Develop Bugs

Anyone else have poor gps accuracy compared to other smartphones?

According to Google Maps 4.0 my gps is never accurate within more than 20-30 meters. usually when im driving i am on the wrong side of the road or in a ditch somewhere.
on my girlfriend's droid her accuracy is about 1-3 meters at best and is never any greater than 10 m.
same goes for my friends blackberry storm...about 5 meters.
So i am wondering if you guys are having better accuracy with the phone.
is it a hardware or software issue? and any idea on how to make this better??
Thankss

No my gps is very accurate. It could be due to the radio version you are using. You didn't mention witch version you use, but try some different radio's and see if you get a better gps signal.

HD2 GPS is a joke!
My HD2 GPS is very, very lousy - when I record my path (on feet) with e.g. RunGps or NaviCompiter, I am getting an ugly zig-zag line with position errors of 20-40 meters! (In city or in open field - does not matter). Unbelievable P.o.S! My radio is now 2.09.51, was 2.07.51 - same s..t.
My old Samsung i780 draws very smooth line with errors within 1 meter, seriously.
HD2 GPS works with Tomtom though, sometimes turning map around when pausing at a crosing or recalculating, but generally OK.

Unless one is seriously geocacheing or needs absolute precision, I regard 20 meters to be fairly decent, 10m to be fantastic when using google maps. But then again I use GPS and map software as a guide not an absolute... I've always taken the stand that map software doesn't know everything about a location, nor does it know the best way to get there.
I do agree the gps accuracy is dependent on the radio though and some are better than others at getting a good signal

My TP2 accuracy is very good. As good as my Garmin handheld GPS I use for geocaching. I went for a jog the day before yesterday, and tracked my progress with SportyPal (http://sportypal.com) and when mapping my route on Google Maps my position was good to within 3 meters (and usually significantly better). I ran up and down some bleachers and it showed my proper position right up and down the isles.
I've also used it for geocaching, and it usually brings me to within spitting distance of the cache.
The reception is also better than any other GPS I've used. It will usually pick up my position in my office, which is half way underground with an entire second story above me.

So is the GPS receiver on the Touch Pro 2/Tilt 2 better than what is used on the Touch Pro/Fuze? I assumed it was probably the same since most everything else (hardware) is the same. Although you would think that HTC would have fixed it after all of the complaints with the Fuze.
I'm thinking of upgrading from the Fuze, but so far the only advantage is the screen. If the GPS has been improved, that will make a difference.

[Q] How good is the Desire's GPS and audio on headphones?

I have the Samsung Galaxy S 16GB but am about to return it due to the useless GPS and get a Desire (or eventually recover the money and buy a Desire later)
How accurate is the current Desire's GPS? Can anyone show me some MyTracks paths for instance?
Another thing that worries me is audio quality on the 3.5mm as I use the units a lot for music. How well does it behave with audiophile headphones? Including low-impedance ones.. any background hiss, etc?
The Galaxy S is really excellent at audio and the screen is amazing but I really need a well-balanced unit that includes a reliable GPS.

I have never had an issue with the GPS but I've only used it for in-car navigation every now and again. The sound on the Desire is acceptable for me. I'm using a pair of Klipsch Image X1s and it sound the same as, if not better than the iPod.
It does however seem to have a volume limiter on it which is bloody annoying! Still it's not an issue if you have a decent pair of 'phones.

Same expeirence here. Music quality on headphones is at least the same as on the ipod classic (old 80GB model). Gps outside has a quick fix (usually within 10 seconds) and i haven't had any signal los yet (except for tunnels and inside buildings).
steve228uk said:
I have never had an issue with the GPS but I've only used it for in-car navigation every now and again. The sound on the Desire is acceptable for me. I'm using a pair of Klipsch Image X1s and it sound the same as, if not better than the iPod.
It does however seem to have a volume limiter on it which is bloody annoying! Still it's not an issue if you have a decent pair of 'phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

A My Tracks sample for GPS accuracy. Unlike the Galaxy S, Desire never lost the signal.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...874704971674600592.00048b2dcdedf643cc518&z=14
Audio quality is almost as good as Galaxy S. Maybe a little bit noisy, but it's a phone after all.

h t t p://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UTF8&hl=en&msa=0&z=14&msid=106701584406805964837.00048ad075c8a785906d6 - another patch from MyTrack
Audio quality is at least comparable (or better) with iRiver T60 and better than in most ipods. I'm using Koss Porta Pro or AKG K416P headphones.

