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For the past few days, I've been dealing with what appears to be a disproportionately huge group of Evo owners (relative to other Android phones) who've been having crashes with an app I wrote that appear to be caused by the unavailability of network-based location services. I did some research, and it looks like a LOT of Evo owners have been doing things that (temporarily?) disable network-based location services in an attempt to keep the battery from dying too quickly.
Are Evo users who do this literally going into Settings and disabling network-based location services outright, or are there one or more apps/hacks that supposedly disable it only when "it's not being used"? If there are, what does an app that depends on network-based location services have to do to make sure that whatever is supposedly enabling network-based location services "when necessary" realizes that it is, in fact, necessary... and do it in a way that won't cause the lookup request to prematurely or needlessly fail?
Like I've said, I've had a few users with other phones have problems due to the app's current absolute dependency on the availability of network-based location services... but with Evo owners, it's more like a nonstop hailstorm of complaints. Rewriting the way the app handles location to eliminate that absolute dependency is my next major project, but it's going to take me at least a week or two to finish, and in the meantime I'd love to be able to find a temporary solution that I can patch and release tonight that will solve the worst of the problem for the majority of Evo users in the meantime.
Speak up brother. What is the App (so people who don't have the slightest clue as to how to relate your user name with the buggy app you have)?
I'm not sure why anyone would do this, aside from "privacy" concerns... It will not help with battery life on it's own. If your GPS is turned off, your device gets it's relative location via the cell phone tower's coordinates. This information gets transmitted to your phone regardless if you have it disabled to accept it.
They are probably thinking that if they disable it, other services won't try to update information based on your location. Instead they should just adjust any services that are auto-updating.
I can go >24hours before I need to charge my phone with moderate usage throughout the day (without using 4G). I can post SystemPanel screenshots if anyone is interested.
mattrb said:
Speak up brother. What is the App (so people who don't have the slightest clue as to how to relate your user name with the buggy app you have)?
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OK, if it makes you happy, I didn't personally write it that way. It's a legacy app I'm helping to fix. In the meantime, I'm trying to put out as many fires as quickly as I can. That said, I'm not going to condemn the original author. All things considered, it was a perfectly reasonable decision for him to make. It was his first major Android programming project, and his immediate runtime environment was a Droid on Verizon. 99% of his Android-owning friends were Sprint or Verizon. For the most part, on Sprint & Verizon, network-based location services work really well. The app's dependency on them didn't really bubble to the surface as anything more than likely user error until lots of non-Americans started showing up with phones that couldn't be automatically assumed to have inseparably-bundled mandatory data service.
Truth be told, America is a lot like Japan -- cellular networks that are almost proprietary to the national market and work in ways that aren't necessarily consistent with the way things work elsewhere in the world, but utterly ubiquitous and totally dominant within it. I'm sure that right now, plenty of Japanese developers are writing Android apps that assume every phone supports network-level low-latency "Push to Talk" capabilities (IDEN's "killer app"), or some other feature that's ubiquitous in Japan and (almost) unheard of elsewhere. Six months from now, they're going to be scratching their heads wondering why it crashes on every phone in Europe and most phones in America (Sprint, and I think Verizon, try to emulate IDEN's PTT on CDMA by buffering the audio stream on a server, then sending a SMS to the recipient's phone that triggers its download and streaming a couple of seconds later).
Anyway, I digress. Getting back to the original question, are Evo owners who disable network location doing it manually, or are they doing it in a way that can be worked with cooperatively by apps in order to get it to automatically turn it back on when needed?
Actually, I have theory #2 about why Evo owners might be having problems, but it's pure speculation at this point. I'm wondering whether there might be Evo owners who've explicitly disabled EV-DO and 1xRTT to try and force the phone to use WiMax in areas where it might otherwise try to fall back to the older modes, and the possibility that even NON-network location service DEPENDS on EV-DO/1xRTT for aGPS data transmission of the raw telemetry data. In a way, it makes sense... the WiMax network is totally parallel to the CDMA2000 network, and it's not inconceivable that there might BE no data route between the Sprint WiMax network and the servers that handle aGPS queries. Especially if there aren't any real-world locations where Sprint WiMax is available, but CDMA2000 data is not.
If you go into the settings you can disable the network location, but there are ways for an app to ask if the user wants to turn the setting back on.
