I use my phone to track me while I run, and I have been very disappointed with the GPS accuracy of this phone. When I look back at the maps (I use Google My Tracks app), there are obvious mistakes and inaccuracies. Does anyone have any idea if there is specific information regarding the specs of the GPS used in the phone. There are settings I can tweak in the app I am using regarding GPS accuracy, but I need the specs of the phone's GPS to make sure I use the correct settings.
Thanks.
I use MyTracks for my job without issue and is about as accurate as it can get. You're never gonna have pin point accuracy with any GPS phone. It will get you within around 3 meters.
My advice is to make sure the GPS icon in the status bar is on and not blinking. If its not there it's using wireless to best guess your location. I've always had problems with GPS not activating properly with any ROM. Turning GPS off and on or even rebooting is the quick fix.
A good app to test GPS is called "GPS Fix" and its free in the Market.
Sent from my MB870 using Tapatalk
Thanks dude...
I went out today and it was better than in days past, so perhaps there was some anomaly the last time. I did turn location by wireless networks off with the phone, and I bet that was the biggest difference. I also changed the polling frequency to automatically adjust for best accurracy.
Sent from my MB870 using XDA App
Related
So this is the first GPS device I'm using so bear with me.
Google Maps seems to get my location even without GPS. Cell network triangulation I guess. It says accuracy upto 100m.
Then if I switch GPS on, then I see the blinking GPS icon at the top. Does this mean GPS is locked? Or does it mean it's in the process of locking? It never seems to stop blinking. Anyway, I get around 'accuracy upto 70m' with GPS, and it never seems to update it's position if I'm say, going in my car.
Maybe I'm using it wrong, I dunno. Any help will be appreciated.
A blinking GPS icon signifies that GPS is not locked on. Try turning on GPS and then going outside. GPS lock insides can be a problem.
Sent from my LG-P500 using XDA Premium App
Hmm I can't ever seem to get a gps lock.
Sent from my LG-P500 using XDA App
Try using navigation and driving around for a bit
Sent from my LG-P500 using XDA App
I also had problems with the GPS and i discovered that when I could not do a "lock" the phone has to be restarted.
After that i was able to do a "lock " quickly.
(using google translator, patience please )
For those of us that are not getting better gps on EC01 or various Rom's like me this fix is for you.
Instructions: With Root Explorer (or similar app) go to /etc/gps.conf
In Root Explorer long press on the file and select open in text editor
Change the first line from: NTP_SERVER=north-america.pool.ntp.org to NTP_SERVER=us.pool.ntp.org
Then Download GPS aids from the market and run that for even better results
Save changes and reboot
ENJOY
What exactly is an NTP server, and why would this edit make it more accurate?
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
I sort of want to try this...
Is there any way this can mess up GPS even more?
tripacer99 said:
What exactly is an NTP server, and why would this edit make it more accurate?
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
^ x2
Wow, just did this while watching tv ... instant lock !!!
Sent from my SCH-I500
Network time protocol.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA Premium App
I think it might be time to just face the fact that the Fascinate's GPS chip sucks.
Would like to try this, but when i try to open in text editor
in root explorer, it says read-only.
Top center, there's a gray button. click that to go to r/w.
I tried this inside, in the basement while it's storming outside. Haven't turned on GPS all day and it seemed to work. GPS lock w/o Wifi TTFF in 12 seconds. GPS lock w/ Wifi TTFF in 2 seconds (Using GPS AIDS GPS status test).
Time before was around 30 seconds and 10 seconds respectively.
Ahhh of course. Thank you!
DirgeExtinction said:
Top center, there's a gray button. click that to go to r/w.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think it's the chip, it's how the nav or map app tries to access the information and turns the chip on that's the issue. When I turn on Gmaps, it sometimes sits for a full minute before locking. But sometimes, it takes a second or two. Its got to be because the communication already happened between the app and the reciever.
Here's why this is my opinion. Reboot the phone and start the GPS Test app from the market(sometime within seconds even indoors), watch it find satellites and lock. Usually does it much much faster than maps. After you do this open maps, voila instant position. Theres some kind of issue with how maps initiates the GPS reception on this phone. So I keep GPS Test installed, and when I know I need to know where I am, I turn it on for 5 seconds, then open maps.
If anyone who actually knows what the hell they are doing knows how to edit the commands that Gmaps uses, you could be immortal.
Well wow, gps lock beat me before I even opened up
gps test. Amazing. Thank you!
No luck for me (everything in GPS Test just ramains at '0' or equivalent... no sats even detected!).
north-america.pool.ntp.org seems to have a fair bit higher latency than us.pool.ntp.org, but that shouldn't really make too massive of an impact. This isn't, though, gonna change your GPS from not working at all to suddenly working, just increase the lock speed a bit.
Interesting, I thought that GPS only used the satellite clocks!
GPS has almost always been livable with my Fascinate. I don't know if I am just very lucky, or if it's because I leave it on all the time.
