One UI 8 GPS Freeze During Long Tracks (Komoot / Hiking) — Anyone Else Seeing This?

[SamPav]

Hi all, I’m seeing a consistent issue on my Galaxy S24+ after updating to One UI 8. When using Komoot (and other continuous GPS apps), the tracker freezes or stops updating after a period of time despite good signal and permissions. I’ve tried LTE-only, factory reset, cache wipe, and it still happens. I’ve also confirmed another S24 FE has the same behaviour. It appears to be a regression with One UI 8’s location/network services — not an app bug. Samsung repairer actually changed the motherboard but it made no difference. I took the phone back requesting escalation of my issue but then got a call from Samsung saying my phone passed all their standard tests and they could help no further.

Other friends hiking with us (in Australia) have no issue with other model phones using the same mobile network operator. The only ones with the issue are my S24+ and my friend's S24FE immediately after updating to One UI 8. Has anyone else seen this with tracking apps? Any thoughts on settings or updates that help?

 

[VidJunky]

Welcome to Android Central forums. Just a few questions before trying to offer advice.

What app are you using to track your GPS coordinates?

Have you tried a different app for this?

Have you checked your GPS settings when this happens?

Is your friend that is experiencing this issue using the same app?

Is there anything you can do to refresh the display/app that causes the tracking to come back?

When this happens, how long does it take before you notice the freeze?

Does it happen while driving or riding in something moving faster than a walking/running pace?

I'm wondering if you all are using the same app. I can imagine an app that allows friends to share stats or somehow combine a group out adventuring together so everyone sees everyone else, which might make you hesitant to try something else but you've changed and reset most everything else and I struggle to imagine it being an actual GPS issue. Something you might be able to try would be Safe Mode. In SM many processes are shutdown or disabled. GPS works but your app may not if it requires data. If you can get it in SM if it is a bad app that is interfering causing this issue SM will prevent that. If everything works and doesn't drop out it could be a bad app. I don't have a lot of hope for this one because it is happening to you and your friend, odd of having the same bad app... low.

Let us know what you find, and include if you were able to get it work in SM.

 

[SamPav]

Thanks for the detailed questions — appreciated!
The main app affected is Komoot, but I’ve also had similar behaviour with Runkeeper and Gaia GPS, so it doesn’t appear app-specific. GPS permissions and accuracy settings are correct, with unrestricted battery use. My friend experiencing the same issue is also using Komoot, but other people using Komoot on different phone models have no problems in the same locations. While my S24+ was at the Samsung repairer for the motherboard swap i transferred my SIM to my old Galaxy S9 and successfully used Komoot in the same mountain range where my S24+ is freezing.

The freeze usually happens 20–40 minutes into a continuous walk/hike. The activity keeps running, but the map and location stop updating until the app is restarted. This only happens while walking/hiking, not driving.
Importantly, this started immediately after the One UI 8 update on both my S24+ and a friend’s S24 FE, and did not occur before. Factory reset and even a motherboard replacement didn’t help. Komoot support has also confirmed they’re now receiving similar reports from other Galaxy S24 users.
I agree it doesn’t look like a classic GPS hardware fault. I’ll try a Safe Mode test to rule out third-party interference and will report back with results. Meanwhile if you (or any other android central member) hear of any fix or have ideas please let me know. It's often just myself and my other S24 hiking friend so we are the blind leading the blind these days

 

[SamPav]

Update: I attempted to test in Safe Mode, but on my Galaxy S24+ all third-party apps (including Komoot and Runkeeper) are fully disabled and cannot be launched — the “Open” option isn’t available. So unfortunately Safe Mode doesn’t allow meaningful testing of continuous GPS tracking on this device.

 

[geolives]

Hello,

We would like to add some feedback from the developer side.

We are the team behind SityTrail, a hiking application used to record and follow outdoor routes. Since the update to Android 16 / One UI 8, we have received reports from multiple users of Galaxy S24 / S24+ devices experiencing GPS position freezes during long activities, especially when the app is running in the background.

The behavior described here is very similar to what our users report (GPS active but position no longer updating, often after a pause or background usage).

This issue is also discussed in detail on the official Samsung Members forum (Italian community), where many users report the same symptoms across different hiking and tracking applications.

Based on user feedback, common recommendations (battery optimization settings, system updates, cache partition wipe) seem to help in some cases but do not consistently resolve the issue for all users.

We hope this additional cross-reference helps confirm that this may be a broader system-level issue affecting Galaxy S24 devices under Android 16 / One UI 8.

Kind regards,
The SityTrail Team

 

[SamPav]

Thanks so much for your feedback. My other S24 friend and I had another confusing hike yesterday with no navigation app working. Based on your feedback I think my only option is my friend and I try to make some noise on our own official Australian Samsung Community forum. I can now mention your SityTrail Team feedback to give it more weight, so thanks again!

