A few times in the past couple days, I've noticed that a few seconds after opening maps or an app like gps status, the gps symbol in the status bar simply disappears and the app I'm using stops updating.
I thought it might be a problem with maps until I caught it doing the same thing on the gps status app (and the gps test app as well). So it doesn't seem like an app problem. I have location accuracy mode set to high under location settings, and no power savings type modes or apps running. I have the at&t version of the s5.
Any ideas what's going on here or how to fix?
This is driving me nuts - it hasn't happened to anyone else? It seems like it generally happens when the GPS is 'cold' - like first thing in the morning. I'll open maps, or try to navigate, or one of the gps apps, and the gps indicator in the status bar simply turns off after a couple seconds and whatever app I'm in stops updating my location. If I close and reopen one of the apps, it'll do the same thing again. Eventually, after say 3-10 times of this - suddenly the gps status indicator will either stay on or might come back on a couple seconds after having turned off. After that, it seems to have 'warmed up' and works normal even after closing/opening apps to test it. I've also tried clearing maps data, as well as resetting agps data. Anything else I can try short of a factory reset?
Related
It seems that the majority of people have absolutely no GPS issues. But I notice every time that I factory reset, I can't get a GPS lock, which is absolutely weird. I can't acquire location on GenieWidget either initially. If anyone else out there is having GPS issues or Location issues then try this.
How to fix for both:
1. Download GPS Test from the market (the free one)
Run it, and leave it running until the GPS On light turns green and it has satellites in use and tells you the meters accuracy. That means a lock. This can take a few minutes.
After this happens, GPS locks very quickly even after reboots, very weird.
Now even after this, GenieWidget still can't acquire location.
2. Turn on WiFi, but don't connect to anything, you don't have to.
When WiFi is on, go back to the GenieWidget and hit refresh.
It'll find your location even though you're not on a WiFi network.
Now disable WiFi and it'll be able to acquire your location every single time.
Weird stuff.
damn... sounds like Samsung is STILL failing with LBS. It's very frustrating on my Captivate.
I turned it on before and got a fix in about 45 seconds. About the same time as my Slide.
skinien said:
damn... sounds like Samsung is STILL failing with LBS. It's very frustrating on my Captivate.
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It's a one time issue though it seems. I think actually it all depends on getting that 'first' lock. The phone will go to sleep if you wait on maps too long. So I just use that app, go into settings, and hit Keep Awake then leave it sit til it locks. After that, I can get a lock in 1-5 seconds every time after reboots upon reboots.
It locks just as quick as my Evo, 10-15 seconds for me. I use my GPS so much if its not getting a good lock I would return the damn thing over and over until it work how it should. Even 45 seconds is a stretch...my G1 locks faster than that...
Anderdroid said:
It's a one time issue though it seems. I think actually it all depends on getting that 'first' lock. The phone will go to sleep if you wait on maps too long. So I just use that app, go into settings, and hit Keep Awake then leave it sit til it locks. After that, I can get a lock in 1-5 seconds every time after reboots upon reboots.
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Click to collapse
Quite right. There's a big difference between "cold" and "warm" GPS startup.
When the phone is brand new, or after a hard reset, it will always be a "cold" start. The phone has no clue about where it is in the world, or even if it has the correct time. So the very first thing it does is to look around and try to spot any GPS satellites. Then it tries to download the almanac data.
For GPS to lock, quite a lot of data needs to be downloaded from the satellites. This takes between 30-60 seconds uninterrupted view of at least 3 satellites. If you're moving around, the view of the satellites may be interrupted, and the phone will have to start over again. This process can be speeded up a lot with A-GPS.
After the first lock, things go much faster. The almanac data is already on the phone, and the position of the last GPS fix is known.
The thing that confuses most people is that an Android phone will try to navigate by other means when there's no GPS lock. By cell tower, or by WiFi hotspot. Cell tower gives your location instantly, but with a very large margin of error. If your position is way off, then you're not navigating by GPS, but by other, less accurate means.
I actually can't get location from the cell towers >.< But yeah my GPS is locking in 1-5 seconds now.
