Power Conservation

KayakNav needs to run on your device continuously in order to provide Navigation and Mapping of your Route. In order to maximise operating time, a number of power conservation measures are included:

• Swipe left and right on the Compass to change the screen brightness. You should set the minimum brightness that allows you to use the App. The display backlight consumes a significant portion of your battery.
• Screen updates are minimised by only changing the map and data shown in Info Cells when:
  • A significant change in location has occurred.
  • The Map needs to be rotated, panned or zooms more that preset values.
• The GPS hardware is turned off when KayakNav determines that you have a long straight path to follow and you are on track. The compass is left switched on and the course plotted assuming a constant speed. When you approach the next Waypoint the GPS is powered up and your position updated. If other Apps are using the GPS in the background, it will still remain active for them.
• The memory footprint is minimised by only loading sufficient [[Waypoint] data from the database to plot details on the visible portion of the map. It is also minimised by storing logging data directly into the database and releasing memory as soon as practical.
• The CPU loading is minimised by pre-calculating Route data and only performing updates when other activity is required.
• If subsystems like the GPS, Compass, Accelerometer, Blue Tooth are not being used, they are powered down wherever possible.

For long paddles such as the overnight Hawkesbury Canoe Classic, please see KayakNav Device Installation for tips on external batteries and waterproofing.