If I leave GPS on but don't run GPS apps will it still drain the battery?

[DurangoJim]

I'm wondering if I leave the GPS setting on all the time but only don't run maps or other programs that would use GPS often, will it still run down the battery more quickly than if I just have GPS set to off. I searched but couldn't find a direct answer.

 

[phone]

From what I understand you can leave GPS on and it won't suck your battery, until an app needs it. I've seen this with the browser and google.com. GPS will pop up when loading the site, when I close the browser GPS stops. Having said that, there's always the chance an app won't work cleanly as expected, and keep GPS running after it closes.

 

[640k]

you're pretty safe to leave all of your services on and still get decent battery life. gps included. i think gps is probably the most under-utilized service on the phone, which will help to extend your battery life.

 

[92SHO16]

There a video on youtube all about battery consumption, its an hour long, [video=youtube;OUemfrKe65c]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUemfrKe65c[/video] , there is the link if you interested. But if not i can tell you the talk about using various radios on the device and leaving the gps idle does suck a tiny little bit of power.

 

[640k]

of course it's going to use SOMETHING... but not nearly as much as when it's on all of the time.

btw if you watch an hour long video on your DROID, you've got more issues to worry about that leaving the GPS on. LOL.

 

[soyboy]

I leave everything except wifi on all of the time. Doesn't seem to make much difference in battery life.

 

[rocketman45]

The Mobile Defense app website states that it is a myth that leaving GPS on runs down the battery. Of course, to be able to locate your phone if lost Mobile Defense needs for your GPS to be on. I've gone back to leaving GPS on all the time since I have the Mobile Defense app and I must say I haven't noticed any change in battery life which in general has been pretty good.

 

[BayouFlyFisher]

I leave everything on all the time (GPS, Bluetooth, WiFi). I just checked and GPS wasn't even listed as having used battery today (6:00 am to now). My mail program was the lowest program listed and it was 2%. So GPS was less than that. However, I've not used any program today that used GPS.

 

[hookbill]

Try it and find out. I think you will see that you can leave GPS on and it will not show any battery use unless of course you use it.

 

[RW-1]

I know that one of the first updates to Google maps were to fix an issue listed as that the app didn't turn off GPS after it was closed, so I would say that most well coded apps will enable/disable when needed.

I've done it both ways and didn't see a major battle change. My caviat to that is wifi, toggle when needed so it doesn't sit searching all the time.