How can I reduce power usage in a location-based Android application?

Question

How can I reduce the power usage in my application? What code can I use to implement this?

Answer 1

There are a couple different ways to reduce the power used when trying to get location information.

1. Use the last known location instead of trying to determine the current location.

   // Get a Location Manager
   LocationManager lm = (LocationManager) getSystemService(Context.LOCATION_SERVICE);
   
   // Try to get the last GPS based location
   Location l = lm.getLastKnownLocation(LocationManager.GPS_PROVIDER);
   
   // Fall back to cell tower based location if no prior GPS location
   if (l == null) {
       l = lm.getLastKnownLocation(LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER);
   }
   

2. Use a less expensive location provider. You can pick LocationManager.NETWORK_PROVIDER directly or specify the criteria you care about and let Android tell you which location provider to use.

   // Select the criteria you care about
   Criteria c = new Criteria();
   c.setAccuracy(Criteria.ACCURACY_COARSE);
   c.setPowerRequirement(Criteria.POWER_LOW);
   
   // Let the system tell you what provider you should use for your criteria
   LocationManager lm = (LocationManager) getSystemService(Context.LOCATION_SERVICE);
   String p = lm.getBestProvider(c, true);
   
   // Call other Location Manager functions using the above provider...