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Google Employee Claims Google Now App Does Not Cause Significant Battery Impact
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Sounds like you need to turn off 'Ask to join networks' in your wifi settings.
But the key there might be the low reception. If it is triggering a check on your location each time you hit a cell tower it may be following proper directions without realizing its just pinging the same tower on and off.
If you were in a better reception area where connections are more stable you might have different results
I'm not particularly fond of Google. I find some of their policies nasty etc. But I was curious about this revamped app and this issue. So I decided to check it out.
And was surprised to find that I rather like the app, if only because it is kind of one stop portal for many services and it's not a horrid UI. It's rather clean and simple like the old days of Google being just a search box.
And as for the battery issue. I have to side with this employee that it's not really a huge thing caused just by the app. I've used the app on a freshly restored device and the battery loss was maybe a half a percent more an hour than what I'd have without it but that's not insane for a location tracking app. And I haven't seen this constant on that some folks are talking about.
Which is not to say that some folks haven't had issues but the cause might not be as simple as just blaming it on the app. Low reception or constantly moving location come to mind as important factors since either would cause the system to ping your location
And was surprised to find that I rather like the app, if only because it is kind of one stop portal for many services and it's not a horrid UI. It's rather clean and simple like the old days of Google being just a search box.
And as for the battery issue. I have to side with this employee that it's not really a huge thing caused just by the app. I've used the app on a freshly restored device and the battery loss was maybe a half a percent more an hour than what I'd have without it but that's not insane for a location tracking app. And I haven't seen this constant on that some folks are talking about.
Which is not to say that some folks haven't had issues but the cause might not be as simple as just blaming it on the app. Low reception or constantly moving location come to mind as important factors since either would cause the system to ping your location
X2...one thing I don't like is that it will not synch with my work calendar (Outlook) unless I copy all the appointments over to the Google Calendar. And then I have double appointment notices since my iPhone and iPad DO synch with my work calendar.
Can't wait to try it when I travel in a week. I too like just opening the one app to see my updates and it will be nice to have my travel directions easily accessible to my hotels, appointments, etc. from the Google app.
Does make me want to try a Nexus 4 so I can see it constantly and not even have to click on an app.
Why? Is the iPhone supposed to be this magical device completely separate from the rest of the world way beyond anything out there? It certainly was once when it was first, but time has moved on, and those who still like to pretend that it's some magical device and has to be better than anything out there (including specially designed phones that are specifically better at some particular thing, or phones that are in a different part of the spectrum, like "phablets") are simply not living in reality any longer.
Again no pun intended, comparing apples to apples makes some sense, but comparing apples to oranges (despite the fact that they are still fruit, but that's pretty much the main extent of similarities), isn't all that useful.
I decided to try Google Now this morning. I took a screenshot after my iPhone 5 had been unplugged for 2 hours, then turned on the location for GN. I left it on for a couple of hours and took another screenshot. Not much battery use. Granted this was only over 2 hours.
Before Location on:
After Location on:
Before Location on:
After Location on:
I didn't do any significant testing. I'm going based on my previous experience with the routine I have and the only change was enabling Google Now.
No formal, deliberate, studies, but I've noticed my battery percentage going down a few to 5+ points overnight on my iPad when it's just sitting asleep with the smart cover on.
Not a big deal to me, but it is something I've noticed in the past few days since updating the Google app.
Not a big deal to me, but it is something I've noticed in the past few days since updating the Google app.
Ahh, it all makes sense now!
I noticed, not too long ago, my battery tanking while I was at work. I didn't know why it was happening as NOTHING has changed in ANYTHING I do, where I sit, nothing. What I do know is that I do have a low signal in my office building. We can't have wifi (security reasons) so I rely on vzw signal. It is really low and sometimes goes in and out. Now that I think about it, the timing of this release and when my battery started tanking through the day is close...
It may make sense if I keep losing my signal, re-connecting to the tower, losing, re-connect. Yes, I'm aware that this process in general will deplete battery life. It does. Just not enough to really matter on a day-to-day basis. I thought they were maybe doing some work on the tower and it was trying extra hard to keep connection or something... but it's possibly this.
