GPS is a fascinating technology and if you have the time check out HDG Explains : How Does GPS Work? for a better understanding of the nuts and bolts of it all. No technology is perfect however, so we do still recommend that you buy an actual paper map and keep it with you just in case you simply can’t get Android GPS working or you simply run out of power. Suddenly losing your way in unfamiliar territory can be a little scary, but hopefully after going through this checklist of potential problems you’ll be at your destination in no time. If you have another phone with the app, you can compare the readings to make sure it looks right and if it shows nothing at all or gives an error, you might be looking at a hardware issue requiring a call to a repair shop. One app we can recommend is GPS Status and Toolbox, which gives you all the numbers your GPS unit spits out right there on the screen. This is both useful for quickly relaying your exact coordinates to someone and to diagnose GPS problems. Luckily there are GPS apps for Android phones that will show you the raw readings from the GPS hardware. That’s as it should be, but it can also make it a little mysterious when the app stops working correctly. Use A GPS Diagnostic AppĪpps like Google Maps put a user-friendly layer of software between you and the GPS receiver hardware in your phone. If there are no updates pending, simply uninstalling and reinstalling the app can do the trick. If it’s version gets too far behind, it might not be able to work with the service back at home base. One is to head over to your app store and see whether your maps application has a pending update. There are basically two things you can do here. If that app works just fine, then we have to turn our attention to the uncooperative offender. You can confirm this by switching to another unrelated application that uses GPS. Sometimes it’s not your phone’s GPS functionality that’s the problem, but the app that’s meant to make use of it. Reinstall Or Update Your Maps Application This is why it’s a good idea to always have a power bank or a USB car charger close at hand. Alternatively, you can try to simply plug the phone in, which will disable power saving mode. Although, of course, your phone battery will die much more quickly now. So if your battery is in the red and power saving mode is on, disabling might get your GPS function working properly again.
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