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Turn off GPS upon shutdown

Post by tjude
A few ideas/feature requests:

1) :idea: As a battery saving feature, users should be offered the option for Waze to turn off the GPS when it shuts down. This is very useful and important.

2) :idea: Another Power Saving feature, users should be offered the option for Waze to automatically close whenever they reach the destination labelled as Home or Work - maybe with a voice confirmation ( :) You're Home! Shall I shut down now?).

3) :idea: Additionally, Waze could have the option to automatically fire up when the user leaves one of these locales (although I realize that something would have to be continually running, so this might not be so desirable). (Oooh! Are we going for a ride? Goody! Where are we going?)

4) :idea: Again, to conserve battery life, users could be offered the option to turn off WiFi while they are in motion. It could shut down the WiFi when leaving an entry on the Navigation list and fire it up again when it has not been in motion for 2-3 minutes, or when it reaches another known 'destination'.

The first option should be absolutely effortless to implement. The second, effortless sans confirmations, and very easy with confirmations. The third might be hard and not worth it, but I'd certainly like such an option, and Waze would get more feedback without drivers being distracted ( :cry: Oops, I forgot to turn on Waze. Let's see if I can steer with my knee while I look for that icon.) The fourth could be quite useful, but again, might not be worth the effort.

BTW - How can I become a beta tester for Waze?
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Re: Re: Turn off GPS upon shutdown

Post by tjude
bgodette wrote:Because it doesn't have to. On all supported device OS's as soon as the last app that is requesting fine location shuts down, the GPS receiver is turned off by the OS.
http://www.quora.com/Relative-to-other- ... he-GPS-use

"Both papers indicate the GPS consumes quite a bit of power. The UM team finds that when the GPS is on it consumes 429 mW, versus 174 mW when sleeping. Compare that to the 612 mW the screen consumes when it is at its max brightness. The WIFI operates at around 710 mW when engaged in high speed packet exchange. The 3G operates at either 401 or 570 mW."
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Re: Turn off GPS upon shutdown

Post by tjude
Timbones wrote:Android is the same: GPS is only actually active when it's in use. You don't really need to disable it the rest of the time.
Do you have a link for that?

Here's my link: http://www.quora.com/Relative-to-other- ... he-GPS-use

"Both papers indicate the GPS consumes quite a bit of power. The UM team finds that when the GPS is on it consumes 429 mW, versus 174 mW when sleeping. Compare that to the 612 mW the screen consumes when it is at its max brightness. The WIFI operates at around 710 mW when engaged in high speed packet exchange. The 3G operates at either 401 or 570 mW."
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Last edited by tjude on Tue Jul 10, 2012 2:39 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Re: Turn off GPS upon shutdown

Post by tjude
crazycomputingdotnet wrote:
TJude wrote:
crazycomputingdotnet wrote:1 and 4 can be done if you have android through a program called Tasker...
Yes. I use Llama, which is probably similar...
I guess I am on the side that a lot of those options are nice for power users but most people are not going to either be bothered with tweaking or power management...
Well, maybe, but users seem to be on a bell curve continuum. Some will edit a kernel file, some will ask you to help them tap on an icon. Further in, some will be comfortable writing a whole slew of rules, and some will be able to find options or settings. Even I, WebOS overclocker and CM9 user am non-plussed having to write rules in Llama. I will NOT write rules to provide Waze with functionality that already appears in Telenav (Sprint Navigation). I use Llama for modifying volume by location or time, but beyond that, I'd be coding for apps that should be able to take care of themselves.

Add this to the fact that it's a relatively simple code to turn off a GPS, or, like Telenav, to turn it off ONLY if it was off when Telenav started, and I don't think my request is unreasonable. It's in Waze's best interest to do the simple things to make the app as best it can.

So, sure, you're right, but I still think they should do these things.
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Re: Turn off GPS upon shutdown

Post by tjude
crazycomputingdotnet wrote:1 and 4 can be done if you have android through a program called Tasker...
Yes. I use Llama, which is probably similar. However, I think this is functionality much more valuable embedded into Waze - all 4 points. Setting up 'rules' is not a task for the everyday Android user, but a simple checkbox inside Waze that does all these things simplifies life for users and dramatically reduces the complexity of the system, not to mention the collapsing of the support-points one needs to turn to when inevitably, problems arise.

Would you ask your dear old Gramma to root her droid and then edit a kernel file, or would she prefer to tap 'option a' ? I realize that this is an extreme - but not really so much. Think about it.

BTW - Good on ya for using CM9. My Photon is stock, but my TouchPad is CM9 and it is FANTASTIC!
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Re: Turn off GPS upon shutdown

Post by tjude
bgodette wrote:
TJude wrote:The first option should be absolutely effortless to implement.
Extremely since it already does that.
I guess I missed that. Where is the option? Waze is certainly not shutting off my GPS when I "Turn Off", but I'm sure there is a switch that I can't find. Thanks for pointing it out to me.
BTW - In the online manual, they wrote:Waze works on a number of mobile phone devices with operating systems, such as Android, iPhone and Symbian. Waze requires two essential components in order to work:

GPS receiver. Your phone must have an internal GPS antenna, and you will need to make sure it is turned on with a clear view to the sky in order to use waze. (Underline added)
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Last edited by tjude on Mon Jul 09, 2012 11:22 pm, edited 4 times in total.

Re: Turn off GPS upon shutdown

Post by Timbones
Android is the same: GPS is only actually active when it's in use. You don't really need to disable it the rest of the time.
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Re: Re: Turn off GPS upon shutdown

Post by tibble
TJude wrote:
bgodette wrote:Because it doesn't have to. On all supported device OS's as soon as the last app that is requesting fine location shuts down, the GPS receiver is turned off by the OS.
http://www.quora.com/Relative-to-other- ... he-GPS-use

"Both papers indicate the GPS consumes quite a bit of power. The UM team finds that when the GPS is on it consumes 429 mW, versus 174 mW when sleeping. Compare that to the 612 mW the screen consumes when it is at its max brightness. The WIFI operates at around 710 mW when engaged in high speed packet exchange. The 3G operates at either 401 or 570 mW."
yes, when the gps is active, which will only happen if there is an app running that needs precise location and fires up the gps. When waze quits, it doesn't need the gps anymore, and the OS will cut power to it.
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