I also noticed that on my commute home, I get a full LTE signal when I leave work. At some point it drops DEAD. I then get a 3G only signal a few miles down the road. Every day. Again, I know this process will drain the battery but if losing/connecting/moving to a new tower triggers this piece of this app to fire and gather location info, it's very possible this was being triggered A LOT durning my day causing my battery drain.
What's more, I don't even remember the last time I used this app! It's gone, let's see what happens...
(p.s. I also work from home 1 day per week when I'm on my home wifi. My batter life is stellar at home all day -- using maybe 15% all day long...so I KNOW my drain has something to do with signal and/or location/gps services)
I noticed, not too long ago, my battery tanking while I was at work. I didn't know why it was happening as NOTHING has changed in ANYTHING I do, where I sit, nothing. What I do know is that I do have a low signal in my office building. We can't have wifi (security reasons) so I rely on vzw signal. It is really low and sometimes goes in and out. Now that I think about it, the timing of this release and when my battery started tanking through the day is close...
It may make sense if I keep losing my signal, re-connecting to the tower, losing, re-connect. Yes, I'm aware that this process in general will deplete battery life. It does. Just not enough to really matter on a day-to-day basis. I thought they were maybe doing some work on the tower and it was trying extra hard to keep connection or something... but it's possibly this.
I also noticed that on my commute home, I get a full LTE signal when I leave work. At some point it drops DEAD. I then get a 3G only signal a few miles down the road. Every day. Again, I know this process will drain the battery but if losing/connecting/moving to a new tower triggers this piece of this app to fire and gather location info, it's very possible this was being triggered A LOT durning my day causing my battery drain.
What's more, I don't even remember the last time I used this app! It's gone, let's see what happens...
(p.s. I also work from home 1 day per week when I'm on my home wifi. My batter life is stellar at home all day -- using maybe 15% all day long...so I KNOW my drain has something to do with signal and/or location/gps services)
I'm doing the exact same thing. Some time last night, I installed Google Now, logged in, and let location tracking run. My intentions starting out were to use it as little as possible to see how much it drains my battery. Over the last day, the only thing I've used it for were a few texts and phonecalls. This is what I've got...
If I don't use my iPhone all that much, I tend to lose about 20-25% of my battery a day (rough estimation). Based on the shots above, I'm not using much more than that with Google Now on.
Next up, I'm gonna set up Google now with a few reminders, set up a few dates, and start driving around. Under what I'd consider medium usage, (tons of phone calls, texts, and occasionally checking my email or webpages), I can usually get home with 15% battery life left (once again, rough estimation). I'll see if Google Now drains it even more.
Here is mine without Google Search.
Most of this was on wifi. I was on the phone for about 30 minutes on LTE actually using it and about 25 minutes not using it but not on wifi.
In 30 minutes of LTE use (texting, twitter and safari) I dropped 15%. No games or videos. Just browsing another forum and I sent like 5 texts.
Battery def goes quick for me. Was even worse with Google Now.
Most of this was on wifi. I was on the phone for about 30 minutes on LTE actually using it and about 25 minutes not using it but not on wifi.
In 30 minutes of LTE use (texting, twitter and safari) I dropped 15%. No games or videos. Just browsing another forum and I sent like 5 texts.
Battery def goes quick for me. Was even worse with Google Now.
My first full working day with Google Now installed.
Just a bog standard iPhone 4.
Wifi on all day (not connected), around 45 mins of navigating with Google Maps with screen on auto. Exchange emails and gmail syncing all day, some browsing/calling/messaging. Not plugged in since this morning and this is how she did.
Not bad at all if you ask me.
Just a bog standard iPhone 4.
Wifi on all day (not connected), around 45 mins of navigating with Google Maps with screen on auto. Exchange emails and gmail syncing all day, some browsing/calling/messaging. Not plugged in since this morning and this is how she did.
Not bad at all if you ask me.
Well, that's what eats battery. And if this is locations you regularly go to, you don't need that option. It will connect without it.
