When my iphone 4s is switched on it gets an "excellent fix" on the GPS Status app. However after a short time when the app is switched off and then back on again the app only gets a "poor fix". The only way to get an "excellent" fix again is to re-boot the phone. Any ideas as to what may be causing this problem? Thanks
Poor GPS Fix on iPhone 4s
- Thread starter Martc
- Start date
I have a great deal of experience with using GPS, and have been quite surprised at how flaky it can sometimes be.
Even with a clear sky and an unobstructed view of it, I've had, on occasion, an incredibly poor signal.
My "On the road and off it too" thread on ipadforums.net goes into some detail concerning the subject.
My jump-to-conclusion guess is that there is nothing wrong with your phone. Give it time to locate the satellites and settle down, at least half an hour in my experience.
You only need 3 satellites to get a fix, but the optimum is 6 or 7. Don't forget, those things are on the move, being in low orbit, so it's not like you are using geo-stationary satellites.
Even with a clear sky and an unobstructed view of it, I've had, on occasion, an incredibly poor signal.
My "On the road and off it too" thread on ipadforums.net goes into some detail concerning the subject.
My jump-to-conclusion guess is that there is nothing wrong with your phone. Give it time to locate the satellites and settle down, at least half an hour in my experience.
You only need 3 satellites to get a fix, but the optimum is 6 or 7. Don't forget, those things are on the move, being in low orbit, so it's not like you are using geo-stationary satellites.
- Thread Starter
- #3
Thanks Kevin, but I think there must be a problem with the phone:
This morning I switched it on (been powered-off all night), set the Auto-Lock to "Never" and loaded the GPS Status App. After a couple of minutes it had got an "Excellent fix" showing the location within 5 metres. After 15 minutes it was still showing the fix as excellent.
I then changed the Auto-Lock to 2 mins, waited for it to turn off, waited another minute and restarted GPS Status. It then showed a "Poor Fix" with a horizontal accuracy of 65 metres. I left it for a further two hours and the only change was the accuracy went to 209 metres and then back to 65 metres.
Then I re-booted the phone, loaded the GPS Status App and after less than a minute it was showing an excellent fix again.
It seems that somehow, putting the GPS app into the background inhibits the receipt, or interpretation of, the GPS signal. My wife also has an iphone 4s but hers doesn't have this problem.
I look forward to hearing your views
This morning I switched it on (been powered-off all night), set the Auto-Lock to "Never" and loaded the GPS Status App. After a couple of minutes it had got an "Excellent fix" showing the location within 5 metres. After 15 minutes it was still showing the fix as excellent.
I then changed the Auto-Lock to 2 mins, waited for it to turn off, waited another minute and restarted GPS Status. It then showed a "Poor Fix" with a horizontal accuracy of 65 metres. I left it for a further two hours and the only change was the accuracy went to 209 metres and then back to 65 metres.
Then I re-booted the phone, loaded the GPS Status App and after less than a minute it was showing an excellent fix again.
It seems that somehow, putting the GPS app into the background inhibits the receipt, or interpretation of, the GPS signal. My wife also has an iphone 4s but hers doesn't have this problem.
I look forward to hearing your views
Might be worth checking to see if "Background App Refresh" is turned on.
There could be a problem with the phone, of course, but the fact that it works at all makes me think that a problem setting is more likely.
There could be a problem with the phone, of course, but the fact that it works at all makes me think that a problem setting is more likely.
You could also take a look at the size of the blue circle on the Maps app and compare the size when the GPS Status changes, so you have verification that something is actually changing.
My thinking is that you might lose your GPS fix if it was turned off. I'm still hanging on to the possibility of a different setting on your phone compared to your wife's.
Given that the GPS definitely is going awry, with evidence from two separate apps, the possibility of a dodgy GPS chip has to be considered.
I'd suggest this. Make a backup of your phone and also of your wife's. Use the backup of her phone to restore yours. Now all of her settings will be duplicated on yours. Now check the GPS. If it's still faulty, the problem is hardware. If not, you can restore your phone again from your backup and try to find the setting that is causing the problem.
Given that the GPS definitely is going awry, with evidence from two separate apps, the possibility of a dodgy GPS chip has to be considered.
I'd suggest this. Make a backup of your phone and also of your wife's. Use the backup of her phone to restore yours. Now all of her settings will be duplicated on yours. Now check the GPS. If it's still faulty, the problem is hardware. If not, you can restore your phone again from your backup and try to find the setting that is causing the problem.
- Thread Starter
- #9
I tried the restore but twice it failed with the message "Restore failed due to iphone disconnecting". Maybe this is indicative of a problem with the phone. I've now restored it as a new phone - so all the settings are standard - and it still has the problem. However if I restart the phone and make sure it never turns itself off then it maintains a good signal. As I'll only use it as a satnav I can live with this workaround.
Thanks for you help KevinJS.
Thanks for you help KevinJS.
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