[C2]Flightmode disables GPS

Bug Reports
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#1

REPRODUCIBILITY: 100%
OS VERSION: 5.0.0.21
HARDWARE: Jolla C2
UI LANGUAGE: Swedish
REGRESSION: Yes

DESCRIPTION:

Turning on Flightmode disables GPS.

Edit: There is a workaround, described in previous bug reports and comments below:
Toggle Location item in Top menu

PRECONDITIONS:

GPS enabled in Top menu and has acquired position
Position shows in e.g. OSM Scout and GPSInfo shows continuous updates.

STEPS TO REPRODUCE:

  1. Disable Flightmode
  2. Enable GPS in Top menu and have a position-consuming app running
  3. Wait until GPS has acquired position (as seen in apps)
  4. Turn Flightmode on

EXPECTED RESULT:

GPS remains active and position apps should keep receiving position updates

ACTUAL RESULT:

Position updates immediately stop.

MODIFICATIONS:

Zombie Chum, OpenRepos/Storeman

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

This, or similar, bugs have been reported against other SFOS versions, other architectures (32/64-bit), other devices. I.e:

2 Likes
#2

That makes your report a duplicate. This is unlikely to be device dependent.

1 Like
#3

This is known since years. Workaround is: After enabling flight mode, turn the GPS off and again on, then it works. Is a reported bug since years.

#4

Yeah, another bug from Room 101, will never see the light of day {{{SMH}}}.

#5

Sort of. I decided to report this separately for the C2, since behaviour has been inconsistent over releases, and possibly varies by device.

1 Like
#6

The proper way to do that is still to add to the existing thread.

3 Likes
#7

This is how it’s by design, and that should be for all the devices and past releases.

Has been talked years ago that we could relax the flight mode not to touch gps, but never gotten around to actually do it.

2 Likes
#8

Having been at the other end of bug reports, I have usually preferred to have separate reports when the reported problem is inconsistent over devices/ releases/architectures. The reason being that I can easily mark three reports as fixed if I find out there is a common root-cause of failure, whereas there’s no good path forward if reports were lumped together and it turns out they did not share origins.

In the latter case, should one mark the report solved when the first problem is solved, when most of the problems are solved or when all problems are solved? Or should the report be broken up, possibly altering the meaning of history?

Having said that, I wouldn’t mind merging these bug reports if that is the preferred way for Jolla.

[Do note that the tag(s) indicating affected device(s) can only be set on the OP, not on succeeding comments. So only the original poster (or Jolla) can keep those tags up to date.]

#9

Would you prefer to have these bug reports merged under the one about the Xperia 10â…˘? (That is the first one, AFAICT.)

#10

Thank you for clarifying this.

However, I didn’t notice until after several years of use. My impression is that before the offline MLS stuff was introduced, I was able to enable Flight mode without killing GPS. So it could be that the implementation hasn’t always matched design intention.

Also, it’s a bit difficult to understand the design:

  • Expectation when coming from other systems is for GPS to be unaffected by Flight mode
  • Documentation only mentions Flight mode in the context of networking and telephony, not in the context of GPS or location
  • The Position toggle in the Top menu stays in the On state when enabling Flight mode
  • Jolla added this bug to their internal tracker in March 2023

Unfortunately, these ingredients form a recipe for getting many useless bug reports…

To improve the situation, I think there are a couple of options:

  1. Follow through with the design
    • Ensure proper UI feedback (e.g. Location indicator in Top menu should reflect actual state)
    • Update documentation (several pages) to make the design intention clear, to people coming from other systems can set their expectations correctly
  2. Adapt to the way of other systems
    • Ensure that Flight mode does not affect Location
  3. Keep everything as is

I would certainly prefer option 2, since I frequently use offline navigation.

Option 1 is probably more work, but the community could help working on the docs.

I think option 3 is the worst, as it would keep wasting resources on useless bug reports - both the resources of Jolla and those of the community.

Do you have any thought on this?

#11

Think that would be good. There shouldn’t be a chance of having device specific differences here.

#12

I wouldn’t think MLS has an effect here and it’s just one more source of location. Doesn’t itself work without getting cell info either. But hard to say.

Back in the days the flight mode was interpreted more strictly in turning off all radio stuff. Sure GPS is receiving only but that’s the way it turned out. It might be that other platforms did it that way back then too.

Positioning could be confusing, but it’s not the positioning itself that’s disabled, only the gps source. Though sure could be that there are no much good positioning sources in flight mode. At least directly when entering it.

I think we could just remove the flight mode tracking for GPS. Don’t think anyone’s been wanting to keep it.

1 Like
#13

Does this say that the GPS process itfelf watches if Flight Mode is activated or not and disables itself if it sees an enabled Flight Mode?
And therefore that it’s not the Flight Mode process that tells GPS to turn off?

#14

There are no such processes, at least that clearly. Flight mode is using a state in connman and GPS has had a sort of dummy technology plugin in connman so it knows to “power it off”.

1 Like
#15

There is a second fault in action here:
Apps report that the GPS is enabled, when in fact it is disabled (by flight mode)

It is falsely reporting that the GPS has been enabled which is an actual bug, and should be fixed. (Turning off GPS in flight mode is a design choice, rather than a bug)

#16

Maybe i am not competent enough, but for my understanding Flight Mode should disable ALL wireless devices, so they can’t interfere with device on board an aircraft. This should include GPS.
Flight Mode is a mode, where a user can use his device for example reading, looking video, playing game etc. without any wireless protocols.

I can’t imagine for what case i would need GPS when i am on the aircraft.

Again, this is only my opinion. Maybe someone use Flight Mode for something else. I use it only during flight.

2 Likes
#17

No. Receiving doesn’t influence neighbour devices in a practical way. Outputted energy is simply way to low for that.

Many do.

1 Like
#18

In this case they use a wrong function for their needs. (In my world).
In my world Flight Mode should disable anything (TX and RX), and this is good so.
But everyone should decide for themselves.

1 Like
#19

So what shall they do in your world to switch all RF transmission off (to minimize battery loss) and they want to keep reception (Like GPS for safe arrival)?

#20

Disable wifi, bluetooth and mobile data, activate power save mode, but keep GPS active.