I’ve always noted this behavior with OSMand, which is the only map app I’ve ever used on Android. Sometimes it finds my location quickly, especially if I’m outdoors, and sometimes not so quickly, usually when I’m indoors. I think it also depends on the quality of the device’s GPS.
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No. Vanilla Android with all standard Gapps.
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Creepy indeed… I don’t like this location guessing based on (??)
At least you can tell /e/ to only use the device’s GPS for location (old version n directly, in q by disabling WLAN and Bluetooth queries).
However, on my device this ‘GPS only’ location finding does seem to be broken currently. (was ok on previous versions q and n). Problem is mentioned on Gitlab but still unresolved.
I wonder, does an Android device retain a history of GPS locations, perhaps one saved as “home” that it makes available to installed mapping apps?
Unknown. The first phone I installed /e/ on, was the same phone I had used living at the old address (stock vanilla Android/Gapps). I first installed /e/ on this phone at my current address. After having some issues with /e/, I installed a different OS after trying out /e/ for a bit (Lineage).
I don’t have that (Lineage) phone anymore in my possession - my current phone was bought and /e/ installed at my new home address
Maybe the location somehow tries to default to the old address due to the old device having it logged somewhere, even after installing two different OS’s (/e/ and then Lineage)? Then from that moment forward, all this data is linked to my /e/ account and therefore inseparable?
Is that a possibility @Manoj ?
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I’m using a Garmin GPS device for hiking and cycling since a dozen of years. It offers a screen with graphics showing the position of the detected satellites in the sky and a bargraph showing the status of the satellites’ signal. If I switch it on inside solid buildings it does not find satellites. Putting it near a window it takes some minutes to calculate the actual location, outdoors it is faster and sees more satellites (needs at least three to find position).
Smartphones use other information sources to calculate the actual location, e.g. WLAN positions. Google should have very detailed information from millions of smartphones walking around reporting these locations. So the G-Android maps APP will know the location even if the device does not see any satellite. Magic Earth might not have access to such detailed information and
use other less precise data (addresses?) to localize when no satellites can be detected.
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Do you know if there is a better navigation app?
I tried it with Magic Earth but this app really sends me in all directions in the wrong direction and goes crazy on the way.
In the past I have often used Here Maps and found the Here we Go app in Aurora store.
However, the voice guidance cannot be understood and sounds robotic. Of course, Google Maps doesn’t work with /e/ and I really miss a good navigation.
I really experience Magic earth as junk. Sorry but I can’t make it better.
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MagicEarth certainly has it’s quirks but for the most part has worked well for me. I like that I can download a map of an entire state and have it work offline (some places where I vacation are pretty rural, this was a lifesaver).
That said, I have noticed something go awry on me in weird ways before. I was once navigating to a pizza place and was taken to the location in the next town over. I was also trying to map out the directions to a baseball stadium I’ll be visiting this summer, but the application kept insisting that where I really wanted to go was the bank it was named after.
All in all, right now I think MagicEarth is the best bad option, but i’d be interested to hear more suggestions.
Have you tried OsmAnd?
Download the ’ OsmAnd~’ version from e-store or F-droid, then you have no limit on map-updates…
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give Organic Maps a go. you can find the app on F-droid. I’d post a link but the forum thinks I’m a spammer again and won’t let me.
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Spent the weekend experimenting with OsmAnd~. Bottom line up front, I would say MagicEarth is better for those who want to be able to navigate right away, while OsmAnd~ is better for people who don’t mind a bit of tinkering.
The main things with OsmAnd~ that I noticed is A.) The need to install IVONA and the Kendra American English voice for navigation voice prompts (unless you don’t mind eSpeak TTS), and B.) The app is quite power hungry - unless you disable several settings, you’ll end up with your phone discharging faster than it can be charged. The resulting configuration gives a workable navigation experience that I would classify as less smooth than MagicEarth.
All in all, if you’re running /e/, I trust the developers with MagicEarth as their navigation choice. A phone who’s /e/ build is not yet ready and therefore running LineageOS with MicroG, might be the right place for OsmAnd~.
Currently I use the navigation app WAZE for the Netherlands. Finally a navigation app with a good voice guidance. most apps with my GS290 are unintelligible for one reason or another and send you in all directions. Furthermore, WAZE is very user-friendly and is a very social app. Unfortunately, WAZE does use the internet, which makes this app unsuitable for foreign countries due to roaming costs. To my knowledge, you can’t download maps there.
Unfortunately it’s owned by Google.
For me, that makes it “user-hostile” and “very anti-social.”
well, in the absence of an alternative, this does not seem to me to be another option. with my GS290 I have tried /e/ maps, Here maps etcetera and unfortunately the voice guidance is unintelligible and you will be sent in all directions while navigating. as long as there is no good and working alternative, I have no other option. So yes if it comes from Google… without navigation it becomes quite difficult. 
Here exactly the same. This app drives you but not the way it should…
it drives you insane
What about changing voice in settings ?
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You can change the voice in Settings>General>Sound>Text to Speech. There’s a lot of different good voice options. I don’t know why the default is the robotic text-to-speech option.
The e navigation app is Magic Earth under the hood.
I used this back since 2018 and it never really let me down besides some usage mistakes.
In short … I’m a fan of it!
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