Database Users

[Poll] Can your Nexus S get a GPS lock?

Got at Best Buy at 7:30. Got my Nexus S. It was so sick. Til the GPS wouldn't get a lock. GenieWidget couldn't get wireless location either. Using T-Mobile. Nexus One locked just fine.
Also the demo phone didn't seem to be having issues so I got an exchange. This one doesn't work either. Who here can get a lock on their GPS?

I can't get a GPS lock either.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

Download/install GPS Status & Toolbox and get the latest aGPS data, go outside, test, report back

Me either buttttt my sisters Mytouch 4G didnt either which is a big surprise...so let me know if it works on its own
Oh and the compass works great.

My GPS isnt locking either.....

I couldn't lock too
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

I GOTTT IT!!! GPS lock with 9 meter accuracy!!
I left the app open for a min then I force closed it then restarted the phone and now works like a champ!!!!

Mine locked to 7 sats in 5 seconds on the first try while inside. Walked into the back yard and got 11 sats, accuracy down to 5m.

crachel said:
Download/install GPS Status & Toolbox and get the latest aGPS data, go outside, test, report back
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Still not working.

I am getting one hollow green dot using that app after following instructions.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

maybe the satellites are down where you are, lol

I tested mine.
The globe star should be the icon and is it solid means it's locked in?
If so, I got mine locked in in about 15-20 seconds (Bay Parkway and 69th Street, Brooklyn).

I got a lock immediately even in a GPRS area.

****. . What's with bad luck with phones. I think GPS is defected on mine. I tried it outdoor and it only saw 2 without locking of course
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App

psp888 said:
maybe the satellites are down where you are, lol
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Then uh why does GPS work on my Nexus One and my Vibrant?

I tested my Nexus S (T-Mobile) side by side with my Incredible (Verizon) and they both locked fairly quickly onto GPS. Repeated the test in a few different locations yesterday and today, and the Nexus S did well, as did the Inicredible.
Indoors with GPS off (and Wifi off) is a different story. The Incredible will show my approximate location in Google Maps, whereas the Nexus says "Waiting for location" then after a while "Your current location is unavailable". I guess the Nexus S can't use the cell towers to get a fix .

5-6 sats locked in under 15 seconds indoors. 11 locked within 30 seconds, but I haven't tried with no wifi or cell for aGPS assist.
Try getting the app GPS Status & Toolbox from the Market...it will download the GPS almanac and give the phone a better initial starting point for cold starts.

I have both Network Towers and GPS turned on and I always have a tiny blue circle around my position. With my Nexus One, the blue circle disappeared and had I had perfect lock
Even then though, the Nexus S is a bit slow at properly figuring out where I am, especially during Navigation. The GPS functionality is below the Nexus One.

Immediate lock.

Pretty heavy rain here in Los Angeles last night. GPS took a little longer to lock up on my way to dinner, but still locked position within a 60-90 seconds. Funny thing was that it reported accuracy of only 1300m the whole drive, but the position displayed on the map was 100% spot on to my actual location.
The Galaxy S line came out with HORRIBLE GPS, it was unusable and became a fixation for hatred of the device for many. As newer firmwares came out, it improved dramatically and I have no complaints with it on my SGS now. My friend with a T-Mobile Vibrant has stopped using his and gone back to an iPhone 3G because of the lousy GPS on it.
Samsung has supposedly changed the antenna for GPS and WiFi from the one used in older Galaxy S devices; I think it's remarkably improved.

Worse GPS? *facepalm*

I kid you not. In view: 2 In Use: 0
Accuracy: 0.0
::sigh::
Hardware Problem. Obviously.

I strongly disagree that all phones have hardware defective GPS.
Live I've said how many times before.. my phone, on JFD locks onto 5-8/4-8 sats in under a minute and it's acruate within 20FT
on other builds/leaks it takes a few minutes to lock on.
Just saying

... and they removed the Android keyboard? lol

I don't think he said "all" either. In fact, he didn't even use that word in his post.

N8ter said:
I don't think he said "all" either. In fact, he didn't even use that word in his post.
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wow.. really?

richiehd said:
I kid you not. In view: 2 In Use: 0
Accuracy: 0.0
::sigh::
Hardware Problem. Obviously.
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"Worse" as in you did something to your phone and it got worse?

