Very slow GPS lock with sports apps - Android Apps and Games

I don't know why but all the GPS based sports apps are very slow to lock even in a bright sunny day!
I think those apps are asking too much sats to begin working, I mean with GPS TEST it can find 4/5 sats easily after only 10 secs but if I open a sports app it will take ages to find sats!!!
Where is the problem?
And yes I am using Fasterfix

Do you really get at actual gps fix with just 4 sattelites?

Sort of similar problem. I am a run.gps user, and while getting a fix isn't so bad I keep losing signal on a clear day. No such problem with GMaps...

Related

GPS fix that definitely worked for me

I used a method found on the samsung vibrant forum that works perfectly for me. Directions:
call *#*#1472365#*#*
choose "delete gps data"
go outside to maximize gps lock potential
choose "get position test"
Now let it do its thing for a few minutes. For about 5-6 minutes it was not getting a lock, but it was detecting between 1-4 gps satellites. Then it all of a sudden the phone got a lock and detected 8 satellites, at which point the phone recorded the gps data. The other forum post said wait until the phone sees 10-12 sats before backing out; my phone only saw up to 9 and locked on 8. Nevertheless, I backed out after the gps data was recorded, and now the GPS works wonderfully in Google maps, places, and navigation. Previous to this, I never got a lock with this phone, now I get a lock in about 5-10 secs. I didn't want to activate using wireless networks because that is not real gps. This is the real deal and easy to do. Try it and report back.
will do. In the meantime, take ur phone on a run with you and see if the gps still jumps within a small radius. I noticed that when i was driving this worked really well but when i try to use it to to record my run route (so i can see distance and speed) it doesnt follow me very smoothly.
I just tried this and my Captivate got a lock on 8 satellites within 4 seconds! Hopefully this will keep working til Sammy gets their update out.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
this fix works for me too! However, after a few days you may need to delete the gps data again. Good news is that it gets things working again.
Also, I have had great luck setting accuracy to 150 in lbstestmode. I think this is because the software wont drop satellites too aggressively. As a result, once the satellites are locked, they stay locked - which helps reliability alot.
phr00t said:
this fix works for me too! However, after a few days you may need to delete the gps data again. Good news is that it gets things working again.
Also, I have had great luck setting accuracy to 150 in lbstestmode. I think this is because the software wont drop satellites too aggressively. As a result, once the satellites are locked, they stay locked - which helps reliability alot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only locks into 1 Sat for me. Every once in a while it locks into 2. I think I got a lemon.
I posted a potential fix in the stickey, key value to change is accuracy and using the GPS Test Application....
The OP worked for me as well. I was getting so so GPS locks and would only get a "true" lock if I enabled the phone to use cell towers as well. After the above I get a lock almost immediately and per the test I had accuracey down to 5 meters. Untill a true fix comes out (def seems software related) this is a quick fix that works.
Hoooooooly ****.
I went from getting a lock in about 2-3 minutes to getting a lock in less than 20 seconds. I even rebooted the phone and it still worked that fast. I was able to confirm my lock with GPS Test(app) and using Google Maps to find my position.
trying it now.
looks like its thinking.
will update in a few.
Update
it has 9 and has an accuracy of 10 meters and it jumps to 30 and back to ten.
how often does the * drop on your sats, or do they stay on once locked on?
WeAreVenom said:
Hoooooooly ****.
I went from getting a lock in about 2-3 minutes to getting a lock in less than 20 seconds. I even rebooted the phone and it still worked that fast. I was able to confirm my lock with GPS Test(app) and using Google Maps to find my position.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Update: I get a lock in my house in less than 10 seconds! Bwahaha! Bow before me puny mortals!
I wonder how long this fix will last?
time to lock is not the primary problem with the GPS, I can get a lock within 5 seconds if I opened up GPS test app before I open up navigation. Especially in the house or standing stationary, where it uses skyhook.
the REAL gps problem is maintaining a lock with GOOD (<5 meters) accuracy WHILE moving. Which, I have not seen any fix remedy.
andy2na said:
time to lock is not the primary problem with the GPS, I can get a lock within 5 seconds if I opened up GPS test app before I open up navigation. Especially in the house or standing stationary, where it uses skyhook.
the REAL gps problem is maintaining a lock with GOOD (<5 meters) accuracy WHILE moving. Which, I have not seen any fix remedy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why would you want it to be less than 5 meters? How wide is the average highway? That's all I need.
Regardless, I'll test it out tonight on the way in to work.
The problem is it can't maintain 5 meters or even 10 meters lock for long. If Captivate can stay locked at 10 meters accuracy, I'll be happy.
Tried in and locked onto 8-9 sats with an accuracy of 10m. Went into GM and got a lock in under 30 seconds.
andy2na said:
time to lock is not the primary problem with the GPS, I can get a lock within 5 seconds if I opened up GPS test app before I open up navigation. Especially in the house or standing stationary, where it uses skyhook.
the REAL gps problem is maintaining a lock with GOOD (<5 meters) accuracy WHILE moving. Which, I have not seen any fix remedy.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe the problem with maintaining an accurate lock is because the Captivate defaults to having a very high threshold of satellite accuracy. Using the default setting of "Accuracy: 50", it takes a long time to get that level of accuracy. In addition, when you do have a lock, if the satellite drops below this accuracy (even for a short moment) -- the satellite is dropped. This is why you see many satellites being picked up and dropped all the time, and this is why the accuracy ranges so much after a lock is gained. The fix is simply setting the accuracy to 150 (in addition to the other recommended settings) -- which gives the satellites more "room", and keeps them in use.
My theory anyway... seems to work so far
2 minutes after selecting test:
11 sats found
8 locked
Located within 10m, 7 seconds after Google Maps launch.
Okay, this is my first post. I've been reading these forums for a couple weeks now. This is the first and only thing that made mt GPS work correctly. I tried almost every other gps fix I read about but none seemed to do anything. Thanks.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
So is this with the stock settings or with other tweaks?
This does seem to help somewhat. I was able to get view 9 sats and get 6-7 to lock. GPS Test app was working and could calculate my speed as I walked across a parking lot. I could even see myself move on maps (never seen it move without bouncing around and such).
I will test later this evening on my drive home and see if I can get google navigation and actual turn by turn to work.
frankencat said:
So is this with the stock settings or with other tweaks?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tested mine using the stock settings bud I had changed the server and port to the google recommendation in previous "fixes".

