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What does the room icon mean?

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  What does the   room  icon mean? micky <NONONOmisc07@bigfoot.com> - 2016-12-24 15:10 -0500
    Re: What does the   room  icon mean? VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> - 2016-12-24 15:55 -0600
    Re: What does the room icon mean? Piet <www.godfatherof.nl/@opt-in.invalid> - 2016-12-24 23:24 +0100
      Re: What does the room icon mean? micky <NONONOmisc07@bigfoot.com> - 2016-12-27 19:53 -0500
    Re: What does the   room  icon mean? tlvp <mPiOsUcB.EtLlLvEp@att.net> - 2016-12-25 00:43 -0500

#36932 — What does the room icon mean?

What does the  room  icon in the status window mean. 

It looks like a black inverted teardrop with a clearly pointed end, and
a little white circle in the middle. 

Here's a picture of it in this thread:
http://www.androidauthority.com/community/threads/what-is-the-room-icon-for.30243/

On the chart of icons it's labeled as "room" and one of the posters in
the thread above says that it means the GPS is on and the phone is in a
room.   !!!   That's a little hard to believe.  Does the GPS even know
that it's in a room versus outdoors for example? 

But it is true that the icon shows up when I start GPS Compass Basic and
goes away when I close it. 

But why is it called    room? 

And is it there because the GPS is running, or for some other reason.  

Surely there is an icon called GPS?   But I haven't found it in either
of these charts. 

http://pwk.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/material-action-icons.png

http://pwk.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/material-image-icons.png
BTW, the room icon is in the 5th row, 11th column. 

Aha, I did find a GPS icon on  this page, right column, one from the
bottom:   http://www.beginandroid.com/notifications.shtml
But this page, which gives longer explanations, doesn't show "room". 
Perhaps room is Latvian for GPS?   Are these Latvian webpages? 

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#36934

micky <NONONOmisc07@bigfoot.com> wrote:

> What does the  room  icon in the status window mean. 
> 
> It looks like a black inverted teardrop with a clearly pointed end, and
> a little white circle in the middle. 
> 
> Here's a picture of it in this thread:
> http://www.androidauthority.com/community/threads/what-is-the-room-icon-for.30243/
> 
> On the chart of icons it's labeled as "room" and one of the posters in
> the thread above says that it means the GPS is on and the phone is in a
> room.   !!!   That's a little hard to believe.  Does the GPS even know
> that it's in a room versus outdoors for example? 
> 
> But it is true that the icon shows up when I start GPS Compass Basic and
> goes away when I close it. 
> 
> But why is it called    room? 
> 
> And is it there because the GPS is running, or for some other reason.  
> 
> Surely there is an icon called GPS?   But I haven't found it in either
> of these charts. 
> 
> http://pwk.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/material-action-icons.png
> 
> http://pwk.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/material-image-icons.png
> BTW, the room icon is in the 5th row, 11th column. 
> 
> Aha, I did find a GPS icon on  this page, right column, one from the
> bottom:   http://www.beginandroid.com/notifications.shtml
> But this page, which gives longer explanations, doesn't show "room". 
> Perhaps room is Latvian for GPS?   Are these Latvian webpages?

Location services could be:
- GPS only (battery drain only when an app wants to use it).
- Battery saving (wi-fi location + and cell tower triangulation).
- High accuracy (GPS + wi-fi location + cell tower triangulation).

Don't know where you found "room" specified for this icon.  Looks like
this icon is a near-clone of the one used in Google Maps.  Not so
suprising considering whose OS is on your phone.  Geo-location services
can be employed by any foreground or background process.

Just because you leave an app in Android does not mean it is unloaded.
In Windows, closing an app means it unloads.  Android doesn't do that.
Go to Settings -> Applications Manager and look under the Running
column.  There are probably lots of apps you through you had exited that
are still running.

http://www.howtogeek.com/166140/you-dont-need-to-install-a-task-manager-how-to-manage-running-apps-on-android/
"Properly behaved apps running in the background aren’t actually doing
anything — they’re just remaining in memory and using no CPU or other
resources. When you access them again, they’ll quickly open, as they’re
waiting in memory for you to return. If they were removed from memory,
they would take longer to re-open as their data would have to be
transferred from system storage back into RAM ..."