Evo owners can't disable 1xRTT otherwise standard calls and text messages won't work anymore. They can change settings if they have their MSL code such that EVDO isn't ever used however.
Well, maybe "disable" is a strong term. I know that on a Hero, there's a network setting somewhere that allows you to tell the phone, "Use EV-DO, or don't do data at all". It doesn't affect the operation of voice or sms -- only the phone's willingness to fall back to 1xRTT for internet access if EV-DO isn't available. I'm assuming the Evo has a similar setting that goes a step further and lets you dictate "WiMax or Nothing".
Here's how it could theoretically affect location services: obviously Sprint does aGPS. By law, it HAS to do it for e911 purposes. HOWEVER, I think that non-e911 aGPS lookups on Android phones get diverted through Google (or at least an aGPS service hosted by Google) unless you pay Sprint extra for navigation service. Under those conditions, if you told the phone to use ONLY WiMax for internet access, and you were in an area where only EV-DO and/or 1xRTT data were available, you could have a situation where the phone can do e911 location, but wouldn't necessarily have that info available for use by other applications (vis-a-vis most of HTC's WinMo 6 phones). If the phone couldn't use WiMax, and the user dictated "WiMax or Nothing", the phone couldn't reach Google. Without Google, there'd be no free aGPS for Android apps to consume.
The above is pure speculation, of course. As a practical matter, Sprint itself can't/won't give a coherent explanation of where the line gets drawn between Sprint and Google for (a)GPS service, which makes troubleshooting location-related problems that much more fun. Personally, it wouldn't surprise me in the least if late-model HTC phones DO have 100% of the hardware onboard to turn satellite telemetry into latitude/longitude/altitude coordinates, but the underlying software fails without realtime network connectivity anyway because it still tries to involve a server somewhere for some reason.
Look, this is what happens to me and I think it's a bug.
When I turn off GPS for a while, like for 12 hours, and then I turn it on, I still see the "Location" icon crossed out. At first I didn't know what was going on. I thought it was the GPS icon, but it wasn't, it was the location services being turned off.
So I reproduced it several times and this is what happens. When you turn off GPS for a while, the location setting will be turned off also, and it will remain off even after you turn on the GPS again. Which IS A BUG. That's not an expected behavior. So you may be right.
baiatul said:
Look, this is what happens to me and I think it's a bug.
When I turn off GPS for a while, like for 12 hours, and then I turn it on, I still see the "Location" icon crossed out. At first I didn't know what was going on. I thought it was the GPS icon, but it wasn't, it was the location services being turned off.
So I reproduced it several times and this is what happens. When you turn off GPS for a while, the location setting will be turned off also, and it will remain off even after you turn on the GPS again. Which IS A BUG. That's not an expected behavior. So you may be right.
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My experience doesn't mirror that at all. When I turn GPS on (which I am impressed to say has it finding satellites many times faster than my old HTC Fuze) the location disabled icon changes almost immediately. I saw this a lot over last weekend when I was doing a lot of phone based navigation.
Yes, I forgot, I'm in NY, and in Manhattan very strange things happen when you go in and out the subway with signal and no signal several times a day for periods of time from minutes to an hour.
Many programs that are expected to work crash when there is no signal. Or when you run applications in the subway with no signal, the gadget freezes sometimes. Maybe this GPS thing is also one of those glitches. Maybe it's a combination of turning on or off the GPS, and then the loss of signal for a while. It still happens to me, but I got used: every time I turn back on the GPS after being disabled for MANY HOURS (12? 24?), I have to turn back on the Location setting.
merak69 said:
I'm not sure why anyone would do this, aside from "privacy" concerns...
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I turned off network location services for one simple reason....using it caused my location to off by at least 1/2 mile. So it seemed pretty useless to me.
pixelpop said:
I turned off network location services for one simple reason....using it caused my location to off by at least 1/2 mile. So it seemed pretty useless to me.
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It's basing your location on the information from the cell phone tower. It isn't meant to give you a precise location like GPS can (this is why its called aGPS). The point is to give a general location so that apps that need to know what city you are in (weather apps for example) can figure it out to show you information for where you currently are.
If you want precise information, turn on full GPS and you are good to go.
My point was disabling location services entirely will not save you any more battery life vs leaving network location on (excluding full GPS obviously). What will save you battery is turning off your other services (Facebook, Twitter, News, etc) to only update when you manually say so or setting their update schedules to much longer frequencies.
