“This app kills my battery.” It’s one of the most common complaints about any location app. And it’s grounded in reality: knowing where you are, all the time, takes work from your phone. But the drain varies a lot from one device to another, and much of it can be controlled.
At the same time, there’s the opposite problem: phones that save so aggressively they stop the app, and then arrival alerts don’t arrive, the history has gaps and it seems like “the app doesn’t work”.
This article explains, without jargon, what uses battery in a location app, how a good app tries to save power, which settings to change on iPhone and Android, and what’s a myth.
What really uses battery
Four things account for most of the drain:
1. The GPS receiver
To calculate a precise position, the phone turns on its satellite receiver. It’s the component that uses the most power when left on for long, especially in places with weak signal, where it takes a while to “find” the satellites.
2. The data radio
Each position has to be sent to the server. Sending data over the mobile network wakes up the phone’s radio, and it stays powered for a few seconds after each send. Many small, frequent sends use more than a few batched ones.
3. Waking the processor
With the screen off, the phone tries to sleep as much as possible. Every time an app needs to work in the background, it wakes the processor. A few times an hour is little; all the time is a lot.
4. The screen with the map open
Leaving the map open on screen, at high brightness, often uses more than background tracking. If you open the app and leave it open for a long time, the screen is the main culprit.
How a good location app saves power
The most efficient strategy is not asking for the position at the same rate all the time. When someone is still, at home or at work, there’s no reason to update their position every few seconds.
LeMoove uses the phone’s motion sensors to tell whether a person is still, walking or in a vehicle. When still, the app updates much less often; when moving, it updates more to show the route. That’s why the app asks for the “Motion & Fitness” permission on iPhone and “Physical activity” on Android.
Another important principle: silence isn’t a bug. A phone sitting still at home goes to sleep and stops sending its position for a while. That’s expected, and it’s exactly what saves battery. The map keeps showing the last known position, with the time.
iPhone settings
iOS is more predictable than Android when it comes to background apps, but a few settings make a difference:
- Location “Always”: in Settings, LeMoove, Location. With “While Using the App”, the app only gets the position with the screen open, and arrival alerts fail.
- Precise Location on: without it, the position becomes an approximate area, and arrival alerts become imprecise.
- Motion & Fitness: allow it, so the app knows when you’re still and saves power.
- Background App Refresh: in Settings, General, Background App Refresh, keep LeMoove on.
- Low Power Mode: when on, the iPhone cuts back background activity. Alerts may be delayed while it’s active.
One caveat: force-closing the app (swiping it up in the app switcher) can stop updates until you open the app again. You don’t need to close apps on iPhone to save battery.
Android settings
On Android, things vary a lot between manufacturers. Many devices have their own battery-saving systems that aggressively suspend background apps, even when you’ve granted every permission.
In general, here’s what to do:
- Location “Allow all the time”: in Settings, Apps, LeMoove, Permissions, Location.
- Physical activity: allow it, so the app saves power when you’re still.
- No battery optimization: in Settings, Apps, LeMoove, Battery, choose the unrestricted option (the name varies: “Unrestricted”, “Don’t optimize”, “Allow background activity”).
- Don’t let the app “sleep”: some manufacturers put rarely opened apps on a sleeping or deep-sleeping list. Take LeMoove off that list.
- Auto-start: on some devices there’s a separate option that lets the app start again after the phone restarts. Keep it on.
Menu names change with the brand and system version. If you can’t find an option, search for “battery” and “background” in the app’s settings. The independent site dontkillmyapp.com keeps instructions by manufacturer.
Common myths
“Closing all your apps saves battery”
Generally, no. On both iPhone and Android, reopening an app from scratch usually uses more than leaving it in the background. And for location apps, force-closing can stop sharing.
“GPS stays on all the time”
Not in a well-built app. The receiver turns on when it needs a precise position and turns off right after. At rest, the app uses cheaper signals and updates much less.
“If the battery drops fast, it’s the location app’s fault”
Sometimes it is, but often it isn’t. The battery settings on iPhone and Android show which apps used the most in the last few hours. It’s the most honest way to find out.
“You can share your location in airplane mode”
No. GPS may still work, but without a connection the position doesn’t reach anyone.
And when the battery is running out?
A dead battery is the most common reason “someone disappeared from the map”. That’s why it’s worth turning on the low battery alert: you get notified when someone’s phone reaches the level you choose (from 5% to 90%; the suggestion is 20%), before it turns off. See more on the alerts page.
In LeMoove’s next update, the battery guardian will show an estimate of how long the battery will last, like “12% · about 45 min”, and only shows the number when there’s enough data for it to be reliable. Learn more on the intelligence page.
Quick checklist
- Location “Always” (iPhone) or “Allow all the time” (Android).
- Precise Location on (iPhone).
- Motion and physical activity allowed.
- No battery optimization for the app (Android).
- Notifications on.
- Don’t force-close the app.
- Low battery alert on for the people you follow.
Frequently asked questions
How much battery does a location app use per day?
There’s no single number: it depends on the phone model, the battery’s age, how much the person moves and the system’s power-saving settings. The most reliable way to find out is to check per-app battery usage in your phone’s settings after a normal day.
Does battery saver mode turn off sharing?
It doesn’t turn it off, but it can reduce how often updates happen and delay alerts while active.
Is it worth setting location to “While using” to save battery?
It saves power, but the app no longer knows where you are with the screen off. Arrival and departure alerts and trip history end up with gaps.
Someone shows “no signal” while their phone charges at home. Is that a bug?
Usually not. A phone sitting still at home goes to sleep and sends its position less often. The map shows the last known position and the time.
In short
Every background location app uses some battery, but most of the drain comes from GPS left on unnecessarily, sends that are too frequent and an open screen. A good app updates less when the person is still. On the phone side, the right permissions and a battery-saving exception avoid both problems: unnecessary drain and alerts that never arrive.
