Since I've had my iPhone 3G, the built-in GPS/MAPS app has always bothered me... from the "pop-up" settings, to battery drain, completely to turning it on/off, etc...
With 2.0.1 & 2.0.2, it was manageable. I always had Location Services OFF to conserve battery power and when I needed it I'd let the prompts in MAPS turn it on. Not bad, except I had to go back to settings and turn it off after I was done using it.
Along came 2.1 and now Apple changed the pop-up prompts, now forcing you to exit MAPS to turn on LS and then re-enter MAPS. Pain in the ass... Along with others I was hoping Apple could devise a protocol that would allow users to have it ON or OFF, however when ON it would only turn on in MAPS and shut-down when exiting MAPS to conserve power.
I decided to run some "tests" on my iPhone to see what was up and to also not the "reduced" battery life from leaving LS ON.
The Setup:
iPhone 3G (2.1) Jailbroken
Cheapo Headphones plugged in (audio-level 4)
BT OFF for all tests, 3G ON for all tests, WIFI OFF, NO Fetch/Push, & Auto Brightness ON ~30%
BossPrefs Battery % Indicator turned on to get accurate readings
The Test:
2hrs long
Playing movie (2hrs) in iPod
LS Turned ON & OFF
Phone rebooted & fully charged before each test
Test 1 Baseline:
LS OFF
In this test I set my timer for 2hrs, turned off LS and just played the movie for 2hrs. After 2 hrs, battery was 77% (left).
Test 2:
LS ON
This test again was 2hrs long. This time I turned on LS, but I DIDN'T enter MAPS or use pin-point. Simply just turned on LS. Again after 2hrs, battery was 78% (left).
Test 3:
LS ON & Pin-Point
In this test I turned on LS, but then entered MAPS and Pin-Pointed my location (achieved the "pin"). Then I pressed the home button (NOT extended to force quit, just pressed) and open iPod and played the movie. After 2hrs, surprisingly, battery was 80% (left).
WOW, is all I can say. The results show the "same" battery usage, thus there is difference in power requirements between the three tests. I will not, I sure you guys know anyways... if your in maps using "pin-point" it definitely consumes much battery power. From this simple test I gather Apple somehow actually answered our cries. It seems to me that no matter the setting (LS), the GPS unit isn't powered unless your in MAPS and "pin-pointed". So as soon as you "exit" MAPS the GPS unit is powered off, thus conserving power.
Another sanity check I preformed and anyone (you as well) is turn ON LS, enter MAPS, and pin-point your location... OK. Now, exit MAPS by tapping the home button and let the phone sit UNTOUCHED for ~10 minutes. Now re-enter MAPS and you'll see that MAPS needs to "RE-pin-point" you. If it was constantly powered (GPS), when you re-entered MAPS your "pin" should have still been there and not needed to be re-acquired.
Damn... that's a lot of writing. Well I'm happy to see this and I guess I'll be leaving my LS ON.
With 2.0.1 & 2.0.2, it was manageable. I always had Location Services OFF to conserve battery power and when I needed it I'd let the prompts in MAPS turn it on. Not bad, except I had to go back to settings and turn it off after I was done using it.
Along came 2.1 and now Apple changed the pop-up prompts, now forcing you to exit MAPS to turn on LS and then re-enter MAPS. Pain in the ass... Along with others I was hoping Apple could devise a protocol that would allow users to have it ON or OFF, however when ON it would only turn on in MAPS and shut-down when exiting MAPS to conserve power.
I decided to run some "tests" on my iPhone to see what was up and to also not the "reduced" battery life from leaving LS ON.
The Setup:
iPhone 3G (2.1) Jailbroken
Cheapo Headphones plugged in (audio-level 4)
BT OFF for all tests, 3G ON for all tests, WIFI OFF, NO Fetch/Push, & Auto Brightness ON ~30%
BossPrefs Battery % Indicator turned on to get accurate readings
The Test:
2hrs long
Playing movie (2hrs) in iPod
LS Turned ON & OFF
Phone rebooted & fully charged before each test
Test 1 Baseline:
LS OFF
In this test I set my timer for 2hrs, turned off LS and just played the movie for 2hrs. After 2 hrs, battery was 77% (left).
Test 2:
LS ON
This test again was 2hrs long. This time I turned on LS, but I DIDN'T enter MAPS or use pin-point. Simply just turned on LS. Again after 2hrs, battery was 78% (left).
Test 3:
LS ON & Pin-Point
In this test I turned on LS, but then entered MAPS and Pin-Pointed my location (achieved the "pin"). Then I pressed the home button (NOT extended to force quit, just pressed) and open iPod and played the movie. After 2hrs, surprisingly, battery was 80% (left).
WOW, is all I can say. The results show the "same" battery usage, thus there is difference in power requirements between the three tests. I will not, I sure you guys know anyways... if your in maps using "pin-point" it definitely consumes much battery power. From this simple test I gather Apple somehow actually answered our cries. It seems to me that no matter the setting (LS), the GPS unit isn't powered unless your in MAPS and "pin-pointed". So as soon as you "exit" MAPS the GPS unit is powered off, thus conserving power.
Another sanity check I preformed and anyone (you as well) is turn ON LS, enter MAPS, and pin-point your location... OK. Now, exit MAPS by tapping the home button and let the phone sit UNTOUCHED for ~10 minutes. Now re-enter MAPS and you'll see that MAPS needs to "RE-pin-point" you. If it was constantly powered (GPS), when you re-entered MAPS your "pin" should have still been there and not needed to be re-acquired.
Damn... that's a lot of writing. Well I'm happy to see this and I guess I'll be leaving my LS ON.
