Does anyone know of an app that you can use to track your phone without an active data/internet connection? Basically something that can run on GPS only. I have a Samsung Galaxy Player 4.0 which does not have SMS/Calling/3g/4g etc... All it has is Wifi and GPS. I would like to somehow be able to track my location if I am not in a wifi hotspot. The other downside is I use the lock screen on the phone. If someone steals it chances are it could be quite some time before the phone would actually connect to a network (considering there wouldn't be any way for them to get to the wifi settings to log into a network).
Does anyone know of anything like this? Is it possible?
Wont be possible without either data/internet connection or cell/texting service. GPS will show the location on the device, but you have to transmit that somehow.
GPS is purely passive, you don't send anything and neither do satelites transmit something specific to you.
You just grab what ever signals you can find, and if its enough calculate the current position.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System
Related
Here's a basic question about the HTC Fuze. If I'm using the Edge network and I turn on wifi, thereby getting a faster connection, do Fuze applications default to the faster connection or do I somehow have to turn off the edge/3G connection specifically. I know I should be able to tell...
I usually have both wifi and edge/3g off. When I need data I turn on whatever i need. You do that thru the communication manager.
I think the real question is with both the Edge/3G on and Wifi connected, where will the data transfer? Through the cell network or the WiFi network?
the icons on the top bar of my device display clear which connection is active
with a data session
when one is active it's the only one being used to access data from the internet
It's possible to have both OTA and wifi active, which is what the OP is driving at. IME a program will find and use the faster connection at startup, but if the program is running on OTA and you connect wifi, a lot of programs won't switch to the faster connection. Again, that's just my anecdotal experience - it's hard to tell which connection is being used in real time.
Hi guys,
I am new to amdroid platform. I've been using symbian before this. I want to know as to how do I auto use wifi when. Available without manually turning it on. Below is a use case scenario.
I have configured wifi as well as gprs. I have turned off background sync so as to conserve battery and the wifi is off. Now when my active sync want to connect to server to synchronize emails, it should auto check if I have a nearby wifi already configured. If yes, then turn on the wifi, sync the data and close the connection thereby disconnecting from wlan. If a known wlan network is not available, use the data plan of my service provider to get the job done.
Now I know for sure that when I've wifi turned off, the phone is not always connected to 3G. It uses it only if requested by an application. But when I turn ON wifi, it always remains connected to the known network. I want to avoid this for saving battery.
Please let me know if there is an app for that. I am using HTC DESIRE Z running Froyo (non rooted). I dont mind rooting the phone for this thing but only if a standard way is not available.
Thanks in advance,
Karan
Sent from my HTC Vision using XDA App
I think Juice Defender does exactly what you're looking for.
Or Tasker if you really want to customize and make it location-based.
Good luck, and welcome to Android! I also came from Symbian.
Technically the phone can't know if there is wifi available unless wifi is on..
However, a tool like Tasker can use various contexts in order to determine if Wifi is to be turned on. For example you could use cell tower ID's to determine if you're at a certain (fairly wide area) location, like "at work". Or you could use GPS to get more fine tuned information, however it doesn't necessarily work indoors.
Or Tasker could also turn on Wifi if ActiveSync is running, assuming it's a distinct program it can detect.
I see in the time I opened the thread and responded someone else suggested Tasker as well. It's several bucks but it's well worth it, it does a LOT.
You should try an app called "Y5".
JuiceDefender does this for me. It must use gps positioning to determine if you are in an area that you have as a familiar wireless network. When I am home my wifi turns on and connects automatically. When I leave it shuts it off. JuiceDefender is great for many reasons beyond this.
foppa78 said:
JuiceDefender does this for me. It must use gps positioning to determine if you are in an area that you have as a familiar wireless network.
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GPS uses tons more battery power than just leaving WiFi on would. It might be using cell tower triangulation for a rough area, but I doubt it. The most efficient way to detect if familiar wireless is near, is to turn the WiFi on for a minute or so and do a scan.
kmmerwana said:
Now I know for sure that when I've wifi turned off, the phone is not always connected to 3G. It uses it only if requested by an application. But when I turn ON wifi, it always remains connected to the known network. I want to avoid this for saving battery.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WiFi doesn't use power to maintain the connection until it's needed, or something wakes it and it realizes its no longer connected. 3G uses power to track cell tower connectivity and stay connected, but it is very little. WiFi only uses more power when you're in an unfamiliar location, since it actively scans for new wireless networks.
Hi!
I'm using my SGS with wifi tethering to have internet with my transformer. The problem is that the wifi ssid from my sgs is tracked by google and typically the transformer thinks this net is at my home or at work. It shows a wrong static position, even if I'm hundreds of kilometers away of this point.
I like this wifi position determination but it seems that this mobile wifi ssid destroys the complete feature.
Is there any possibility to tell google/android that this wifi net isn't static and can't give position information?
Can I configure somehow the SGS to get a hidden wifi net which isn't used by google's position determination? Out of the box I think android does not support hidden wifis (tethering and client).
Hope there are some ideas...
thx
Why don't you change the ssid from your wifi tether?
Mordekain said:
Why don't you change the ssid from your wifi tether?
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Click to collapse
Ähhhmmm...
That won't help since google will also use the new ssid for position determination after some time. thats the way google's position data works. they are logging ssids and mac from wifi nets and if someone has no gps these info can be taken to find the current location.
The problem is: If one wifi is moving with you, it can't display your position.
Hi. I'd like to keep my phone connected to a local Wi-Fi network so that I can access a server on that network. However that network doesn't have a working internet connection. Can I keep my phone connected to Wi-Fi but let it use 3G for internet connection? Thank you
Normally when the WiFi is connected to a network the data is automatically disabled so I'd say no to your question.
But Super Download might help.
Could WiFi always scanning be used in this case perhaps? Try it by disabling your WiFi but leaving that option enabled under the Advanced settings.
Of course it wont work to use always scanning. It even says scanning in the name, meaning it simply allows the locations service to turn on wifi briefly in order to see local networks so it can use them to locate you.
What OP is asking for is not natively supported, and would probably require a bunch of modifications on a deep level.
I've been plagued by this issue for 15 years. The title says it all, but here's the deal:
When my WiFi is on and manages to connect to a nearby WiFi hotspot that has no internet connection (or requires authentication), my Android phone loses all data connectivity, even though there is strong 4G signal. It's trying to connect to the Internet through the WiFi, which has no Internet connection. If I manually turn off WiFi, then the data connection is re-established over mobile data. Why doesn't it automatically switch to mobile data in this situation? Is there any way to force it to do so? My phone isn't rooted, but I do know how to root so I'd be happy to try anything.
In particular, this happens constantly when I'm driving in the city. The phone picks up all sorts of hotspots that require authentication, so essentially they are all dead ends. Manually turning off WiFi isn't a real option since I'm driving. I want the phone to automatically detect that the WiFi doesn't have a connection to the Internet, and switch to mobile data automatically.
I've read about 15+ threads on this, some of which go back 10 years, and none of them have a real solution to the problem.
IMPORTANT:
I am not looking to exclude specific WiFi connections/networks. It should work on any connection that has no internet connectivity.
I am not looking to set this up for specific apps. It should work for the entire phone's data connection.
I know that this is a huge problem for a lot of people, so there must be a solution. Please, I'd apprecaite your help.
Please answer only with solutions to the problem, not "why do you want to do that" or "that's impossible" answers.