Do you keep Location on all the time?

[FLAWLESSVW]

I've always had GPS On/Off on all previous phones rather than "Location"... And if I wanted my battery to last more than a few hours I'd keep GPS off unless absolutely needed.

I'm using Google Now more these days, and more apps are using Location.

Curious, do you guys keep Location on or avoid it like the plague due to battery concerns? I'm thinking "Location" is smarter than GPS On/Off used to be and will only turn the GPS Receiver on when it's actually needed.

Thanks in advance for the replies.

Anthony

 

[AZgl1500]

I set my S5 to High Accuracy and Always On.

The GPS icon only shows up when an app polls the gps receiver asking for a location.

A couple of battery monitoring apps I tried professed to say that it only costs me about 20 minutes of battery life to leave it on.

I can't really tell that it has effected my battery life at all.

I use MacroDroid to automatically turn the internet off when the screen is locked.

MacroDroid turns it back on when the screen is Unlocked.

If the phone is idle all day, it uses about 8-10% battery for 24 hours

But with my normal use, It uses about 25% in 24 hours. I typically recharge it on the 3rd day when I go to bed.

My phone has a Qi wireless charger, I just plop it on the charger and leave it until the morning time. It automatically cuts back to a bare trickle charge, it does not make the phone hot

 

[jejb]

I leave mine off except when I need it. I added a Nova Action for Location to my home screen to quickly access it.

 

[nelamvr6]

I keep my location on all the time, and I have my options set to "high accuracy".

But then again, i recharge my phone every night, so it's not as big a deal to me apparently...

 

[FLAWLESSVW]

I use MacroDroid to automatically turn the internet off when the screen is locked.

Dude stop turning the Internet off, I need it!

No seriously, thanks for the replies guys.

I left location on yesterday but had also been using my phone a lot more than usual. I'll have to experiment a bit and see if it really uses up much battery when idle.

 

[AZgl1500]

Dude stop turning the Internet off, I need it!
.

Garsh, sorry 'bout that fellas, did ya miss anythin' important?

 

[camphill]

I too was experiencing fast battery drain a couple OS updates ago. I tried everything everyone here had suggested with no improvement.

Unless you have a specific need for Location services, turn it off. You will nearly double your battery use. Location is only needed for any app that needs to know where you are, maps, gps anything, camera location tagging, navigation, Facebook, Yelp etc.

Since I turned off Location I'm getting nearly 2 full days on a single charge. Right now I'm at 23 hours and still have 47% battery left.

It can be a very slight pain to have to turn it on when needed but most apps warn you that Location is not turned on so it takes but a second to drag down and tap it on.

Give it a weeks try and you'll get used to turning on Location only when it's really needed.

 

[FLAWLESSVW]

I also find it interesting that Google begs me to location on in virtually EVERY thing I do on my phone. I'm not much of a paranoid type, but their wanting to track location so desperately is certainly no secret based on how many prompts they shove down my throat non stop?

 

[RAS]

Expanding the original question: Yes, I leave Location ON all the time, but I have it set to "GPS only". Can someone explain how "using WiFi and mobile networks" improves the accuracy of your location service compared to GPS alone, and is the improved accuracy worth the extra battery hit for using WiFi and mobile networks all day long?

 

[Sandroidfan]

I keep location off most of time. And even when using it, I usually put it in battery saver mode. I use high accuracy mode only when using map, navigation.

When left in high accuracy mode, your battery drain could spike with high percentage in Android System in battery stats. I think this is due to a lot of samsung apps running in background that needs location access. But other phones seem a little more forgiving on high accuracy location.

 

[nasrin94]

I wont keep them on all the time. I just turn them on when i need. This way it saves my battery life

 

[AZgl1500]

Expanding the original question: Yes, I leave Location ON all the time, but I have it set to "GPS only".

Can someone explain how "using WiFi and mobile networks" improves the accuracy of your location service compared to GPS alone, and is the improved accuracy worth the extra battery hit for using WiFi and mobile networks all day long?

The short and sweet answer is: no way on earth will enabling WiFi or the cell networks improve the accuracy of the phone's location.

What it does do, and the reason Google pushes the issue so hard is, "they don't know where you are because you have the INTERNET turned OFF.

Well horse feathers, I turned the internet off precisely for that reason Google. It is NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS where I am, period.

. Now, I do leave the GPS on all the time, and in High Accuracy Mode because I have determined that it does NOT reduce the battery life enough to make any difference at the End of the Day.

I tried 3 different battery monitoring apps. They all were in general agreement that on the S5, turning on the GPS in high accuracy mode will cost about 20-25 minutes worth of battery during the current discharge cycle.... I will never, ever, notice that.

Simply because when my phone is sleeping, the internet is turned off.

.