10 sec or less GPS fix on desire is only if using AGPS (you have the 3G so it can load satellite data). Otherwise it takes more than a minute. It helps if you are not moving.

pigbrother said:
A My Tracks sample for GPS accuracy. Unlike the Galaxy S, Desire never lost the signal.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...874704971674600592.00048b2dcdedf643cc518&z=14
Audio quality is almost as good as Galaxy S. Maybe a little bit noisy, but it's a phone after all.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for the feedback.
I don't really care about the fast fixes. Don't mind waiting at all even if the initial gprs assistance is off. That I care about is accuracy and keeping the locks after the inicial fix. That is something the Galaxy can't do.
I gathered some more feedback about the audio and while the Desire seems weaker in that area it should be good enough for normal use.
One thing I'm now wondering is if it suffers from the same "lag" or occasional pauses that I got on the Galaxy. Sometimes it would pause for 2 or 3 seconds while some IO was happening, sometimes more. Perhaps I'll post that in a different thread.
Meanwhile if anyone has more GPS tracks (google maps is fine) especially driving in town, I'd like to see them. The ones I did with my Galaxy S are just scary and full of zig-zags... don't want that again.

I’ve used my desire to track routes with Maverick when out mountain biking in Portugal. I put it in my shorts pocket and it tracked me very accurately without any variations. I haven’t really used it in my car while driving. I can give it shot today and see what results I get. Obviously it’s not going to be as accurate while driving as it is when cycling because of the speed factor but I will let you know later on.

I have used my desire since I got it in April, as my Ipod, and Tom Tom and cycle computer. It does all these thing very well. I agree about the headphones, should be decent quality. Have not experienced any problems with music play back, while doing other things. Gps seems very accurate. The desire is now my main music device, there are several music apps which are better than the stock player, Mixzing is one and it now has an equalizer, which I don't use, but is there if you need it.

Hi Beowulf_pt I’ve uploaded two tracks I recorded yesterday when I was out driving. Both of them seem very accurate and don’t deviate or jump about at all. The 2nd one is over 34miles long and is very accurate. A lot of the roads I went down have tree/hedge coverage on both sides too. I you want to get a good idea of what the roads look like you can go onto Google earth street view as all of Northern Ireland has street view. I’m very impressed with the performance of the GPS on the desire anyway.
I hope this helps.
http://www.trialsworld.com/hosted/9%20Aug%2010%20Track%201.gpx
http://www.trialsworld.com/hosted/9%20Aug%2010%20Track%202.gpx

FSake said:
Hi Beowulf_pt I’ve uploaded two tracks I recorded yesterday when I was out driving. Both of them seem very accurate and don’t deviate or jump about at all.
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...286,0.059996&z=14&iwloc=00048d2c27552512edb09
http://www.trialsworld.com/hosted/9%20Aug%2010%20Track%202.gpx
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for taking those, those don't have many low speed driving with lots of turning probably but in any case are very accurate, really pretty good.
If anyone wants a good laugh, this is what the great Desire's rival produces.. the mighty Samsung Galaxy S:
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...09658333539209.00048d2c2727adf4f601e&t=h&z=13
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...09658333539209.00048d44b071f0237417b&t=h&z=14
I tried everything (except plugging in an external antenna yet) but it loses lock so often and is so imprecise that tracks look like that and navigation is pathetic.

It’s strange the results you got with the Samsung. It’s kind of understandable that it’s inaccurate between buildings but in areas that are quite open it’s bad as well. Did you try it with Assisted GPS (mobile internet) on? Admittedly I didn’t use it when I took mine but maybe it might help yours. The only City I could really use mine on is Belfast and I’m off at the moment so I would get the chance to try it for a few days. Belfast wouldn’t be in the same class as city as Lisbon. I still think the Desire would get a lot better results than the Samsung though.
I think the Samsung GPS chip has alzheimer's. It gets confused quite easily.