Sent from my SCH-I500
Yeah the fascinate chip does not suck this fix is great even when I reboot my phone still locks great everytime any time you change roms re do this fix
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
Yeah I know GPS is based on time delays between satellites, not entirely sure how it works so it would make sense that using a different time server might help? Just chiming in so people can hopefully understand what NTP has to do with GPS.
https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Global_Positioning_System#Basic_concept_of_GPS for reference.
dangerismymiddlename.com said:
Interesting, I thought that GPS only used the satellite clocks!
GPS has almost always been livable with my Fascinate. I don't know if I am just very lucky, or if it's because I leave it on all the time.
Sent from my SCH-I500
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You and i need to knock on wood, I am in the same boat as you. Never had serious issues with it and really worry about that the most when I flash something new...
Tried this with EA28 and EC01, no luck on it for me, my GPS is fairly good, other then it my condo. Just a little frustrating when my Eris worked fine, and my wife's Droid works fine.
This cut the time to lock in half for me. Thanks.
Still not instant but noticeably faster.
Sent with my thumbs.
Hello all,
I am more than happy with my SIII but I'm finding a wakelock rather disturbing. It happens as soon as i turn on the "Use wireless networks" under the Location services settings.
If it's turned off, the wakelock disappears. But you know, it's hard to live with it turned off, as it greatly helps the GPS set a location way faster than it would do on its own... So using location based apps while it's off is a pain in the ass.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
Alphadan said:
Hello all,
I am more than happy with my SIII but I'm finding a wakelock rather disturbing. It happens as soon as i turn on the "Use wireless networks" under the Location services settings.
If it's turned off, the wakelock disappears. But you know, it's hard to live with it turned off, as it greatly helps the GPS set a location way faster than it would do on its own... So using location based apps while it's off is a pain in the ass.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nothing can be done about it really. Applications poll location data constantly when this option is ticked. It even tells you data is collected in the background regardless of what you are doing. To be honest many can cope with the 5-10 second wait for a GPS fix. Either deal with the drain or disable it.
5-10 seconds?? Most of the time I get message saying current location is temporarily unavailable, especially when I'm indoors.
I can't believe I have to deal with this problem. Am I the only one with this problem?? I was expecting a better answer.
just deactivate it. if you use a gps-app it will tell you to activate GPS anyways and while doing that you can then activate the network location as well.
with lbe privacy guard you can Block it if you are rooted
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
So basically there's no proper fix for this. All I can do is work around the issue? Coming from an iphone I feel this is a bit frustrating.
Thing is that the option I have to disable does not use GPS. It uses mobile signal and WiFi radios, so turning off GPS is useless.
Can anybody else help?
disable Google now,I think you will find that is what is polling your location
slaphead20 said:
disable Google now,I think you will find that is what is polling your location
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's been disabled all along, as I am Spanish and the current support for that language is nonexistent.
Any other ideas guys?
Alphadan said:
So basically there's no proper fix for this. All I can do is work around the issue? Coming from an iphone I feel this is a bit frustrating.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
coming from iPhone then you should know that the 4S had a similar problem when it came out, and the workaround was about the same...how you felt back then??
edit
how do you check if you have partial wakelock on an iphone btw??
Disable location in general and use Tasker or make a profile on AOSP rom to turn on location service when you're going out. After all you don't need location indoors right?
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Tokarin said:
Disable location in general and use Tasker or make a profile on AOSP rom to turn on location service when you're going out. After all you don't need location indoors right?
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, in theory, your solution sounds awesome. But as i stated earlier, there's a small problem: battery drain is not caused by the GPS itself, but by the other "tricks" the phone has in order to find a location (wifi and radio).
I don't know about that problem with the 4S, but as you said, it occurred when it came out. The SIII has been out for 6 months now, and there's been several updates, yet the issue is still there.
BTW, i check the partial wakelocks with Better Battery Stats (you can find it for free here on the forums)
Just a general question... Does anyone else have this issue? If any of you guys do, then i'll learn to live with it, but being the only one would really make me feel silly.
Well, I just don't use that option, AFAIK the new cm10 build changed the GPS so that it no longer favor the North America but search for the nearest satellite instead. I notice this change already make my gps quick enough so I don't bother..
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda premium
I have the same problem. The only solution I found was to disable networks location. Is there any app to identify clearly what is the app that it's requesting location from Google services? It is not maps because with 3g watchdog installed it reports separated (maps and Google services) the leak is on Google services.
Ps: I have found that this problem only exists when connected to a WiFi network. On 3g the requests are less intensive.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Well I've just been doing some investigating with Better Battery Stats to find out why my battery was so bad with JB compared to ICS, then googled the NetworkLocationLocator as that seems to be the problem which brought me here (I'm a member anyway).
I must say it's pretty disappointing that this problem is occurring because surely the same option was being used in ICS and it never drained my battery back then. The only thing I can think of is Google Now has something to do with this. I have Google Now disabled anyway as (although it's a brilliant feature) it doesn't really benefit me as I don't travel around much, but I get the feeling that is the root of this problem because that's the biggest change in coming from ICS to JB (other than cosmetics and UI) right?