[Q] Evo Shift GPS problems thread

GPS sucks and I think it's my phone.. GPS won't stay awake and keep the lock, needs wifi assistance and loses the lock as well. Google Maps navigation has been a nightmare.. dropped my phone too many times maybe?
With wifi assistance off:
GPS Status will get locks, up to 9 sats usually at best.
I have seen it lose locks.
When I close apps that use GPS the GPS icon disappears from the status bar.
I have seen this happen over multiple roms.
I have wiped my phone completely, no difference.
Google Maps navigation is terrible, often get "waiting on location" even before navigation and also get that my location is not available wifi on or off.
Any ideas?
I say maybe a equipment problem, I use my GPS daily for work and it works flawlessly everytime....
Sent from my MiuiSpeedy
+1 Going to have to agree with Rooster. If your having the same issue across multiple Roms, it's probably an equipment issue. Unless your changing the exact same thing on every Rom to affect GPS. Although this is unlikely. This is also based on that fact that I use my GPS daily. It locks in under 30 seconds everytime. I haven't touched a thing, having to do with it
Same Problem
I have the exact same problem across multiple roms (Cyanogen and Supreme Sense). I just re-loaded the entire phone. The gps still seems a bit fishy. Did you find a solution? It did work just fantastically when I first got it.
Thanks in advance.
VICODAN said:
GPS sucks and I think it's my phone.. GPS won't stay awake and keep the lock, needs wifi assistance and loses the lock as well. Google Maps navigation has been a nightmare.. dropped my phone too many times maybe?
With wifi assistance off:
GPS Status will get locks, up to 9 sats usually at best.
I have seen it lose locks.
When I close apps that use GPS the GPS icon disappears from the status bar.
I have seen this happen over multiple roms.
I have wiped my phone completely, no difference.
Google Maps navigation is terrible, often get "waiting on location" even before navigation and also get that my location is not available wifi on or off.
Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

