A35 updates GPS location every 15 seconds

[Vipul K]

I recently upgraded from Samsung M21 to A35 and have been very disappointed by the navigation performance. Google maps takes 15 seconds to update my location and when moving in a car, a significant distance passes in that time. I'm bad at navigation and heavily rely on Google maps and lately I've been missing turns thinking I haven't reached it and then 5 seconds later it shows that I've passed the turn.

I installed GPS test app on both of my phones and noticed that M21 updates the location every 5 secs while A35 does it every 15 secs. So its probably not Google Map's fault.

I want to know if it is possible to increase the update frequency of GPS pings? Is this a hardware limitation or a software one? If it is software, is it Android's fault or Samsung's?

The Android version is 14 btw.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Go to Settings>Apps, select Maps, then Permissions>Location . Is it set to "Allow all the time", and is "Use precise location" toggled on? In addition, in App Battery Usage, is "Allow background usage" toggled on?

 

[Vipul K]

The permission is set to 'when using the app'. The battery usage is set to "Optimized".

But both of these settings should be irrelevant as this happens when the app is open and screen is on and navigation is active.

 

[B. Diddy]

It's still worth trying those settings, just in case it's some quirk of Google Maps or Samsung's firmware.

 

[Vipul K]

I'll give it a try next time I'm driving. I'll update you with the results.

 

[Vipul K]

I did a Google play system update (Settings > About Phone > Software information). The phone restarted and gps now updates every second. I used the navigation today and it was perfect. Better than my old phone.

 

[Zack Kitts]

I don't know much about GPS systems, but I thought this might be helpful:

https://www.groovypost.com/howto/seven-google-maps-alternatives-and-why-theyre-better/

 

[B. Diddy]

I did a Google play system update (Settings > About Phone > Software information). The phone restarted and gps now updates every second. I used the navigation today and it was perfect. Better than my old phone.

Glad to hear about the fix!