Hello, I’m new to the forum and would like to ask a question.
I use a Samsung S10e for navigation.
Unfortunately the phone discharges during use despite being connected to the USB charging port (3A) and gets very warm. The battery indicator drops, e.g., in one hour from 95% to 65%.
Is there a way to reduce power consumption?
Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are already turned off; the screen brightness is, of course, quite high.
Hello Jürgen,
welcome here.
→ This is a general question now, which isn’t related to VFRnav, right?
also to avoid possible radio interference.
Pilot greetings,
Karsten
PS: always my recommendation from the Stratux project!
Hi Karsten,
Thanks for the quick reply.
I already replaced the USB 12V/5V adapter, upgrading the output from (5V 2A) to (5V 3A).
The Samsung S10e smartphone, as well as an iPhone, also get very warm. With other apps, e.g., XCSoar and Google Navigation in the car, this is not nearly as pronounced. These apps also use the phones’ internal GPS.
It seems to me that VFRnav’s data processing (polling rate of GPS requests, map updates, track logging, etc.) is somewhat more intensive here, which leads to the high power consumption.
Maybe some features of VFRnav can be disabled to save power?
Best regards
Jürgen
Hi Jürgen,
Welcome to the forum 
VFRnav is developed with a strong focus on resource usage and device performance. In general, the app runs smoothly and reliably even on older devices, such as your Samsung S10e.
To narrow down the issue in your case, could you provide a bit of information about your setup? Some points that could immediately affect performance:
Clear skies
Hermann
Hello Hermann,
Thank you for the reply.
re 1.: all Germany maps and Austria - map storage: internal storage
re 2.: “There are no georeferenced maps available yet”
re 3.: “Hill shading” off
re 4.: NMEA-0183, Flarm, GDL90 — Status NOT CONNECTED, Source Serial, Device -No device-, Baud rate 9600
I think Hermann means the terrain coloring that changes with flight altitude. You can find that option in the map quick settings when you click the button below the compass icon in the map view. There’s also the option to simplify the map display there 
Sorry, my reply to Hermann went out too early. Here are further answers:
re 5.: I haven’t found the “Simplify map display” option yet
re 6.: Device connection Radio — no interface, Connected – no
re 7.: Device connection Autopilot — no interface, Connected – no
Best regards from Berlin
Jürgen
Thanks to FredNord77,
I’ve now changed the terrain coloring and simplified the map settings.
I’ll test everything over the weekend, weather permitting.
Best regards, Jürgen
@FredNord77 exactly, thanks 
Hello Jürgen,
No problem!
Was the option “Shade high terrain” active? This does indeed require quite a lot of performance in flight.
Otherwise:
This selection is not optimal in the current implementation. Please choose “Network” as the source under “External data source” in the settings. This is the default value and harmless if you don’t use this option.
I’ll try to get an identical / similar device for testing and will report back when I have news. If you notice anything else, feel free to report it here
Blue skies
Hermann
Hello Hermann,
the “Color high terrain” option was active. I also switched to “Network”.
Many thanks to everyone who helped — I’ll try everything out and report back here. No need to go to any further trouble until then.
Best regards, Jürgen
The thanks really belong to you in this case
We simply can’t test our developments on every device available on the market. It’s precisely these kinds of tips, observations and feedback that help us continuously improve VFRnav and keep it stable and performant across as wide a range of devices as possible.
So any feedback of this kind is extremely valuable to us.
Blue skies
Hermann
…have we already cleared the question here whether it’s only with this S10? Do you use other devices with VFRnav?
In my test scenarios I test everything down to an A10 2018 with Android 10
Maps of all Europe, both self-georeferenced and AIPs. …quite a few! …very many! All available options — everything that’s possible.
→ I haven’t noticed that yet. Of course the old A10 is slow when searching… for comparison to the S26.
Also on my two tablets, iDoCub and Samsung S10 lite, I haven’t noticed it.
All devices charge fully again on the aforementioned Titzi adapter.
→ Please believe me, I’ve done a whole lot of experiments with these 12V/USB car adapters regarding Stratux!!!
My conclusion: maybe also focus on the hardware.
Pilot greetings,
Karsten
Hi Karsten,
my brother is flying with the same VFRnav adapter on an iPhone running iOS 26.5.
there’s strong heating there as well. The charging current is lower than the power consumption.
I’ll split a USB cable and measure the charging current. First with the existing adapter.
Best regards, Jürgen
Hi Jürgen,
OK, thanks for getting back to me.