Here's how it could theoretically affect location services: obviously Sprint does aGPS. By law, it HAS to do it for e911 purposes. HOWEVER, I think that non-e911 aGPS lookups on Android phones get diverted through Google (or at least an aGPS service hosted by Google) unless you pay Sprint extra for navigation service. Under those conditions, if you told the phone to use ONLY WiMax for internet access, and you were in an area where only EV-DO and/or 1xRTT data were available, you could have a situation where the phone can do e911 location, but wouldn't necessarily have that info available for use by other applications (vis-a-vis most of HTC's WinMo 6 phones). If the phone couldn't use WiMax, and the user dictated "WiMax or Nothing", the phone couldn't reach Google. Without Google, there'd be no free aGPS for Android apps to consume.
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Your phone doesn't communicate with Google. Sprint has their own aGPS servers but I think you might misunderstand what their purpose is. The "a" part of aGPS means Assisted, but only assisted in the fact of giving the chip the information it needs to lock on to the true GPS signals faster based on your current location.
For example: If you used a GPS device that wasn't assisted and its known internal satellite database was out of date, it'd have to search for awhile to location any/all satellites in the sky. On the flip side, an assisted chip can use the network server to download satellite info (ids, frequencies, etc) to show which satellites are visible for your given rough location. This enables hardware lock to happen faster.
However those aGPS servers are optional since the chip has a hybrid mode of operation:
a) If you have true GPS on, obviously it uses GPS to determine your location, down to potentially 3-4 meters.
b) If the chip can't get a satellite lock or you have true GPS turned off, the chip uses multiple known tower locations in combination to triangulate your location (based on signal strength to known towers). The fewer the towers it has access to, the less and less accurate your known location becomes. This works even with 3G and 4G disabled because it transmits the data over 1xRTT (you can easily test this in Google Maps).
In the second situation (b), I've seen where tower triangulation has narrowed my location down to 100 meters. I've also seen where it can't get a lock on multiple towers reliably such that the chip puts my "center" location as the actual location of the tower with an accuracy rating of 2000 meters. This is what Pixelpop is mentioning above about accuracy.
merak69 said:
Your phone doesn't communicate with Google. Sprint has their own aGPS servers but I think you might misunderstand what their purpose is. The "a" part of aGPS means Assisted, but only assisted in the fact of giving the chip the information it needs to lock on to the true GPS signals faster based on your current location.
For example: If you used a GPS device that wasn't assisted and its known internal satellite database was out of date, it'd have to search for awhile to location any/all satellites in the sky. On the flip side, an assisted chip can use the network server to download satellite info (ids, frequencies, etc) to show which satellites are visible for your given rough location. This enables hardware lock to happen faster.
However those aGPS servers are optional since the chip has a hybrid mode of operation:
a) If you have true GPS on, obviously it uses GPS to determine your location, down to potentially 3-4 meters.
b) If the chip can't get a satellite lock or you have true GPS turned off, the chip uses multiple known tower locations in combination to triangulate your location (based on signal strength to known towers). The fewer the towers it has access to, the less and less accurate your known location becomes. This works even with 3G and 4G disabled because it transmits the data over 1xRTT (you can easily test this in Google Maps).
In the second situation (b), I've seen where tower triangulation has narrowed my location down to 100 meters. I've also seen where it can't get a lock on multiple towers reliably such that the chip puts my "center" location as the actual location of the tower with an accuracy rating of 2000 meters. This is what Pixelpop is mentioning above about accuracy.
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You're correct that aGPS doesn't go through Google. It's presumably handled by the radio and Android is never aware of it at all.
Cell tower location/triangulation is different however. The OP is correct that it does go through Google, as the US CDMA carriers are totally unwilling to allow outside access to this information like GSM carriers do. Google built and maintains their own database of tower info, and that is what populates your rough location in Android. It is not aGPS data from Sprint's servers that is allowing that.
You want a hack? Well use the last known position, if it's historical then post a message "wtf turn on location services, if you want picture phone to work".
The app may not work but it won't crash as it has a location. More so it blames the user. lol
Post a little line to the location service enable semaphore, "who turned off the lights?"
