GPS compass icon is always on

[64fairlane]

My GPS icon at the top of my phone is always on. Is this supposed to happen? It wasn't like this on my old Optimus S.

I have tried closing out of all apps and rebooting the phone but that doesn't change anything. If I turn the GPS off, the icon stays but it has a slash through it.

Sorry if this is something obvious. Thanks!

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

 

[tony bag o donuts]

yes all HTC devices have the "target" icon on display whether gps is turned on or not.

 

[irock1985]

My GPS icon at the top of my phone is always on. Is this supposed to happen? It wasn't like this on my old Optimus S.

I have tried closing out of all apps and rebooting the phone but that doesn't change anything. If I turn the GPS off, the icon stays but it has a slash through it.

Sorry if this is something obvious. Thanks!

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

With Sense it is always there.... it's just either on or off.. No need to worry unless the *GPS in use * (the flashing satellite) icon is on all the time

 

[64fairlane]

Oh good. Thanks for the quick response.

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

 

[ppeklak]

is that like the 911 emergency location thing?

 

[irock1985]

is that like the 911 emergency location thing?

No it's whether apps can access location or not... I believe 911 location is always on

 

[svargas05]

is that like the 911 emergency location thing?

No, it's just a status icon (like the phone signal, clock, sound profile) that tells you whether the GPS on the phone is on/off.


Doesnt waste battery, doesnt use up memory or anything. It's just there.

 

[dphorgan2#AC]

There is 2 GPS icons. One showing that you are allowing GPS and one that actually shows GPS being used. The target one is just showing you are allowing apps to access GPS. The one that looks like a satellite and waves indicate that GPS is being used.

 

[dphorgan2#AC]

Any apps running in the background requiring GPS?

 

[bduran727]

yes all HTC devices have the "target" icon on display whether gps is turned on or not.

I don't have a EVO 3D but rather an Inspire and I have never seen the Target Icon on my status bar.

 

[Impulses]

It's supposed to be a set of crosshairs, and it's there to tell you that Location Services are turned on... Sort of a nod to those with privacy concerns. I don't know if you're running a custom ROM on that Inspire (the icon is very easy for a dev to hide), but this icon has been present on pretty much every Sprint/HTC phone, maybe AT&T themselves had HTC remove it for the Inspire. /shrug

When the GPS is actually working (i.e. eating battery) you'll see the satellite icon that more closely resembles typical GPS iconography. When the GPS is off, the crosshairs have the slash to signify location services are unavailable (even tho I believe many still work off wifi and 3G triangulation).

Most EVO 4G ROMs I've used actually just hide the crosshairs entirely when the GPS is off, which I like (it's not hard to do that mod manually once we get root on the E3D); but they still show it when GPS is on. It can also just be hidden permanently (again, with root access). Kind of useless clutter if you ask me. I also hate that the alarm icon shows up there permanently if you have any alarms set, even if the next one is five days from now... That's also something that can easily be addressed thru root.

 

[kcoleman956]

With Sense it is always there.... it's just either on or off.. No need to worry unless the *GPS in use * (the flashing satellite) icon is on all the time

the satellite icon keeps popping up on my evo 3d. just started yesterday. is this a problem or is there a fix for it? i tried restarting the phone but it still popping up.

 

[RUSH]

the satellite icon keeps popping up on my evo 3d. just started yesterday. is this a problem or is there a fix for it? i tried restarting the phone but it still popping up.

That's normal.. it happens on my phone also. I think it has something to do with letting you know that your GPS is working correctly. I noticed that with the GPS enabled _ most features work much better -- including wifi.

 

[Impulses]

That's normal.. it happens on my phone also. I think it has something to do with letting you know that your GPS is working correctly. I noticed that with the GPS enabled _ most features work much better -- including wifi.

If it's appearing very frequently that's not normal at all, any time it shows up it means an app is actively using GPS (and draining battery).

I leave my GPS on all the time and I see it in use sometimes by apps for location services, like FB the first time I access it during the day or whatever... But it doesn't happen more than a couple times a day.

If you're seeing the GPS activity icon much more frequently you've got some app polling for location data way too often and I'd look into it. Location services use Wifi too but Wifi itself doesn't benefit at all from GPS being on, that makes 0 sense.

 

[kcoleman956]

it used to just appear when i opened an app that used it but now everytime i look at my phone its showing up on the screen. im not sure whats causing it. i tried removing apps i thought caused it but it didnt solve the problem. it is killing my battery too. dont kno what to do.

 

[Impulses]

Try using the battery usage screen within settings and/or an app called BetterBatteryStats to figure out what's causing the constant GPS pinging... You could always just turn it off when not in use. If all else fails, wipe/reset the phone and only install like two apps a day until you figure out the culprit.

It could be anything tho, I remember my ASUS Transformer's tablet getting drained one day because the Flixster movies app kept pushing for a GPS signal while indoors... Never really happened again (tho unlike my phone, I usually leave GPS turned off on the tablet), it was just very odd that it kept asking for location data even when I had turned the screen off.

Some apps are just written with little consideration for battery life...

 

[czervik85]

The gps used to toggle on and off for me with a widget but after a sense update the widget would just restart sense so I left it on. I could have shut it off in settings. Now I use a widget on adw ex and that works fine. I usually shut it off to conserve power when i'm streaming media at work or home. If it is off and I open apps that use gps I will get prompted to go into settings to turn on or ignore.

 

[hitman4274]

If rooted most custom roms remove the gps icon whenever its turned off.. to clean up the status bar...



Shot from my sharp shooter in 3d

 

[gzumwalt]

does anyone know if I can track my 2011 Cadillac onstar gps with my android htc

 

[hitman4274]

does anyone know if I can track my 2011 Cadillac onstar gps with my android htc

Prolly not, however you should be able to contact onstar for its gps location if need be...


Shot from my sharp shooter in 3d