TL;DR version:
1)Start Google Navigation, pick destination, start driving. Result: Sporatic or no lock and definitely no turn by turn working.
2)Start Google Navigation, pick destination, start GPSTest, start driving. Result: Almost constant lock and turn by turn works astonishingly well.
What gives?
Alright, please read this whole post, try it out, then comment on whether there is something to this or maybe I'm just crazy (a very definitely possibility). I was playing around with the GPS today and tried the Vibrant GPS hardware fix (pulling up the contact so that the GPS antenna is making better contact with the metal back). There wasn't much of a difference, so I decided to take the back off and run the GPS without the metal backing. I found that interestingly enough I was getting a better SNR with the back off than with the back on it was 8/8 at about 25-30 with the back on (using GPSTest) while with the back off it was 8/8 with 30-35.
Now comes the really interesting bit. On my drive home today I decided to see how well I could hold a moving lock. I turned on Google Navigation, pointed to my house, and started driving. Needless to say I was not able to hold a lock for very long. However, if I left the navigation app running and started GPSTest, all of a sudden I was getting the turn by turn voice pretty accurately. I then exited GPSTest and probably 10 seconds later lost my lock again. Open GPSTest, BOOM lock back on and turn by turn working again. Am I just hitting a really lucky coincidence or is GPSTest doing something we're not aware of? Please post here if you can either a) replicate what I'm seeing or b)think I'm blowing smoke cuz you aren't seeing a lick of difference.
smoking blow/10
anyways I'll try it out
comdei said:
smoking blow/10
anyways I'll try it out
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Click to collapse
BTW... this is GPS Test by Chartcross Limited, NOT the one by Mike Lockwood. You're welcome to try both however.
Previous GPS threads have repeatedly documented the positive effect of moving your nav app to the background. Theories on it center around backlight, temperature, or CPU/GPU. My own myTracks tests seem to point towards CPU/GPU. Or, at least, they seemed to rule out temperature or backlight as a factor.
So did you have GPS Test in the foreground during this test? This will pretty consistently give you improved performance over having Navigation up. If you turn the screen OFF altogether, it almost works as well as a real GPS! Check out the difference by recording a few drives in MyTracks -- it's night and day, on my phone at least.
My personal, uninformed theory (guess) is that the CPU/GPU and screen during Navigation are starving the GPS subsystem of power, causing either reception issues or causing the clock to desync and lose the position of the satellites it's tracking.
Ah well, such is life.
Perception 10.2 | SpeedMod K13D | I9000XXJQ1
I noticed this as well with my old setup (phone bought in August 2010 running Cognition & JK4 radio firmware). I got one of the refurbs from the random power off fiasco and GPS seemed to be just as unreliable. I've recently flashed the JL2 radio firmware, and GPS locks on within seconds and stays locked around town - as it should. I think a lot of people's issue would be completely resolved if they played around with radio firmwares...
Ikonomi said:
So did you have GPS Test in the foreground during this test? This will pretty consistently give you improved performance over having Navigation up. If you turn the screen OFF altogether, it almost works as well as a real GPS! Check out the difference by recording a few drives in MyTracks -- it's night and day, on my phone at least.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, GPS Test was in the foreground, navigation in the background. I get the feeling however its more to do with the application than the hardware. I say this because having other apps in the foreground doesn't quite have the same effect for me. Is that the case for everyone else as well?
knyghtryda said:
TL;DR version:
1)Start Google Navigation, pick destination, start driving. Result: Sporatic or no lock and definitely no turn by turn working.
2)Start Google Navigation, pick destination, start GPSTest, start driving. Result: Almost constant lock and turn by turn works astonishingly well.
What gives?
Alright, please read this whole post, try it out, then comment on whether there is something to this or maybe I'm just crazy (a very definitely possibility). I was playing around with the GPS today and tried the Vibrant GPS hardware fix (pulling up the contact so that the GPS antenna is making better contact with the metal back). There wasn't much of a difference, so I decided to take the back off and run the GPS without the metal backing. I found that interestingly enough I was getting a better SNR with the back off than with the back on it was 8/8 at about 25-30 with the back on (using GPSTest) while with the back off it was 8/8 with 30-35.
