Offline GPS App and battery usage

[slopeslider]

I'm looking for a way to improve the battery life situation when using the GPS on trips. I have tried using both google maps and waze. Even though the phone is plugged into the HTC car kit the battery will drain slightly. I can go on a 5 hour trip with the phone plugged in and have slightly less charge than I started with. I would expect to have 100%. Never had this issue on my iPhone. My thought was if I used an offline GPS app maybe it wouldn't drain the battery and would allow it to charge. Can anyone confirm this? Any reccommendations of the best GPS app. I have read some good things about the Sygic app. Thanks.

 

[meyerweb#CB]

Does the htc car kit include it's own charger, or does it connect to a cig. lighter socket to USB charger? If it's the latter, make sure the charger (a) has an output of at least 1000 mA (1 amp), and (b), isn't designed for Apple products. I have a 1 amp Belkin car charger, and it will charge the phone (albeit slowly) while I'm using both GPS and Pandora.

An offline GPS app might make a slight difference because it won't have to download maps over 3G / 4G while you drive, but the major battery drain when navigating is the GPS radio, and that needs to be in use when navigating whether the maps are offline or not. Otherwise, the phone can't know where you are.

 

[slopeslider]

Does the htc car kit include it's own charger, or does it connect to a cig. lighter socket to USB charger? If it's the latter, make sure the charger (a) has an output of at least 1000 mA (1 amp), and (b), isn't designed for Apple products. I have a 1 amp Belkin car charger, and it will charge the phone (albeit slowly) while I'm using both GPS and Pandora.

An offline GPS app might make a slight difference because it won't have to download maps over 3G / 4G while you drive, but the major battery drain when navigating is the GPS radio, and that needs to be in use when navigating whether the maps are offline or not. Otherwise, the phone can't know where you are.

It does include the appropriate charger. I do get the "AC Charging" message. Has anyone had experience with a GPS app that allows the phone to charge while in use vs. slight loss?

 

[HTCONE88]

Any more recommendations for offline GPS maps?

 

[meyerweb#CB]

You can download the maps along your route to the phone using the standard maps app, and it won't need to use cellular data to update the maps as you go:

New Google Maps updated with offline maps button | Android Central

But it really won't make much difference in battery usage. Also, the fact that it says "AC charging" doesn't say anything about the output of the car charger. I've seen car chargers with outputs of only 500 ma, 700 ma, 1,000 ma (1 amp) and as much as 2 amps.