Android GPS resolution extremely slow

Bug Reports
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1

REPRODUCIBILITY (% or how often): 100%
BUILD ID = OS VERSION (Settings > About product): suomenlinna 4.3.0.12
HARDWARE (XA2, X10, X10 II, …): xperia x
UI LANGUAGE:german
REGRESSION: (compared to previous public release: Yes, No, ?): ?

DESCRIPTION: gps is very slow to attach.

PRECONDITIONS:

start for instance google maps and select “my location” to highlight your location in navigation mode

STEPS TO REPRODUCE:

  1. start google maps
  2. select “my location” icon

EXPECTED RESULT:

The gps highlights “my location” right away / very fast

ACTUAL RESULT:

if gps toggle is off, the app will only spin indefinitely;
if its (eventually) on, it will eventually after a really, REALLY long time (>5 minutes) to lookup the current position and correctly track.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

This is really killing the GPS-based navigation.

1 Like
2

Just installed 4.3.0.12 on my xperia10 II dual sim and gps works fine.

On installation (indoors) and trying MagicEarth, Puremaps and GPSinfo I was disappointed at first and not any apps got a fix.
The next day outside it took about 30secs to find all the 19 satellites and since then it’s not more than a few seconds for any of the above apps to get a fix.
In my book that’s good enough. :slightly_smiling_face:

location settings:

  • Location allow

and

  • Device-only mode on
3

@triantares : always on?

4

The setting suggests that but I only see it show up in the “top menu” when an app uses it, and disappears when the app closes.
So that’s actually the way it should be.

5

I have had the same setup on for a longer period of time on a trip abroad recently;
and even tho that would basically seem to cache the “latest” position (for example the arrival
to the hotel position after a working day the next morning would be available straight away on the map
when leaving again), the navigation while driving howevr would not start / not update the positions, but only after like 5/10 minutes…
I guess the satellites are not “hooked” 100% of the time even tho the positioning is on (which makes sense to spare battery). But the hooking of the actual position seems to be at miss here still to me.
Independently of what should or should not be, that is.

6

Wouldn’t settings → “high accuracy positioning” have a better result there?

7

I would not know, honestly :frowning:
From a user perspective, why should I even know?
My use case in that is:

  • im not tracked unless I really allow it (by toggling the gps feature on / off)
  • when I want to be tracked, it works with no fiddling around

at least in an ideal world :slight_smile:
but I guess the second requirement would be easily achievable via default configurations.

8

I must say that after testing in my car:
It takes a long time (and even loses) the signal if the phone is on my console or somewhere else in the middle of the car. That is definitely a regression from how it was before with the standard Android on it. :frowning_face:
If I place it in the window, with a good view to the sky it works fine: A quick position fix and fast enough to give directions…especially with “Magic Earth”.

1 Like
9

Maybe a superfluous addition but still:

If a navigation app is kind of slow in finding satelites, it helps to have the “GPSinfo” app running.
It’s a significant speedup.