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.
Related
When I select "Standalone GPS"under settings, the two lines are always showing next to the location icon. However, with the other two GPS settings selected, nothing shows next to the location icon, is it actually using battery with that on?
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App
Chris Hansen said:
When I select "Standalone GPS"under settings, the two lines are always showing next to the location icon. However, with the other two GPS settings selected, nothing shows next to the location icon, is it actually using battery with that on?
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is normal...even on non smartphones...it is 911 location services and no it doesnt consume more battery with the crosshair indicator there and no actual satelite usuage indicator... it remains dormant until called up.
Ok, thanks. I just thought it was odd that it looked like it was sending out signal with either the Standalone GPS or Verizon Location setting enabled.
Chris Hansen said:
Ok, thanks. I just thought it was odd that it looked like it was sending out signal with either the Standalone GPS or Verizon Location setting enabled.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i cant speak to whether its drawing power, but if you open maps,nav, or something else that uses gps you will see a different icon come up indicating data transfer to/from sats
Should i leave the vz and google location services also toggled on? Or will this also save battery if i leave it off?
Cg006 said:
Should i leave the vz and google location services also toggled on? Or will this also save battery if i leave it off?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you dont need vz location services unless you use their products i would think. i leave google services on so i can atleast get a general idea where i am on the google maps.
Yeah google location services is all you need. I think weather widget uses it as well so you need something to be on.
httr_ said:
i cant speak to whether its drawing power, but if you open maps,nav, or something else that uses gps you will see a different icon come up indicating data transfer to/from sats
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, I know, I'm no newcomer to the Android platform, but I didn't have this icon on my OG Droid, and this was a different icon than the standard location icon, so that's why I asked.
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
Off the bat with my phone, i have been having bad GPS connectivity issues. I would launch google navigation and get an instant lock. After a while, it would loose connection and say "searching for gps". It would never connect until i exited navigation, and turned off the gps and turned it back on. Then relaunched google nav and instant lock again. Then I also started noticing that on my htc sense clock widget, where it would show you the weather and the town in which you are in, it would only say "Current Location" no matter what I do. I went as far as resetting the phone back to factory settings which corrected the location issue at first but then it reverted back "Current Location". Any thoughts on this? If i cant figure this out, I will probably end up taking the phone back.
I had the same issue, I did prl updates and all other updates in the update software, and havent had and issue yet.
Sent from my EVO using XDA
djpegg said:
I had the same issue, I did prl updates and all other updates in the update software, and havent had and issue yet.
Sent from my EVO using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did that too. Did not work.
Try switching your roaming mode to automatic. I was having the same problem. So far so good
hotrodssnova said:
Try switching your roaming mode to automatic. I was having the same problem. So far so good
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Also tried that....no go
anybody else have an idea?
Does your weather widget default to Illinois, but when you try maps, it shows a true location? I switched my roaming mode, but the weather widget is still glitchy in one area here in Houston.
I didn't have the GPS issue, but I had the weather as well as roaming and update time issues. I took my phone back and got a new one today. So far so good, but it has only been 2 hours since the exchange.
Sent from my EVO
hotrodssnova said:
Does your weather widget default to Illinois, but when you try maps, it shows a true location? I switched my roaming mode, but the weather widget is still glitchy in one area here in Houston.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Widget shows "current location" but maps pinpoints me exactly with the gps turned on.
GPS/Sprint Issue
From the time I received the phone every location based app has given me problems. Multiple attempts, varying results but mostly bad. Now been to 3 separate sprint stores, multiple phone calls and still can not get a clear resolution. I want to replace with another phone but am getting the runaround. Saying I have to get it looked at to verify an issue. This has already been done and if they do not move from the desk, how are they going to verify weak GPS to continual no connections? Will continue to escalate but strangulation is an option. I had the Evo 4g before with no issue. Does anyone have this phone with functional/reliable GPS?
Sprint store changed the phone mode to 3g only from 3g/lte setting. Gps worked and will check more later. Other gps apps are working also
radavi98 said:
From the time I received the phone every location based app has given me problems. Multiple attempts, varying results but mostly bad. Now been to 3 separate sprint stores, multiple phone calls and still can not get a clear resolution. I want to replace with another phone but am getting the runaround. Saying I have to get it looked at to verify an issue. This has already been done and if they do not move from the desk, how are they going to verify weak GPS to continual no connections? Will continue to escalate but strangulation is an option. I had the Evo 4g before with no issue. Does anyone have this phone with functional/reliable GPS?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My gps works great.
Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2
Need a little help.
I'm Running AJ's Semi UCLE5 rom. It run's great. no problems with force closing or anything. I noticed something happening that I've never seen before.
On my home screen I run a widget (Beautiful Widget) for weather, location and it has a clock on it. It also allows for the location to be determined by geolocation, which is what I have it set on.
If I have wifi off, using "4g" data, my location is accurate. If I turn wifi on the widget says I am in Mesa, AZ which is about 1200 miles from where I actually am.
Two things that changed recently were that about 2 weeks ago I got a new sim card for my phone because the other one was old and curved and not making constant contact with the pins. Also, I recently got a new wireless router at home. My first guess was it could be the router since this only happens on wifi, but other apps on my phone (i.e. google maps) will be accurate with location when on wifi. Since the widget app I'm having the issue with was working with regular data, i thought i wasn't the app.
Any one with any idea here? would a wireless router cause this problem? The router works fine as far as I can tell otherwise.
edit: now it's looks like it's happening randomly. but still bothersome.
also regarding the app, i didn't think it would be the app because i've had it for a long time and it has never done this. it hasn't been updated in a while (and i don't do auto updating on Market apps.)
