Hello everyone,
i think i have found the issue and can offer a workaround.
My thesis was always that the power-management is a bit to aggressive, which i think is the case here.
When you start the Navigation with the phone unplugged, and while the navigation is already running you plug it in - the GPS will continue to work without a problem.
It is only when you use the “in Car” Maps view to start the navigation that the GPS will be spotty or outright broken. When you have a fix, the short amounts of allowed GPS-Activity will be enough to get a position. When you need to first get a fix, or loose the fix, Maps will think you stay in the same position forever. Somethimes though, it is enough to get you from A to B. However, when you have the “Energy-Saver” active on your phone, the positioning-Info from the Google-Location-Service are too old, and you will most of the time never get a GPS fix.
I am not “fluent” in logcat, but it looks like the “started in the car” Navigation will not be allowed exact GPS fixes. Maps and Navigation from the Smartphone however will work every time and not “flood” the logcat with tries to get location information.
Is there a way to let the fairphone devs know this?
TL;DR: Start the navigation before plugging in the FP4 and everything will be fine.
Thanks for your suggestion, it seems to be working properly when I start the navigation before plugging the phone in.
I’ve recorded what happens on the screen when the phone is plugged in first and then starting the navigation (Waze or Google Maps): https://imgur.com/a/FKJ2y2t
I’m not sure if this is a Fairphone / Android or an Android Auto issue though. Android Auto is getting worse and worse with every update…
I have had the same issue and I also tried different ways to sort. I also think it has something to do with the assisted GPS in spotty areas. I have turned off Private DNS as was using dns.adguard.com and it has started working again. This could be that it needs to ping QCom or Google periodically and if it can’t connect it loses it’s spot. It’s just a theory but so far with it off it connects and works but with it on it’s hit and miss with GPS dropping out.
EDIT: Still having an issue so reporting to Fairphone as have taken a long list of measures to sort and lately has dropped out in important journeys. One in a busy motorway and one along a windy country lane in the middle of nowhere with no phone signal!!
I have had severe GPS issues for a long time, even before updating to Android 12. I’ve installed the GPS Test app, which only highlights that the smartphone is unable to get a GPS fix. Curiously, restarting the phone temporarily fixes the issue.
The best way to ‘fix’ this still is to start navigation on the phone before connecting to the car. Works all the time for me.
Find location, tap Start, connect, go.
If I reboot, it will work a few minutes (5-10) then it won’t fix until I reboot again
It’s been since a few months, around the update in Android 12.
I have the felling it’s getting worse over the time.
I checked the permissions, cleared the app’s cache (GPSTest, Waze, Maps, Android Auto)
I tried a lot of things since my yesterday’s post:
Removed all applications installed since the update
Rebooted in safe mode, Maps worked - rebooted in normal mode, Maps/Waze/GPSTest worked.
Cleared the cache of every remaining app
Removed the battery 30’
Here is a GPSTest recording (edited/cut because of Imgur’s 1 minute limit) taken right after a reboot in plane mode https://imgur.com/a/29VI8Vi
I takes 4m30 to get a correct fix…
…which last 3 seconds before shifting back years ago ( 7168 days ( 19 years, 7 months and 16 days)).
If I reboot again with network on, first fix is faster (< 20 sec) but last for 3 sec too before shifting back in time.
I’m out of idea’s now
P.S.: I didn’t mentioned it yet but I of course downloaded Time data’s and PSDS in GPSTest
Technical background: The current GPS navigation message (from satellite to receiver) only contains the ten least significant bits of the week. After 2^10 = 1024 weeks = 7168 days, the week number rolls over from 1023 to zero. Most GPS receivers handle this properly (they can determine the full year number by some other means), some (like the Garmin GPS18) don’t.
Seen here
I gave it a try and did the same procedure (reboot in airplane), it fixed in 15 sec and GPSTest showed and keep the correct date and is stable https://imgur.com/a/xH5pKRD
Same problem, my previous video (https://imgur.com/a/29VI8Vi) was taken without being connected to the car.
I’m out now for a few hours in may car, I will run gpslogger in background before connecting to the car and we will see if it’s “a reliable bypass”
I’m not sure how exactly but my problem is currently solved, even without GPSlogger nor GPSTest running in background and even without the need to start the navigation before connecting to the car.
It’s weird but could you install and run GPSLogger, check if it’s ok there then retry GPSTest and see?
I can’t explain but since I did I don’t have the problem anymore, anywhere, Android-Auto included.
Kr
So wrong time which you will see in GPSTest is the issue. So load time data and PSDS in the GPSTest App and then reboot seem to help. Did you follow the link to the other topic, or did you just read the first post visible here? The wrong time is an old issue not connected to A12 and not happening on all FP4. I had it now for the first time.
Unfortunately I experienced this problem, too, and sent a message to support, but I’m still waiting for their reply.
What I realized in my case was that the status bar where the provider, Bluetooth, etc is shown, was flickering like mad. Also my phone was really hot. So I disconnected my Bluetooth connection between the car and the phone and then the GPS signal was stable again in android auto using Google maps
Are you now talking about the Android Auto connection only or GPS in general not working? What does GPSTest show for time? Mine was incorrect, after injecting PSDS and Time and rebooting, time was corrected and more Satellites found and without Android Auto no issues.