[Q] Galaxy Nuxus GPS issue above about 4000 m (13000 ft) altitude. Only my problem?

Hi all,
I got an used Galaxy Nexus (unrooted, stock everything) a few months ago, with plans to use it as an outdoor gps for hiking, biking and maybe paragliding (so I wanted a barometer in it).
I live in Florida (that as you may know is all very flat... maximum altitude is about 100 meters above sea level), and I was very pleased with it (the phone, not the flatness of Florida!) until I took a trip to Colombia in December. There, I had two "bad" experiences with the Google Nexus GPS:
- I took a hike that brought me to an altitude of about 4800 m. Around an altitude of 4000 m (the last recorded point is 3992 m), the GPS lost fix and would not get it again, although GPS Status would show plenty of satellites (9 or 10) all green (that according to GPS Status help means "satellite is used while determining the location"). After rebooting and starting GPS status (but I've tried other programs too, in case you wonder) the GPS will display that it had a fix for just a second or less (coordinates would appear in the GPS Status screen, and one single point woudl be recorded, with aan altitude of 4400 m although I was probably at 4800 m) and then loose it again, never to be reacquired.
- On my flight back, I tried to record the flight. I got a fix while just before takeoff and maintained it until... 3995 m! Then, fix was lost, again never to be reacquired again (actually, I did try again when the plane was at about 1000 m, and I was able to get a fix and record the landing with no problems)
Now, for someone that likes mountaineering, 4000m is a pretty low limit! I really don't care about recording commercial flights, it's just for fun, but a GPS that stops working above 4000m while you are hiking in the mountains could mean trouble.
I've searched around the internet (including this post on XDA), but I haven't find anyone complaining about this issue at this level. Many people complain/discuss about ITAR limits, but those are much higher than what I experienced.
So, I'm wondering if is it a problem with my unit, a problem with the Galaxy Nexus, or just a coincidence? Anyone had a similar experience?
BTW, I had an T-Mobile G-2 (HTC) that worked very well both for flights and mountaineering.
Giacomo

That would explain why the gnex won't get a fix while at cruising altitude..
Beamed from my iPad Mini

Hi,
I had the same issue with my galaxy SII i9100g.
I had a mountain climbing with a summit of 4500 meters, in the beginning we really didn't need gps tracking because there was signs showing the track in the mountain. I checked the device and everything was fine the first day the signals were ok and I had my position on the phone. but in the second day when it got foggy we were in trouble as I wanted to know our altitude. and gps signals wouldn't fix. I had ten or so satellites in view but the message said "waiting for gps fix" and it didn't fix at all. I also restarted the device but it wouldn't help.
in another trip on a plane I started recording the route with gps, and I noticed last recorded point was at an altitude of 3985 meters. and when the plane reached higher altitudes i lost the fix.
I think they should give us warning about using such devices in hiking trips. it could make real trouble for me.

It might be a problem specific to the GPS receiver used in Google Nexus. Giving that I've noticed GPS late fix problems with my Nexus (compared to a Galaxy S3), I'll try checking out the internet myself too.
Have a good day!

I find it remarkable that high-tech companies such as Google or Samsung keep managing to put in design flaws or outright defects that can easily kill people. The one described here is an outstanding example. If using the GPS with good success while hiking, nobody in his right mind would ever get the idea that the GPS would suddenly stop working above a certain altitude. So some programmer has intentionally put in a deadly trap (unless you want to believe that a command like "if (altitude >= 4000) return null;" can be written inadvertently). This is sabotage of a very dangerous kind.
Another less obvious example is the design of the power button, which can easily be activated inadvertently. If somebody needs the phone to navigate and survive in the wilderness and decides to power the device down until the next critical point to keep the battery charged for a long time, the device can easily lose all power just because of an inadvertent power push in a bag or pocket. The obvious solution here is a recessed power button or, in a cinch, that the device automatically powers down again if no user action happens within reasonable time after power-up.
The rule is generally that the design is stupid, the defect is obvious, at least one solution is also obvious, and even when the flaw or defect is brought to their attention, it is not fixed. Dangerous idiots at work. Perhaps they reckon if somebody actually dies, it will be impossible to prove that the smartphone design defect was a contributing factor. It is the responsibility level of a school child.
I am sure there are more examples for this behavior.
I am not saying that people should hang their lives on their smartphones. If the smartphone is the only thing that keeps you alive, then you have already made a planning mistake. But we all know that one can get into situations inadvertently where several things go wrong in unlikely ways. In such a case you can get into a situation where your life depends on the GPS in your smartphone, and then either of the defects described above could conceivably seal your death.

