Develop Bugs

GPS is not Very good

The gps is not very good atleast it is not working very well in my phone.
I tried using cardio trainer. And the gps jumps about. Plus the gps signal shown is very low can anyone put their phone gps through the paces and then tell me should I ask for a replacement or its in all phones

Mines fine.
Mine works fine, GPS is actually pretty good as navigation tells you the road names..!

Dopedangel said:
The gps is not very good atleast it is not working very well in my phone.
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Can you clarify if you're talking about hardware or software?
And did you compare GS with other GPS at the very same time and place?

I too am seeing poor performance with the GPS. Seems to be a hardware issue.
I did a test over the weekend comparing my Galaxy S with a friend's HTC Desire. Using one of the many GPS utilities the Desire was consistently seeing and locking more satellites when stood in an open area outside. When running Google maps and showing the current location I found that the "accuracy circle" (for want of a better description) was growing and shrinking several times a minute causing the map to zoom in and out.
I've also noticed that the compass is almost unusable and showing a much lower signal compared to the Desire. I did perform the figure of 8 calibration several times.

Not tried the GPS yet, but I'm amazed how accurate network location is on this thing.
On my old G1 network location was laughable, but this thing knows pretty much exactly where it is without GPS.

MarvinTheAndroid said:
Not tried the GPS yet, but I'm amazed how accurate network location is on this thing.
On my old G1 network location was laughable, but this thing knows pretty much exactly where it is without GPS.
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probably having wifi on? google can locate you more precise cause it has registered every wifi network during the streetview picture taking.

tommy34 said:
probably having wifi on? google can locate you more precise cause it has registered every wifi network during the streetview picture taking.
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Click to collapse
No, this is with wifi turned off.

tommy34 said:
probably having wifi on? google can locate you more precise cause it has registered every wifi network during the streetview picture taking.
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Click to collapse
Lol what kind of anti-google propaganda have you been reading?
Google streetview cars collected data of open wifi networks.
Besides from the fact that google doesn't use the data (which it isn't allowed to have), there are by far not enough open wifi networks to find your location.
Also. You have to have at least 3 networks to be able to determine a location using wifi access points.
So the statement you just made is rubbish and ofcourse nonsense...

BasieP said:
Lol what kind of anti-google propaganda have you been reading?
Google streetview cars collected data of open wifi networks.
Besides from the fact that google doesn't use the data (which it isn't allowed to have), there are by far not enough open wifi networks to find your location.
Also. You have to have at least 3 networks to be able to determine a location using wifi access points.
So the statement you just made is rubbish and ofcourse nonsense...
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Click to collapse
i dont care about it, i like it.
hmm. just figured this because where i live there arent any open networks and with wifi on it knows my exact location. Without wifi it has a 1600 m radius.

The GPS seems to work flawlessly for me at least.

BasieP said:
Google streetview cars collected data of open wifi networks. Besides from the fact that google doesn't use the data (which it isn't allowed to have), there are by far not enough open wifi networks to find your location.
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Click to collapse
Google collected the SSID and MAC addresses for all of the wifi networks they found, with the explicit intention of using them as an additional source of location data. They also inadvertently collected more data from open networks, and that's what they're in trouble for.
googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/wifi-data-collection-update.html

yes and the new google navigation api in the i9000 and android appears to use this data as the damn thing turns on your wifi even when off when gps tries to get a fix!

lgkahn said:
yes and the new google navigation api in the i9000 and android appears to use this data as the damn thing turns on your wifi even when off when gps tries to get a fix!
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Click to collapse
you can disable it in location settings then it wont look for wireless data

Dopedangel said:
you can disable it in location settings then it wont look for wireless data
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Click to collapse
nope it is disabled and try to get a gps fix.. wifi still comes on and then goes off.. not sure what it is doing.

