Re: Which uses less power

Frank Slootweg <this@ddress.is.invalid> wrote:

VanguardLH <V@nguard.lh> wrote:

Chris <ithinkiam@gmail.com> wrote:
 

Bill Powell <bill@anarchists.org> wrote:

Which uses less of the phone's battery power on long trips?
 
Playing long podcasts with the Android speaker as the output?
Playing long podcasts with a Bluetooth speaker as the output instead?
 
Any idea?

 
Too marginal to say definitively. It might make a difference if you
routinely turn off BT when using the internal speaker, but most people
don't.
 
The best way to save power is use airplane mode which turns off the mobile
radio.

 
But no cellular radio (for data aka Internet) means no podcast.  The OP
isn't listening to local audio files on his phone.  He is listening to a
podcast, and that requires Internet access which requires the cellular
radio for data.  I suppose he could be using an app to first download a
podcast to save to a local file on his phone, but he didn't mention how
is is listening to the podcast: locally downloaded file, or streaming
from Internet.

 
  I haven't used podcasts in a while, but when I still did, downloading
(in MP3 format) was the normal way, i.e. not streaming and no Internet
needed to play.
 
  Wikipedia implies that's still the case:
 
'Podcast'
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast>
 
"A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download
 over the Internet."

https://independentpodcast.network/training/what-is-the-difference-between-podcast-streams-and-downloads/

Yep, the OP didn't specify how his listens to them.  I used to listen to
podcasts, but I did not retain them.  I had no want for a local library
of podcasts, or to repurpose the content.  Retention was not a goal, for
me, so I didn't need to waste storage space on a podcast that would
never be re-listened.  I don't hoard media.  Some folks do.  Different
goals for different folks. 

Downloading affords listening where streaming is not available, but
podcasts, to me, are very nonessential, and usually very uncondensed (to
long to get the info).  If I'm out in the boonies camping or hiking, I'm
not ruining the ambience with noise from my phone which is likley turned
off, anyway; i.e., I unplug.  I can entertain myself in other ways, or
just snooze on a long trip, or think through projects or resolutions to
problems or make plans while idle.  An issue of Scientific American will
occupy me during both flights for a vacation, and beyond, and I don't
need to download anything, have an Internet connection, or even need
power.  I certainly don't want to be a driver distracted by a podcast.
Unless someone else is in the car, I rarely turn on my car's radio.  I
don't watch movies on a flight even if free.  I prefer less noise and
less distraction. 

Podcasts never seemed an efficient means to convey non-fictional
information.  I don't do fiction.  If I want an audio distraction during
a long trip, it'll be music, and using noise cancelling over-the-ear
headphones: I want to hear the music, not the noise around me.

Even with unlimited data, I never bothered to check which method
(download vs streaming) for podcasts consumed more or less bandwidth.
Podcasts were a short-lived fad with me: lots of noise, too little
information, and too slow to get the information.  To me, podcasts
seemed a waste of time, or noisy low-grade content during idle time.
But that's me.  It's one of those things I tried, eh, but not great.

Podcast listenership is generally still growing, but I'm not drawn to
the fad.  I'm also not into Zoom, Skype, Google Meet, WhatsApp, Teams,
Signal, either, nor into social sites (aka sites for the socially
needy). 

https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/audio-and-podcasting/

I didn't find a fact sheet comparing usage of download versus streaming
for podcasts, but I didn't look very hard.  Not a topic of interest to
me.