Galaxy 9+ when offline, my GPS signal is lost

[Milos Musicki]

This is not a question, but more of a solution to a problem i had this summer while abroad.

In case someone else has this problem, it took me days to figure it out and I could not find this solution anywhere on the WEB.

So my problem was that sometimes, if my phone goes offline, or if I set it to offline to avoid roaming charges etc, my offline GPS app, Here We Go, cannot obtain GPS signal. Google maps also won't obtain the GPS signal if I download maps for offline use. When that happens, the Here We Go app is not able to obtain GPS signal even when I have WiFi, or turn my data back on. Once it goes blind, it stays blind.

After reading countless posts which all suggested similar solutions that did not work for me, I accidentally, figured out how to fix the problem.

The solution (this worked for me at least):
- In Galaxy 9+, open Settings, and then Connections, and then Location
- In the Location screen, select Location method
- If you are offline, set your location method to Phone only.
GPS should work again while offline.
- When you go back online, set the Location method to High Accuracy.

That's it!
Hope this helps someone in need

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central, and thanks for the tip!

 

[Rukbat]

Setting location to Phone Only sets it to not use GPS, to use phone tower locations only.

If you turn off data, though (phone and wifi), even with offline maps, the apps can't calculate directions because the target you put into the app is a street address and the GPS data is lat/lon, so the app has to translate between them, and it needs an online connection to do that. If you give it a lat/lon location to go to (MyDirections does that) or you give it only tower locations, it works because in the first case it's lat/lon to lat/lon and i the second it's streets to streets. But street to GPS needs an online connection at least for a few seconds. (Set it up at home or at the hotel, where you have a wifi connection and, as long as you don't go off the route it has set, it will work fine. (Mine does that all the time, because the route home is not the shortest one, and I usually have mobile data off, so as soon as I make the turn Maps doesn't like it shows no route until I get back on its route.)

 

[B. Diddy]

@Rukbat, the Location mode that is "Device Only" or "Phone Only" does actually use the GPS only (and not cell towers/wi-fi networks/Bluetooth). The setting that turns off the GPS radio is "Battery Saving."

Interesting side note, which I only just discovered when checking my Pixel 2 XL on Pie -- those Location settings have changed. You can no longer turn the GPS radio on/off -- the toggle is essentially between High Accuracy (GPS/cell towers/wi-fi/Bluetooth) and Device Only (GPS only). https://www.androidpolice.com/2018/...-now-binary-setting-battery-saving-mode-gone/