I have recently encountered more of an annoyance rather than a problem that got my head scratching. It is location and GPS related, so I searched for Galaxy S6 GPS problems in google, and I have noticed that some owners experience a lot of signal loss/searching in their phones. What I have found annoying in my case is that whenever the GPS signal is lost, Google Maps puts me in a wrong location that I have not been to for a while (around one month). I have lived in that location before, but I have since moved and no longer stay there. I have purchased the phone after moving. After a bit of experimenting I came to the conclusion that the building I currently live in blocks the GPS signal, since whenever I am in the balcony/near a window I get a signal and I'm put in the correct location in Google Maps. As soon as the signal is lost, Maps automatically puts me in that old location. This has also effected Google Now where I'm given incorrect travel times and directions, but not my weather location (set on current).
I have set 'Home' to my new location, I have also tried deleting my location history from google, tried a few GPS fixing apps, reinstalling Maps, and also installing other map applications like Here and Waze, which behave the same way and give me the same old location as my current.
At first I thought it could be a GPS hardware defect in the galaxy, but I turned on my old HTC One (M8) and it acted and behaved in the same way putting me in my old location. So it seems to me there's something in the Android OS perhaps since Here and Waze act in the same way. I also tested with the Maps app on an iPhone 6 and it gave the correct location although not 100% accurate. So is there anyway I can make Maps at least remember my last location before signal loss?
It is also absurd that my laptop can pinpoint my correct location while connected on Wifi while my phone with GPS, wifi and cell network cannot, which in conclusion seems like an android bug or something with location history in my google account which as I said already tried deleting the whole history.
Also note that the GPS and Maps work perfectly fine whenever I'm outside the building.
Google Maps has had weird location issues on Android since January or February. Affected the GPS accuracy / function of my Nexus 5 as well. I think the bug is actually in Google Play Services framework, not in AOSP or the Maps app.
s6 gps issue
ab1983 said:
I have recently encountered more of an annoyance rather than a problem that got my head scratching. It is location and GPS related, so I searched for Galaxy S6 GPS problems in google, and I have noticed that some owners experience a lot of signal loss/searching in their phones. What I have found annoying in my case is that whenever the GPS signal is lost, Google Maps puts me in a wrong location that I have not been to for a while (around one month). I have lived in that location before, but I have since moved and no longer stay there. I have purchased the phone after moving. After a bit of experimenting I came to the conclusion that the building I currently live in blocks the GPS signal, since whenever I am in the balcony/near a window I get a signal and I'm put in the correct location in Google Maps. As soon as the signal is lost, Maps automatically puts me in that old location. This has also effected Google Now where I'm given incorrect travel times and directions, but not my weather location (set on current).
I have set 'Home' to my new location, I have also tried deleting my location history from google, tried a few GPS fixing apps, reinstalling Maps, and also installing other map applications like Here and Waze, which behave the same way and give me the same old location as my current.
At first I thought it could be a GPS hardware defect in the galaxy, but I turned on my old HTC One (M8) and it acted and behaved in the same way putting me in my old location. So it seems to me there's something in the Android OS perhaps since Here and Waze act in the same way. I also tested with the Maps app on an iPhone 6 and it gave the correct location although not 100% accurate. So is there anyway I can make Maps at least remember my last location before signal loss?
It is also absurd that my laptop can pinpoint my correct location while connected on Wifi while my phone with GPS, wifi and cell network cannot, which in conclusion seems like an android bug or something with location history in my google account which as I said already tried deleting the whole history.
Also note that the GPS and Maps work perfectly fine whenever I'm outside the building.
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Click to collapse
I bought a case that was supposed to be a clear view but doesn't work and needs a proximity sensor app installed to work. It has the magnet and a lump for the chip. I also couldn't get a gps lock. Was seeing up to 6 satellites but not locking. I removed the case and got 17+ and a 3d lock straight away.
I came to the conclusion that my building blocks the GPS signal, but the annoyance comes from Google maps locating me in a default location far away from me whenever there is no signal.
Related
I'm currently travelling abroad and I'm therfore on roaming with data traffic disabled. I experience that the GPS is unable to find my position under these conditions and remains on the last known position (or it might take even longer than the few minutes i was willing to wait).
Whereas with data enabled or wifi i get a really fast lock.
Can anyone confirm this behaviour. Imho it should also be possible to get a lock (although slower) without any data connection. At least this is the way it works on my ios devices. It might take a minute or two but it works.