This is not even a problem.
People tick all kind of options or fail to go to see their apps properly starting from Facebook, Google+ , Google now, weather apps... And then complain how come they get excessive polling.
Problem lies in those same people wanting those services to record their location , but don't want any battery drain... At least case with all those around me that asked.
Trust me without WiFi and network triangulation the same services when allowed waste way more power using real GPS.
Testing JKay alpha on GT-I9300
Idan73 said:
This is not even a problem.
People tick all kind of options or fail to go to see their apps properly starting from Facebook, Google+ , Google now, weather apps... And then complain how come they get excessive polling.
Problem lies in those same people wanting those services to record their location , but don't want any battery drain... At least case with all those around me that asked.
Trust me without WiFi and network triangulation the same services when allowed waste way more power using real GPS.
Testing JKay alpha on GT-I9300
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the sweeping generalisation but I had the exact same option ticked in ICS and it was never a problem. Fact is in JB it causes a problem for some reason. It may be Google Now, who knows, but one things for sure, I should be able to have that option ticked and not have it keep my phone awake all night.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using xda app-developers app
Maybe I misunderstood. Sorry.
I use Google now and maps for network location as well as fancy widget polling every 2 hours. All other apps I individually where permitted set to off.
This setup does not keep my phone all night. I see where it wakes the phone in intervals and does its thing and goes back to sleep. Combined with my exchange email polling every hour overnight, I don't see any excessive battery usage compared to what I had with ICS.
Testing JKay alpha on GT-I9300
Turn of location history, leave the rest on. Wakelock is still there but less.
I have caught it happening a couple times now, seemingly at random.
I am not running Maps, or any other app that needs GPS... I hit the power button to wake the phone, swipe to unlock, and notice the GPS icon in the notifications.
Taping the notification just takes you to GPS location settings. Checking battery use shows no apps running that need GPS. No other direct indications that I have found in settings as to what is polling the GPS.
Anyone know what app/service is opening it in the background?
The weather clock updates itself when you unlock causing gps to hit for a couple seconds.
I checked that first... the "last updated" message said a couple hours prior. (I have it set to update every 3 hours) So I ruled that out. But I guess I could be wrong.
Seems to me, using GPS is a bit of overkill for weather location.
Marine6680 said:
I checked that first... the "last updated" message said a couple hours prior. (I have it set to update every 3 hours) So I ruled that out. But I guess I could be wrong.
Seems to me, using GPS is a bit of overkill for weather location.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How else does it figure out what city you are in at any given time?
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda app-developers app
Its TwiX said:
How else does it figure out what city you are in at any given time?
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Network location service...
It can tell where you are by knowing what cell tower you are connected to... as it knows the cell towers physical location due to a database.
This is actually how the GPS in our phones can lock on to positions in seconds rather than a couple minutes.
Cell phones have aGPS (Assisted GPS) where the cell tower info is used to get a rough position fix and speed up GPS lock.
Marine6680 said:
Network location service...
It can tell where you are by knowing what cell tower you are connected to... as it knows the cell towers physical location due to a database.
This is actually how the GPS in our phones can lock on to positions in seconds rather than a couple minutes.
Cell phones have aGPS (Assisted GPS) where the cell tower info is used to get a rough position fix and speed up GPS lock.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
VZW location services (network location services) could be used, but it isn't for weather. Which is why I asked my question...
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda app-developers app
Its TwiX said:
VZW location services (network location services) could be used, but it isn't for weather. Which is why I asked my question...
Sent from my SCH-I605 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most apps that use location can use network location services... including weather apps... though maybe not the Samsung app. Which is why I am curious as to why it uses GPS vs network.
I never have the "Verizon location services" turned on, never have on other phones either, and other apps can use network location just fine... as "Google location services" can provide that.
Google Now checks when I'm away from home and tells me how long it takes to get back with traffic, probably using the GPS. Have you activated Google Now?
I've noticed this as well. It's not every time I unlock but I will see it come up randomly. I think it's the weather for my clock widget. I'm not too worried though since my battery life has always been fantastic.
No Google Now...
If its the weather... seems silly to use GPS over network location.
I am having GPS issue in my phone. It is not accurately pointing my location, sometimes it shows I am driving in the fields nearby the road, some times it shows different location. I did a GPS test by downloading the GPS Test application from the play store and it shows that my accuracy is around 35 feets which according to me is very poor. Can anybody please tell what's there GPS accuracy using this application.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chartcross.gpstest
Try fastergps in playstore sounds like it keeps loosing the lock on the satellites. Maybe that will help. Worked great for me when I was on vibe v4. Went back to ROW, with fastergps on ROW I can get a lock on 7 satellites in less than 10 sec. Also you can uninstall the app when your done and the settings will stay. Btw must be rooted.
Sent from my Lenovo K900_ROW using xda app-developers app