Now comes the really interesting bit. On my drive home today I decided to see how well I could hold a moving lock. I turned on Google Navigation, pointed to my house, and started driving. Needless to say I was not able to hold a lock for very long. However, if I left the navigation app running and started GPSTest, all of a sudden I was getting the turn by turn voice pretty accurately. I then exited GPSTest and probably 10 seconds later lost my lock again. Open GPSTest, BOOM lock back on and turn by turn working again. Am I just hitting a really lucky coincidence or is GPSTest doing something we're not aware of? Please post here if you can either a) replicate what I'm seeing or b)think I'm blowing smoke cuz you aren't seeing a lick of difference.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
this worked really well for me. am on andromeda 3. but was getting on locks without staying on continuously. with the approach. gps was spot on.!! a BIG Thanks
I've noticed this for some time when running the GPS Application Test in lbstestmode. Run the GPS test first and then move it to the background and launch your normal GPS program and you'll usually be better off. Needless to say, I'm doing another warranty exchange in hopes of getting one with better GPS hardware soon.
Try this:
Get a mobile hotspot (or someone who has wifi tethering enabled on their phone). Put your phone into flight mode, then turn WIFI on and connect to that mobile hotspot. Fire up navigation, and go for a drive. You'll be amazed at how accurate your GPS is.
That leads me to believe that there is an interference issue in the GSM/GPS antennas. Part of the reason why putting navigation in the background helps improve the GPS performance is because it stops refreshing the map, which means it's not trying to use the GSM radio. But if you fire up Pandora, even with Navigation in the background, the GPS will start going nuts again.
I'm pretty sure AT&T is aware of this, and I even think they have a... well, not a fix, but a way to mitigate the problem.
A friend of mine did a warranty exchange on his Captivate last Monday for a problem with his USB port. The Captivate he got in exchange has been getting much better performance with it's GPS. And since his worked just fine all week, I exchanged mine yesterday. Now, quite often after flashing a new ROM, the GPS will work fine for a day or three. So I'm not going to be convinced mine is working as well just yet. But there are some notable differences from what I've seen before... When I'm tracking my position on Google Maps, my actual position now stays within what the GPS reports as it's error, even when I'm driving around. Previously, my phone might report a 10m error, but my actual position might be 200m or more from where it thought I was. In addition to that, I'm seeing that my phone is locking into more satellites, and holding that lock even as the SNRs drop due to obstructions. And finally, my GPS works just as good while it's in the car dock, whereas before it would only intermittently get enough signal to fix a position. Overall, while my GPS still isn't as good as other phones I've had in the past, it is now actually good enough to use and trust.
I think that AT&T isn't advertising this because it's not something that they can push out over the air or through a Kies update. I'm guessing that either they modified the antennas slightly, or that they installed a new firmware to the GPS chip (at a lower level than the driver)... or maybe both.
Either way, my friend's GPS has been working great all week long, and mine appears to be doing so as well. I'll not say that it's permanently fixed yet, but I'm cautiously optimistic. We'll see how it's doing after another few days go by.
UPDATE 3/28:
Two more days of testing have passed. So far, the GPS is holding up nicely. The only issues are with the car dock. When the phone is in the car dock, the GPS will occasionally drift 5~10 meters off of my position. This doesn't really surprise me, as the electronics in the car dock are right up against the GPS antenna, and simply putting the phone in the dock will drop the reported SNRs by more than 25% - usually a lot more.
Still, even with the car dock, the GPS is perfectly usable. And without the car dock, the GPS is now exactly what it should have been from the get-go.
I've also found that if I run either gps status or gps test to get the fix, then start whatever app I need to use, the performance is much better. Recently I just use lbs test to get the fix, then proceed with whatever app i need to use. Seems to work better, as lbs test continues to work in the background
i have seen this in the past but trying to prove that it is not random has been a problem as i cant repeat the results.
also i dont thing i have ever observed the phenomenon while using control plane mode.
maybe another coincidence, i cant tell but i have been using the control plane version of da_g's fix for a couple months now in combination with the jl3 modem and have gps that many smart phones would envy. i find jl3 to have the most stable positioning and tracking, less blue circles ect. i also find agps settings to hinder tracking. i only set agps mode to standalone. not sure how supl works or if controlplane supl setting is actually doing anything because i was under the impression that supl was part of agps but it is a combination that started working for me and i am sticking to it.