My screenshot from the plain
Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

giacomociani said:
Hi all,
I got an used Galaxy Nexus (unrooted, stock everything) a few months ago, with plans to use it as an outdoor gps for hiking, biking and maybe paragliding (so I wanted a barometer in it).
I live in Florida (that as you may know is all very flat... maximum altitude is about 100 meters above sea level), and I was very pleased with it (the phone, not the flatness of Florida!) until I took a trip to Colombia in December. There, I had two "bad" experiences with the Google Nexus GPS:
- I took a hike that brought me to an altitude of about 4800 m. Around an altitude of 4000 m (the last recorded point is 3992 m), the GPS lost fix and would not get it again, although GPS Status would show plenty of satellites (9 or 10) all green (that according to GPS Status help means "satellite is used while determining the location"). After rebooting and starting GPS status (but I've tried other programs too, in case you wonder) the GPS will display that it had a fix for just a second or less (coordinates would appear in the GPS Status screen, and one single point woudl be recorded, with aan altitude of 4400 m although I was probably at 4800 m) and then loose it again, never to be reacquired.
- On my flight back, I tried to record the flight. I got a fix while just before takeoff and maintained it until... 3995 m! Then, fix was lost, again never to be reacquired again (actually, I did try again when the plane was at about 1000 m, and I was able to get a fix and record the landing with no problems)
Now, for someone that likes mountaineering, 4000m is a pretty low limit! I really don't care about recording commercial flights, it's just for fun, but a GPS that stops working above 4000m while you are hiking in the mountains could mean trouble.
I've searched around the internet (including this post on XDA), but I haven't find anyone complaining about this issue at this level. Many people complain/discuss about ITAR limits, but those are much higher than what I experienced.
So, I'm wondering if is it a problem with my unit, a problem with the Galaxy Nexus, or just a coincidence? Anyone had a similar experience?
BTW, I had an T-Mobile G-2 (HTC) that worked very well both for flights and mountaineering.
Giacomo
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Which model is you GN?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

Jar3112 said:
Which model is you GN?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a Samsung Galaxy Nexus I9250.
I should also mentioned that in the meanwhile I have found on various forums a (very limited) number of users reporting the same problem with the same phone, but no one reporting that it works for him. So I start to be confident that it is a problem of this particular model...

GTab 3: poor GPS performance? How to improve it?

Hi people,
I have recently bought a Galaxy Tab 3 7.0, brazilian version T211M with 3G and digital TV.
The idea was to use it as an in-car multimedia and GPS device using Waze. I made some tests using my Nexus 7 2013 for this purpose, and it worked flawlessly. So I bought the GTab 3 to be a dedicated tablet for this.
The thing is: the GTab 3 GPS is nowhere near the Nexus 7 GPS performance. My N7 is able to find three or more GPS satellites and lock position in a couple minutes inside my car's garage (which, BTW, is not underground, it's the building's third floor). And without A-GPS (it doesn't have 3G connection, it's the wifi version). In the same situation, the GTab 3 keeps looking, looking... and nothing. Yesterday I went out driving, and it took 15 minutes for the GTab 3 to finally lock GPS position.
Another funny thing that happens is when I stop, for example, in a traffic signal. The GTab 3 GPS gets confused somehow, it's not sure if I'm moving or if I'm stopped. Its speedometer marks 0 km/h, then 2 km/h, sometimes even 10 km/h, then 0 km/h again, the speed keeps going a little bit up, then down. Again, different from my N7, which was very precise.
As a last test, I put both tablets in my place (I live on the 9th floor), over my sofa, right beside a window and a door to the balcony. Using GPS Status (you can get it from Google Play), I tried to find GPS satellites and lock position. The N7 could do it in a couple minutes. The GTab 3 couldn't do it. I had to go outside to the balcony, stood in its end, and then finally the GTab 3 got a GPS lock. But when I go back inside, it loses the GPS signal.
I'm very disappointed about GTab 3 GPS performance, it really ruined my car tablet experience. But before I sell it and lose some money, I have to ask: is there a way to improve it's GPS performance, so that those issues are gone? Or that's the way it is, and I can't do anything about it?

