I have almost never used GPS before /e/OS due to privacy.
Now I have started to use it and I have doubts, which I really don’t know if they are problems.
The main is that the geolocation (with the best accuracy, using GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, mobile data…) is not accurate almost never. It locates my device with a radio of about 100-400 meters.
This happens both with Maps (MagicEarth) and OsmAnd~, although while walking the geolocation is much more accurate (5-30 meters).
Appart from that, many times those map apps say that they can’t locate the phone although the geolocation being enabled.
As I’m new to geolocation, is this the expected experience? Am I doing something bad?
Newcomer too in the geolocation use, GPS-only location seems to be more accurate (in my mountains, with very few houses around and no wifi or low-level free-wifi around…).
If you have a Snapdragon I think Location might actually still be a privacy issue, even with /e/ (and I think even if it’s off): Connections to izatcloud.net
Other than that what is happening is that outside you are using the normal GPS with a (good) few meters precision, plus probably the A-GPS data downloaded as part of the leak mentioned above but the precision is given by the GPS.
Inside where you can’t get GPS coverage you get the network assisted positioning, you can chose the provider with microG and for /e/ by default it’s Mozilla (if you enable it at all). However the precision of this is seriously influenced by how many people are using (and automatically reporting back, their phones using to enrich Google’s or Apple’s or Mozilla’s database). In practice this means that Google can get your position really well, to the corner of the room for populated places. While Mozilla will get you probably the last WiFi you’ve seen that’s in their database (or even worse it might remember just your last “real GPS” fix).
So the issue could be about the provider. Those of Google or Apple have a network effect that when more users use it, more accurate it will be. Isn’t it?