Hi to all.
I've a little problem: I go to work with a motorcycle and my S2 recognize it as a sporty activity (cycling): is there a way to stop this behaviour?
Thanks
GS
Italy
GS, I'm with you. I have the exact same problem. Every day I have to zero out the record for that day and then I turn off the cycling tracker (hoping that it just might stay disabled, but of course it never does). I wish there was a way to permanently disable this tracker, as I seldom ride a bicycle and could easily do without tracking this activity...
There automatic activity recognition settings in S Health. Just go to settings
Sorry but I don't have this option...
It seems that you can disable all automatic detections, and that you can not select with detection disable...
GS
ITALY
I have this same issue, the only solutions I've found are:
1) Download S-Health and disable it through manage items, but that does nothing.
2) Contact Samsung for support, which I've read is basically the first solution.
I want to set my watch for all my notifications but I think it's weird how you can't disable a function like that. I also tried factory resetting my watch to no avail...
Same problem here.
I don't want to disable cycling because i DO cycle sometimes and want to record it.
What annoys me is everytime I step in my car or ride a motorbike it detects me as cycling for a few hours.
Seems to be no way to disable it.
Anyone found a fix?
I'm still having the same problem. Strangely, it only seems to happen in my truck. When I drive the sedan, nothing happens and my watch works as intended. i'm not sure what I do in the truck that has my watch convinced I'm cycling down the highway at 70 MPH.
I've had to run off auto-detect which makes me sad because I forget to log my walking and my elliptical all the time. The watch we very good at detecting these 2 activities.
For future users who end up here with a google search:
the workout auto-detection settings are not the the S-Heath (or now "Samsung Health") app on your phone, they are in the S-Heath app that's on the watch itself. In last screen, "settings"
Hi guys,
I'm using the S3 a lot for tracking my running and that's going pretty good. Really good actually. Satellites are locked super fast, in 4 or 5 seconds and tracking is accurate.
Today I tried the cycling activity. Unfortunately it does not track kms. Time and heart rate are logged but no distance.
I tried multiple times, satellite is locked, the program is running, time is ticking.
Does anybody have any experience, do I forget to do something?
Nobody tried cycling mode?
Not intentionally, a couple of times driving the S3 has decided I am cycling and offers encouragement.
If you start it manually I recall it has ALL the distance details, including a summary map. I don't think you get that if it senses a ride and starts automatically.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk
Well, I started it as an activity, so manually.
I'll do it again in a bit, see what happens.
With auto detecting it doesn't seem to use the GPS, like running is detected fine but no track logging.
Update : 1 just cycled 200 meters and it tracked 170. First 30 locking the satellites.
So... Why it didn't do anything yesterday, trying a bunch of times, booting in between, beats me. Maybe it's today's health update?
I'm having the same problem, walking tracks distance covered, but Cycling doesn't. Calories and time were tracked, but not distance. Really disappointing.
I use my Gear S3 to track my cycling activity all the time.
I go to the S Health app on the watch, set activity type to cycling then set a "target" based on how far I plan to cycle.
Whilst in the setup part of the watch app there are selectable options for "location" (make sure you are selecting this or it won't track where you are, which may be why you're not getting distance?)
I also select "auto pause" to pause tracking if I stop cycling. I then scroll up to the top and hit Go.
After a 3 second countdown it starts tracking my ride.
If I stop cycling briefly (at red traffic lights etc) the watch automatically pauses tracking. When I start riding again it automatically starts tracking again.
At the end of the ride I simply choose finish on the watch and confirm I wan't to finish.
It then syncs all manner of information with my phones S Health app including:
A map of the ride showing my route
Total distance (which is always with a few metres of my Cateye bike computer)
Total duration (e.g. the total time from starting the watch to hitting finish, including time the watch paused due to me being stationary)
Workout duration (the time I was actually moving)
Average & maximum speed
Average pace & maximum pace
Lowest & highest elevation
Total ascent & decent
Average & maximum heart rate
Workout calories & total calories
Weather
There is also a Selectable option to show the whole ride on a graph broken down by up to 2 options from speed/heart rate/elevation
When I used to rely on the Gear S3 workout detection to pickup my cycling, the information available at the end was very limited.