I recently bought one too, haven't tested the gps yet, but comparing with my Note 3 with AGPS, it´s surely much worse.
This post talks about a gps bug?: http://www.gpspassion.com/forumsen/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=138317

Erratic GPS

I have taken my smart watch 3 running with me quite a few times over the last 3 weeks since i bought it, and i seem every time, to get some quite odd gps issues. Tried with both runkeeper and ghostracer and both are the same, which leads me to think it is the watch.
When tracking a run, the watch just all of a sudden, seems to lose GPS, no signal what so ever. Sometimes it picks it back up after a few minutes, sometimes it doesnt come back at all.
I have tried a factory reset on the watch and that didnt help at all. I have also tested this in both built up and open areas, in areas that the GPS diag tool in the dev menu says that i have access to 19 satellites, so should have no issues with GPS, but constantly do.
Is this something others have experienced? Or could this be a faulty watch?

i have had similar yet different experiences with mine.
two nights ago, had both runkeeper and ghostracer running at the same time standalone. at 3.6km ghost racer stopped tracking GPS yet runkeepr was fine.
then last night at 2.9km ghostracer again stop tracking gps. but i forgot to run runkeeper at the same time so no knowing if software or hardware.
its an annoying problem to say the least. i have mentioned this on ghostracer Google+ page.

Same problem here. Love this watch as a running watch when it works. Guess I need to start look for a normal running watch that allows me to play my music from the watch. Love the freedom of not having a phone with me.
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

I find the ghost racer app buggy as hell on my watch, works fine on my phone but every time i go stand alone it craps out it's got to the stage i only run it if i have my phone with me.
I have had no problems what so ever with Runkeeper so this is what i have been using on my watch can't wait till other devs get there act together and start making there apps work as stand alone on android wear.

rnscotch said:
I find the ghost racer app buggy as hell on my watch, works fine on my phone but every time i go stand alone it craps out it's got to the stage i only run it if i have my phone with me.
I have had no problems what so ever with Runkeeper so this is what i have been using on my watch can't wait till other devs get there act together and start making there apps work as stand alone on android wear.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
GhostRacer works fine for me: better to to get 4 "steps" of gps signal before starting the run.

I have had the same awful experience since I did few test runs in the past 3 weeks with the Smartwatch 3. I tried the Endomondo and RunKeeper. both can be running stand alone on the watch. The GPS signals were easily lost and could not recover for a long period during the run. It seems to be a problem of the watch, not the apps. I had a 20k run, which ended up with only around 10k was tracked.
In the last trial taken yesterday with Endomondo, which is nice with the GPS signal strength display. I had turned on airplane mode this time. It did have some improvement. The GPS signal lost after 5k run, but I hadn't been aware of its loss until 10k. Then I click open the app and made sure the GPS signal was recovered before resuming the run. It then seems fine until end of run that totally tracked 21.2k out of the 26.3k run.
It's really a frustrating problem to have a runners' watch without proper GPS tracking.

same
i have the same problems with my watch.
after 5k the ghostracer app did not update speed and distance anymore. but the app itself was still okay because the heartrate was still changing and accurate. after 5 k more it suddenly picks up signal again. but of course all running data is useless.
after the issues with the bluetooth and google play music - now the next issue which destroys the actual reason to choose this watch.
to have a stand alone running smartwach with offine music and gps without the need to take the phone with me.
i wonder if this is a software (firmware/wear) issue and can be fixed with the next updates or in the worst case a hardware/design issue.
what do you think?

Same issue here with Endomondo. I haven't tried any other apps but for the last few days I'm getting erratic signal that will randomly stop working and usually never comes back. Really frustrating and hoping it's able to be fixed.

