Re: renaming enableHighAccuracy

Hi Angel,

On Wed, Apr 1, 2009 at 4:45 PM, Angel Machín <angel.machin@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Allan, Andrei,
>
> Just a couple of comments:
>
> 1 - The concept of "high power method" is ambiguous, which are those
> high power location providers? GPS?

Yes, an example is GPS.

> Nowadays, there are GPS receivers that consume just 1 mA.
> (http://www.air-semi.com/media/pdf/AIR_firstcustomersrelease_FINAL.pdf)
>

Sure, but it'll probably take some years until these become pervasive.
And what if some other technology appears that is power-intensive?

> On the other hand, CellID or WiFi data has to be translated into
> lat/long by invoking some Web Service. In case we are using a mobile
> phone this could suppose a certain impact in battery life.
>
> I mean, with these next generation GPS receivers the concept of low
> power method to retrieve location is not clear. How is the UA going to
> decide this?
>

I guess the point is to provide the app with a means to limit the
power consumption to a reasonable amount. I agree this may be hard to
define in certain cases (on most platforms on the market today it is
not) but I still think it provides enough value to be in the API.

> 2 - In any case, If I have a mobile with a GPS (or any other hardware)
> consuming a large amount of energy, I think it wouldn’t be acceptable
> that it would be switched on just because I am browsing a certain web
> page with the “enableHighAccuracy” attribute set (or
> “lowPowerOnly=false”).
>

I am not sure what you mean by this. You seem to imply that just
because it is a Web page, then the GPS should not be power-ed up? I
don't think I see why this is a special case.

> I would prefer to have this parameter removed. I think that the way of
> retrieving location should be specified by users in the UA user
> interface, in the same way (as an example) that GoogleMaps Mobile does
> with the “use GPS” option.
>

Google Maps is just one app. This API is meant to be used by a larger
variety of apps, some of which will surely have different
requirements. I don't think this is a decision the user can make, but
rather it needs to be determined by each individual app.

Thanks,
Andrei

Received on Wednesday, 1 April 2009 16:15:11 UTC