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That is to say, does the hardware itself do any periodic updating/searching for satellites, etc, if there an no running apps which require GPS information?

If so, what sort of effect does it have on battery life?

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    That really depends on the phone and firmware. I have no doubt that there are devices that power down the GPS chip and those that keep it active.
    – Matthew Read
    May 8, 2015 at 14:19

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Most phones tend to cache your location periodically and use this information when requested by you applications so that battery drain isn't a big problem.

I believe this is called assisted GPS.

This does have the disadvantage of allowing to your location to quickly become inaccurate. Imagine if your location is cached as you get onto a train, you then you take a photo at the next platform, but your location wasn't updated, the location stored in the image could be miles out.

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