Still no luck with above... will not turn green just stays yellow
i came from 4.2.1. updated to 4.2 and now my tablet wont stop saying searching for GPS (i am indoors and no GPS lock can be found).
nothing has changed, i have the same APPs haven't removed or added anything except updating via OTA yet now after the update this searching for GPS wont go away and i have to toggle it off now.
i have always left GPS and Wifi on with 4.2.1 and didnt have this problem and its draining my battery so i disable GPS.
anyone else see this on theirs?
1) turn GPS off
2) download gps status
3) wait until you are outside and stationary
4) turn on GPS and run gps status to see if you are getting any kind of fix on satellites.
Zillow (an app in the Play Store) causes this on my device. If I force closed it, the GPS icon would go away. If you're not using Zillow, maybe another app is the cause. Try force-closing anything you think might be using GPS
while google nav is running in background (searching for gps..) Hit the home button Go to settings . Toggle gps Of then back on..
You might have to then exit google nav off then back on.. Sometimes it will take a few tired..
This randomly happens to me sometimes if i start google Nav with the gps enabled.. Was present in 4.1.2 after the latest maps update .
I had the EXACT same problem.. I had updated in my "bunker" where I work (no GPS signals get in here) and until it finally got a signal it tried for like 2 hours. Once it did it, it was happy.
I really, really wish there were some way to see GPS usage history. There has got to be a way to do that. A log of what apps used the GPS, how long, etc
Same here. I also noticed this today and the battery drained quickly. It looks like the Weather Channel app was causing it in my case. It had an unusually large share of the battery consumption (according to the Android battery monitor) and uninstalling it seems to fix the issue (will take another day to confirm). This was working fine on 4.1.2.
Mine also has gone AWOL. I tried the on-off trick, all styles, but no joy (and waiting 2 hours was not a possibility... I needed it there and then).
I'll try the apps suggested, but as Gps is a core service, and one Google relies upon, it's disappointing that this crops up after an update to 4.2.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
szeiger said:
Same here. I also noticed this today and the battery drained quickly. It looks like the Weather Channel app was causing it in my case. It had an unusually large share of the battery consumption (according to the Android battery monitor) and uninstalling it seems to fix the issue (will take another day to confirm). This was working fine on 4.1.2.
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Click to collapse
Thanks for bringing this up. I was having this problem, and I have The Weather Channel too so I went to uninstall it and right when I did the GPS notification went away. It's looking like it may be a problem with the app then and not the GPS. Maybe something changed in the background and they have to make some modifications to the app to fix it.
I reinstalled TWC and when telling it to find me through GPS on the first run, it doesn't seem to want to get my location. I did it indoors before so I don't know why it wouldn't pick it up now. But at least it doesnt seem to be constantly accessing the GPS. I was going to do a factory reset to figure out if it was a problem with the system update itself but I'll just chalk it up to an app problem right now.
It's strange though, in 4.1.2 I don't remember getting any notification that the GPS was searching\locked on unless it was Navigation or Maps doing something. Either way, I dislike this new GPS notification thing overall. On the other hand, it's a good thing that we know the GPS was being used improperly. I hope they update The Weather Channel app soon. Weather Underground is slow even on the Nexus 7.
I'm having the same trouble after the update.
I left The Weather Channel uninstalled and had the GPS on again... still a lot of usage so I've just turned the GPS off until I need it. This is very unnecessary though. It has to be something in the operating system (I don't have any apps running in the background that should be using it so much when fine location isn't required).
Has anybody else tried a factory reset to see if this alleviates this problem? I really don't want to be the first and then lose important things I have saved to memory. :/
In 4.1.2 when using Navigation, GPS would be lost at times. Firing up GPS Test Plus would show no satellites, then rapidly find them, and suddenly Navigation would work again. I sometimes had to toggle GPS, sometimes didn't.
In 4.2 so far, I've had GPS vanish in Navigation, and stay vanished in GPS Test Plus. Toggling GPS doesn't seem to help. Rebooting is required to locate the satellites. Annoying.
About to delete 5gb of data to see if my 16GB model will magically speed up from the constant heavy lag.