I bought a small meter for these kinds of measurements that you can insert between the lines.
→ What does your phone show under Battery for power consumption?
→ Does the heating only occur when VFRnav is running?
→ And only at the USB adapter or also without the USB charging function? …so on battery.
Perhaps the community here can say something about it.
This is really the first time I’ve heard of this; of course I believe you.
Which Android? (10?)
Blue skies,
Karsten
…
Hello ,
The S10E is known to heat up when using GPS navigation apps (like Waze or Google Maps).
Les versions européennes du S10e embarquent le processeur “Exynos 9820”. This chip is known to consume a lot of power and to dissipate more heat than its American equivalent (the Snapdragon 855).
Its one of the phones people often place in front of a car vent, lower the screen brightness, remove the case, not expose it to the sun (!) , etc , 
Constant charging to make up for the high power consumption only increases the temperature even more, and its possible that the phone will limit the charging current if the battery gets too hot. That would explain why it consumes more than its charging current.
(Same with some iPhone)
Hi Daniel,
that’s exactly it. Thanks for your explanations.
That’s why iPads also need those RAM mounts with fans on the back. My various Samsung tablets, by contrast, are even in a protective case and have so far run on hot days without anything like that, problem-free.
Pilot greetings, Karsten
@H655: …I ran it yesterday up to the old device (Android) and did a quick fingertip temperature test → as I said, I didn’t notice anything warm or even hot)
Hello everyone,
I have now also got a USB-to-USB measurement adapter and arrived at the following results:
VFRnav active.
Hama charger (230V) : S10e initially 100% charged, output power 2.3 W, charge remains constant
Car USB socket : S10e initially 100% charged, output power 1.5 W, charge decreases
Aircraft USB socket : S10e initially 100% charged, output power 1.5 W, charge decreases
PowerBank (fast charging) : S10e initially 87% charged, output power 5.3 W, charge increases
Results:
the “normal” 12V/USB adapters do not deliver enough power. In my aircraft the adapter, after a short period of high power output, regulates down to 4.95V*0.31A=1.5W. This power is not sufficient to run VFRnav. Phone charge decreases.
the PowerBank (fast-charge mode) provides sufficient power 7.55V*0.70A=5.3W. This is enough to run VFRnav and simultaneously charge the S10e. The phone becomes very warm — so it’s best to always start with a fully charged phone.
I will try to replace the USB adapter in the aircraft with a more powerful one. According to Karsten’s suspicion, the problem is indeed in the adapter.
I have also set the VFRnav settings to be as power-saving as possible. Hopefully my next phone will operate more efficiently.
Many thanks again to everyone and best regards
Jürgen
Dear Jürgen and VFRnav friends,
Don’t waste your time.
As I’ve written several times, I spent a lot of time and carried out many measurements on this as part of the Stratux Europe project.
Anyone who still has a classic 12V car socket should treat yourselves to the [Titzi Turbo Charger](equinux tizi Turbolader 3x MEGA - 3 port USB Auto Max Power USB charger for the car, 6.6A High Power: Amazon.de: Automotivedib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.vdgUN7OaVgo3WDNcrUgYG9p6o79iZOwst9KW8HfOoRmf-PW-c6TseZZ5PwBNyS8ndv_b6aD_fmSIuHNk4Xb_ijjYVh5_Ro8EYB9x63zoBztei_UxE3teGbUkh_78oHrpHenOMre3R-rr_Wy4_2brylGlnhe26R981KUlC3U4tGpOKgBjK6j6RY__u654freqUd_tYnAMIjkCIDcTP8rwZw.yeYRdqNKbPuX04w9woujFujHkCtbOOaQQvyZgBUY5oEdib_tag=sekeywords=tizi+turboladerqid=1781690026sprefix=Titzi+Turbo%2Caps%2C117sr=8-1)
…also available with more ports — you’ll be happy.
From the camper/RV supplies I have a panel-mounted socket that also works. Unfortunately I don’t have any link for it anymore.
Pilot greetings,
Karsten
PS: also in my car there’s a Power USB socket where the phone ( S26) charges very quickly, e.g. while running gmaps.
Hello Jürgen,
thank you so much for sharing your insights 
This topic is of personal interest to me.
It would be great if we could collect experiences here with USB chargers for cigarette lighter sockets. I have an older adapter that unfortunately causes massive interference during flight. It took ages before I could identify this charger as the source of the interference 
Edit: My post has now overlapped with Karsten’s. Many thanks already for the recommendation!!! I’ll take a look.
…Hi, …have you already read the whole context??.
