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Does everybody have location services on and keep find my iphone on all the time?

  • Yes I always have location services and find my iphone on at all times

    Votes: 89 90.8%
  • I have location services on but switch find my iphone off when at home

    Votes: 1 1.0%
  • I leave location services off due to battery issues

    Votes: 8 8.2%

  • Total voters
    98

The Game 161

macrumors Nehalem
Original poster
Dec 15, 2010
31,597
20,844
UK
Just wondering how many of you have location services on all the time and also keep find my iphone on at all times. If you keep location services off, what are your reasons?
 
Can somebody confirm location services only affects battery life if you are using whatever is in location services? it doesn't drain when you aren't using it?
 
I keep location services on, but only for some apps and system features. Find my iPhone is most definitely one of them!
 
I remember I used to keep location services off in the 3GS days because of battery. Haven't worried about it since the 4.
 
I remember I used to keep location services off in the 3GS days because of battery. Haven't worried about it since the 4.

I wish I could still keep it off cause i'm sure it does do a number on the battery but I keep it on like everyone else because of Find My iPhone. Other than that i'd only turn it on when I need it.
 
Can somebody confirm location services only affects battery life if you are using whatever is in location services? it doesn't drain when you aren't using it?

Correct.

The GPS hardware in the phone will be switched off unless it is needed to provide an accurate location.

If a less accurate location is required, this can be provided using cell site and Wi-Fi network data - again, this will only happen when necessary.

Put simply, Location Services will only use power when an Application (or iOS itself) requests your location. Some Applications try and access your location when you perhaps might not want them to.

As for "Find My iPhone", your iOS device will ONLY actually start trying to find your location when you ask it to.

That means that it'll only use power when you go to the "Find My iPhone" web site or Apps.
 
I keep location services on, but only for some apps and system features. Find my iPhone is most definitely one of them!

Ditto. I leave location services on all the time, and use it for apps that truly NEED it to work. Like Find my iPhone.

weather apps, etc don't need it, when I can type in a zip code. I have it on for just a few apps.
 
A few were causing problems

I still have my GPS navigation apps checked, Siri and Find my iPhone, but unchecked a number of the others. One in particular that I really like - seemed to get locked on and was depleting my battery and overheating the phone even while plugged in. So I now tell that one (Nightstand Central) my location and until the update I will not use location services on it, Weather HD, Busy to Do, and my Camera Apps. I was much happier using that functionality - but I've limited my use while I identify the source of the battery drain.
 
Just bought a bunch of sync cords for 99¢ on eBay...keep one in my pocket, keep extras at computers I visit during the day, car, etc. I have cords everywhere!
 
I used to enjoy all the great features iPhones have. I'd use them all.

Now that I have the problem prone 4S, I follow Apple suggestions to turn off those useful services in an effort to help with the problems.

What makes it even harder to understand is the fact that Apple kept the tiny screen and still can't build a phone with decent battery life. I know there are bugs when a new model is released but Apple is supposed to be skilled by now. They should have properly tested this phone before sticking it to us.

The phone should work right out of the box without requiring all the tweaks that it does. My mom's really upset because I made the mistake of telling her how great iPhones are and worth the money. She bought her first last week and is really upset about it's dismal battery life.

These days Apple is not looking so good.

As a hard core user, I'm being as patient as possible and hope they prove I was right to believe in them.

At least they have a new CEO who inherited this mess & is smart enough to fix it.
 
I have location services set on many of my apps (not all of them) and have not seen any problems with the battery life.

I keep Find My iPhone on at all times, even at home, because I don't know when I'll need it. It has helped me find the phone when I misplace it at home. I can beep it to find it, and it has, at times, actually located it to the room in my condo where it is.
 
The biggest problem I've noticed is if I accidentally leave an app that uses GPS "in the foreground". More than a few times I've woke up in the morning with a dead or almost dead phone because something has been sucking down battery all night (I only charge every other night or so). The main indicator is that arrow icon in the status bar.
 
So long as you don't have something running that keeps the GPS arrow displaying 24/7, keeping location services on isn't going to affect your battery.
 
i keep location services on but don't use find my iphone
i've never lost a phone or had one stolen. the only time its out of my sight is at home or in my office (badge access only) so if it gets stolen from home they busted down the door with the deadbolt and if its stolen from my office i can just pull the badge log and find out who was in the room. easy peasy
 
I keep them both on all the time, though I do toggle location services for individual apps. Basically, if it doesn't require locations services, I generally turn it off. I always turn it off on camera apps because I don't want my images geotagged when I post them online and I don't want to have to worry about stripping the EXIF.
 
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