You can get location assisted position from Wi-Max just like you can get it off Wi-Fi. As far as I know there is no app to disable Mobile Network Location on demand. If your having issues with it than users are going in and disabling it by hand through the settings. The problem probably is that 90% of the know it all bloggers advise to disable network position because they think it does something for battery life.
I'm also willing to bet good money that Google is handling the network location. Why else would they have a location server(supl.google.com). Only to let Nokia users use it?
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I've noticed that there are areas where the GPS doesn't work, even outside with no sky obstacles. One of them is on 113 st. between Broadway and Amsterdam avenue (NYC), right next to a building tagged "Cell Motion Laboratories." I've been there twice since I have EVO and the GPS is off like 10 buildings when I'm in the building next door. From outside, it just looks like any other Columbia University residence.
(Yes, my location settings were enabled and GPS was on).
ZIP 10027.
I just searched that lab, and it has nothing to do with cellphones, but with real cells (biological lab for kids, I think).
bedoig said:
You're correct that aGPS doesn't go through Google. It's presumably handled by the radio and Android is never aware of it at all.
Cell tower location/triangulation is different however. The OP is correct that it does go through Google, as the US CDMA carriers are totally unwilling to allow outside access to this information like GSM carriers do. Google built and maintains their own database of tower info, and that is what populates your rough location in Android. It is not aGPS data from Sprint's servers that is allowing that.
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What you are talking about for triangulation is software level functionality part of Google Maps and Google Maps only and yes it contacts their servers to try and guess where you are. Google does build out their own "database of tower info" just like they collect all sorts of other statistical information (you agree to this when you turn on location services), but part of the aGPS standard is that every cell phone tower, GSM or CDMA, transmits its coordinates to your handset.
What I'm talking about is all strictly in the hardware, but perhaps the word "triangulation" was the incorrect choice of word when talking about aGPS, however it is similar... The aGPS functionality in our phones is tightly integrated into the radio chip (Qualcomm RTR6500 CDMA2000) and this chip does not need to contact Google or Sprint to determine your rough location from a tower (turn off all internet access and you'll see what I mean). It can contact Sprints servers through the network (when it is able) to further plot your location based on the data transmitted to/from the aGPS server.
When you first use the EVO, there is a screen that asks if you want to share anonymous location data. That setting is also tied to network-based location services. That is, if you disable anonymous location sharing, it also disables NBLS entirely. You can thank either Google or HTC (not sure which) for their greed on that one.
I just checked and mine was set to off. not sure what sets it to that as I never touch that setting.
Just adding my 2 cents.
Hey there, I'm looking for a little app on my Froyo that will turn on the WiFi and disable the 3G as soon as I reach my home (for example) and when I move outside again, that it'll disable the WiFi and enable the 3G.
Whether it's done by GPS or done simply by noticing if the WiFi signal is available, I don't mind. Does anyone have a clue about this?
I'm not sure if either can do it since I've yet to use them, but you may want to look into two programs, one called "Tasker" the other "Locale"
Both have the ability to execute location based tasks.
I've used both Tasker and Setting Profiles to accomplish this. Tasker is very powerful, but a bit fiddly to get working correctly.
SP is simpler, and works very well. The jury is still out.
There are a few apps that will do that like tasker and locale, but for my needs I use setting profiles.
Y5
Y5 do it great. remembers WIFI location acording to cell info (doesn't waist battery for GPS) and turn on and of.
only bug in my eyes it that in order to shut down WIFI on a remembered location, you need to disable app or forget location.
Thanks so far for the replies! Right now I'm trying Y5. The rest doesn't really work for me. I've tried Tasker, but no... then I've bought "Setting Profiles" as it seemed to be promising, but it doesn't recognize the places where I'm at. Both through GPS as well as cell towers... it knows where I am, but doesn't change my profile. Big pity!
So, now I'm trying Y5. Only down side is that so far none of the programs has the ability to disconnect the 3G upon activating WiFi.
akito said:
Thanks so far for the replies! Right now I'm trying Y5. The rest doesn't really work for me. I've tried Tasker, but no... then I've bought "Setting Profiles" as it seemed to be promising, but it doesn't recognize the places where I'm at. Both through GPS as well as cell towers... it knows where I am, but doesn't change my profile. Big pity!
So, now I'm trying Y5. Only down side is that so far none of the programs has the ability to disconnect the 3G upon activating WiFi.