Gigamaster89 said:
"Worse" as in you did something to your phone and it got worse?
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Yes, I updated it to the Mini Kies froyo.

He updated to FroYo through Kies Mini and the GPS is worse than it was before the update is what he meant.
As to the "wow really" kid up there, gfys.
You can figure out what that stands for, it's not hard.

Just an FYI, once I updated I couldn't get a GPS lock or anything.
What I had to do was turn off GPS, reboot, wipe GPS data, turn on GPS, and then let it sit in my car window running GPS Test for a good 15 minutes to get all the satellites.
Now KA6 seems the same as JI6 for lock speed. I can't tell on accuracy because it's overcast w/ flurries and the best I've ever gotten was 9' on a clear night, but normally 15' on a clear night.

richiehd said:
Yes, I updated it to the Mini Kies froyo.
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Oh so you were being sarcastic about the hardware problem...duh.

Did you try the gps fix app from samsung in the market?
Sent from my SGH-T959 using Tapatalk

I had the opposite result. My GPS actually got better after the update. I also ran the Samsung GPS restore before I tested the GPS. On my test drive, the GPS locked within 15 seconds and didn't seem to get lost. With JI6 it would sometimes takes minutes for a lock and it would at time lose signal.

same here..worse...
0/3 for 15 mins after flash boot..

GPS Finally Works Brilliantly.

Wow, I've had 4 replacement SII's (not due to GPS) and on all of them, they never got a GPS lock, really stressed me out.
However day before yesterday I left it to get a lock and it finally got one after about 4 minutes eek And then I've been constantly using the GPS and now whenever I load up the navigation I get a lock within a few seconds, always under 10 seconds worst case scenario!
So if you've got a slow GPS. Just bear with it, it seems to get better for some bizarre reason.

Yes, the first fix always takes a long time, after that cold start gps is faster.
I also left it the first time on my terrace for 10min and after that it's been fast and accurate, usually about 6m on a fine day, reported by gmaps.
The thing that bothers me most, is that google maps on the move is very choppy. It's accurate, but not smooth like on an iphone.

i think the gps on this phone is amazing, also impressed with the digital compass.

Exactly this happened for my i8910 also. At first it was very slow. Now it locks even inside the house. A little bit of patience is always important.

I dont think the lock time has ever been a problem with this gps.
Always the first time is slow, then it gets faster.
The bad thing is the accuracy. It is never completely accurate and it tends to jump around. Very very annoying if you want to use the gps for something like running and keeping track. I think I might have to return my GS2..

I would be interested to know whether you guys leave the GPS toggle on even when you don't have a navigation app running. If so, does it have any impact on battery life?
I've got into the habit of only toggling GPS on when I'm about to use a navigation app, then toggle it off afterwards.
This is my first Android phone and I didn't have this GPS toggle option with WinMo so not sure what the best setting is?

rojdag said:
i think the gps on this phone is amazing, also impressed with the digital compass.
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The GPS is amazing indeed, but I liked the compass more on the Spica. Somehow it was more responsive, not by much though. I still love my S2!

dosher said:
I would be interested to know whether you guys leave the GPS toggle on even when you don't have a navigation app running. If so, does it have any impact on battery life?
I've got into the habit of only toggling GPS on when I'm about to use a navigation app, then toggle it off afterwards.
This is my first Android phone and I didn't have this GPS toggle option with WinMo so not sure what the best setting is?
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It should only turn on the gps when it's requested by an app, so no, it shouldn't drain your battery at all leaving the toggle on.

SBS_ said:
It should only turn on the gps when it's requested by an app, so no, it shouldn't drain your battery at all leaving the toggle on.
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Good to know, thanks.

SBS_ said:
It should only turn on the gps when it's requested by an app, so no, it shouldn't drain your battery at all leaving the toggle on.
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yes, but...
some people may have a rogue app running in the background, and it among other things, would periodically wake up gps and get position lock.
so the full answer is if you feel you have full knowledge of what is running on your phone, leave gps on, if you have doubts and you experience battery drain and your phone heats up for no reason - switch it off, and also look deeper into what you have installed and what services you have configured to run and sync.

