Battery drain has been a common problem among mobile users. Throughout the years, apps have also been considered as major causes of battery drainage. One of the culprits being pointed to as the main reason for a smartphone battery drainage is Google Maps. Although a helpful tool, one user went on Android Central and claimed that Google Maps consumes around 20-50% of your full smartphone battery.
We have collected several solutions below that you can use while still using Google Maps on your phone:
Turn Off GPS
This is the most obvious and the easiest solution as pointed out by Android Pit. Google Maps uses GPS to track a user's current location and provide directions to a specified location. As the app refreshes a user's location (especially when a user is on the move), it drains more battery. There is a GPS button in Android's pulldown tray that lets users turn off GPS functionality easily.
Disable Access Location Feature
A user can change location access settings under their personal settings menu. Simply go to Settings > Location > Google Location Settings, and uncheck the Access Location box to disable all the options in the menu by not allowing the phone to track location. Alternatively, Phone Tipz says users may disable these features (Location Reporting and Location History) individually by clicking on each item and selecting Off.
Android Pit warns, however, that turning off Access Location will affect some apps. Google Now may not be able to work, and location sharing settings may not be enabled in social media apps once the feature is disabled.
Clear the Maps Cache / App Data
Another solution that may fix the battery drain issue caused by Google Maps is by clearing the app's cache and data. According to Android Pit, this works especially after updating the Google Maps app. Android Pit warns users to back up their Maps data before clearing the app data to make sure no important data (like offline maps that a person uses regularly, for instance) is permanently lost.
Uninstall Updates
In drastic cases where the aforementioned solutions do not work, Android Pit suggests uninstalling the Maps updates that were installed. This can be done by going to Settings > Applications, going to the All Applications column, clicking on Maps, and selecting Uninstall Updates inside. The action will revert Maps back to its stock version (the version that came out of the box when the phone was new), and will delete all saved data - offline maps, routes, markers for home and work, to name a few.
Downgrade to a lower version
Users may also downgrade their updated versions by searching for older Google Maps APK on the Internet. Make sure to download only from trusted sources to avoid having problems in the future.
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