I got mine and tested.
In the beginning I had a perfect fix on location. When I started moving, however, I experienced this "jumping around" issue with a huge loss of accuracy. The circle of accuracy was also changing constantly. I think I show something about the wifi seeing (or not being able to see - can't remember) some hotspots although my wi-fi was turned off.
Maybe indeed - the phone detects wifi networks even if the wifi as such is off and possibly compares it to an internal database (thus explaining the persistence of the problem even when the radio is off and the phone is not connected on the net).
Do you know any good free program that would allow me to get some test data - e.g. number of satellites / signal quality etc (unless there is already one somewhere in the interface - I am new to Android).
Can someone else run a test? Can some one run a test in an area where no wifi exists.

That's bad news,i'm really interested in this phone (money-forgiving for a while ),but i need great gps performances...

Evans_Prophet said:
Do you know any good free program that would allow me to get some test data - e.g. number of satellites / signal quality etc (unless there is already one somewhere in the interface - I am new to Android).
Can someone else run a test? Can some one run a test in an area where no wifi exists.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Try "GPS Test" its on the market for free. From my test the GPS is actually quite nice, several 18-25 SNR connections and a few 26-30 SNR ones ( When outside I even find one or two 31-40 SNR ones which is really great).
Anyway I notice that GPS had become far more accurate when I disabled the Wifi-location option. The only problem is that locking down takes some time ( about 10-20 seconds max) in my area.

kitsune223 said:
Try "GPS Test" its on the market for free. From my test the GPS is actually quite nice, several 18-25 SNR connections and a few 26-30 SNR ones ( When outside I even find one or two 31-40 SNR ones which is really great).
Anyway I notice that GPS had become far more accurate when I disabled the Wifi-location option. The only problem is that locking down takes some time ( about 10-20 seconds max) in my area.
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ok - i will test with that and revert..
By the way, in my wm6 Touch HD there was a utility called quickgps which would download data from server instead of having them downloaded from a satellite with a low speed connection. This increased speed of cold lock. Furthermore there was also another option to enable assisted gps (not sure whether this was different from the quick gps application and what this did exactly). I wonder whether these application / features are automatically enabled in our case.

Evans_Prophet said:
I got mine and tested.
In the beginning I had a perfect fix on location. When I started moving, however, I experienced this "jumping around" issue with a huge loss of accuracy. The circle of accuracy was also changing constantly. I think I show something about the wifi seeing (or not being able to see - can't remember) some hotspots although my wi-fi was turned off.
Maybe indeed - the phone detects wifi networks even if the wifi as such is off and possibly compares it to an internal database (thus explaining the persistence of the problem even when the radio is off and the phone is not connected on the net).
Do you know any good free program that would allow me to get some test data - e.g. number of satellites / signal quality etc (unless there is already one somewhere in the interface - I am new to Android).
Can someone else run a test? Can some one run a test in an area where no wifi exists.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It can also be a problem of google navigation beta?? Did anyone try another gps navigator?

i felt the same thing about GPS, as it is not that good , as there's no wi-fi Google can detect hear. the performance was not that good at all!.
but tonight i used the GPS without the Wifi (i turned it off) and for a surprise the performance was amazing, I was with my friend in his car watching the road as he drive and watching the google map in my phone and was very good indeed.
that's strange!.

GPS receiver chip is not the cause of the problem

Guys,
According to this site, the problem with the GPS is the software Google Maps
Read this:
http://samsungi9000galaxys.com/galaxy-s-gps-review-sygic-gps-signal-and-gps-lock-times/
So it seems that using other Navigation software gives very good GPS performance.....
But how come using the GPS TEST software also shows that the GPS is loosing sattelites lock and erratic performance? I mean if the cause of the problem is the Google Map, testing the GPS receiver using GPS TEST should show good signal lock and stable reception isnt it?

widjaja74_us said:
Guys,
According to this site, the problem with the GPS is the software Google Maps
Read this:
http://samsungi9000galaxys.com/galaxy-s-gps-review-sygic-gps-signal-and-gps-lock-times/
So it seems that using other Navigation software gives very good GPS performance.....
But how come using the GPS TEST software also shows that the GPS is loosing sattelites lock and erratic performance? I mean if the cause of the problem is the Google Map, testing the GPS receiver using GPS TEST should show good signal lock and stable reception isnt it?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's a software setting: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=7281059
Other android devices have the same problem with a wrong setting.

