what is the "little tear drop with the hole on the top of it" mean on the status bar up top of the phone?
i get it intermittently.
i get it intermittently.
Are you talking about this? It's Google's trademark "pin" icon from Maps, also intended to represent GPS, as mentioned above.
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I only turn on GPS if I really need precise location, which is rarely. The "battery-saving" option (which uses only wi-fi and/or cell signal to estimate location) is usually good enough for me, and is accurate to within a hundred meters or so. I only see that icon whenever I have GPS turned on, which is why I don't think it represents all location services. I have plenty of apps that use location services, but without GPS on, that icon never shows up, even briefly.
No--if you have mobile data or wi-fi on, the weather widget can get your location from that connection.
thanks for the feedback.
if i want the weather constantly accurate / updated on the circle widgets, do i need to leave the GPS on all the time?
No--if you have mobile data or wi-fi on, the weather widget can get your location from that connection.
That's odd. Weather apps and widgets shouldn't require GPS, since they shouldn't require precise location to determine the weather. I'm not sure if it's some odd way that particular widget was coded.
it is weird, the weather (circle widgets) does not get updated on mobile data or wi-fi on. it only gets updated with GPS on.
You say that the Current Location info only works when GPS is on--what does your phone say it's set to when GPS is off? With KitKat on my Nexus 5, the Location settings in Settings>Location are no longer "GPS on" or "GPS off." If I tap on the "Mode," there's "High accuracy" (which uses a combination of GPS, Wi-fi, and mobile networks), "Battery saving" (which uses only Wi-fi and mobile networks, and not GPS), and "Device only" (which uses only GPS). However, on that same screen, there's also a switch to completely turn off Location Services. So what I'm wondering is on your phone, when you turn GPS off, are you actually turning off Location Services completely?
If that's not the answer, then as I mentioned before, it may still be that the way the widget was coded, the Current Location weather info requires GPS (even though it really shouldn't need it, since it should be able to get your general location from wi-fi or mobile data).
You're not turning gps off - you're turning all location services off. That's why the command center widget can't update location.
If you want no gps radio, set the mode to battery saving. But leave location on.