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Click to collapse
i think it does!
at least in HTC DESIRE it turn 3G off
Locale can do the job. For example, you can set 3 situations.
Set 'At Home' Situation - Condition: Location plug in(any good location plug in)
- Settings: Locale variable plug-in, add, type 'Home', True.
Set at Defaults - Add Locale variable, add Home = False
Add Wifi - Off
Add 3G - ON
Set Wifi - Conditions: Home = True
Settings: Wifi on
3G off
For my case, I've added Appli Detection condition for the Wifi situation where it detect my browser, etc and perform the wifi on. Hope this helps. IMO, Locale does best and is simple.
I use Tasker to do exactly what you ask.
When I get home, Wifi turns on, 3G turns off. And vice versa when I leave.
Same when I get to work.
I do both of these without the need for GPS or even cell tower location..it's based on when I'm near my home wireless network.
Also turns off wifi, 3G and screen rotation when I'm in bed.
And then makes me breakfast in the morning (well, not quite, but it's almost that good! )
Okay guys, I have definitly uninstalled Setting Profiles. I can't seem to rely properly on it. One time it works, the other time it doesn't. So, I simply don't want it anymore
Now I'm trying Tasker, seems promising. I have downloaded APNDroid next to it, as Tasker was notifying me about the fact it needs that program to be able to (dis)connect the 3G. Now.... I'm stuck for a bit. I have made tasks, but have trouble with the profile. The location, I would like that to be done as the scotsman has got it. According to if it finds your home as well as, in my case, work network. How to do that? Cause when I want to set my location, it takes me to google maps. And I take it that works by GPS. No problem neither, but drains the battery a bit more... Would anyone be so kind to give me quick and short step through?
akito said:
Okay guys, I have definitly uninstalled Setting Profiles. I can't seem to rely properly on it. One time it works, the other time it doesn't. So, I simply don't want it anymore
Now I'm trying Tasker, seems promising. I have downloaded APNDroid next to it, as Tasker was notifying me about the fact it needs that program to be able to (dis)connect the 3G. Now.... I'm stuck for a bit. I have made tasks, but have trouble with the profile. The location, I would like that to be done as the scotsman has got it. According to if it finds your home as well as, in my case, work network. How to do that? Cause when I want to set my location, it takes me to google maps. And I take it that works by GPS. No problem neither, but drains the battery a bit more... Would anyone be so kind to give me quick and short step through?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Tasker, but I do not believe you can use WiFi location if WiFi is off. Location base uses GPS. You can set an option to do tasks if the WiFi connects. 3G is automatically disabled on my Incredible when WiFi connects, so I do not have to implicitly set it off. Just be sure to adjust your radius when you use GPS location. You do not want to drive way down the street to have WiFi turn off and 3G come back on.
I use Tasker to also launch the car app when bluetooth connects in my truck. There are good examples on the Tasker Web site.
Well, I've been using my Sensation for about a week now and so far everything is fine, EXCEPT one major bug i found:
Every time I turn in the GPS-Option, I get a completely wrong location (ie in weather, maps, places, etc) and have to wait and refresh a short time later to get my actual real position and even short time later, the signal goes back to the wrong place.
example:
I enable GPS and refresh the weather, it goes to "Fürth" (some city in Bavaria, South Germany), but I'm actually located near Berlin (on the complete opposing end of Germany). Same goes for any other location based function.
I even disabled the "allow false locations" option, but don't know further, anyone experienced similar problems?
satani said:
Well, I've been using my Sensation for about a week now and so far everything is fine, EXCEPT one major bug i found:
Every time I turn in the GPS-Option, I get a completely wrong location (ie in weather, maps, places, etc) and have to wait and refresh a short time later to get my actual real position and even short time later, the signal goes back to the wrong place.
example:
I enable GPS and refresh the weather, it goes to "Fürth" (some city in Bavaria, South Germany), but I'm actually located near Berlin (on the complete opposing end of Germany). Same goes for any other location based function.
I even disabled the "allow false locations" option, but don't know further, anyone experienced similar problems?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't seen this. I'll take a wild guess. Part of the A-GPS system can use cell towers and wifi to get a rough estimate of your location in order to speed up the GPS sat acquisition and lock. Perhaps the cell tower/wifi mapping in some parts of Germany is incorrect, so when it's using the local networks to find you it's flipping to another part of the country, the GPS kicks in and it locates you accurately. You could try a couple of things to test this. Turn off GPS and open Google Maps. It will normally locate you on the map within a few blocks of where you are and show a large blue circle due to the inaccuracy. Does it show you near where you are or in the other part of Germany? If it's way off then the local network mapping database is messed up. Not sure who to contact about that, but I guess you would start with your service provider.
