Powerconsumption and MRA Next

[Reinhard Neumann]

Hi.
I love MRA for planning and sharing my routes. I also keep trying to use MRA Next for navigation. But powerconsumption during navigation seems to be pretty high. My charge mount, neither on the bike nor in the car can keep up with MRA Next' powerconsumption during navigation. Tracklog recording is fine, it seems, but active navigation empties the batterie over time.
Are there any hints or suggestions to this issue? Phone is a Samsung Galaxy S21 FE. Usually it does not have charging or power issues.
Or are there plans to reduce powerconsumption in future releases?

Thanks!
Reinhard

[Con Hennekens]

@Reinhard-Neumann, if you read around the forum a bit, you will see that this problem, that has been around from the very start, finds its cause in the HERE platform. Devs are working together with HERE to get it solved.

In the meantime it can help to evaluate the charging capacity of your charger and cable combination. Often much improvement in charging capacity is possible simply by choosing better chargers and cables. an app that shows charging/discharging may be helpful. "Ampere" or "Charge meter" are such apps.

[Reinhard Neumann]

@Con-Hennekens Thanks for your reply. I also think it is a combined problem, powerconsumption and charger.
On my bike I have installed a QuadLock wireless charger. With this I can imagine it won`t provide enough charging power for current power requirements of Next. However, there is no other option form me at the moment. With this I hope for an improved powermanagement within MRA Next.
In the car it is a different story. I do have a quite powerful USB charger connected. The problem is more the phone overheating when MRA Next navigates. And of course, the hotter the batterie gets, the less power in it allows. Until it turns of because of temperature.
So, my only hope is better powermanagement with MRA.
Cheers
Reinhard

[Con Hennekens]

@Reinhard-Neumann said in Powerconsumption and MRA Next:

So, my only hope is better powermanagement with MRA.

Yeah, most of us are waiting for that
But the effort is on HERE's side, not on MRA's.

[Con Hennekens]

@Peter-Schiefer said in Powerconsumption and MRA Next:

The problem of battery consumption is, as now often repeated, very likely a Problem with the Map provider HERE.

Was I not saying exactly the same...
And it is not likely, it is a fact.

@Peter-Schiefer said in Powerconsumption and MRA Next:

Why could HERE with the own App more battery efficient than MRA?

That's simple... It's not...
Unless they found the problem by now and are one SDK version ahead of MRA, what in itself is quite possible, since it's their own SDK. Multiple comparisons between MRA and WeGo have been conducted in the past, and WeGo was even worse on battery drain than MRA's app...

[Flat Twin Therapy]

@Con-Hennekens
Not sure if I understand your remark correctly... Are you saying the HERE app also suffers from the same battery drain as MRA? Because, that is not the case.

I use HERE for years during my summer holiday to navigate: connected with an USB cable I have a positive charge.

When using MRA to navigate using the same USB cable, I have a negative charge.

I tested it today, to see if things might have changed over time, but no:

• HERE app navigations with USB cable gives a positive charge
• MRA app navigation with the same cable gives a negative charge

So, there is definately a difference between HERE and MRA and this difference is not recently, since I'm using HERE for years and this never resulted in negative charge, while MRA is resulting in a negative charge since I started using it.

cc: @Corjan-Meijerink

[M. Schrijver]

@Flat-Twin-Therapy said in Powerconsumption and MRA Next:

@Con-Hennekens
Not sure if I understand your remark correctly... Are you saying the HERE app also suffers from the same battery drain as MRA? Because, that is not the case.

I use HERE for years during my summer holiday to navigate: connected with an USB cable I have a positive charge.

When using MRA to navigate using the same USB cable, I have a negative charge.

I tested it today, to see if things might have changed over time, but no:

• HERE app navigations with USB cable gives a positive charge
• MRA app navigation with the same cable gives a negative charge

So, there is definately a difference between HERE and MRA and this difference is not recently, since I'm using HERE for years and this never resulted in negative charge, while MRA is resulting in a negative charge since I started using it.

cc: @Corjan-Meijerink

This interesting.
MRA told me that HereWeGo have the same problem and that Here confirmed it.
I always wanted to try HereWeGo. But i never came to it

[GT JWR]

@Con-Hennekens if MRA is using the HERE platform, then MRA has just as much responsibility to solve the issue. Granted, it seems all MRA can do is continue to push HERE - hopefully this is the case.

It is frustrating as it has been a known issue almost from the beginning, however, the benefit of doubt goes to MRA - keep pushing, hopefully if people continue to raise, and keep this issue in the forefront, MRA just might get HERE to take more of an active approach.

[GT JWR]

@Peter-Schiefer interesting information.

When I discovered MRA, I was impressed with the web based planner, and being I was responsible for last years annual motorcyle ride (~4000mi over 10 days), I bought the Gold membership. And the planner is still top notch, in my opinion. Can't wait to see what improvements/upgrades they have for it.

As for the app itself, never did use the old version as this latest iteration was released. While I do see a lot of promise in it, the power consumption makes it difficult to trust over a days riding. For short, in city/town routes, if needed, it seems to be ok.

The MRA Team does indeed, seem to be very busy, and going a good job - I just hope they have some sway with HERE to solve this issue, then, again, in my opinion, MRA will have 2nd to none nav app that compliments already great route planner.