FPRobber said:
The GPS is amazing indeed, but I liked the compass more on the Spica. Somehow it was more responsive, not by much though. I still love my S2!
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Get Ulysse Gizmo, THAT compass is genious .
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

drm111 said:
Wow, I've had 4 replacement SII's (not due to GPS) and on all of them, they never got a GPS lock, really stressed me out.
However day before yesterday I left it to get a lock and it finally got one after about 4 minutes eek And then I've been constantly using the GPS and now whenever I load up the navigation I get a lock within a few seconds, always under 10 seconds worst case scenario!
So if you've got a slow GPS. Just bear with it, it seems to get better for some bizarre reason.
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wtf??? 4 replacements?! how in hell can you get 4 replacements within 14 days?!? usually it takes weeks for samsung to check your device and to repair it...

D4rK.F0rcE said:
wtf??? 4 replacements?! how in hell can you get 4 replacements within 14 days?!? usually it takes weeks for samsung to check your device and to repair it...
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you go to the career store, or contract-free store, and exchange it. As simple as that, if the phone is legally sold in your country.

Gps seems very good now- got my first cold lock after putting battery in for first time in about 20 seconds.

CandyAndy said:
I dont think the lock time has ever been a problem with this gps.
Always the first time is slow, then it gets faster.
The bad thing is the accuracy. It is never completely accurate and it tends to jump around. Very very annoying if you want to use the gps for something like running and keeping track. I think I might have to return my GS2..
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Really? Mine seems good enough for sports tracking.
Looking at GPS Test it sits very solidly around the 4-6m mark in good conditions, and in worse conditions (overcast etc), it still sits within the 4-10m mark - line of best fit still has good accuracy...
I have a piece at the Clove Blog looking just at GPS, probably up tomorrow, for anyone still on the fence about this phone because of the GPS function.

Agreed 100%. I used Google Maps+GPS+Nav for over 5 hours last Sunday on roads that my SGS would for sure jump around, not a single jump, overshoot, wrong direction. This device is a true stand alone GPS & navigation replacement.

Completely agree that this device is perfect for in-car navigation. Not too sure about running but I tried it for about 90mins in the car a few days ago in city and country roads and found it just as good as the desire I had.

D4rK.F0rcE said:
wtf??? 4 replacements?! how in hell can you get 4 replacements within 14 days?!? usually it takes weeks for samsung to check your device and to repair it...
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Why would I send it to Samsung? I get 28 days to get an on the spot replacement from the store I bought it from. After 28 days I'd have to go through Samsung.

GPS is damn good. I got a lock today sitting on my sofa messing with lattitude, My tomtom can't do that!
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA Premium App

NZtechfreak said:
Really? Mine seems good enough for sports tracking.
Looking at GPS Test it sits very solidly around the 4-6m mark in good conditions, and in worse conditions (overcast etc), it still sits within the 4-10m mark - line of best fit still has good accuracy...
I have a piece at the Clove Blog looking just at GPS, probably up tomorrow, for anyone still on the fence about this phone because of the GPS function.
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same for me i use sportypal to track my runs and you can see which side of the road im on, id say 1-2m accuracy
http://sportypal.com/Workouts/Details/1163209

[Q] Verizon G2 GPS Performance

How is everybody's GPS performance? Mine seems to be taking longer than I'm used to on my S3 to get a lock (30+ seconds). Even getting the latest aGPS data using GPS Status didn't seem to help much. It is definitely not snapping in instantly like I'm used to. Curious to hear what others have observed.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

I used mine yesterday without any issues. Was semi cloudy as well. Its dark as he'll in my area today but I'll use it and report back.
Sent from my LG G2 using xda app-developers app

strong fast gps lock
less than 15sec and 6 satellite lock

Absolutely on lock but VERIZON network is STUPID strong where I live so that may help
Sent from my VS980 4G using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Hmm okay thanks for the response. It seems like I get my lock within 10-15 seconds now, but still much slower than my S3 (2-3 sec max). How is everyone's accuracy when lock is achieved? Mine is serviceable, but it did get roads messed up a few times when GPS signal lost while using navigation.
Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk 4

Used mine last night and today and mine locked on in seconds with no problem.