Its not true, I tried google maps, co-pilot and NDrive and all gave really, really crappy gps performance. Upgrading to JG5 firmware has improved things a lot but its still pretty unusable for me.

You know I was just about to post that I think the issue is with google maps and not the phone. If I apply the ntp europe fix my gps locks very quickly and stays locked to within 16 feet in gps test when driving about.within google maps navigation the performance remains as shocking. Arrrggghhh!
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

I wish i could help testing the phone with different GPS/navigation software to validate the analysis, but I already sold my phone last week out of desperation due to the the GPS problem and lag problem and phone freeze problem and signal drop problem when you hold it a certain way....
but i love the design, size of the screen, the thinness of the phone and the super amoled display.....

Ouch...
Why did you not return your phone instead? I have never had my SGS freeze and I have never been able to drop a call by cupping the antenna, altough the signal strength does go down, wich it will on ALL phones with built in antennas since you are shilding the antenna... ( NOT SAME AS IPHONE4 design flaw where you shortcircuit 2 different antennas and that part seems particulary hard to grasp for some on this forum....)
But, to get on subject again, the GPS has been bad, that is for sure and I hope this is a step in the right direction.

Its clear that testing the gps is waaay too subjective and subject to too many factors. Applications have no effect on the gps performance.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

My gps has been working perfectly with 3 firmwares.. it's much faster then the one on my old iphone 3G
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

My GPS seems to be very hit and miss, but it has worked on the several occasions that I have really needed it (getting lost).
And widjaja why are you still shambling about this forum when you sold your phone? get back under your bridge.

Once again, another thread started because someone made one change, tested it and it worked, then posted how great it was. Trouble is since the GPS can work fine for days on end, and then not work for days on end, these supposed cures are pretty much all wrong.
The GPS doesnt work, and so far there hasnt been a public explaination as to why, just lots of guesswork, and no fix has been released (in any of the firmwares available today). It's coming, but its not here yet.

TravUK said:
Once again, another thread started because someone made one change, tested it and it worked, then posted how great it was. Trouble is since the GPS can work fine for days on end, and then not work for days on end, these supposed cures are pretty much all wrong.
The GPS doesnt work, and so far there hasnt been a public explaination as to why, just lots of guesswork, and no fix has been released (in any of the firmwares available today). It's coming, but its not here yet.
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Click to collapse
Seems some phones work some dont.On jf3 my gps was shocking but on jg5 it has always been spot on with google navigation and co pilot and ive tested it a lot in all weathers.It has never lost lock and is always bang on with position.I even tested google maps satalite view in the car parked next to a tree and it had me right next to the tree-within 10 feet accuracy.I dont change any settings just leave it on whatever settings jg5 uses.Im in england if that makes any difference

Found a fix on another forum and its been working pretty well for me.
Enter *#*#1472365#*#* in the dialer to enter GPS settings and change the following:
Application Settings:
Operation Mode - MS Based
Use SkyHook - ON
Accuracy - 30
SUPL/CP Settings :
Server - supl.google.com
Server Port - 7276
SUPL Secure Socket - OFF
I was having problems with 3G and WIFI with these settings at first, so I left Operation Mode on Standalone and Skyhook OFF. Works great now. Just tested it and got 9 satellite locks and 5 in use.
source: http://www.mobile01.com/topicdetail.php?f=568&t=1661500&r=2&last=21080924
I'm in Hong Kong btw running local JF7 firmware. Hope this helps.