[Con Hennekens]

Sorry, I have been on a short break for a few days.

@Flat-Twin-Therapy said in Powerconsumption and MRA Next:

Not sure if I understand your remark correctly... Are you saying the HERE app also suffers from the same battery drain as MRA? Because, that is not the case.

Yes that's exactly what I am saying.

I use HERE for years during my summer holiday to navigate: connected with an USB cable I have a positive charge.

The platform that MRA has built their app on, is the same as HERE has built their own HERE WeGo app on, and they both suffer the same problem which has been confirmed by MRA as well as HERE. It also needs to be said that by for NOT everyone experiences a negative charge while navigating with MRA Navigation Next. My own CAT phone has no problem whatsoever with charging while navigating.

I don't know which HERE app you have been using, and I also don't know since which version exactly the HERE WeGo app uses this specific platform. HERE has multiple apps, not all using the same platform. The current platform has not been around for much longer than a year, so you probably are comparing different platforms. MRA's "Previous" Navigation app also used an older HERE platform and did not suffer the battery drain problem whatsoever.

In the current state of the HERE WeGo app they could well be experimenting with improvements in the SDK that will benefit MRA too when they get published to HERE customers. I have not compared the apps recently.

[Edwin_M]

@Con-Hennekens
please please please stop downplaying this issue. It is a serious problem , see lots of other threads (also in other languages and multiple people reporting it over a longer period of time
(and I doubt everyone is reporting it.):

It also needs to be said that by for NOT everyone experiences a negative charge while navigating with MRA Navigation Next. M

[Con Hennekens]

@Edwin_M I am NOT downplaying anything, just stating facts.

[Marinus van Deudekom]

@Peter-Schiefer today I did a test using the Here we go app to see if only using that app would lead to the same power consumption. After I installed that app and tried to use in the first 5 km. It crashed 5 Times. I started with 78 % battery with the phone pluged in to usb cable in my car. In those 5 km I had a negative power on the phone and when I quit after 5 crashes it was 77%.
Then I finished the rest of my 125 km drive using MRA next with my Android auto screen. I turned off the screen of the phone only using the car’s screen. When I finished the trip my battery had a positive charge and ended with 84% so the phone could keep up charging.

[GT JWR]

@Marinus-van-Deudekom I'm 50/50 at best whether the iPhone charges positively or negtively, whether using the app direct on the phone or in CarPlay with the phone screen off.

This is only part of the problem - the other part is the very hot battery on the phone as its trying to keep up the charge, combined with the iPhone going into protect mode because of it - which makes the screen unviewable when the nav app is used. For me, this is the biggest issue.

[Marinus van Deudekom]

@Peter-Schiefer well I was only trying to see if that Here we Go app would also drain my battery and my conclusion in that short while was that it was. So back to @Corjan-Meijerink trying to work it Out with Here

[Flat Twin Therapy]

This post is deleted!

[Flat Twin Therapy]

@Con-Hennekens

I don't know which HERE app you have been using, and I also don't know since which version exactly the HERE WeGo app uses this specific platform. HERE has multiple apps, not all using the same platform.

---

I'm using this HERE app
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.here.app.maps

Again, for years I'm using this app. Since 2018 at least. I know this, because I create "collections" as they call it: folders to store places. I create a collection for each holiday. Oldest collection still in my app is that of my 2018 summer holiday.

I've always used Android. On my 3rd phone since 2018, I guess.

Always had a positive charge with this HERE app.
I don't know any other HERE app.

Perhaps the above statement is about what you call the "older platform". But again: I tried multiple times with the latest HERE app this week: positive charge.

I never used the old MRA App, so I cannot share my experience of that app.

It also needs to be said that by for NOT everyone experiences a negative charge while navigating with MRA Navigation Next.

---

I do get the remark of the other MRA member saying that you should not downplay this issue.

Nobody is saying that everybody has this issue. We know that. But a lot of people do have the issue, continously.
I can only speak for myself, but I love MRA. I would love to use it on all my rides and I would love to help. I probably only can help by sharing experiences/information.

Hope this helps to improve the product.

[Marinus van Deudekom]

@Flat-Twin-Therapy yep thats the app that I've been using and that crashed 5 times in 5km

[Con Hennekens]

@Flat-Twin-Therapy, thanks for the info. I have been test-riding this app this morning to my work, to compare the powerdrain with the MRA app. I see indeed that the drain has gotten less than the MRA app, and I am hopeful that it is a sign for a solution to arrive at MRA also. During my drive, navigating on my Pixel 8 Pro, the HERE WeGo app took about 600mA while the MRA took about 1200mA (both including system overhead). It looks though the 600mA are quite stable and independent of speed, while in the MRA app speed is a large factor. The slower you go the less power it draines. It seems larger movement of the map rises the power consumption for rendering. Sounds logical, but in the end it has to render as many frames a second as always, so I am not sure if I see the logic.

In my case, a power consumption of 1200mA is easily overcome by a decent charger and a compatible USB cable. On wireless charging, that can be a different case, with a lot more heat production. That is why I often explain that it is worth to look at the charging chain, but by no means I am downlplaying the issue.

[Charles Rijken 0]

@Con-Hennekens

Does it matter if you use offline maps?