I tried using Ghost Racer and I am still getting constant GPS drop outs that don't come back. I've run the same course before issues cropped up with no problems at all.
Anyone have any additional thoughts on this? It's getting to be very annoying when your full run isn't tracking. Thanks in advance!

cardcowsports said:
I tried using Ghost Racer and I am still getting constant GPS drop outs that don't come back. I've run the same course before issues cropped up with no problems at all.
Anyone have any additional thoughts on this? It's getting to be very annoying when your full run isn't tracking. Thanks in advance!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm having the same issues. I contracted android wear support through chat and they are going to forward my request to their hardware specialist. They said I was the first they have heard about the issue so speak up to them, make this issue known!

I just got the 5.1 update and itching to go for a run to test the GPS. Has anyone tried since the ota and is there any difference?
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using XDA Free mobile app

AW 5.1.1 and GPS
Hi,
I have tried it (7.2km, mainly in forest) and the GPS signal has been pretty accurate.
Before the update I had a lot of issues on the same route.
So there is a chance that it is finaly fixed.

It seems that the GPS problem has been solved with the 5.1.1 update. I have had a run of 15.6K with Endomondo. It logged exactly the same. But unfortunately, the workout data was lost without being synced with phone app as usual, but the GPS problem definitely solved.

Well I guess I'm an unlucky one. My GPS has always been unreliable - not just inaccurate, but unreliable in that it will stop working part way through all of my runs. I'm lucky to get 2-3 miles before it stops working. I've tried Runkeeper and Ghostracer and it does the same on both. On Ghostracer it shows the GPS "bars", and I wait until it gets 3-4 bars before I run, then as I run it will gradually lose bars until it loses signal completely. I run on open streets with no trees or other obstructions to the sky so not sure what's going on. I upgraded to 5.1.1 in hopes that would address the issue but no such luck. Today I'm on my third ph call with Sony trying to get it RMA'd for repair.

I have yet to run without the GPS losing signal. Tried Runkeeper and Ghost Racer. Usually signal does not return. First 2-3 miles usually works pretty well. Any distance longer I lose signal. Might be heading back to Amazon before my 30 days are up.

Too early to be happy on the 5.1..1 update. The same GPS signals loss issue has come back again since the 2nd trial run. The signal lost around 3k, never coming back most of the time. Still no idea what's getting wrong.

I've been having GPS dropout problems for the last week and a half, ever since installing 5.1.1. According to someone on the Ghostracer App hangout, the problem is caused when the watch gets wet. I don't know if that's really the case, but yesterday before a run I put a layer of duct tape on the back of the watch and didn't have any problems. My previous three runs before that were all mis-recorded because of GPS dropouts.
I'm going to keep putting the tape on to see if it's really a solution.

mkddy said:
I've been having GPS dropout problems for the last week and a half, ever since installing 5.1.1. According to someone on the Ghostracer App hangout, the problem is caused when the watch gets wet. I don't know if that's really the case, but yesterday before a run I put a layer of duct tape on the back of the watch and didn't have any problems. My previous three runs before that were all mis-recorded because of GPS dropouts.
I'm going to keep putting the tape on to see if it's really a solution.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tried the duct tape on the back. First longer run that I did not lose GPS. Not really loving the solution putting duct tape on every time I run.

It's absolutely the wet (sweating) causing the dropout. I had tried the duct tape approach, but still experienced the dropout after several kms, which might be due to the wet surrounding. Then I wiped the moisture off the duct tape, and the GPS signal was locked again immediately. The signals were most accurate when I simply took the watch off the wrist and held it during the run, that effectively kept it away from my sweating skin. What a design from Sony!
I'd better try the wristband approach before I decide to dump it!

So, if the moisture is really effecting it, then it would imply that the antenna is mounted in the rear, or grounded to the case. The extra moisture (conductivity from the body salts) against the case means that your body is now able to attenuate (or ground out) the antenna, thus disrupting the signal.
Noting this, i think i may take some flat clear acrylic hobby paint, and give a good layer to the back, and see if it helps. The paint should provide an insulating layer without really irritating the skin.. Can't really hurt to try..