A factory reset seems to have fixed my GPS problem.
same problem.i found a advertisement module in heywire caused it.as i force closed heywire,it is gone.before that,it continues for 7 hours.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
zhj said:
same problem.i found a advertisement module in heywire caused it.as i force closed heywire,it is gone.before that,it continues for 7 hours.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app
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Sorry for the bump but it seems even after uninstalling The Weather Channel and the factory reset I still get GPS activation for a long time from time to time. I seem to have found the process in the battery usage that's causing it. "Fused Location". Not sure what uses this or what it is, it has an android icon. I force closed it and GPS stopped searching. Probably not a permanent fix. I sent feedback from the OS on this process.
I've seen this in 4.2 on my Nexus 7 AND my Galaxy Nexus.
Not nailed it yet, one culprit was Shazam (turned off Location in the settings for that and it went away)
Checking my Battery stats again, Shazam is on 12% and I've not even run it! Gonna remove the homescreen widget, see if that helps.
jmbillings said:
I've seen this in 4.2 on my Nexus 7 AND my Galaxy Nexus.
Not nailed it yet, one culprit was Shazam (turned off Location in the settings for that and it went away)
Checking my Battery stats again, Shazam is on 12% and I've not even run it! Gonna remove the homescreen widget, see if that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i suggest you to to Settigs -> Apps -> Running (Tab)
Individuall kill/stop the application that you think might have caused the problem..
You will eventually know which Apps has caused it because the GPS icon goes away after you killed the erring application...
This worked for me. The problem App was "Perfect World Clock"
That solution is rather clunky. I have created a couple of simple Tasker profiles to get rid of this annoying notification. Works flawlessly for me. What it does is it shuts off GPS when the screen turns off, and restarts it after a short delay when the screen turns on. The delay is the real key here, as it circumvents the initial GPS search and, hence, no annoying message. Google Maps and Google Nav are not affected, as the GPS is always on when the screen is on, i.e. GPS is on whenever it is actually needed and off only if it is not needed. And, these profiles do not significantly impact battery, as they are Event triggered rather than State triggered. In fact, it probably saves battery, given that it turns GPS off when it's not needed. There are two profiles needed, which I have called "GPS Suspend" and "GPS Restart." Their associated tasks both utilize the Secure Settings plug-in which is needed to turn GPS on or off. As you will see, I have also added "If" conditions to each task's GPS command, to ensure that the command is executed if and only if the screen is in the correct (on/off) phase.
Here are the profiles and their associated tasks...
Profile: GPS Suspend
Event: Display Off
Enter: GPS Suspend
A1: Secure Settings [ Configuration:GPS Disabled Timeout (Seconds):0 ] If [ %SCREEN ~ off ]
Profile: GPS Restart
Event: Display On
Enter: GPS Resart
A1: Wait [ MS:0 Seconds:3 Minutes:0 HConfiguration:GPS:enabledours:0 Days:0 ]
A2: Secure Settings [ Timeout (Seconds):0 ] If [ %SCREEN ~ on ]
Try it and see!
modestdave
Hi, maps seems to be keeping my phone awake when I lock it. I've searched this forum and I've disabled almost all the settings regarding GPS, location etc, as it seems this is what people are recommending. The only ones that I have kept enabled are 'Access my location', 'GPS Satellites' and 'Wifi & mobile network location'.
Better battery starts shows that 'NetworkLocationPassiveCollector' is giving partial wakelock.
Is there any way to stop this without turning GPS off?
Thank you
Anyone help? I've completely disabled location access, gps etc for now to see if it helps.
Mine was doing this a lot recently. I force closed the app, killed cache/data, then relaunched it and went into settings and toggled all of the stupid "track my location in the background" settings (on again, then back off). Haven't had a problem with it since.
It was sneaky about it, too. I would wake up my screen and see the GPS icon in the status bar and it would disappear right away. 20 minutes later I would wake up my phone and it would do the same thing.
Happens to me a lot also. I noticed facebook app will ping my gps occasionally unless I actually close the app out. I just turn location off unless I need it.