As I recall Google has had a bunch of problems with the German authorities regarding the mapping they have done of wifi networks. Maybe that's a factor here, but who knows.
If this is the problem you could turn off the local network feature in Settings > Location. Problem is it will rely only on GPS then and take longer to get your location. But if my theory is right, right now the local network locator is hurting more than helping you.
If that's not the problem then install this app:
http://www.appbrain.com/app/gps-test/com.chartcross.gpstest
Turn off GPS, run the app, press the Menu button on the phone then Settings. At the top press "Clear AGPS" then "Update AGPS". Exit the app, turn on GPS and see if that helps. The initial lock after updating AGPS may take longer than normal, but that's expected. After that it will be back to normal.
samnada said:
I haven't seen this. I'll take a wild guess. Part of the A-GPS system can use cell towers and wifi to get a rough estimate of your location in order to speed up the GPS sat acquisition and lock. Perhaps the cell tower/wifi mapping in some parts of Germany is incorrect, so when it's using the local networks to find you it's flipping to another part of the country, the GPS kicks in and it locates you accurately. You could try a couple of things to test this. Turn off GPS and open Google Maps. It will normally locate you on the map within a few blocks of where you are and show a large blue circle due to the inaccuracy. Does it show you near where you are or in the other part of Germany? If it's way off then the local network mapping database is messed up. Not sure who to contact about that, but I guess you would start with your service provider.
As I recall Google has had a bunch of problems with the German authorities regarding the mapping they have done of wifi networks. Maybe that's a factor here, but who knows.
If this is the problem you could turn off the local network feature in Settings > Location. Problem is it will rely only on GPS then and take longer to get your location. But if my theory is right, right now the local network locator is hurting more than helping you.
If that's not the problem then install this app:
http://www.appbrain.com/app/gps-test/com.chartcross.gpstest
Turn off GPS, run the app, press the Menu button on the phone then Settings. At the top press "Clear AGPS" then "Update AGPS". Exit the app, turn on GPS and see if that helps. The initial lock after updating AGPS may take longer than normal, but that's expected. After that it will be back to normal.
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Click to collapse
I have the exact same problem as the op. soon as I open google maps it shows me 10 miles away from my house. always the same spot 10 miles away. a few seconds later when it gets a lock on my location it pops me back to where I actually am. If I close google maps and open it again it jumps back to the wrong spot again, waits a few seconds and then jumps back to my true location at home.
I tried what you mentioned above but it did not help. wifi on or wifi off same difference. I read about some people saying it shows their old address and I did recently move and the wrong location it shows is about 1.5 miles from my old house. also the wrong location it shows me in is on the edge of this private reservoir that I have never been too.
Anyone else have this problem or read on how to fix it?
Tonight I noticed a pattern on my LG Optimus T running CM7 2.3.5.
If I disable "use wireless networks" under location and the GPS comes up to find my signal (I assume Google Latitude was calling for it even though it was backgrounded?????) it flashes super fast. I'm talking 12-15x a second. It's far faster than the searching for GPS icon we're all used to seeing.
If I re-enable "use wireless networks" it's instantly fine. If I disable it, it goes back to flashing.
I even signed out of Latitude to make sure it wasn't Latitude causing it to act up, but it did the same thing in both scenarios.
What could be causing this? I tried rebooting it, powering off and pulling the battery, etc. Any ideas?
Well, some new findings, and some new questions.
I have no idea what was causing the issue. Someone suggested I may have several GPS apps at once trying to get a grip on my location. I'm not sure what exactly happened but I ended up pulling a recovery from 10 days ago when I backed it up and it took care of the issue.
Moving along... I'm reading that "use wireless networks" helps the GPS antenna to find my location significantly faster since it can hone in on the area instead of the entire globe. Okay, fine. But I noticed something today. Previously I noticed that Google Latitude was wildly inaccurate. Further research after driving up and down the east coast reveals that Google Latitude (using only cell tower triangulation) is actually pretty damn accurate. In fact, it's always triangulated me within 2.5 miles of my location.