GPS slow in Google Maps after OTA update

Ever since i did the update, the GPS takes several minutes to get a lock. Even if I exit Google Maps after it gets a lock and then re-start GMaps again within seconds, it takes again several minutes to get a lock. As if it is doing cold start every time GMaps gets active.
Before OTA update it would take a second to get a lock after just exiting GMaps and re-starting it. A couple of hours later, and dozen miles away, it was still locking within 10 seconds.
Now everything takes many minutes.
GPS Status is showing strong signal from 4-5 satellites, but GMaps is not locking.
Does anyone else have similar problem?
Are you actually getting a lock from gps status or just 4-5 satellites?
I had a similar problem before the update, first lock took about half an hour in gps status, after that it was quicker but still not great.
Sorry to report the update fixed the issues in my case. It could be due to the old radio being better suited to your geographic location than the new one. Unfortunately its hard to really test this unless you are willing to s-off and test some radio/ril combinations.
Sent from my Cyanogenmod hungry Htc Sensation.
My experience is pretty much the opposite of the OP. I've noticed GPS locks are much faster after the OTA. Using GPS Test they were fast before, typically less 15 sec and nearly always under 30 sec, and after the update closer to 5 sec. However, over time I've seen a good bit of variation day-to-day so I can't say with any certainty that my observation is directly related to the OTA. And based on the reports in this thread it seems likely the OTA didn't fix or break GPS.
I have seen Google Nav take much longer than GPS Test to get a lock. I've also had it completely hang my phone where a battery pull was the only option. This when GPS Test would work fine. So I'm quite certain that Google Nav is buggy. Mostly it works, but sometimes not. If it's taking too long to get a lock I will exit, use GPS Test to get a lock, then go back to Nav and it typically locks quickly.
Regarding GPS Test taking minutes to lock that's most likely due to either not having a data connection or a corrupted ephemeris. If you do have a data connection then use the options to clear and update the AGPS data. The next lock may take 20-30 sec but after that it should be back to normal.
samnada said:
My experience is pretty much the opposite of the OP. I've noticed GPS locks are much faster after the OTA. Using GPS Test they were fast before, typically less 15 sec and nearly always under 30 sec, and after the update closer to 5 sec. However, over time I've seen a good bit of variation day-to-day so I can't say with any certainty that my observation is directly related to the OTA. And based on the reports in this thread it seems likely the OTA didn't fix or break GPS.
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EXACTLY the same as that.. 6+ satellites in less than 10 seconds (usually about 5) and the same is true when using google maps.
same thing here instant lock few seconds
less then 30 sec inside
The thing with the GPS Status is that it is showing many satellites with strong signal (i.e. 11 with green bars) but it is not locking either for minutes.
alexsql said:
The thing with the GPS Status is that it is showing many satellites with strong signal (i.e. 11 with green bars) but it is not locking either for minutes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Are you running stock or a ROM?
I'm on stock and have seen this a couple of times. I've been able to fix it by clearing and reloading the AGPS data. This can be done under Settings in GPS Test (https://market.android.com/details?id=com.chartcross.gpstest&hl=en).
OK, i fixed it.
I am on stock and I've tried reloading AGPS but that did not fix it.
I used GPS Status ->Settings ->GPS&Sensors ->Sensor Filtering
After I changed the filtering from Weak to None the GPS locks within seconds.
The weird thing is that now, if I change the filtering back to Weak or even Strong, it still locks in seconds
alexsql said:
OK, i fixed it.
I am on stock and I've tried reloading AGPS but that did not fix it.
I used GPS Status ->Settings ->GPS&Sensors ->Sensor Filtering
After I changed the filtering from Weak to None the GPS locks within seconds.
The weird thing is that now, if I change the filtering back to Weak or even Strong, it still locks in seconds
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you say reloading AGPS didn't fix it, how long did you wait for a lock? It can take longer for the first lock after reloading than normal. From your description it may have been the AGPS reload that actually fixed it, then once it got the first lock it was back to the normal fast locks regardless of the filter setting. Just a guess. I haven't played with the filter setting since far as I can tell it's only available in GPS Status, which I normally don't use.
Regardless, glad it's resolved. Also glad to know about that filter setting for future reference.
I did AGPS reload 2-3 hours ago and it did not work until I did the filter thing.
alexsql said:
I did AGPS reload 2-3 hours ago and it did not work until I did the filter thing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok. That does seem odd. Also odd that changing the filter back didn't break it. Hard to diagnose that without knowing a lot more about how it works underneath. Still a useful trick to know about. Thanks.
samnada said:
Ok. That does seem odd. Also odd that changing the filter back didn't break it. Hard to diagnose that without knowing a lot more about how it works underneath. Still a useful trick to know about. Thanks.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That filtering is for the sensors for your gyroscope on the device not the GPS. It smoothes out the display in the program so your "bubble" in your compass isn't jittery.