Anyone else experiencing this issue on their S4? The newest version of google maps (with the new layout) is painfully slow in locking my location, often taking 30 seconds to 1 min or more. Other apps that use location data (uber, gasbuddy, yelp, etc) lock very fast with a-gps (i usually have gps turned off), typically in 1-3 seconds. Google maps though, the most crucial one, takes forever. Often I will open the app, and it always default opens to the last location I was zoomed in on. I will then manually move the map to look at something else, and 45 seconds later it finally locks on to my position and zips away from what I was looking at and to my physical location. Really annoying, and since the other programs seem to work just fine, I am assuming this is an issue with the maps app itself and not the gps or a-gps capability in the phone.
Anyone experiencing the same issue?
Norcalz71 said:
Anyone else experiencing this issue on their S4? The newest version of google maps (with the new layout) is painfully slow in locking my location, often taking 30 seconds to 1 min or more. Other apps that use location data (uber, gasbuddy, yelp, etc) lock very fast with a-gps (i usually have gps turned off), typically in 1-3 seconds. Google maps though, the most crucial one, takes forever. Often I will open the app, and it always default opens to the last location I was zoomed in on. I will then manually move the map to look at something else, and 45 seconds later it finally locks on to my position and zips away from what I was looking at and to my physical location. Really annoying, and since the other programs seem to work just fine, I am assuming this is an issue with the maps app itself and not the gps or a-gps capability in the phone.
Anyone experiencing the same issue?
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Click to collapse
Not really. When I have GPS issues on Maps, I clear its data/cache, and reset my GPS data in "GPS Status" app. Usually that fixes things. But each case is different. Start from there, see how things progress.
My main issue since day one has been the orientation of the marker on Maps. On my old S2 with the old Maps, the map oriented towards the direction that I'm driving. Not in the S4/New Maps combo. I click on the "compass" icon, doesn't orient it properly. I've calibrated my compass. Still the same. Annoying. Not an issue in Navigation, only in standard Maps.
hitman9696 said:
Not really. When I have GPS issues on Maps, I clear its data/cache, and reset my GPS data in "GPS Status" app. Usually that fixes things. But each case is different. Start from there, see how things progress.
My main issue since day one has been the orientation of the marker on Maps. On my old S2 with the old Maps, the map oriented towards the direction that I'm driving. Not in the S4/New Maps combo. I click on the "compass" icon, doesn't orient it properly. I've calibrated my compass. Still the same. Annoying. Not an issue in Navigation, only in standard Maps.
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Click to collapse
This appears to be a different issue as clearing data/cache has no affect, and it mostly refers to the a-gps locking location. It is equally slow with gps, but I never turn gps on and in the previous versions of maps and on previous phones, a gps worked very fast to lock a rough location. It still does with other location based programs, but the new maps is the issue I am 99% sure
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk 2
I've read a lot about people having issues in KitKat 4.4.2 and I'm having the same. Which is the GPS not locking a location. I've tried many things like apps such as GPS Fix and even flushable zips. I don't know what caused the problem but I have gone back to stock and still nothing. As of right now I'm running PA Beta 3 along with the latest Franco Kernel #206. Please I'm hoping someone has a fix
Sent from my Nexus 4 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app
If you haven't already, try the "GPS Status" app.
There you can hit the menu button, press "Manage A-GPS State" and reset the AGPS cache. Then go to "Manage A-GPS State" again and download new AGPS data in place of the cache you deleted. Make sure you have a working data/wifi connection when you do this.
Note the number of sats fixed (they show up as visual green bars, you can also find the number on the left side of the "/"). You generally need more than 5 in order to get a steady lock, though that admittedly is tough if you have any overhead obstacles. This app will also tell you the "time to fix" so you'll know if it takes too long.
If you want, you can set it up to have a constant notification whenever the GPS is in use, and that way you could pull down the notifications bar while you're on the Maps app, then hit the "GPS Status" notification to pull out the app and get you a faster lock. At that point you just press the back button to return to Maps, whence it has fixed a location for you, and voila! You can even calibrate the compass.
Also, another thing you could do is set it to automatically download new AGPS data for every given length of time. I personally set it to every 6 hrs; that way if the GPS starts acting up, you'll automatically get new AGPS data within the day to help it lock faster.
Hope this helps!
~LightYearGears