Here's the curve ball. Today I had wifi enabled. On a hunch, I opened Latitude. It said I was in Mineola, New York. Uh. No. I'm definitely in the very very southern most area of Pennsylvania you can get (Maryland border is a mere 5 minute bike ride away). I disable wifi, back in PA. I enable wifi, back in New York.
That said, it's obvious my wifi is throwing off the accuracy of Latitude. Personally I can't even find use with Latitude since I'm ALWAYS on wifi with work. Always. There are several buildings many miles apart I could be at, and since I'm always on wifi, the use of this app is really tanked if my wifi is going to throw off co-workers from knowing where I truly am. And this isn't Latitude's fault from what I can tell... something is goofed up in the database (whoever's database it is) that signifies my current wifi = New York when it should have been Pennsylvania, clearly.
So here's my next question - is it possible to separate wifi vs mobile tower triangulation? I noticed on my Android (Optimus T running CM7 2.3.5) that it specifically says:
Use Wireless Networks
Location determined by Wi-Fi and/or mobile networks
Keyword being... "or"...
Any ideas??
Anybody? No dice?
Hey everyone,
I'm experiencing a couple minor issues with my MyTouch 4G Slide and wanted to see if anyone had any input.
First is the weather location... when I am at work my phone's weather location always gets all weird. It happened with my G2 (before this phone) as well. On the G2, it would show my location as in Japan. With the MT4GS, it shows as Denver CO. It updates when I leave the building, but it is still frustrating for numerous reasons. First, the time on my phone switches to Denver's time zone while at work. It throws me off whenever I look at my phone. Also, after I leave and the location updates, it doesn't update the time zone. I have to go to Settings -> Date and Time, and uncheck and recheck 'Automatic' for it to switch back to the correct time zone. Finally, while Maps will read my location just fine, other location-based apps seem to be thrown off as well.
One other question is about the hardware keyboard. I have Prediction turned on in settings but it never works. It's nice with the hardware keyboard because I can skip the alt+ keypresses for punctuation and it inserts automatically, and it will capitalize I, etc. If I'm not mistaken, this hasn't worked since the recent HTC update that moved us to Google Play Store.
If anyone has fixes and/or other info about these issues, I'd appreciate your input! Thanks so much.
Are you connecting to your work's wi-fi automatically when you are there? It could be that the location information (which would affect weather and time) is using your IP address info. I know when I connect to my wi-fi at home, it will alter my location to a nearby suburb.
Fuzi0719 said:
Are you connecting to your work's wi-fi automatically when you are there? It could be that the location information (which would affect weather and time) is using your IP address info. I know when I connect to my wi-fi at home, it will alter my location to a nearby suburb.
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I wish! Our WiFi doesn't even show up on my phone... they must have the SSID hidden. I think it's because the building is older, and it must have lots of concrete or something because radios, cell phones, etc don't work well in here. Mine only works because my desk is right by the main entry door and a few windows. I'm assuming that the GPS signal could get thrown off by that as well. I'm just hoping since Maps can locate me that maybe I could fix the rest of the location-based services.
retrokick said:
I wish! Our WiFi doesn't even show up on my phone... they must have the SSID hidden. I think it's because the building is older, and it must have lots of concrete or something because radios, cell phones, etc don't work well in here. Mine only works because my desk is right by the main entry door and a few windows. I'm assuming that the GPS signal could get thrown off by that as well. I'm just hoping since Maps can locate me that maybe I could fix the rest of the location-based services.
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It may not even be getting a GPS signal, instead relying upon the location data of the celltower you're linked with. I've seen the location info being off by neighborhoods, but not to the extreme you've mentioned.
Uncheck the automatic update, then it will stay in the right timezone.
Also, I use swiftkey x, it has the best word prediction, and works great with the hardware keyboard.
yellowjacket1981 said:
Uncheck the automatic update, then it will stay in the right timezone.
Also, I use swiftkey x, it has the best word prediction, and works great with the hardware keyboard.
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Thank you for the recommendation! The app is downloading now and I'm already excited because of the amazing reviews it got. I'm sure I'll love it. I was hesitant to uncheck the automatic setting because I want it to sync the time... but now that I think about it, once the time is set from the network... why would it need to sync? Unless I do a battery pull or something.