[Q] google's Navigation constant gps loss

I'm not sure whether to post this in the question or the app area.
So I'm constantly losing gps signal in google's Navigation app. GPS status and angry gps will maintain a lock indefinitely but navigation will lose the lock often and takes a long time to regain the lock.
I saw http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=997647 but don't know if it'll work due to it being for another phone.
I'd also like to avoid buying a gps app as I don't use gps a great deal, it is just nice to have to find another route through traffic or to find the occasional new place.
Any tips on this?
Anyone?
Sent from my Samsung Infuse
Still having issue. Tried different apn values. Did odin to stock and a factory reset from there. Navigation constantly drops gps lock even after trying multiple modems.
Download faster fix, and select your region,
or try using waze, its better than maps.
Thanks for the advice on the waze app. Ill try it soon. Ive used faster fix but unfortunately it didn't help. My GPS locks within 10 seconds ussually, the problem is that when navigation is loaded it screws it up. I can even load GPS test lock on the GPS and navigation will then update to the correct spot but will soon lose it's lock
Sent from my Samsung Infuse
Waze worked great. Locked onto my spot within 20 secs and never lost gps lock. It was surprising that it asked for a traffic update within 5 seconds of stopping behind a school bus picking up some kids this morning.

GPS and Ingress

Has anyone else had any issues with GPS and/or Ingress?
Here's the problem. While playing Ingress and being tethered to my phone, the GPS usually cannot get a lock on ANY satelites. I mean absolutely 0. Occasionally I'll end up moving but we're talking hundreds of meter jumps, usually taking anywhere from 20 seconds to sometimes up to 5 minutes for 1 to occur (in the 5 minutes one, I was nearly 2 miles away from where it last jumped.....).
Now, you'd think there was something wrong with my GPS, right?
Well, how come I can go and open my Google Maps application, and within 15 seconds have a lock on 5 to 8 satelites and have correct placement as well?
I've tried this a number of times, where Ingress essentially has me no where near where I should be. I exit out of Ingress and go to Google Maps and nearly immediately it shows my current location exactly without issues.
I've tried nearly everything I can think of to get this fixed. Overclocking/underclocking and such make no real difference here (hoping that maybe there wasn't enough processor speed or the graphics were too intense), has little to no effect as one would hope. Even using a few GPS tools (such as GPSFix, GPS Status and Toolbox, etc...) provide little insight into the problem, as they just confirm my fears, that inside Ingress I get 0 satelites, inside any other GPS application I'll get a lock on 5 to 8 satelites in no time.
Does anyone know of a way that I can truely monitor the GPS while using another application? I'd like some kind of log or something to help figure this out.
darkhawkff said:
Has anyone else had any issues with GPS and/or Ingress?
Here's the problem. While playing Ingress and being tethered to my phone, the GPS usually cannot get a lock on ANY satelites. I mean absolutely 0. Occasionally I'll end up moving but we're talking hundreds of meter jumps, usually taking anywhere from 20 seconds to sometimes up to 5 minutes for 1 to occur (in the 5 minutes one, I was nearly 2 miles away from where it last jumped.....).
Now, you'd think there was something wrong with my GPS, right?
Well, how come I can go and open my Google Maps application, and within 15 seconds have a lock on 5 to 8 satelites and have correct placement as well?
I've tried this a number of times, where Ingress essentially has me no where near where I should be. I exit out of Ingress and go to Google Maps and nearly immediately it shows my current location exactly without issues.
I've tried nearly everything I can think of to get this fixed. Overclocking/underclocking and such make no real difference here (hoping that maybe there wasn't enough processor speed or the graphics were too intense), has little to no effect as one would hope. Even using a few GPS tools (such as GPSFix, GPS Status and Toolbox, etc...) provide little insight into the problem, as they just confirm my fears, that inside Ingress I get 0 satelites, inside any other GPS application I'll get a lock on 5 to 8 satelites in no time.
Does anyone know of a way that I can truely monitor the GPS while using another application? I'd like some kind of log or something to help figure this out.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hello friend. It has been almost a year since you have posted, but I've gone through the same hardships, on different device though.
See my post here, if you still need some solution and see if it helps.

Categories

Resources