Waze battery drain bug?

[sammy_boy]

I'm hoping to get my first WP device today - a secondhand Lumia 620 or 925. I'm wanting the 925 but have been reading a lot about excessive battery drain using the Waze app on this phone and similar models like the 1020, even when plugged into a car charger.

Is this still the case, is there an update in the pipeline that would fix this? Does this bug affect other WP devices, like the 620 I'm thinking of getting? I use Waze quite a bit to notify me of any traffic trouble ahead, or to report it. This is the only caveat I have about the 925 as it looks an excellent device, or are there any apps with Waze integration I could use as an alternative?

Alternatively, is there a high capacity car charger that will still charge, or at least maintain battery level whilst using Waze?

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[hopmedic]

I uninstalled Waze due to the battery drain on my 928 while using charger. It's ridiculous. And which phone you have won't matter - the problem is the app, not the phones. I do not have the same problem with Drive+, Inrix, or CoPilot GPS. But here is not the place to ask if there is a fix in the works. We here have no idea. Contact the developers to get a trustworthy answer.

 

[sammy_boy]

I went for the 925, and used Waze on my 25 minute commute to work and back. On my way to work the battery was at 100%, plugged a 500mah car charger in and by the time I got to work it was at 97% so only dropped 3%. Did the same on my way home, battery at 70%, plugged into the charger and was at 64% by the time I got home. My drain doesn't seem quite as bad as some have reported, the phone got quite warm but no warmer than my iPhone 4S or various Android phones I've used it on. The 925 is running the Lumia Amber firmware version, which I believe is the latest.

It's usable for me on shorter journeys but much longer than half an hour I'd have to consider another app or using a different phone. I'm going to email Waze about it, see if they will fix this issue, will let you know if I get any reply from them.


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[RonV42]

I did a 6 hour drive in a snowstorm using Waze and the battery keep dropping down to about 93 percent then would charge to 100% over and over again. I do have a 1000 mAh charger so that must have helped. I didn't dare using Bluetooth streaming at the same time or the charger would have never kept up.

 

[fffranz]

I have been recently using a Lumia 925 with Waze on long drives, and the battery drain is so strong that the phone disconnected after ca. 4 hours, starting the day with a full battery. The only solution was then to stop Waze when I would not need it (longer distances without change of direction, like highways). I have not checked the charging rate of my cigarette lighter connector, so that may be the source of the problem.
I wonder whether there could be a software fix, like a waze update. On the other hand, I did have the same battery drain problem in November 2013 using Here+

 

[khatta]

Waze finally got an update today. Hopefully this finally fixes the battery drain issue and we can actually use this app.

 

[khatta]

Waze finally got an update today. Hopefully this finally fixes the battery drain issue and we can actually use this app.

I am not too optimistic about this app to be much useful on Windows Phone since Google will continue its 'ignore' relationship with WP. They are likely to update this app on an irregular basis with very basic functionality. Maybe a similar technology/functionality can be incorporated into HERE Maps once they capture more share in the US market.