Battery Management

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JPCH
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Oct 22, 2010 3:35 pm

Battery Management

Post by JPCH »

Some time ago John announced a battery management feature in the app.
What is the status on that ? Is there a chance to have a reasonable 10+ hours autonomy one day ?

I have a suggestion for the next release of the app:
Since the main consumption is coming from the screen, one could consider to just switch off the display most of the time.
The app would for example switch the screen ON for 30" on short touches and toggle the ON/OFF mode on long touches.
I know it looks aggressive, but if it made the iBike usable for long rides, it would be a huge step forward.
Velocomp
Velocomp CEO
Posts: 7793
Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 8:43 am

Re: Battery Management

Post by Velocomp »

I have found that the best way to get maximum battery life is pretty simple:

1) fully charge your iPhone prior to riding (it should read 100%)

2) fully charge your spare battery prior to your ride

With these two simple steps, you'll get the most ride time out of the battery combination.

When the iPhone is not fully charged, the spare battery attempts to charge the iPhone battery--and wastes an enormous amount of energy in the attempt. The net effect is that spare battery life is shorted to about 20 minutes.

I believe Apple has restrictions on screen on/off management control, but we will check in to that.
John Hamann
aaduarte
Posts: 16
Joined: Tue May 03, 2011 11:30 am

Re: Battery Management

Post by aaduarte »

I second that request. That would be great. Also MotionX Gps has a usefull setting, a lock screen in witch you can adjust the brightness. Thats usefull because you must open the case to turn the screen off at the idash.
I have a this request because my 3G battery does not last like when it was new. (Changing it costs about $30) and I'll do that when the shop have them in stock again. I can use mi iDash about 3 hours using the spare bat, and having the brightness at the middle.
With Jailbreak and sbsettings I am able to change the brightness easier, but sometimes you just want your iDash to record the whole long ride at the expense of not having a good sight at the screen. Motion X Gps has a lot of great features to use as guide, like the sharing screen, the map, the tracks, and the review features.
JPCH
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Oct 22, 2010 3:35 pm

Re: Battery Management

Post by JPCH »

I understand that Apple doesn't allow this kind of features (it's a shame) :
http://www.iphonedevsdk.com/forum/iphon ... tness.html

I don't know if there is a possibility for velocomp to ask for a waiver to apple: use the feature and nevertheless be distributed through the appstore.
Or alternatively, velocomp could distribute "beta versions" bypassing the appstore.
This question seems so crucial to me that it would motivate more "complex" installations.
Velocomp
Velocomp CEO
Posts: 7793
Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 8:43 am

Re: Battery Management

Post by Velocomp »

We checked and, indeed, Apple does not allow for fancy adjustment of screen brightness. I agree that it is too bad.

We will ask them to add this feature, but they are huge and we are miniscule.
John Hamann
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