Location icon always there in upper toolbar

[mgtsol]

Hi,

I have always had a little icon in the upper taskbar on the right-hand side, next to where the wi-fi, GPS and 3G icons are. It wasn't on the list of icons I found somewhere on these forums but I'm pretty sure it's the icon for "location". It kind of looks like a crosshair: a circle split into four quarters and then a tiny arrow pointing in all four directions.

I've always had really terrible battery life with this phone. I'm sure a huge part of that is the fact that as soon as I got it I switched it on while plugged in and played with it for something like 4 hours. But I've also been trying to help the battery life out by trying to check out what's running in the background most of the time.

So, that icon. I've got the Location option in settings switched off so I'm not sure why it's always switched on. Can anyone shed any light on this?

Oh also, as a bonus: What's the little circular icon with the two arrows mean? It's the same icon as you get in browsers where they mean Refresh. If that's on does that mean the phone's constantly polling the tower and getting updates (emails, data etc)?

 

[defkorn]

if the "location" one you described is what i think it is, your gps is running. this is a huge battery drain and can be disabled (and turned back on when you need it) or kill the app thats using gps.

the arrows in a circle you mentioned is the sync icon. its syncing contacts, calender, email, etc with google afaik, this shouldnt be running for long and shouldn't be much of a drain on the battery.

hope that helps!

 

[tehmonker]

its for 911 locational services, it can't be turned off, but its also not a drain on the battery, just telling you that incase you called 911, and then died, they'd be able to find your body

 

[necosino]

if the "location" one you described is what i think it is, your gps is running. this is a huge battery drain and can be disabled (and turned back on when you need it) or kill the app thats using gps.

the arrows in a circle you mentioned is the sync icon. its syncing contacts, calender, email, etc with google afaik, this shouldnt be running for long and shouldn't be much of a drain on the battery.

hope that helps!

GPS is one of the smallest drains on battery, actually. It is not constantly on, ever, unless you are navigating. When GPS is enabled, an app can turn on the GPS to get a position. Disabling GPS simply blocks that access. So the only time GPS will EVER be on is when an app is asking for it, which isn't very often.

 

[mgtsol]

Thanks guys, interesting to know.

 

[Berner]

its for 911 locational services, it can't be turned off, but its also not a drain on the battery, just telling you that incase you called 911, and then died, they'd be able to find your body

BTW, its a FCC requirement that 911 locational be active. The carrier can't give you the option to disable it.

GPS is one of the smallest drains on battery, actually. It is not constantly on, ever, unless you are navigating. When GPS is enabled, an app can turn on the GPS to get a position. Disabling GPS simply blocks that access. So the only time GPS will EVER be on is when an app is asking for it, which isn't very often.

Thanks for help spread the truth about this. The OS does a really good job minimizing the use of GPS, so there's no need to turn off the radio entirely. Also, I recommend using "network location" for any app or widget that doesn't need pinpoint accuracy (e.g., weather). Use the GPS with maps and navigation programs only, and it'll have negligible impact on battery life.