sms wrote:
> I use Alltrails for hikes and sometimes the trails are not well-marked
> so keeping the app open, with GPS on, is necessary. If I were doing a
> multi-day trip, with no access to mains power, I might get one of those
> solar chargers that attaches to a backpack. You can only get about 7-10W
> from those, but that could be sufficient.
Nothing wrong with solar chargers, other than it being one more thing to
carry, but what I do on my backcountry hikes is ensure _all_ the radios are
off.
I never researched it, but it's my assumption that all that "seeking" that
radios do (e.g., bluetooth, cellular, wi-fi, NFC, etc.) costs energy.
Me? All my radios are off unless I'm actively using them.
> I just did a long road trip with the GPS on all the time, and it was
> being supplied via a MagSafe adapter providing 7.5W of power (actually
> it was drawing 7.5W, the power to the iPhone was likely about 6W). It
> was slowly charging the phone while the GPS was on, took six hours to go
> from 80% to 100% with Waze going the whole time.
The only problem I have with Waze is the mothership login requirement.
For privacy reasons, I either use Google Maps sans login, or, once I have a
destination coordinates, an offline map which doesn't require Internet use.
I have unlimited data with T-Mobile so I learned that technique in the days
when I didn't - but it's also a privacy based method to turn the net off.
By turning the net off, I presume three benefits are instantly gained:
1. Your cellular data radios use less power (I presume... do they?)
2. Your location privacy is greatly enhanced
4. Your data use is curtailed (which matters in some plans)
> For road trips it's often not so much as knowing the route, but the
> functionality of Waze in terms of traffic congestion, road hazards, and
> police presence. But driving in the L.A. area, I can't imagine being a
> non-resident trying to navigate the freeway system with paper maps,
> though of course people, including me, used to do just that.
We all used paper maps in the past, which is why cellphones made travel
safer, not only for navigation but for lessening the impact of injuries.
Those who blindly believe cellphone use increases accident rates (or
injuries) have _never_ even once looked at the reliably compiled data.
Anyway, to learn whether online navigation uses more power I opened this:
*Does backcountry navigation with the cellular data radio turned off use LESS battery power?*
<
https://groups.google.com/g/comp.mobile.android/c/jcpHoGKq-Ao>
I suspect people who navigation off grid have most of their radios
still turned on, which, I suspect, is a major cause of battery drain.
But let's see what comes of that quest for more objective data.