For some reason, my Fairphone 3 can’t get a precise location any more. Sometimes, I can’t get any location, sometimes it is quite far away from my actual position (the cell tower maybe?).
It used to work but I can’t pom down the moment (or the version change) when it stopped to work since I don’t need location very often.
I checked the app permissions (Organic Maps and some other apps are granted permissions to use the location). I checked that location is enabled in the system settings. I checked the microG settings where everything seems to be fine.
In some forum posts, I read about activating Mozilla location services but can’t find that option in the microG settings. Is it called something else nowadays?
Of course, I turned the phone off and on again.
What else can I try? I’d appreciate your help a lot.
I have that too. I never had problems before but since the last update(s) I need 10 minutes or longer to get a location or I even never get one.
Some notices for the app SatStat (which always worked very well):
The app shows up to 13 dots in the compass dial but says it did not find any satellite, not a single one, so I guess the search is indeed blocked somehow.
The north direction can be right but can also be totally wrong, up to -90°.
OsmAnd works in any aspect correctly except that it mostly shows no actual position.
I checked all these settings above and found them in order on my device. It does still not work reliably in many cases, also on the other device (we have two FP3 with 3.0.4-t).
I only noticed for me GPS in suboptimal conditions got a bit worse, e.g. inside of a car or train (= behind a window). It will work eventually as usual, but it needs more time now to kick off. I can’t pinpoint when this started, and it could be hardware, too. Outside in the open it’s still fine for me.
I tried it recently in my holidays under the open sky and it never (!) worked, not a single time. This was indeed frustrating because it did work well in the past.
Seriously, when the poor user somewhere in the rain out there has the question where he is and which way to go and he must then wait for 10 minutes and he can’t then be sure whether there will be a result or whether 5 more minutes are needed before he then still has no result … I call this “not working” – 3 minutes is already long. I (in my role as this user) would say: a location should be available in under a minute, that’s plausible and that’s acceptable.
GPS support has regressed for me on the FP3 too. I don’t know exactly when it started since I don’t use GPS all the time. But it seems to have started with the 3.0.1 update.
There also is a report from @dave here and here that GPS locks take much longer then it should starting with 3.0.1:
It seems there is a real regression here. Does anyone know what is the best way to report this to the /e/OS developers?
I get this once in a while when starting OsmAnd, too, but turning the phone off and on again fixes it for me … if not force-stopping OsmAnd and/or starting SatStat or GPSTest helps already.
You (in your role as this user) might well say that, but GPS only without any assistance wouldn’t work that way. It can take a few minutes to get a location fix, and this is known.
What makes it get a fix quicker is up-to-date A-GPS data (GPS test Apps usually have a button somewhere to update this for testing whether this is the culprit).
And what gets an almost instant approximate location is allowing location via cell towers and known Wi-Fi networks, at least if any of those are in range.
In general, rely on modern tech only at your own peril.
I did this. I also switched the location service on about 20min before I needed it and then I opened OsmAnd and let it in the car while I was at the doctor. When I came back I had indeed a location and it was correct. This has been the first time in months.
But hey, I call this still unusable. The user can’t wait for half an hour. My Coros Watch does exactly the same in not more than 30s. Somewhere in the code they have an important time killer probably dependent on conditions not everyone has.
