Help Tasker/Locale Battery Drain

[droidx_fan]

Tasker looks like a great app to me, however, it seems like many of the automated scripts I would utilize are based on location. This means (I'm thinkiing) that I'd have to have the GPS radio running all the time.

I heavily use the DX and make it through the day (most of the time) without recharging. My concern with tasker or locale is I'd end up sucking up enough battery that I'd end up having to recharge.

Is this a valid concern? Are there other automation activities that make this app worth it? Are there a lot of work arounds (turning GPS on/off automatically) that would minimize the battery drain?

Perhaps the best thing to do is wait until a reasonable extended life battery is available for the DX.

 

[ccjernigan]

I am the developer of Locale.

In one of our more challenging test cases, we have three 100-meter locations configured within a two city block area in Boston, MA. In this configuration, Locale's battery usage is less than 3% of the battery. We repeat this test across many different handsets, including the Droid, Nexus One, G1, Tattoo, X10 mini, Evo, Incredible, Hero, and others. Although usage will vary based on environment--such as being on the subway without cell coverage--the 3% usage metric is typical.

All of Locale's features are extremely power efficient by design. The design goal of Locale is to "just work." We believe users shouldn't have to fiddle with timeouts, intervals, managing GPS/cell/Wi-Fi, and other complex logic to control the location detection system. Instead, Locale uses artificial intelligence techniques to efficiently determine location automatically. In fact, the only options are the size and coordinate of the location the user is interested in. Locale handles the rest!

 

[droidx_fan]

I am the developer of Locale.

In one of our more challenging test cases, we have three 100-meter locations configured within a two city block area in Boston, MA. In this configuration, Locale's battery usage is less than 3% of the battery. We repeat this test across many different handsets, including the Droid, Nexus One, G1, Tattoo, X10 mini, Evo, Incredible, Hero, and others. Although usage will vary based on environment--such as being on the subway without cell coverage--the 3% usage metric is typical.

All of Locale's features are extremely power efficient by design. The design goal of Locale is to "just work." We believe users shouldn't have to fiddle with timeouts, intervals, managing GPS/cell/Wi-Fi, and other complex logic to control the location detection system. Instead, Locale uses artificial intelligence techniques to efficiently determine location automatically. In fact, the only options are the size and coordinate of the location the user is interested in. Locale handles the rest!

Please help me understand. You're saying your program works without GPS on? Or it intermittently turns it on/off? I'm not questioning the program itself consuming the battery, it's the auxiliary need for the GPS radio being on and consuming battery I'm concerned about. I have GPS off all the time on my phone at present.

 

[ccjernigan]

The GPS setting has no impact on battery usage. Think of it as you giving apps permission to use GPS, rather than actually powering the GPS receiver on. Battery usage would only increase if an application then requested a location via GPS, at which point you would see a GPS icon in the status bar at the top of the screen.

Locale uses many technologies to determine your location, including cell towers, Wi-Fi access points, and GPS. The design is that the user shouldn't worry about how Locale works; it just works! Locale will work well without GPS, although we recommend leaving the GPS permission on for areas without Wi-Fi or cell coverage.

 

[Exiled]

I use Locale 24/7 and I love it. I love not having to worry about if my phone is on silent when I'm on my university campus. I have done some testing (location-based profiles on vs. off) and have not noticed a significant impact on the battery life.

 

[DrWurm]

I've been interested in Locale for some time now. How accurate can you make your location profiles? Classroom? Building? 100 meter radius?

 

[ccjernigan]

The smallest Location condition within Locale can be 100 meters, while the largest can be practically any size. We arrived at this minimum size experimentally, as it provides very low battery usage and high reliability.

 

[jasomeye]

I don't have my 3G in my area and you mentioned that the battery would be affected by coverage. If I am running on non-3g coverage or wi-fi all the time will locale still work properly and will it use more battery?