Any thoughts/experiences on this?
Some_One_Else said:
I'm currently travelling abroad and I'm therfore on roaming with data traffic disabled. I experience that the GPS is unable to find my position under these conditions and remains on the last known position (or it might take even longer than the few minutes i was willing to wait).
Whereas with data enabled or wifi i get a really fast lock.
Can anyone confirm this behaviour. Imho it should also be possible to get a lock (although slower) without any data connection. At least this is the way it works on my ios devices. It might take a minute or two but it works.
Any thoughts/experiences on this?
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Click to collapse
If the phone's been moved a dramatic amount of distance, the GPS almanac data will be really off. The data/wifi connection helps it locate your position and give the map a hand in finding you.
If you can get data somehow, you can try getting the "GPS Status and Toolbox" app from the Market, and then one of the menu options, perhaps advanced, is to download the GPS almanac data. That should give you quicker locks.
distortedloop said:
If the phone's been moved a dramatic amount of distance, the GPS almanac data will be really off.
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It was only a few hundred meters from the last known position. That's why I'm a little bit concerned?
Thanks for the tool tip will definately have a look at it.
Some_One_Else said:
It was only a few hundred meters from the last known position. That's why I'm a little bit concerned?
Thanks for the tool tip will definately have a look at it.
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Click to collapse
Oh, yeah, that sounds like a problem. Even several miles shouldn't make that big a difference.
go to starbucks or some restaurant/bar/cafe with free WiFi
then use the phone there, and turn on GPS to get it updated
I was experimenting a little bit today and it seems to me that this is primarily a google maps problem.
It seems that google maps falls back to the last known position if you have no gps fix. For a strange reason however this last known position is not neccesarily the effective last known position but the last position when I had used google maps with an active internet connection position (which makes no sense imho).
This does not happen always and as long as you have an active data connection you will probably not run into this issue.
Some_One_Else said:
I was experimenting a little bit today and it seems to me that this is primarily a google maps problem.
It seems that google maps falls back to the last known position if you have no gps fix. For a strange reason however this last known position is not neccesarily the effective last known position but the last position when I had used google maps with an active internet connection position (which makes no sense imho).
This does not happen always and as long as you have an active data connection you will probably not run into this issue.
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Click to collapse
That makes some sense, since Google Maps relies on WiFi for it's initial fix if you have the enhanced location settings checked on.
Not really, does it? Example:
Pos1: wifi, hotel no GPS
Pos2: showing Pos1, after GPS fix showing correct position
Pos3: showing Pos1 (i would expect Pos2 now) after GPS fix showing correct position
Pos4: showing Pos1 again, whe no GPS fix
i would expect it to always show Pos(n-1) when there's no GPS fix and not always again Pos1. This is the way it works on ios devices which i think is correct.
Further i noticed that the blue circle (that should br really big if position is uncertain) does not grow respectively reflect this uncertainty by its size.
Therfore i guess: --> Defect in google maps 5.0?
Some_One_Else said:
Not really, does it? Example:
Pos1: wifi, hotel no GPS
Pos2: showing Pos1, after GPS fix showing correct position
Pos3: showing Pos1 (i would expect Pos2 now) after GPS fix showing correct position
Pos4: showing Pos1 again, whe no GPS fix
i would expect it to always show Pos(n-1) when there's no GPS fix and not always again Pos1. This is the way it works on ios devices which i think is correct.
Further i noticed that the blue circle (that should br really big if position is uncertain) does not grow respectively reflect this uncertainty by its size.
Therfore i guess: --> Defect in google maps 5.0?
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Click to collapse
I just checked on mine to confirm, but for me I recall Google Maps ALWAYS opens to the last position I was on with the app open, not my current position. It's cached for sure. Even with WiFi off just now, it opened to that, but within under a minute it jumped to my actual position via the actual GPS.
So my GPS was working fine for its limited use over the past few weeks that I owned the Inspire.... Now I'm having a rough time.
I downloaded a geocaching app called c:geo and was getting very erratic location locks on coordinates (it would tell me a cache was over 200 feet away when it was literally right on top of me).
Then, yesterday, while trying to use the GPS with google maps in my car, it continually lost signal, and would often not be able to reconnect.
This is rather troubling to me, as the GPS seemed to be working fine as of earlier last week.
exchange it
Update: Just went outside and stood with the GPS and it kept searching for GPS in google maps... I think I might be returning this and getting another.
magnumforce2006 said:
So my GPS was working fine for its limited use over the past few weeks that I owned the Inspire.... Now I'm having a rough time.