Meanwhile if there are any other S24 users in AC that are also experiencing the GPS freezing your feedback/ideas would be greatly appreciated

 

[SamPav]

Hi SityTrail Team
After your reply I finally started a thread on the official Samsung Community forum in Austalua about the issue. So far an S24FE user replied with exactly the same experience.

The reason I write to you now is that a Samsung moderator replied to me strongly encouraging that I use the 'support' section of my Samsung members app to automatically send them an error report through the 'Send feedback' option and also explain the issue.

If any other of your members report the same issue with their S24 phones I think you would be doing us a very big favour if you could encourage them to also send Samsung an error report through their members app.

Thanks again for your help

 

[SamPav]

Hi all, I hope I'm not jumping the gun but I'm very hopeful the Samsung update just received on Thursday has finally fixed the freezing issue on my S24+. The update was labelled as fixing stability issues. I actually installed it while hiking and, for the first time since October, my tracking app (Komoot) did not freeze in this mountain range.

If anyone else installed a stability update recently which appears to have fixed your freezing issue please let us know. Meanwhile I plan to do another hike next week and, if the app works well again, I'll let you know.

 

[mustang7757]

A few things worth double-checking:
Settings > Battery > Background usage limits
Make sure Komoot is set to Unrestricted long press it then tap info>battery>set unrestricted
Remove it from sleeping/deep sleeping apps in Device Care settings

Settings > Location > Location services > Location accuracy
Toggle Improve accuracy ON (Wi-Fi/Bluetooth scanning)

Settings > Developer options (if enabled)
Check if anything like “Suspend execution for cached apps” is affecting behavior

Try turning Adaptive battery OFF temporarily to test

 

[SamPav]

Thanks! Much appreciated!

I was able to enable Delevelper Options by going to About phone/Software Info and tapping Build number 7 times. I found my setting for "Suspend execution for cached apps" set to "Device default"

I won't touch it for now since there's a good chance last Thursday's stability update has finally fixed my freezing issue after 6 long frustrating months. I do however wonder if setting "Suspend execution for cached apps" to Disabled would have saved many S24 users a lot of grief. If my phone freezes on my next hike I will definitely try your recommendation; before throwing it against a tree

 

[mustang7757]

Thanks! Much appreciated!

I was able to enable Delevelper Options by going to About phone/Software Info and tapping Build number 7 times. I found my setting for "Suspend execution for cached apps" set to "Device default"

I won't touch it for now since there's a good chance last Thursday's stability update has finally fixed my freezing issue after 6 long frustrating months. I do however wonder if setting "Suspend execution for cached apps" to Disabled would have saved many S24 users a lot of grief. If my phone freezes on my next hike I will definitely try your recommendation; before throwing it against a tree

Awesome ..definitely report back

 

[UserUKs25fe]

mustang7757,​

Thank you. This helped me a lot and fixed the issue whilst in wait for the official patch/oneui 8.5

I have a S25 FE and so far in the UK I've only received security patches up to April.

I set 'suspend execution for cached apps' to no. Combined with running with battery saver turned off, I now have reliable gpx files and location.

I had previously tried all the suggestions and settings available online.. (including turning off adaptive battery)

Hopefully I can return this to 'default' after oneui8.5 installs. I think the setting change makes the phone a bit more power hungry.

Thxs

 

[mustang7757]

mustang7757,​

Thank you. This helped me a lot and fixed the issue whilst in wait for the official patch/oneui 8.5

I have a S25 FE and so far in the UK I've only received security patches up to April.

I set 'suspend execution for cached apps' to no. Combined with running with battery saver turned off, I now have reliable gpx files and location.

I had previously tried all the suggestions and settings available online.. (including turning off adaptive battery)

Hopefully I can return this to 'default' after oneui8.5 installs. I think the setting change makes the phone a bit more power hungry.

Thxs

I'm glad to hear that, hopefully they keep that in stable 8.5 as Samsung tends to change things with stable release, as for eating battery little more that's to be expected especially not clearing cache apps as Samsung is one of the manufacturers on Android that likes to aggressively kill app process to get good battery life.

Glad I could help out

 

[mustang7757]

I can confirm on my s26u came stable with 8.5 it's still there in developer settings.

 

[SamPav]

I did another hike today and its now the 3rd hike in a row where my gps tracking app (Komoot) did not have the freezing issue. I think i can safely say the last stability update rolled out in Australia 2 weeks ago has finally fixed our issue here after 6 very frustrating months. I hope "UserUKs25fe", and any other still affected user, gets their stability fix soon.

I also hope that when UI 8.5 gets rolled out we all have better luck than we did with UI 8.0. Imagine going all through this again!

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread. Its been a great help!