It works brilliantly when I set it manually before my ride (and only takes a few seconds too)
Do you have your phone with you while you cycle?
As I understand when your watch is connected to phone it uses phone for location.
I had a same problem and after I turned location on phone Off and than back to On problem disappeared.
Not sure if this is your problem but it is worth a try
Since I got my Gear S3 last year I use it when I go hiking to track my workout. My chosen workout type is set to default to Hiking and all I usually did was tap on the green start arrow at the start of my hike and it would track it and auto-pause when I stopped for a rest. At teh end of teh hike I then had to select to end the recording. This was working fine but for past 3 weeks when ever I try it I find that it only recorded the first part of a hike (say 30- 50 mins) and then stopped. I'm assuming it's giving up when I pause for a rest but cannot be sure. It's most frustrating as it used to work well but now I can't trust it at all. Any suggestions?
MapMy Run also auto-pauses and will not resume tracking
Update: My problem as described above with SHealth has continued. Yesterday I downloaded and installed the new MapMyRun app for the Gear S3 as just released by Under Armour. Today I went on a hike in the mountains for 3 hours or so and decided to try out MapMy Run. I set it for hiking mode, started it up, and for first couple of hours it was working great. It looked really good (nice clear sharp display with lots of information) and I was well pleased with it, until it just stopped tracking after around 2 hours 20 mins. The display just stopped at the same time and distance travelled etc and stopped updating.
I tried pressing the Back button and the voice announcement offered to Pause tracking. As I did NOT want to pause tracking I clicked the Back button again, and it said it had resumed, but it stuck at same time and distance for the rest of my hike. So it seems that my problem as reported above with SHealth is somehow affecting all exercise tracking on my S3. It appears that at some point it just auto-pauses itself and will not resume again. This is very frustrating as tracking my hikes and other workouts was one of the main reasons why I bought this smartwatch but it is now just totally unreliable for this. Soooo frustrating!
If anyone can suggest any fixes I should try I'd really appreciate it.
guitareth said:
Update: My problem as described above with SHealth has continued. Yesterday I downloaded and installed the new MapMyRun app for the Gear S3 as just released by Under Armour. Today I went on a hike in the mountains for 3 hours or so and decided to try out MapMy Run. I set it for hiking mode, started it up, and for first couple of hours it was working great. It looked really good (nice clear sharp display with lots of information) and I was well pleased with it, until it just stopped tracking after around 2 hours 20 mins. The display just stopped at the same time and distance travelled etc and stopped updating.
I tried pressing the Back button and the voice announcement offered to Pause tracking. As I did NOT want to pause tracking I clicked the Back button again, and it said it had resumed, but it stuck at same time and distance for the rest of my hike. So it seems that my problem as reported above with SHealth is somehow affecting all exercise tracking on my S3. It appears that at some point it just auto-pauses itself and will not resume again. This is very frustrating as tracking my hikes and other workouts was one of the main reasons why I bought this smartwatch but it is now just totally unreliable for this. Soooo frustrating!
If anyone can suggest any fixes I should try I'd really appreciate it.
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Just to update on my own issues with MapMy Run app on the S3 locking up part way through a workout. Since installing latest version 1.1.3 of MapMy Run I tested the app on a 6 hours + hike on Friday and it worked great without locking up at all. It automatically paused and resumed whenever I stopped for a rest. I will test it again this coming Friday before being overly confident, but so far so good!
Hi,
ever since I've bought my Gear S3 Frontier I have an issue with buggy GPS tracking with Samsung Health. Recently I'm exercising much more and it's driving me nuts.
When I start any training (regardless of high accuracy or energy saving GPS mode) it works fine as long as I don't click pause button and try to resume training later on. If I'm on high accuracy, it will reconnect after a while providing gps in a watch is enabled. If I'm using energy saving it never locks position again, until I end that exercise and begin a new one.
High accuracy tracking drains battery in just a few hours so biking for over 3 hours is out of the question.
Can anybody confirm that bug or have a solution?
EDIT: I can add the fact that it existed both in Tizen 3 and Tizen 4, including data wipes.