Please someone with more knowledge correct me if im wrong... But im pretty sure it uses your GPS for location and only data for the weather in that area... Maybe try clearing all app data and giving it a fresh start?
Clay
Sent from my SGH-I777 using XDA
clay101eve said:
Please someone with more knowledge correct me if im wrong... But im pretty sure it uses your GPS for location and only data for the weather in that area... Maybe try clearing all app data and giving it a fresh start?
Clay
Sent from my SGH-I777 using XDA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well through all of this the gps has been turned off. It usually finds my location using the network and by that method i can understand a wider radius and less accuracy - but 1200 miles? I have used this widget for about 4-5 months, most of the time without gps turned on, and it is just now showing this problem. I will clear all the data and report back.
edit: well, just removed the widget and wiped data on the app. When I replaced the app to the homescreen (with wifi turned on) it "geolocated" me immediately to Mesa, AZ, the incorrect city. When I plcae the widget using cell data, the geolocation is correct.
jack man said:
Well through all of this the gps has been turned off. It usually finds my location using the network and by that method i can understand a wider radius and less accuracy - but 1200 miles? I have used this widget for about 4-5 months, most of the time without gps turned on, and it is just now showing this problem. I will clear all the data and report back.
edit: well, just removed the widget and wiped data on the app. When I replaced the app to the homescreen (with wifi turned on) it "geolocated" me immediately to Mesa, AZ, the incorrect city. When I plcae the widget using cell data, the geolocation is correct.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try cryted's gps patch.... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1447599
BROKKANIC said:
Try cryted's gps patch.... http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1447599
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think gps is the issue. over the last few hours I've been trying to narrow down the problem. When I am away from my home wifi everything works perfectly. I decided to go into my router settings to see what would happen. When i took off all of the security and made it an open wireless network the problem seemed to go away. I gave it about 30 minutes on an open network and it located me fine without gps turned on.
I don't know much about tweaking security settings on routers but i guess it's time to branch out to learn.
edit:
now, with wifi on, every time i refresh the weather widget it flips between my city and Mesa, AZ (remember they are about 1200 miles apart). I don't know. I guess my problems could be worse. at least i'm not boot looping or bricked.
I may have fixed this. When I got a new wireless router and programmed it, I gave it the same network name and password but it had newer and higher levels of security settings. The phone was still programmed with the old username and password so it picked it up automatically and logged on.
I went into the wifi settings on the phone and "forgot" the network and then re-logged in. So far it has shown it is fixed. Crossing fingers but I don't know enough about wireless routers and signals to know if this would do it.
edit again:
It is my network somehow. I have since been on two other wireless networks (neighbors) and it did not do this strange location behavior. (what I though fixed it in this post above did not)
Anyone want to give me insight as to why my router would tell me I am halfway across the country?
jack man said:
I may have fixed this. When I got a new wireless router and programmed it, I gave it the same network name and password but it had newer and higher levels of security settings. The phone was still programmed with the old username and password so it picked it up automatically and logged on.
I went into the wifi settings on the phone and "forgot" the network and then re-logged in. So far it has shown it is fixed. Crossing fingers but I don't know enough about wireless routers and signals to know if this would do it.
edit again:
It is my network somehow. I have since been on two other wireless networks (neighbors) and it did not do this strange location behavior. (what I though fixed it in this post above did not)
Anyone want to give me insight as to why my router would tell me I am halfway across the country?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, its your wireless network, go into settings and uncheck location set by wireless network. will force GPS, and be more accurate, but also cost more battery.
EDIT:
Thats location settings or some crap depending on your build.
jack man said:
It is my network somehow. I have since been on two other wireless networks (neighbors) and it did not do this strange location behavior. (what I though fixed it in this post above did not)
Anyone want to give me insight as to why my router would tell me I am halfway across the country?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you buy that router second hand or new? If you bought it new, it was probably either a return or a refurbish. What's happening is the MAC of the router was registered in Mesa by Google when their street map cars came by scanning for BSSIDs. Same thing happened to me with a used router I bought and my old router when I moved across the country. AFAIK, there's no way to reregister the MACs location other than use the _nomap optout and waiting for google to get around to updating it's database. Can't post links yet but here's some more info.
supportDOTgoogleDOTcom/maps/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1725632
tomshardwareDOTcom/news/Google-Maps-Wi-Fi-Location-SSID,14000.html
zdnetDOTcom/blog/btl/google-offers-street-view-opt-out-for-wi-fi-mapping-unethical-snooping-yet-we-must-opt-out/63456
Edit: here's a tool for geolocation of MAC addresses. blogDOTwlancontrollerDOTcom/?p=67 Search, then get the lat/long and choose show in gmaps. Mine shows my old street when I lived in a another state.
spiralout1 said:
Edit: here's a tool for geolocation of MAC addresses. blogDOTwlancontrollerDOTcom/?p=67 Search, then get the lat/long and choose show in gmaps. Mine shows my old street when I lived in a another state.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Here's something weird after I did what you mentioned here. After looking at the map when searching the MAC address it put it in Manhattan, NY, at the other end of the country. Any idea?
Thanks, by the way, for the links.
wow. I finally fixed it. Yes, my router was purchased used so I guess Google had mapped it and the MAC address was still showing as it's old "home." This link showed me how to opt out of Google's MAC address mapping and within about 20-30 minutes, my location was finally showing correctly on all of our mobile devices.
http://support.google.com/maps/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1725632
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Google-Maps-Wi-Fi-Location-SSID,14000.html
Thanks again for the help.
Glad that helped ya and especially so quickly. That **** had me stumped for around half a year before I figured out what the deal was and even then, it took well over a month for them to update my MAC in their database.
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.