I downloaded a geocaching app called c:geo and was getting very erratic location locks on coordinates (it would tell me a cache was over 200 feet away when it was literally right on top of me).
Then, yesterday, while trying to use the GPS with google maps in my car, it continually lost signal, and would often not be able to reconnect.
This is rather troubling to me, as the GPS seemed to be working fine as of earlier last week.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try downloading Fasterfix from the Market.
So this is quite weird... after downloading GPS status, I was noticing that I was getting NO satellites... I leave the app on for awhile, just fiddling around with things, and out of nowhere I get a fix on 7 (in my house).
I take the phone out to a nearby cache and it's accurate within 4 meters... ?_?
Don't return the phone yet. Do to settings>location the the very last option listed should let you reinstall / recover the locations app/ Doing this fixed mine perfectly. Also remember some cases interfere with the gps antenna
Went ahead and returned it anyway, may as well while I'm still in the 30 day period. New GPS works like a charm, at first.
Also I was not using a case.
9646gt said:
Don't return the phone yet. Do to settings>location the the very last option listed should let you reinstall / recover the locations app/ Doing this fixed mine perfectly. Also remember some cases interfere with the gps antenna
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Click to collapse
For future reference, where is this exactly?
All I see in Settings > Location is
-Use Wireless networks
-Use GPS Satellites
-Phone Finder
That option appears in some of the DHD roms and not available in the stock AT&T rom.
Hi guys! New to the forum and the Android OS. I've just purchased the Nexus S a couple of weeks ago and the phone is great except for a couple of minor details, but one thing really bothers me is the GPS. When I'm connected to wi-fi, Google maps is able to tell me my location fairly accurately. However, outdoors with no wi-fi, I try to have the settings to locate me based on satellite, but that always give me a "your current location is temporarily unavailable" message. I'm basically completely outdoors with view of the clear blue sky and it will always give me this message. Is something wrong
I've searched on the forum but nothing that answers my question. Anyone?
Hi,
Based on your question I am not shure if you are aware of the following:
GPS is only one of several location detection methods used by your phone. Another one is based on WIFI hotspots in range. Basically the phone scans the wifi frequencies to look for ALL hotspots in range and then sends this list of hotspots to google (only if some kind of internet access is available to the phone!). When this combination of hotspots is known to google, your phone gets an estimated location back from the google server. So from what you write, it is possible that you never had a gps fix, even when you got a (fairly good) location based on wifi.
I suggest you install some gps software other than google maps to check the functionality of your device. I use "GPS test", should be on the market. All it does, is scanning for satellites and displaying the list of discovered satelites. When the signal is good enough, you get a "U" in the column "flags" for the locked satellites.
Attention! You must start the scan manually from the apps context menu.
cheers
Yeah you gotta turn on your GPS for a more accurate reading if you're using maps or other navigational app
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA App
Just an update. I haven't needed to use the GPS lately, but this week I decided to try again, and before, I have gotten a GPS fix with the GPS Test app. But that signal never lasts very long and it also takes a really long time for the app to use the satellite to lock on to my location. The GPS indicator on the top left of the app is usually yellow and only after a long time does it turn green, but sometimes it never turns green even with 7 or 8 satellites in view. Is this just a limitation of mobile GPS in cell phones?
I don't have a data plan so I can't connect to the internet while on the road, hence the need for GPS without having internet access.
As long as you have the SIM inserted, not on airplane mode and gps is turned on, and nothing is wrong with your phone hardware I don't see why it shouldn't get location fix outdoor.
There are some good offline maps like Osmand and MapDroyd.
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?
Hi,
This started happening a few days ago. I haven't made any changes to my phone, haven't dropped the phone etc., in the last few weeks. Rooted Nexus 5, stock android 5.1.
Google Maps and GasBuddy show my current location, incorrectly, at a spot located a few miles from me. I haven't been in that area in a long time.
MapQuest and Waze show my correct location, and so does the "GPS Status & Toolbox" app which shows my correct GPS coordinates.
If I set my Location settings mode to "Device only" (use gps to determine your location) then Google Maps and Gas Buddy time out 'waiting for location', it seems that they can't access some part of the GPS functionality. MapQuest and Waze aren't affected by the Location mode, they work the same no matter what the setting is.
Also, I have deleted and re-downloaded my "AGPS" data.
does this sound familiar to anyone, any suggestions?