Methods and systems for acquiring and batching sensor data using a mobile device are described. In one example, a system in a mobile device is provided. The system includes one or more sensors, a memory, a sensor processor, and a main application processor. The sensor processor is configured to determine sensor data using the one or more sensors on an interval basis and store the sensor data into one or more first-in, first-out (FIFO) queues. Additionally, the sensor processor is configured to replace at least a portion of the stored sensor data if a main application processor of the mobile device does not request the stored sensor data within a certain amount of time. The main application processor is configured to receive data indicating a request for sensor data for a recent time period and, in response, to retrieve the sensor data from the one or more FIFO queues.