Bottom line, it sucks my battery by 50%
You all can debate all you want whether or not this app is sucking your battery or not. But I am 100% certain it diminished my battery (on my iPhone 5) by 50% during the day. I updated the app on Monday. I noticed by day's end that I only had 30% battery when I got home (typically I have between 70-80%). Didn't think much of it until Tuesday the same thing. I rebooted my phone. But similar drains on Wednesday and Thursday. Then I saw the online complaints last night. So I deleted the app immediately. As I right this note (4:50 PM PST), I have 85% battery remaining which is typical for my day. There is NO doubt this app was responsible for my battery drain.
You all can debate all you want whether or not this app is sucking your battery or not. But I am 100% certain it diminished my battery (on my iPhone 5) by 50% during the day. I updated the app on Monday. I noticed by day's end that I only had 30% battery when I got home (typically I have between 70-80%). Didn't think much of it until Tuesday the same thing. I rebooted my phone. But similar drains on Wednesday and Thursday. Then I saw the online complaints last night. So I deleted the app immediately. As I right this note (4:50 PM PST), I have 85% battery remaining which is typical for my day. There is NO doubt this app was responsible for my battery drain.
After driving 30 miles out to the grand town of SODDY DAISY to do a quick fix at a job site and get some pizza (it's damn good food, and totally worth the drive)...
I'm losing around 12% per hour of usage while running Google Now, which isn't much different than it was before. It's hard to say exactly how much different, since I never really kept track of my battery life before this little experiment. To get the most out of it, I need to repeat the last 24 hours without GN running in the background to see how it does comparatively.
But either way, the drain might be there, but it's not what I'd call significant.
edit: this isn't to say that people experiencing some extreme drain while running GN are just a bunch of fanboys imagining problems so they can gripe about Google. I keep all my running background processes trimmed down about as low as I can to save on battery life. I don't have Twitter, Facebook, or anything installed. I use my iPhone only for getting information (cuz nothing sucks more than being out in the middle of nowhere and only having 5% battery life), and talking to people I need to talk to. The fun stuff is saved for my iPad (so you all don't think I'm some kind of stone cold antisocial stoic dork or something).
Off the top of my head, only the App Store, Fahrenheit, and Mailbox give me updates at all without any direct intervention.
It's possible some people who are having problems with GN because it stacks on top of some other background process in a weird way, and causes battery drain.
I'm losing around 12% per hour of usage while running Google Now, which isn't much different than it was before. It's hard to say exactly how much different, since I never really kept track of my battery life before this little experiment. To get the most out of it, I need to repeat the last 24 hours without GN running in the background to see how it does comparatively.
But either way, the drain might be there, but it's not what I'd call significant.
edit: this isn't to say that people experiencing some extreme drain while running GN are just a bunch of fanboys imagining problems so they can gripe about Google. I keep all my running background processes trimmed down about as low as I can to save on battery life. I don't have Twitter, Facebook, or anything installed. I use my iPhone only for getting information (cuz nothing sucks more than being out in the middle of nowhere and only having 5% battery life), and talking to people I need to talk to. The fun stuff is saved for my iPad (so you all don't think I'm some kind of stone cold antisocial stoic dork or something).
Off the top of my head, only the App Store, Fahrenheit, and Mailbox give me updates at all without any direct intervention.
It's possible some people who are having problems with GN because it stacks on top of some other background process in a weird way, and causes battery drain.
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I have noticed that the location services icon does always seem to be on now, and I've been worried about a quicker battery drain, but it hasn't really been happening.
That said, I already have quite poor battery performance because I get poor to no service in both my apartment and my office (both in Manhattan, NYC by the way, thanks AT&T) so my phone is constantly struggling to stay connected to the network and constantly draining the battery.
That said, I already have quite poor battery performance because I get poor to no service in both my apartment and my office (both in Manhattan, NYC by the way, thanks AT&T) so my phone is constantly struggling to stay connected to the network and constantly draining the battery.
I didn't notice huge battery loss, but too I hate always seeing the location services icon appearing at all given times.
With in Google Search's settings, under privacy I've disabled "Location History" and "Location Reporting". It appears to have resolved the issue. I haven't noticed any differences when doing searches, it still recognizes my location. Will have to wait and see if it's the same when traveling.
With in Google Search's settings, under privacy I've disabled "Location History" and "Location Reporting". It appears to have resolved the issue. I haven't noticed any differences when doing searches, it still recognizes my location. Will have to wait and see if it's the same when traveling.