when first turned on).
So, I have a set of assumptions, and no experience operating the GPS on a smartphone. I'm curious as to how quickly it can get a lock.
Agreed. But some of the posters early made it seem like, why bother geotagging when you can use Footprints.