[Q] Mapping Location - Droid Incredible Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

how come my phone keeps telling me i am in either roosevelt new york, or staten island new york? when i turn on the gps i finds me but goes back to someplace in new york. when i am outside it works fine.
oh, by the way, i am located in central new jersey...

Because when you don't have GPS on it uses the cell towers to try and find your location, it won't be 100% accurate like it would be when you have GPS on.

g00s3y said:
Because when you don't have GPS on it uses the cell towers to try and find your location, it won't be 100% accurate like it would be when you have GPS on.
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Not totally accurate? Its a state off...even with GPS on it's not always right.

Related

What does GPS actually require to work?

This might be a noob question, but I have a question regarding the GPS.
Does it require data to work? Or does it require data to work for certain GPS features?
I am going to Europe and need to decide if I will need to take my N85 unlocked and try and get a local SIM card there. I want to geotag my photos but don't know if you can since the EVO has no international roaming capabilities.
Does Geotagging (or any other GPS feature) require data to work or can some GPS functions work by connecting directly to the satellites?
pekosROB said:
This might be a noob question, but I have a question regarding the GPS.
Does it require data to work? Or does it require data to work for certain GPS features?
I am going to Europe and need to decide if I will need to take my N85 unlocked and try and get a local SIM card there. I want to geotag my photos but don't know if you can since the EVO has no international roaming capabilities.
Does Geotagging (or any other GPS feature) require data to work or can some GPS functions work by connecting directly to the satellites?
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Click to collapse
GPS will require data, especially if you plan on using some form of Geotagging.
Definitely take your N85 unlocked and have a SIM card -- leave your EVO at home, since the EVO is CDMA based and almost all networks in Europe are GSM based, your EVO won't be doing any calling/texting -- that is unless you want to get a huge ass bill for roaming every second?
I'm not 100% positive, but the way it works is that the GPS on the phone will try to connect to your carriers tower first and get all the information it needs from there... then any information it can't retrieve or has to upload (maps, geotag, etc) it'll use a universal satellites. These satellites are the ones that your phone connects to if it has to be tracked if you get lost (via 911) and are also the same ones Google probably uses for Maps, Navigation, etc -- since they provide a large amount of information.
Hope that helps.
pseudoremora said:
GPS will require data, especially if you plan on using some form of Geotagging.
Definitely take your N85 unlocked and have a SIM card -- leave your EVO at home, since the EVO is CDMA based and almost all networks in Europe are GSM based, your EVO won't be doing any calling/texting -- that is unless you want to get a huge ass bill for roaming every second?
I'm not 100% positive, but the way it works is that the GPS on the phone will try to connect to your carriers tower first and get all the information it needs from there... then any information it can't retrieve or has to upload (maps, geotag, etc) it'll use a universal satellites. These satellites are the ones that your phone connects to if it has to be tracked if you get lost (via 911) and are also the same ones Google probably uses for Maps, Navigation, etc -- since they provide a large amount of information.
Hope that helps.
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Click to collapse
Above information on GPS is wrong, I am not sure where to start to correct it. Lets not, and simply respond to the original question:
GPS is a global network, and works without any data. In fact a GPS device is receive only device, so it cannot even send. If you have a GPS device, it will work all over the world, though it may take a while in clear sky to get a cold fix for the first time after you crossed the Atlantic.
There is something called AGPS or assisted-GPS, which does use data by first requesting a rough fix from the phone network as well as the current position of all the GPS sats, which will speed up the first fix of the GPS a lot, but that is not needed per se, so if you have no phone signal, or no data roaming, GPS still works, just the first fix may take a bit longer.
Mind you, some phones have a broken AGPS implementation, which behaves strange on some phone networks, so you may want to configure it not to even try to use AGPS when abroad. Have it fall back to regular GPS. Then there will be no roaming or attempted roaming on behave of the GPS. GPS will never provide a (navigation) map, it will only ever give you a position, but for tagging, that is all you need.
As to your specific phones, I do not know the EVO specifically, but assuming Sprint did not put in some program to completely bock the phone when out of its network, since it is Android it will simply let you make pictures and GPS tag them without any network.
You do want to bring your Nokia though if you want to call people, Europe is indeed close to 100% GSM based on the 900 and 1800 Mhz frequencies.
cybermaus said:
Above information on GPS is wrong, I am not sure where to start to correct it. Lets not, and simply respond to the original question:
GPS is a global network, and works without any data. In fact a GPS device is receive only device, so it cannot even send. If you have a GPS device, it will work all over the world, though it may take a while in clear sky to get a cold fix for the first time after you crossed the Atlantic.
There is something called AGPS or assisted-GPS, which does use data by first requesting a rough fix from the phone network as well as the current position of all the GPS sats, which will speed up the first fix of the GPS a lot, but that is not needed per se, so if you have no phone signal, or no data roaming, GPS still works, just the first fix may take a bit longer.
Mind you, some phones have a broken AGPS implementation, which behaves strange on some phone networks, so you may want to configure it not to even try to use AGPS when abroad. Have it fall back to regular GPS. Then there will be no roaming or attempted roaming on behave of the GPS. GPS will never provide a (navigation) map, it will only ever give you a position, but for tagging, that is all you need.
As to your specific phones, I do not know the EVO specifically, but assuming Sprint did not put in some program to completely bock the phone when out of its network, since it is Android it will simply let you make pictures and GPS tag them without any network.
You do want to bring your Nokia though if you want to call people, Europe is indeed close to 100% GSM based on the 900 and 1800 Mhz frequencies.
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Click to collapse
I figured I was wrong, I stand corrected.

