With over five years of experience in the tech industry, Kazim excels at simplifying complex topics, making them accessible to tech enthusiasts and general readers alike. He has extensively covered the Windows ecosystem, from Windows 7 to Windows 11.
When he’s not writing, you’ll find Kazim planning weekend getaways or diving into tech verticals beyond his expertise.
Google Maps has been my go-to navigation app for years. I have tried Waze, but frankly, Google Maps is more reliable where I live. Waze's appeal lies in its crowdsourcing, but when there aren't enough active users around you, Google Maps just makes more sense.
But on longer drives, the app can really drain your phone's battery. Often, I noticed my phone was almost out of charge by the time I reached my destination if it wasn't plugged in. That's when I took matters into my own hands.
As I sat down to find out exactly why Google Maps drained as much battery as it did and whether there was anything I could do to minimize it, I found a handful of Google Maps settings that seemed worth changing. And the best part is that none of this affected the overall app experience. On the contrary, changing some Google Maps settings made the experience feel more streamlined and less stressful.
Glanceable directions while navigating
Stay on top of navigation from your phone's lock screen
The Glanceable Directions While Navigating feature has been around for some time, and enabling it is one of the first things you should do to minimize battery drain. Simply put, the feature redefines how we use Google Maps. Instead of keeping the app open on the screen, you can, as the name suggests, take a quick glance to find directions. With the feature turned on, you get live route tracking on your phone's lock screen. And it tells you everything you need to know, from upcoming turns and ETA to remaining distance and more.
To turn it on, open Google Maps, tap your profile picture near the top right, select Settings, go to Navigation, and enable the toggle for Glanceable directions while navigating. It's that simple.
Of course, the experience isn't the same as navigating with Google Maps full-screen, but if turn-by-turn directions are all you need, the lock screen navigation section should suffice. And since your phone's display, one of the biggest battery-draining components, stays off for the most part, you get hours of extra battery life without really compromising anything.
Download offline maps
Perfect for long drives
This, I believe, is a largely overlooked feature. I had known about it for years — and even tried it once or twice — but I never realized how useful offline maps were. For the unversed, Google Maps lets you download a map for a region, including navigation data, and then provide turn-by-turn directions based on that locally available information.
And since Google Maps won't rely as heavily on mobile data to fetch information, battery consumption drops. Besides, if your phone doesn't have internet access, Google Maps' navigation will still work. That's another benefit on long drives. I frequently drive through areas with patchy network coverage, and during those stretches, this offline data helps me navigate with ease.
To download offline maps, tap your profile icon near the top right, select Offline Maps, tap Select Your Own mMap, highlight the region you want to download, then tap Download. Once the map is stored locally, Google Maps' battery consumption should drop during navigation.
A few things are worth remembering, though. First, when downloading maps, download a larger region than you plan to cover. This gives you a little more room and can help if you go off the original route. Second, although offline maps provide turn-by-turn directions, leave mobile data on whenever possible. Without internet access, Google Maps won't provide real-time traffic updates.
Power saving mode
Though it's exclusive to a handful of Pixel phones
Not many people know that Google Maps actually has a dedicated power-saving mode. And it's frankly useful on long drives, where decent navigation and longer battery life matter more than a visually rich interface. The power-saving mode, when enabled, strips Google Maps of everything non-essential to navigation, like 3D buildings, street labels, and more, and shows only important information on a black-and-white display. And this toned-down interface directly translates into better battery life for your smartphone.
Now for the bad news. The feature is still limited to a handful of Pixel phones, namely Pixel 10, Pixel 10 Pro, Pixel 10 Pro XL, and Pixel 10 Pro Fold. Google Maps may add it to more devices down the line, but for now, it's exclusive to these devices. The feature also works only when your phone is held in portrait orientation, and you are in driving mode.
To enable the power saving mode, open Settings in Google Maps, go into Navigation, scroll down to Driving options, and enable the toggle next to Power saving mode. Now, whenever you are navigating, simply press the power button once to activate the power-saving mode.
These small changes made long drives feel a lot less stressful
Ever since I changed these three settings, my phone's battery has lasted a lot longer than it did initially. And as I said earlier, you don't really lose out on a lot. All the essential information is still there, things that are actually relevant. You could, of course, plug your phone into a charger while driving, but in my experience, the low-power USB port in your car doesn't always suffice.
More often than not, your phone ends up with a lower battery level than it started with, even when connected by cable. But with these settings in place, your phone's battery should ideally last a couple of more hours. At least, mine did.