fsiddique said:
Hmm okay thanks for the response. It seems like I get my lock within 10-15 seconds now, but still much slower than my S3 (2-3 sec max). How is everyone's accuracy when lock is achieved? Mine is serviceable, but it did get roads messed up a few times when GPS signal lost while using navigation.
Sent from my VS980 4G using Tapatalk 4
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Almost the same thing I have experienced also. I Used the Go Home in Navigation and it was off by a few blocks.
Also when starting from a reset it does take 2-5 minutes to get a lock. Not only was the S3 almost instant, but it also grabbed more sats.
S3 (15/20 locks) G2 ( 8/20) using GPS status. Side by side comps
Also noticing some pretty big choppiness trying to scroll if I pull up a site like phone dog using the stock chrome browser. Other than the browser this thing is extremely snappy.

my first time took like 5 minutes..so i refreshed agps, and it eventually locked. now it locks pretty quick and i get my usual 10-16ft accuracy like my other phones

GPS fix takes forever

When I place the Note 3 in the windowsill, it takes minutes to get a fix. Lift it up and hold it to the window, it takes 30-60 seconds. 3-4 meters from the window, in the sofa? Forget about it. It is as if the a-gps isn't active and a fix has to be established the old fashioned way.
All localization options are turned on. I have tried a clean setup, but no difference. Never had this problem with my Note 2. Do I have bad hardware, or have I missed something?

sbcdk said:
When I place the Note 3 in the windowsill, it takes minutes to get a fix. Lift it up and hold it to the window, it takes 30-60 seconds. 3-4 meters from the window, in the sofa? Forget about it. It is as if the a-gps isn't active and a fix has to be established the old fashioned way.
All localization options are turned on. I have tried a clean setup, but no difference. Never had this problem with my Note 2. Do I have bad hardware, or have I missed something?
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Maybe faulty gps hardware. Mine locks on in about a second every time inside or outside
Sent from my SM-N900P using xda app-developers app

Mine is fast too.... looks like you may have a faulty one.
Sent from my SM-9500N using Tapatalk Pro.
If you find my post useful, a click on the 'thanks' is appreciated.

It's a function of satellite geometry. The one thing agps does for you is help you get the gps almanac faster. With a fresh almanac, the receiver knows which satellites are in view which significantly speeds up the time it takes to get a fix. Having access to fresh almanac data can't make the satellites any more visible though. Take your phone outside with a clear view of the sky. If you still can't aquire a fix, then you might have a problem. Saying it doesn't work reliably indoors is akin to saying you can't hear the speaker very well when its underwater.
I'm sure many will jump in with anecdotal evidence of gps working indoors, but that still can't fix bad geometry. You need 4 vehicles in view to get a fix.
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

Thanks for all the replies. Looks like my hardware might be bad.
I am aware how this works. Have had more than 30 top of the line smartphones with gps since the Mio A701, which is almost ten years ago. The Note 3 has the worst indoor reception I have seen for at least five years. Ever since a-gps and wifi locationing, getting a fix indoor haven't been a problem. That's why I said it seems like the a-gps isn't working. But I guess it always will work, as long as there's a data channel open, right?

sbcdk said:
Thanks for all the replies. Looks like my hardware might be bad.
I am aware how this works. Have had more than 30 top of the line smartphones with gps since the Mio A701, which is almost ten years ago. The Note 3 has the worst indoor reception I have seen for at least five years. Ever since a-gps and wifi locationing, getting a fix indoor haven't been a problem. That's why I said it seems like the a-gps isn't working. But I guess it always will work, as long as there's a data channel open, right?
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Indoor reception is on a par with the Galaxy S4 which my partner has. I find it hard to get a signal indoors with either but my Nexus 7 is a lot better at it. I wouldn't be too quick to accept this as a hardware fault, just a design fault.

Once you've obtained a fix, agps becomes moot. Your receiver already knows which satellites are in view. If you can't get fix minutes later agps isn't the issue. It's los to the satellites.
I'm speaking to you as someone who actually works at the Gps master control station.
Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

I do reboot between tests, as the hardest fix is the first. That said, the following takes longer than I would expect too, but not nearly as long as the first.
When strolling today, I checked the g-maps fix twice, with said reboot in between. Both times I had a fix in 8-10 seconds. That's about the same time my iPhone 5 uses without any data (a-gps), but still way better than yesterdays results. Can't figure out why this changes so much.