Gps doesn't work in korea

Does anyone know of gps is supposed to work outside the north american continent? I'm sometimes able to pick up 4 gps satellites with weak signals, but google maps can't find my current location.
Download GPS status from the market. Go into the setting and redownload gps data and see if that helps.
cnstarz said:
Does anyone know of gps is supposed to work outside the north american continent? I'm sometimes able to pick up 4 gps satellites with weak signals, but google maps can't find my current location.
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Does the Google Maps app work outside North America? It was my understanding that the app wouldn't work outside of North America, of course I could be wrong. Maybe you're just in an area that gets a crappy GPS lock.
david279 said:
Download GPS status from the market. Go into the setting and redownload gps data and see if that helps.
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Click to collapse
Ha, that did it! I also cleared gps cache in GPS Status too. Thanks.

[Q] Epic Touch Network Location (aGPS) vs GPS

Hello, I just upgraded from an Evo Shift to the Epic Touch and absolutely love my phone. However, one thing has not been working as expected. On my Evo Shift, I was able to obtain a coarse location fix solely using the mobile network (e.g. GPS is turned off, and I get a 2000ft accuracy general network location). This was great to use along with tasker so that I wasn't having to consume so much battery to get a general location.
However, with my Evo Shift it seems as if whenever I attempt to obtain a coarse general network-based location, it either does not give me a fix at all (your current location is temporarily unavailable) or gives me an incorrect location. When I turn on the GPS itself, it gives me pinpoint fine location, but I'd rather not have to keep GPS on all day in order to have tasker turn on my wifi. As far as settings/mods, I am running stock EL29, rooted (with no modifications), have "Use Wireless networks" checked in location and security settings, and normally turn off wireless when I'm not home.
Thank you in advance for any thoughts or comments.
Bumping this in hopes of an answer or at least some insight.
I know that there are a lot of threads that provide GPS solutions, but those seem to be regarding how to get a GPS lock, not necessarily issues with aGPS.
Thanks in advance.
I just checked maps quickly.
GPS on: 10m accuracy
GPS off, wifi on: 20m accuracy
GPS off, wifi off: 1800m accuracy
Seems like it's working as it should. I'm on Caulkin's EL29 Rom, with EG30 modem. Hmm.. why am I on EG30 modem.. all this flashing back and forth I never checked last time I went back.
my aGPS shows 2700m accuracy.
the center point is also 15 miles southeast from my current location.
WAAAAAAAY to inaccurate lol
The other day I drove 30 miles away and Llama never changed my cell mast. I also work 10 miles from home and my cell mast never changes. So Llama is unusable for me as well. (Since my phone evidently stays on the same cell tower no matter where I go in the salt lake valley)
Hello, thank you for your responses. Since my last post, I followed the fix specified in this thread, which resolved the issues I was having even on a stock rom. IN addition, it did not seem to negatively affect fine gps location, which was ok before.
With that resolved I actually moved to Caulkin's EL29 rom (for battery reasons), and still was able to pull both coarse and fine network location, so all is good.
I guess the resolution is if you can not pull coarse network location via cell tower triangulation (essential for either Llama or Tasker), either use the fix at the following link, or try another ROM:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1448015

[Q] Possible to use GPS with no network service?

