GPS is constantly "ON" - T-Mobile, Samsung Galaxy SIII

I have my GPS enabled. Half of the time I'm using my phone, everything is good, everything works fine. But during the other half of the times, the GPS is constantly on the notification bar. I try restarting my phone, still up there in the notification bar with a 'solid' gps icon which says "Location set by GPS"... I can even turn the GPS off, and then on again, and it still doesn't fix the issue. As i turn on my "Maps" app for the first time, my location is already "accurate to 3 meters" before it even loads the map graphics... How do i figure out which app is causing this, and how do i stop this? it's irritating. I have to constantly check my phone to make sure the GPS isn't active and draining my battery. And please, don't say "Just turn off the GPS". Android is designed to work with the GPS enabled. Even if the GPS is toggled "on", it shouldn't be using it unless it needs it, therefore using zero battery. (Just like wifi is supposed to). thanks.

I have the same issue and it seems like it's Maps that's constantly trying to turn on GPS. Once I have GPS off, my battery life is a lot better. Tried uninstall Maps, clear data, re-install...but the issue is still there but not all the time...very annoyed.

Another reason might be an app that is using gps in the background. Facebook, twitter, and other apps might be the problem?
Sent from my SGH-T999

If you have your google search settings on to make local search better, then the GPS will be on.
Facebook, Maps are all GPS hogs.
Just turn it off and on when you need it, the GPS on the S3 locks in seconds anyway, so its not a problem.

Related

gps draining battery?

I've been trying to troubleshoot my battery drain rate and I found the problem.
When I turn off the GPS, and leave the wifi and bluetooth on, I get tremendous battery life/
What could be causing the GPS to drain the battery?
Do you ahve any programs running in the background that use gps? such as latitude, or that google one that maps your location? If so, gps kills batteries, because it constantly resyncs with the satelites... I believe the sense weather app also does periodic polling to pinpoint your location for weather.
If you dont need GPS exact location tracking, dont leave gps turned on, and turn it on when you need it.
My GPS is always on. It doesn't really hurt the battery life unless you are using with an application that uses the location service. My weather widget is set to refresh every hour and it's not impacting the battery.
I would look at your running programs and figure out which one is using the GPS. If you have the sensorly 4g map viewer, I found that to be a battery hog.
My money is on Latitude, that's been implicated in a lot of these situations. GPS always on is hardly a battery drain unless something is actually using the receiver. If you don't see the GPS icon in the notification bar, it's not GPS-ing.
SilverZero said:
My money is on Latitude, that's been implicated in a lot of these situations. GPS always on is hardly a battery drain unless something is actually using the receiver. If you don't see the GPS icon in the notification bar, it's not GPS-ing.
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Interesting tip. I had not noticed it. Thanks.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
I have my GPS on all the time and I regularly go over 13 hours without recharging; this is before SetCPU and underclocking.

[Q] can't get GPS to work properly

I keep having problems with getting a gps fix on my DHD.
I turn on the GPS on the phone, also setting it to checked in the "Location" settings, and I wait forever. Yesterday I tried using the Compass app (By Catch.com), the GPS Status app, Tried using My Tracks and RunKeeper, and couldn't get a fix.
Every time I go back to the "Location" settings, and check and uncheck the "Use wireless networks" box, and also turn on or off the WIFI radio. But nothing seemed to work.
This morning I tried again, set My Tracks to record the road, and it did get a fix after about 5 minutes - So sometimes it does work.
I did manage to get fixes at various times, using all the apps above, but most times I need to fiddle with it quite a lot before it works, by checking and unchecking stuff. Sometimes it finally gets a fix with the "Use wireless networks" checked, and wifi turned on (even on locations where I have no wifi), and sometimes when its off.
Using the GPS Status app I see it usually finds 8-11 satellites, and they all seem green and with high bars, but I get no location at the end. Also with the Compass - I can see it connects to 10/10, but there is no long/lat.
What can cause all this mess? Is there some known bug with the gps? Or maybe some apps are interfering with others?
I also don't have any data plan (2g or 3g), so I only surf on wifi. Maybe this trows the location off somehow?
My location results are less accurate than 3g but still usable. Have you had better gps results from other devices? Your area might have some problems.
Cheers from my DHD.
When it works, it works just fine. Today on my way to work it succeeded in getting a fix after several minutes (which I still consider to be a bit too long - it should do it in less than a minute).
Last week, during a short jog outside of my house, it got a fix using RunKeeper.
Two days ago, while walking outside for well over an hour, and seeing in all the apps it finds multiple satellites, I could not get any fix at all. I want to use GPS only, no need for 3g or wifi. It should be enough (And had been enough on other occasions).
And it wasn't only defective two nights ago - many times I can't seem to get a fix. And only occasionally I get it to work properly.
I have the same problem ,i flashed a few different radios to try them and getting a gps lock was a nightmare.Originally i was on radio 26.03.02.26 and it was actually fine(shouldnt have messed with something that works.I have now flashed back to that radio and same problems.
i am sitting here with the misses hd and it instantly finds 6 sats and gets a gps lock while my hd finds one and does nothing.
i turn off gps on both phones ,turn back on and now her phone gets a lock at least 1 min faster.
Seems to be first time using gps after booting phone,once i have turned gps on give it a few mins then turn it off.I now run gps status on both phones,gps turns on and now get 2 more sats and a much lower error reading.
I have the same issues with gps, if I leave my phone flat on the dashboard of my car so that the screen is facing upwards, the gps seems to work without losing a fix, maybe because it connects to more satellites.
when I place the phone in my dash mount, it seems to drop signals and loses location.
I have tried a solution which I found while browsing the net extensively for the problem you mentioned and there does not seem to be much info on the issue. The solution I found on the net seemed to have made a huge difference although more testing is needed.
I have downloaded a program called "Tracker Booster - Tracker Booster is a small utility to help sports tracker applications (e.g. Endomondo) to get best possible GPS signal by keeping the GPS unit active in the background." It is available for free from the market, the way to use it is by starting this program up and then clicking "Start Booster" followed by "send to Background", then load GPS Status, hopefully once you see some satellites on GPS status and have a fix, you can now load your sat nav software or google maps, I use co-pilot.
Once you have finished with using the GPS, remember to stop Tracker Booster as it runs in the background and keeps your GPS on constantly which will no doubt drain the battery.
This so far has worked for me and as I have stated earlier, I need to do a few more trips before I can say that it works all the time.
I think this is the best solution until something better comes up.
This is not whats happening to me - When it's not working properly, I can't seem to get a fix at all, even after a long while. When I do get a fix, it works just fine even when the DHD is in my pocket, or facing sideways.
Has anyone one of you guys tried using gps status from android market?
Download it reset agps data than redownload agps data and that's it.
I get a fix in aprox 10s without it is few minutes
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

