Jump to content

Android GPS problems


Croglet

Recommended Posts

Anyone else using an Android phone to record Strava tracks?
I'm all out of ideas trying to get this working properly. My old Sony used to work perfectly for this years ago, it gradually started having a tough time recording tracks and I needed a new phone anyway so I specifically went for a Ulefone Armor 8 with Android 10 for cycling/paddling etc since it's pretty much bulletproof and has a nice big battery. 

The GPS connects instantly and the tracks seem to be quite accurate but almost every ride it disconnects/loses signal and I'm left with long straight lines in my tracks and many lost km's. 
It's not only Strava that does this, OSM Tracker and a few other apps I've tried all record the same messed up tracks so it has to be a phone/GPS issue. 

I've read some troubleshooting guides and I can't think of anything I haven't tried...
Location is enabled.
Strava/OSM Tracker have permission to use location. 
Battery saver is off. 
Battery Manager is off.
Strava/OSM Tracker are not optimised in Settings>Apps>Special App Access>Battery Optimisation.

Is there anything I'm missing? 

Edit: Also tried GPS Locker and Wakelock apps

post-62485-0-86641600-1612979693_thumb.jpg

 

Edited by Croglet
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry dasilvarsa, should have added that I've already tried both GPS Locker and Wakelock with no joy. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry dasilvarsa, should have added that I've already tried both GPS Locker and Wakelock with no joy. 

That's Strange I have used it on many phones and it has always sorted the exact issue that you are having. You could try to convince your phone supplier to exchange the phone. It is rare but GPS chips can fail (Weak Reception) on phones and watches.

 

Try Setting the phone to GPS only (Still using GPS Lock) So it does not look for Towers and Internet.

 

Try Setting Auto Pause in Strava to (Off)

 

If you can try to Mount the Phone Face Up on the Handlebars or at least change to Another Pocket and Try to Get it Top Side Up if you can.

 

Looking at your Map it Looks Like a Pause or Total Loss of Signal Twice.

Edited by dasilvarsa
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used to work with drones when they still called them UAVs. GPS is not trivial. You need to get a faint timing signal from three satellites up there looking down at you, every second. For some weird reason phones seen to be binary GPS yes/no. The actual GPS chip in your phone is vital, but never disclosed. The active/ passive antennae is vital in design, yet I guess it is normally on page 7 of the priority list.

 

This is a mid range phone with short cuts definitely taken on the way. I'm guessing your problem is hardware, software might be able to smooth it out. But don't blame Strava/android they just display the data given to them

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Phones use A-GPS not just GPS to get a location, this is why they work better in built up areas an acquire your location so much faster. So the phone can actually pick up a location based on cellphone signal while it finds GPS Signal. 1 Possibility is that it is functioning on AGPS primarily and as you lose phone signal it loses location maybe? Maybe there is a bug in that system or vice versa it is relying on only one of it's location solutions and the other is failing.

 

Another question I have is where is the phone during your ride? Camelback? It could easily be moving around in the bag and losing signal that way. We do that trick often when doing AR. Bury the spot tracker so that no one in transition can give teams ahead or behind information about how close or far you are ahead or behind. And when I say bury the tracker, literally just turn the tracker over or put it in the bottom of the pack.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
Settings My Forum Content My Followed Content Forum Settings Ad Messages My Ads My Favourites My Saved Alerts My Pay Deals Help Logout