So I'll be in Japan until mid April, and I temporarily discontinued my cell plan. I'm just curious if anyone knows of a way to use the GPS without having any network support what so ever? I mainly use it for an application that tracks the distance and pace that I run, but turn by turn would be nice to have as well. Any help would be wonderful!!
Depends on if the app you have uses a local or network map.. i know with google maps (and maybe google navigation) you can dl map data for use while off network. GPS data is separate afaik (meaning pulling the times from the gps sats to get your location) so that should still work.
Assimilated using the interface that interacts with the advanced internet.
benmatlock said:
Depends on if the app you have uses a local or network map.. i know with google maps (and maybe google navigation) you can dl map data for use while off network. GPS data is separate afaik (meaning pulling the times from the gps sats to get your location) so that should still work.
Assimilated using the interface that interacts with the advanced internet.
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Thanks for the reply. i'm pretty sure i'm out of luck here, Google maps thinks i'm in Hawaii and the wifi I connect to has a mean firewall and I can't get on half the websites I can back home (stupid government). I suppose I can live without GPS. .
simpkill said:
Thanks for the reply. i'm pretty sure i'm out of luck here, Google maps thinks i'm in Hawaii and the wifi I connect to has a mean firewall and I can't get on half the websites I can back home (stupid government). I suppose I can live without GPS. .
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Click to collapse
With the Optimus S i had no data connection whatsoever but still manage to get GPS. I used maps to pre-cache the place i wanted to go. It worked well. Just have GPS satellites on under settings.
Try navfee

No GPS signal while making phone call

I recently noticed that neither google maps or waze will keep a GPS lock while I am on a phone call. As soon as the call goes through neither app works but the minute I hang up both apps work properly. Have I turned something off by accident? What has happened?
I have never heard of this before.
I am not aware of any dependence on cell signal for gps to work properly.
I have experienced the functionality of waze and maps not working when on a call as it needs network to update traffic data or plot route changes.
but the GPS never fails.
That being said
Are you on low accuracy which would use cell signal to determine position?
Curious if you have GPS test and when on a call do you still see all the satellites?
parakleet said:
I have never heard of this before.
I am not aware of any dependence on cell signal for gps to work properly.
I have experienced the functionality of waze and maps not working when on a call as it needs network to update traffic data or plot route changes.
but the GPS never fails.
That being said
Are you on low accuracy which would use cell signal to determine position?
Curious if you have GPS test and when on a call do you still see all the satellites?
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Click to collapse
Maybe I should have worded it differently by saying what you said...waze and maps stopped working while on a call. It says something like "searching for network".
As far as GPS test...not sure what that is.
Location is set to High Accuracy
clone1008 said:
Maybe I should have worded it differently by saying what you said...waze and maps stopped working while on a call. It says something like "searching for network".
As far as GPS test...not sure what that is.
Location is set to High Accuracy
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Click to collapse
GPS Test: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chartcross.gpstest&hl=en
clone1008 said:
Maybe I should have worded it differently by saying what you said...waze and maps stopped working while on a call. It says something like "searching for network".
As far as GPS test...not sure what that is.
Location is set to High Accuracy
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is normal behavior for cell networks that do not have voice and data running simultaneously.
i have experienced waze not coming out of it once data is reestablished, so i have to shut down waze and re open.
ultimately though it is a result of your network not the phone or app.
parakleet said:
That is normal behavior for cell networks that do not have voice and data running simultaneously.
i have experienced waze not coming out of it once data is reestablished, so i have to shut down waze and re open.
ultimately though it is a result of your network not the phone or app.
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Click to collapse
I can confirm this. What I do is enable airplane mode and then disable airplane mode to gain data when the call is finished. Stupid carriers
chevelle970 said:
I can confirm this. What I do is enable airplane mode and then disable airplane mode to gain data when the call is finished. Stupid carriers
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It was a real pain last evening. I am away on a business trip. I had just gotten on the highway from the airport in a rental car and my fiance called. Waze stopped working and caused me to miss my exit, I noticed as soon as I hung up from the phone call, waze picked up signal again and started working. I had never had that happen before and I travel frequently.
clone1008 said:
It was a real pain last evening. I am away on a business trip. I had just gotten on the highway from the airport in a rental car and my fiance called. Waze stopped working and caused me to miss my exit, I noticed as soon as I hung up from the phone call, waze picked up signal again and started working. I had never had that happen before and I travel frequently.
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Click to collapse
That actually happens to me a lot now that i am on ProjectFI. Never happened with ATT.
My fiance doesnt usually have the issue with verizon, but when she is in a patchy area it freaks her out.
parakleet said:
That actually happens to me a lot now that i am on ProjectFI. Never happened with ATT.
My fiance doesnt usually have the issue with verizon, but when she is in a patchy area it freaks her out.
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Click to collapse
I am on Sprint
clone1008 said:
I am on Sprint
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I have both been on Sprint proper as well as ProjectFi which piggybacks sprint and again what you are describing is in line with the behavior i have experienced.
If projectfi wasnt so cheap i would dump it in a heartbeat for a more robust carrier, Verizon or att

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