Auto turn off and on GPS

[ericlmccormick]

This seems like a simple concept, but when I open up and close a program that uses GPS, why can't its just automatically turn on the hardware when it needs it and turn it off when you close out of the app? When I start any navigation program its ask for me to turn on the GPS, I go to that page, select to turn it on, then it ask about my location/911 setting. Why can't there be a setting to just have it do it automatically, it can't be that hard right?

 

[IzelTokatl]

Probably a security feature of Android. Wild case scenario would be... would you like the crazy government to send out a signal to turn on your GPS to track you when you stole that cup cake from the bakery?! um... no... you want to be able to hide and tell the phone when GPS is on and off... so you can steal as many cup cakes without being tracked.....

heh.

Basic security thats all. Once root comes out though, there may be a way to grant programs on off access to the GPS swtich

 

[Podivin]

I think you're not keeping in mind that all the apps are written by different people, each doing things their own way. You'll never get them all to do it the same. The best thing to do is put the gps toggle on your home screen so that you can easily turn it off when done using an app that needs the gps.

 

[shh]

This seems like a simple concept, but when I open up and close a program that uses GPS, why can't its just automatically turn on the hardware when it needs it and turn it off when you close out of the app? When I start any navigation program its ask for me to turn on the GPS, I go to that page, select to turn it on, then it ask about my location/911 setting. Why can't there be a setting to just have it do it automatically, it can't be that hard right?

I leave my GPS on all the time and the GPS icon only shows up in the notification area when I use an app that needs the GPS. Doesn't seem to unduly affect battery.

 

[ericlmccormick]

Probably a security feature of Android. Wild case scenario would be... would you like the crazy government to send out a signal to turn on your GPS to track you when you stole that cup cake from the bakery?! um... no... you want to be able to hide and tell the phone when GPS is on and off... so you can steal as many cup cakes without being tracked.....

heh.

Basic security thats all. Once root comes out though, there may be a way to grant programs on off access to the GPS swtich

I have widgets that turn it on and off already, I just want the option for navigation programs to handle the task automatically. That or maybe someone can build a plug-in for Locale that checks if a certain program is running and then I can choose for another action to occur based on if that app is running or not. The second idea would have some kick ass uses.

 

[IzelTokatl]

I just use a home widget, makes life simple.

 

[willdogs]

I leave my GPS "On" all the time. Although it is not really "ON" all the time.

When you switch your GPS to ON, you are really just making it "Available" for an application to use if it needs to.

So unless you see the GPS Icon at the top of your notification area with the little Green lines going, then your GPS is not using any battery.

I hope you understand what I'm trying to say lol.

Basically your GPS is only TRULY on when an application that needs it is using it. Otherwise it is dormant.

So Unless you have a fear of people finding you then you can just leave it switched on 24/7

My Battery still lasts me a full day and sometimes a day and a half with lighter use.

 

[OfTheDamned]

I leave my GPS "On" all the time. Although it is not really "ON" all the time.

When you switch your GPS to ON, you are really just making it "Available" for an application to use if it needs to.

So unless you see the GPS Icon at the top of your notification area with the little Green lines going, then your GPS is not using any battery.

I hope you understand what I'm trying to say lol.

Basically your GPS is only TRULY on when an application that needs it is using it. Otherwise it is dormant.

So Unless you have a fear of people finding you then you can just leave it switched on 24/7

My Battery still lasts me a full day and sometimes a day and a half with lighter use.

+1

Mine is on 24/7. Unless the little icon is going in the status bar, it isn't really running.

 

[Scouter]

It seems like whenever I leave mine "ON" the icon is always in the task bar, even after I turn it off. If I go into the settings it says it is off, but the icon is still there.
Is there any way to know which programs are accessing it?

 

[OfTheDamned]

It seems like whenever I leave mine "ON" the icon is always in the task bar, even after I turn it off. If I go into the settings it says it is off, but the icon is still there.
Is there any way to know which programs are accessing it?

Are you backing out of programs to close them or just hitting the home button? With many programs the only way to close them out is to hit the back button or open the menu and use a preset end/quit option. Hitting home will leave the app open and running in the background so it actually will continue to use the GPS even though you are done with it.

 

[willdogs]

It seems like whenever I leave mine "ON" the icon is always in the task bar, even after I turn it off. If I go into the settings it says it is off, but the icon is still there.
Is there any way to know which programs are accessing it?

I think there is some confusion here.

One Icon in your notification area is a "Location on" icon. This means that it is using cell tower triangulation to "Guesstimate" your current location

There is a separate icon which is when your actual GPS antenna is in use. This will give you your EXACT location (Well almost exact, within a few feet)

I will see if I can post a picture to explain better.

 

[TheSultan]

I do the same thing, I just leave mine on 100% of the time. I only see it in the status bar when an app begins to use it.

 

[alprazolam]

I haven't tested this in 2.1 beta but under 1.5, I would use a program such as Google Maps and the icon would blink the green signal bars constantly even after turning the GPS off. I would kill programs with ATK and nothing changed. I think that it is actually being used when the bars are solid green.

 

[Scouter]

That is exactly what mine does. I always back out of any open programs. To make it go away I have to restart the phone.
I have been playing with it today and it seems to be shutting down like it is supposed to

 

[ooo.stephen]

playing around with my ATT Captive, i found that without the 'task manager' app running (the little green monster icon), gMaps will not automatically enable/disable gps. i'm also running 'launcherPro', and it will not handle the gps process either. however, just letting 'task manager' run seems to do the trick. i don't have to kill any processes or anything. i just see the gps icon appear and disappear.

 

[kennyfool]

I really don't think that having it Enabled uses much battery life, however, I was also interested in this issue and came across this article. Basically It's like using Juice Defender to automatically enable/disable 3g/wifi with certain apps. The same concept can be applied when using Tasker. keep in mind that Tasker is $6.49, but is TOTALLY worth every penny. You can set it to automate almost anything. Hope this helps


http://lifehacker.com/5599116/how-to-turn-your-android-phone-into-a-fully+automated-superphone