GPS Issues

Darrkman

Well-known member
Apr 20, 2010
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I've had my Shift for a few days now and I've noticed something just recently (2 days ago). It seems my Shift isn't getting a GPS lock when I'm outside. I've tried this while in a car in Miami and back home in NYC. Is anyone else getting this problem? Any suggestions?

PS. For the smart asses....yes I did have the GPS on when using my maps function.
 
I've used mine with Runkeeper and Google Maps and all is mostly fine. First time with Runkeeper the GPS didn't update immediately and I found myself 16 miles away. I did notice it was jumpy, but it didn't venture too far off the road when looking at my mapped run.

Didn't use Google Maps for long, but seemed okay. For me this is a huge improvement over my BB 8350i that wouldn't get a signal for any software until I opened TeleNav.
 
I have had some slow lock times on my shift but it does get the lock on all my mapping programs. I did have an issue the other day where it wouldn't get lock in Google maps no matter what I did a soft reset and it worked fine after that. I just figured it was a software lockup.
 
Glad to hear that I'm not the only one dealing with the very slow gps lock on my shift. Whenever I try to use the telenav app it takes such a long time to lock into a gps signal & if I divert from the original route I was traveling its takes the shift a couple of mins to recalculate. Not good if you missed your direction, hopefully this is addressed soon with a sprint software update
 
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The TP2 had a GPS function that would store your approximate location. It seems like the Shift doesn't do this, so every time you open Maps, Nav, etc. it feels like a "cold start" for the GPS and takes several minutes to get a lock.

I notice that if I leave the wireless networks location option on, it seems to lock much faster, and I wonder if Google set things this way on purpose. Since they use the wireless networks location data to track you (supposedly anonymously), it would make sense that they would want to "force" you to use this option as much as possible. I think they plan to sell this info to advertisers, etc.

If the only way to get a fast GPS lock is to add the wireless network tracking option, more of us will use it.
 
i was wondering when someone would post about this..

ive had pretty bad GPS problems too. hell, my HTC Hero beat my ES4G when finding my location on maps and navigation. im pretty disappointed by that.

i think i found the deathgrip.. if you hold or block the phone around the HTC logo, everything seems to drop (wireless, gps, signal).

that said, I STILL HEART YOU LITTLE ES4G BUDDY.
 
Had the same problem yesterday, using "Navigation" (not TeleNav) - kept saying "searching for GPS" and kept skipping around showing me at different locations which were a bit off from where I really was. (I assume it was getting that info from cell towers).

But it was a cloudy day and I wondered if that had something to do with it.
 
Same here, nice to know I'm not the only one, sad to hear it too.

I downloaded GPS Test on both my Shift and my wife's Hero and as far as picking up satellites and getting a quick location, the Hero seemed much better, able to get a fix in our apartment where the Shift wouldn't even see a satellite.

Even my old BB 8130 seemed to do better after 2 years of abuse.

PS: Thought it was hardware problem at first and exchanged it for a different one at Best Buy, brand new Shift, same shifty GPS

Sad Face
 
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I get the occasional slow lock or slightly off lock. But that was due to turning off gps until I needed it, so everytime I wanted to use gps it had to sync with the satelites and took a bit to get the position right. Now I just leave gps on and its fine.

Sent from my PG06100 using Tapatalk
 
speaking of gps signals. does anyone know if the app Aura is any good with locking on very well and pretty much if it is good over all?
 
I have had the same problem with getting a proper locale. I'm wondering a few things: a) How many people here are stating they have a problem with GPS while using Google Maps/Navigation? b) Have you read all the recent negative comments in the Market under Google Maps? Could the new Update have something to do with the lack of GPS locking on?

I wonder because my issues stem from using Google Maps/Navigation. I've had trouble with Foursquare and Facebook Places locking into my GPS locations, so I just stopped using them. I wonder how much of this issue is a phone (setting, maybe?), a Google Maps, or a software update issue.
 

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