GPS Battery drain

I have noticed that since I have updated to 2.3.3 on my phone, LEAVING GPS on, seems to drain my battery fast. If I turn it off, the battery lasts a LOT longer.. I never had this issue on 2.2 .. I also tried this with a program called BATTERYXL. I orig had it set to leave GPS on but turn off data when screen is off. STILL drained battery.. now tested it with GPS ON and DATA ON when screen is ON. DATA AND GPS OFF when screen off. battery lasted a LOT longer..
HOWEVER, am I loosing anything by having GPS off when screen off? will the sense weather update? will it grab the location from something else (phone or data? data is set to come on every 2 hours with bateryXL )
Thanks...
I had the same issue and had to turn GPS off. The weather apps and everything that is location based still work perfectly with the GPS being off. The only time that you are ever prompted to turn it back on would be if you are doing any type of navigation via Google Maps, other than that you will be good to go!
swellrider85 said:
I had the same issue and had to turn GPS off. The weather apps and everything that is location based still work perfectly with the GPS being off. The only time that you are ever prompted to turn it back on would be if you are doing any type of navigation via Google Maps, other than that you will be good to go!
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so I dont need the GPS to get a location for the weather app? I know I need GPS for my nav program..

Auto agree to location consent.

Is there any way...either an app or a tasker task/script that will automatically agree to the location consent box that pops up when GPS is turned on?. I'm finally getting annoyed by it lol. I'm hoping there's gotta be some way around it.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
I never noticed. Why not just leave GPS on always? It doesn't hurt anything.
Just leave GPS on. It doesn't use battery unless its being accessed for location for an app. You spend more battery going to settings toggling it on and off over and over.
martonikaj said:
Just leave GPS on. It doesn't use battery unless its being accessed for location for an app. You spend more battery going to settings toggling it on and off over and over.
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Somewhat true. The Facebook app is buggy, if you have GPS on... and you turn Facebook on (even though location is disabled).
GPS remains on your status bar... even if you go back to home screen. At least that's my reasoning for having it disabled.
zephiK said:
Somewhat true. The Facebook app is buggy, if you have GPS on... and you turn Facebook on (even though location is disabled).
GPS remains on your status bar... even if you go back to home screen. At least that's my reasoning for having it disabled.
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Use Facebook every day and never had that issue.
Convert whatever is asking for GPS to a system app.
Pretty sure that'll do it.

[Q] GPS issue after update to 4.2.2

I recently updated from CM 4.0.4 to CM 4.2.2 (10.1.3 to be exact), and I found that my gps is ALWAYS on, no matter what I do.
What I mean by is that, when I first boot the phone, gps is off, everything is good. Then I use an app that uses GPS - most likely Google Maps, which prompts me to turn on the GPS. I do that, GPS connects just fine, Google Maps locates me using GPS, everything is good.
The problem is when I turn OFF the GPS. I turn off the GPS via notification drawer GPS button, and GPS goes off, and I exit maps. The issue is then is shown in the battery history. Even when I turn off the GPS after using it, according to battery history it was never OFF, and from that point on it would keep showing GPS as on in the battery history.
What's funny is that even though it says GPS is on in the battery history, when I go to Locations Access it is clearly shown that Access to my location is OFF, and the gps box is greyed out as well. However, battery drain seems to suggest that GPS is actually eating away my battery, since my battery drain is significantly higher. Just to check if my GPS is actually on despite saying it is off in Location Access, I try using maps, and it is clear that GPS is not working in maps.
The only way to solve this funny situation is to reboot my phone, after which it would be shown that GPS is off in the battery history. However if I turn on GPS even once, the problem happens, all over again.
I have of course checked all my apps - the only apps that access GPS are Maps, Google Now, Facebook, and GO Weather, and I've made sure that location access in these apps are off. Well, with the Location Access in the system setting off in the first place, these shouldn't be working anyway.
I tried re-flashing 10.1.3, re-flashing gapps, and factory reset, to no avail. I suspect that kernel might be an issue, since I was using an old KT kernel before I updated, and it was slightly unstable. But if that is the case, I have no idea how to fix the kernel aside from re-flashing 10.1.3.
Can anyone help me solve this problem?

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