App to Disable searching for cell signal

[markol91784]

Does anyone know of an app or other way to make the phone stop searching for a cell signal without disabling the GPS. I know if I turn on airplane mode it will stop looking for a cell signal but it also turns off the GPS. I want to take my phone on hiking trips and use the GPS feature but the battery life is cut in half by the cell standby. So I am looking for a way to disable searching for a cell signal without disabling the GPS.

 

[Mohawk3]

Have you tried putting the phone in Airplane Mode and then turning on the GPS through the power widget? I am not sure if that will actually work or not, just throwing that out there.

 

[markol91784]

Tried

Have you tried putting the phone in Airplane Mode and then turning on the GPS through the power widget? I am not sure if that will actually work or not, just throwing that out there.

I just tried it but it does not work. Even in airplane mode it shows that the GPS is on but cannot get a fix on a satellite.

 

[Backnblack]

Does anyone know of an app or other way to make the phone stop searching for a cell signal without disabling the GPS. I know if I turn on airplane mode it will stop looking for a cell signal but it also turns off the GPS. I want to take my phone on hiking trips and use the GPS feature but the battery life is cut in half by the cell standby. So I am looking for a way to disable searching for a cell signal without disabling the GPS.

You need cell for map downloads.....

 

[640k]

unless you are able to use the GPS coordinates to locate yourself, Google Maps will not work without some sort of internet connection.

 

[SGTiger]

unless you are able to use the GPS coordinates to locate yourself, Google Maps will not work without some sort of internet connection.

Oruxmaps, Rmaps, and Maverick among others allows you to download maps for "offline" use. You can use Trekbuddy Atlas Creator to create downloadable maps which use a wide range of sources including Google Maps and topographical maps from Terraserver.

 

[928Droid]

Does anyone know of an app or other way to make the phone stop searching for a cell signal without disabling the GPS. I know if I turn on airplane mode it will stop looking for a cell signal but it also turns off the GPS. I want to take my phone on hiking trips and use the GPS feature but the battery life is cut in half by the cell standby. So I am looking for a way to disable searching for a cell signal without disabling the GPS.

Not exactly what you want, but turning off "Use Wireless Networks" in Location and Security settings should help a little.

 

[RyanS2000]

I have a problem with GPS (i think) draining my battery while I am work (probably because its unable to access a satelite so it constantly tries); when I look at my taskbar I see the satellite dish and the green signal thingies radiating from it. My battery went from 100% to dead over the course of an 8hr work day, only browsed the web for approx 20 mins of that time...no other usage. I disabled GPS location and enabled Wireless networks which helped the following day, still low battery but not dead...I then went to google maps to test it and now my location is way off, approx 1 mile away from my home while GPS is right on the button. I wish it was possible to only allow google maps navigation to use GPS otherwise it be turned off. Anyone have any pointers so that I can have accurate location\navigation without having gps location always enabled?

 

[SGTiger]

I have a problem with GPS (i think) draining my battery while I am work (probably because its unable to access a satelite so it constantly tries); when I look at my taskbar I see the satellite dish and the green signal thingies radiating from it. My battery went from 100% to dead over the course of an 8hr work day, only browsed the web for approx 20 mins of that time...no other usage. I disabled GPS location and enabled Wireless networks which helped the following day, still low battery but not dead...I then went to google maps to test it and now my location is way off, approx 1 mile away from my home while GPS is right on the button. I wish it was possible to only allow google maps navigation to use GPS otherwise it be turned off. Anyone have any pointers so that I can have accurate location\navigation without having gps location always enabled?

I have GPS turned on all the time with no battery problems. Only time I see the little picture of a sat dish is when an app is using it in the background. For example, if you leave Google navigation running in the background, then the sat dish stays there and will drain your battery after a while. My guess is that you had an app running in the background accessing the GPS. You need to figure out which app is keeping the GPS "active".

 

[markol91784]

I have a problem with GPS (i think) draining my battery while I am work (probably because its unable to access a satelite so it constantly tries); when I look at my taskbar I see the satellite dish and the green signal thingies radiating from it. My battery went from 100% to dead over the course of an 8hr work day, only browsed the web for approx 20 mins of that time...no other usage. I disabled GPS location and enabled Wireless networks which helped the following day, still low battery but not dead...I then went to google maps to test it and now my location is way off, approx 1 mile away from my home while GPS is right on the button. I wish it was possible to only allow google maps navigation to use GPS otherwise it be turned off. Anyone have any pointers so that I can have accurate location\navigation without having gps location always enabled?

Check to see what app is draining the battery . Also you can turn GPS off until you need it. I turn off my WIFI almost all the time because it saves battery life.

 

[RyanS2000]

for battery usage it was mostly dolphin browser.next on the list was beauiful widgets. ::shrugs:: ill re-enable gps & keep my eye on it

 

[Guchi]

my GPS just got a lock in airplane mode. so it should work for you. the reason the GPS icon flashes is its trying to lock sats. and it takes a lot longer to get a lock without the network because it provides aGPS (assisted GPS) for almost instant locks. the network basically tells the phone where to "look" for the satalites, without that the first lock can take up to like 5-10 min with a clear view of the sky

 

[GiantDroid]

I live in an area where there is virtually no cell signal. I use wifi when at home to stream music whilst I work. I know that the wifi is draining the battery, as is Last.fm, however to help get a little more life out of the battery, I too would like to know how to turn off the searching for cell signal without turning off wifi too (afaik airplane mode disables all radio signals to/from the device).

 

[rjax]

On my Droid, I can definitely use WiFi while in Airplane mode, and I'm pretty sure I can use GPS.

For WiFi, I had to go into the Settings/Wireless Networks page and check the box to turn WiFi on. Then I opened the browser, and was able to see a web page I hadn't seen before. Then I placed a test call to my Droid that went straight to voice mail.

For GPS, I had GPS on before I switched to Airplane mode, and as far as I can tell, it stayed on. I'm indoors so I can't absolutely confirm, but when I opened up Maps, the GPS signal icon showed up in the Notification Bar.

 

[GiantDroid]

On my Droid, I can definitely use WiFi while in Airplane mode, and I'm pretty sure I can use GPS.

For WiFi, I had to go into the Settings/Wireless Networks page and check the box to turn WiFi on. Then I opened the browser, and was able to see a web page I hadn't seen before. Then I placed a test call to my Droid that went straight to voice mail.

For GPS, I had GPS on before I switched to Airplane mode, and as far as I can tell, it stayed on. I'm indoors so I can't absolutely confirm, but when I opened up Maps, the GPS signal icon showed up in the Notification Bar.

Thanks. I tested and confirmed that after turning wifi back on after switching to Airplane Mode, I could access my LAN.