I'm almost convinced that most of the problems people are having is down to google maps. I'm not saying that tweaking the settings as people have, inc me, doesn't improve maters, but I believe there is an underlying compatibility issue between google maps and the galaxy which is making the issue seem worse than it is.
If I leave gps test running while driving I get at worst a lock down to 32 feet, speed is accurate and never lose lock even when on roads totally covered with big wet trees. It looks spot on.
Google maps navigation can't even get me in an accurate position when stationary, start driving and its bloody awful jumps all over the place and sometimes doesn't even move for 30 seconds after I've pulled away from a junction.
I've updated my supl settings to use google (manually edited the conf file, I don't use the hidden menu screen because even if you change nothing it makes changes to the conf file on exit, delete the file and reboot to refresh it) and updated my ntp settings to use europe.
In the jg5 rom google maps is built in, so I can't reinstall it or seem to be able to clear the cache to see if that helps in anyway.
It wouldn't surprise me if any gps fixed rom released by samsung contains a tweaked version of google maps that works.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App

[Q]Location Services Not working :{

I have turned on the location aware setting from the 'Settings' menu in my Samsung Focus, but still all apps including Bing Maps and Search
have difficulty in finding my current location(the latitude and longitude).
It used to work fine few days back.
I have tried resetting the phone to factory default, but still nothing happens.
How do I find if this is a hardware issue ?
How do I test if the GPS in the phone is working ?
TIA

vic_msn said:
I have turned on the location aware setting from the 'Settings' menu in my Samsung Focus, but still all apps including Bing Maps and Search
have difficulty in finding my current location(the latitude and longitude).
It used to work fine few days back.
I have tried resetting the phone to factory default, but still nothing happens.
How do I find if this is a hardware issue ?
How do I test if the GPS in the phone is working ?
TIA
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same...worked the first time i installed wp7. now its not working anymore.

I have the same problem. When I am outdoors, I get GPS location fix in a few seconds, but when I am indoors Bing maps (even other apps) can't get my location at all. I believe indoors location should be found using cell tower positioning at least.

naeem151287 said:
I have the same problem. When I am outdoors, I get GPS location fix in a few seconds, but when I am indoors Bing maps (even other apps) can't get my location at all. I believe indoors location should be found using cell tower positioning at least.
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Click to collapse
I tried outdoors too..no use

[Q] Google Now Work Traffic?

I did a little searching earlier, but it doesn't seem like anyone has asked this, nor has the answer. On my phone, Google Now will promptly display travel time and offer navigation to Home, but it won't show my Work travel at all. The card NEVER shows up, nor has it ever. I find the feature handy for my Home commute since it gives ETA and traffic patterns, but it won't show the same for Work.
Yes, I have set my work location. I have had Google Now running for awhile. I have asked it to navigate to work, which brings up GPS turn by turn, but it doesn't simply show the card when I open GNow. And yes, I have Google location settings on, and even GPS. Data/WIFI is on, too.

Same problem for me but sometimes it work, maybe is a google now bug

not sure if im understanding you correctly
you said that google now only works work---> home but not home--->work? is that correct?
google now has learned my home/work patterns and promptly shows me the traffic at around 820am (i leave my house around 830 everyday) and it prompts me at about 440pm (i leave work at 5)

Weird GPS

Hey guys, I've got a Verizon GNex, 4.2.2 radios, aphrophis's current AOKP build. When you guys open maps, does show you in some entirely random location for a few seconds, then lock? I'll open maps and it'll show me in a location 50 miles away, then lock. It's a problem because apps like Google now report my location to be far from where I actually am.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app

Yup, mine dies that too when I'm at work, where no gps signal penetrates the building. Even though I'm on Wi-Fi, maps seems to think I'm somewhere far off. I think it might be pointing me to the nearest 4g tower, but I'm not entirely sure.
Now, queue the gpsconf mod fanatics...Lol

There should be a light blue circle on the map (not the darker blue one that represents the position the system has).
This one shows the error margin of the location. You can actually be anywhere in that light blue circle (for gps and wlan this should normally be a very small one) and the darker blue dot is just a good guess by google (based on a number of different factors I think).
Using a mobile connection only to locate you is not very precise and can vary depending on the number of phone towers you have around you.
And it also takes some time to acquire a GPS lock. Since a GPS lock will only be done when necessary it will start when you open maps and have GPS turned on. Until there is a lock it will show your location based on whatever is available and activated by you in the settings.