Android GPS problems

[Croglet]

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



 

Edited February 10, 2021 by Croglet

[Trance Dance]

I had this problem with my previous phone, huawei p9. My current huawei p20 Pro is totally fine with strava.

[dasilvarsa]

There is an App called GPS Locker (Free with Adds)

 

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.silentlexx.gpslock&hl=en_ZA&gl=US

 

Run the App First it will get a  GPS Lock

 

Leave the App Running (It will keep Location Services and GPS Active.)

 

Start Strava

 

Enjoy your ride.

[Croglet]

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

[dasilvarsa]

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 February 10, 2021 by dasilvarsa

[Shebeen]

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

[dave303e]

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.