Well, a GPS-aware app that is still running probably still has to query
your current location for that app to do its job.  So you probably still
have a location-aware app that is trying to poll for where you currently
are.  Weren't you the one that was just asking about compass apps and
made an announcement about GPS Compass Basic?  Well, did you leave it
running?  If so, it's probably trying to use location services to figure
out where you are.  

When I use Google Chrome and leave it, it is still loaded.  Firefox
would do the same except it actually has an Exit function in its menu to
make sure it is unloaded when its window closes.  It's been so many days
that I don't remember when I last use the Home Depot app, Wifi Mapper
app, Xfinity Connect app (for wifi calling), and even a lot longer since
I used OneDrive (I haven't used it in weeks).  Some are services that
load when Android starts, some are apps that I've used before but are
still loaded despite I "closed" out of them many days ago.

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#36935 — Re: What does the room icon mean?

micky wrote:
> What does the  room  icon in the status window mean. 
> It looks like a black inverted teardrop with a clearly pointed end,
> and a little white circle in the middle.

Location. If you lookup an address in Google Maps, the same symbol
is used in Google Maps to mark the address (=location).

> On the chart of icons it's labeled as "room" and one of the posters
> in the thread above says that it means the GPS is on and the phone
> is in a room.

That's nonsense.

> But why is it called  room?

Looks to me like a mistranslation of "location" or "place".

> And is it there because the GPS is running, or for some other reason.

On my phone the symbol shows only when the location service
is switched on AND some app is using it.

> Surely there is an icon called GPS?

"location" can be more than just GPS: the location service
can use GPS *and* [the locations of] wi-fi access points
for improved accuracy.

> Aha, I did find a GPS icon on  this page, right column, one from the
> bottom:   http://www.beginandroid.com/notifications.shtml

On my phone, if that symbol is used in an app and I tap on
it, the app shifts the focus to and marks the current GPS
location.

-p

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#36978 — Re: What does the room icon mean?

In comp.mobile.android, on Sat, 24 Dec 2016 23:24:15 +0100, Piet
<www.godfatherof.nl/@opt-in.invalid> wrote:

>micky wrote:
>> What does the  room  icon in the status window mean. 
>> It looks like a black inverted teardrop with a clearly pointed end,
>> and a little white circle in the middle.
>
>Location. If you lookup an address in Google Maps, the same symbol
>is used in Google Maps to mark the address (=location).

Oh, yeah.   

>> On the chart of icons it's labeled as "room" and one of the posters
>> in the thread above says that it means the GPS is on and the phone
>> is in a room.
>
>That's nonsense.

LOL

>> But why is it called  room?
>
>Looks to me like a mistranslation of "location" or "place".

That might be. 

>> And is it there because the GPS is running, or for some other reason.
>
>On my phone the symbol shows only when the location service
>is switched on AND some app is using it.

That would account for it. 

>> Surely there is an icon called GPS?
>
>"location" can be more than just GPS: the location service
>can use GPS *and* [the locations of] wi-fi access points
>for improved accuracy.
>
>> Aha, I did find a GPS icon on  this page, right column, one from the
>> bottom:   http://www.beginandroid.com/notifications.shtml
>
>On my phone, if that symbol is used in an app and I tap on
>it, the app shifts the focus to and marks the current GPS
>location.

Yeah, that's not the same thing as an icion in the Notification bar (or
whatever the top row of the phone is. 

Thanks all. 

>-p

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#36940

On Sat, 24 Dec 2016 15:10:08 -0500, micky wrote:

> What does the  room  icon in the status window mean. 
> 
> It looks like a black inverted teardrop with a clearly pointed end, and
> a little white circle in the middle.

Maybe I'm missing the point. If so, my apologies. But here goes. Once I
have the Maps app open, I have such an inverted teardrop (but *without* a
"little white circle in the middle") available alongside a Search Maps box
on the left and some MapLayers and CompassRose icons on the right.

Touching it brings me to a Find Places screen with icons for Restaurants,
Cafes, Bars, Attractions, ATMs, Gas Stations, etc. (a whole lot more)
showing. If I touch, say Gas Stations, the map returns with nearby gas
stations marked with "pins" having that same inverted teardrop shape.

I guess it serves to offer up menus of different sorts of places ("Rooms"?)
potentially pinned to the current map. But whether it's what you're
thinking of I cannot tell. Still, I can HTH. Cheers, -- tlvp
-- 
Avant de repondre, jeter la poubelle, SVP.

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