Modern smartphones have navigation modules built in by default. In most cases they work quite accurately. Just turn on GPS in Settings, launch the Maps app, and within minutes the program will determine where you are. And if you didn’t turn off the GPS, the determination will take a few seconds.
But what if GPS doesn't work? How then to determine the route, speed, your location? There is no need to rush to take your smartphone for repair: most often this can be solved by setting up the phone correctly.
Why turn on GPS on your phone?
The abbreviation GPS stands for Global Positioning System. Translated into Russian - global positioning system. That is, GPS is the function that allows you to determine the user’s location. And in this situation, many may think that the system is used solely to track the user. But such an opinion is erroneous.
Activating GPS results in the smartphone owner being able to determine his own location. This is very useful when a person is in an unfamiliar city and needs to get from point A to point B. On the map, the user’s movement will be displayed on a detailed map, where it is simply impossible to get confused.
Also, the function will certainly be appreciated by car enthusiasts, because geolocation allows you to use your smartphone as a navigator. And determining the location personalizes the advertising that is offered to the owner of the mobile device. For example, a person from Nizhny Novgorod will not receive offers from Moscow stores.
Another use case is training. The sensor makes it possible to track your jogging route in order to draw conclusions about the distance traveled, speed and elevation difference. It turns out that GPS is simply an indispensable function of a smartphone.
Using a GPS sensor is a must when searching for a mobile device in the event of its loss.
iGo
The application was posted on the Play Market and was found without any problems.
The package is, of course, wonderful. See for yourself:
- 3-D image of streets. The arrow at the starting point is us, and the flag is the finish. You just need to turn the steering wheel, following the navigator's prompts.
- The Russian language is installed at the very beginning. When the program asks you to select some settings. It is somewhere at the end of the list, not in alphabetical order at all. Look more carefully.
- At the same time, the program offers to set a convenient format for values that can be used without effort.
- I was pleased to be able to choose my preferred route.
- The route can be set in literally two clicks, but there are no buses. Or at least there are none for Iraq.
- Prices. On your first visit and subsequent… Choose your cards carefully.
Advantage: this is the simplest and most visually convenient navigator for driving. Reminds me of some kind of computer game. We hope that driving with it is just as easy.
How to enable GPS on Android
Since the location function is ubiquitous and indispensable, the developers have provided very simple ways to activate the sensor. You can understand exactly how the sensor turns on even without instructions and the help of specialists. But, if you can’t activate geolocation yourself, it is recommended to seek help from our detailed instructions.
Via Quick Access Toolbar
This is the simplest and most straightforward way to activate the sensor. The owner of the smartphone only needs to press one button. But first you need to call the quick access panel. It is also called the notification curtain.
To open the panel, you need to swipe down from the top of the screen. You can perform the operation both in the main menu of the smartphone and in any open application. After swiping, the same panel will open in front of the user where you need to find the “Geolocation” item. In some cases it is called "Location" or simply "GPS".
After clicking on the icon, it will be highlighted. This is the main evidence that the sensor on the phone is activated and ready for use. You can now open Maps to navigate and access other geolocation features.
Through settings
Another common option for activating GPS is using settings. The operation in this case will take a little longer, but the count is only a couple of extra seconds. If the geolocation icon is not displayed in the quick access panel, then the settings will help you easily enable GPS.
To activate the function you need:
- Open phone settings.
- Go to the "Location" section.
- Move the slider next to “Enable” to the right.
Sometimes you need to check a box to enable GPS. It all depends on the model of your smartphone. Be that as it may, all the necessary activation tools will be located in the “Location” section of the settings.
For more accurate navigation, it is recommended to use location determination by all sources.
How to set up GPS on Android in the phone menu
Enabling geolocation on your phone does not in all cases allow you to immediately determine your location using maps. Therefore, for the sensor to function, it must be configured. Fortunately, there is nothing difficult in performing this operation.
First, you need to turn on GPS using any of the previously suggested methods. Secondly, allow location determination through different sources:
- GPS;
- Bluetooth;
- Wi-Fi.
This will allow you to navigate the map with greater accuracy. In addition, you need to set permission for the sensor to operate in various applications. If you do not do this, navigation will not work in conditional Google Maps.
You can set permission for GPS operation through the previously mentioned “Location” menu. If necessary, it is possible to prohibit the use of the sensor for certain programs. Here you have a full range of choices. The main thing is that the geolocation is confirmed for various types of navigators.
Finally, you need to activate GPS in the application itself. For example, open Google Maps and tap on the “Go” icon. Depending on the program used, it may look different, but the essence does not change.
And now we can say that you have managed to fully configure GPS on your phone. The service must operate uninterruptedly as long as there is an available satellite.
Xiaomi has released a head-up display for a car for $70
After collecting investments on its own crowdfunding platform, Xiaomi announced the start of sales of an original on-board computer for drivers. The peculiarity of the new product is that instead of a conventional display it is equipped with a projector. The gadget connects via Bluetooth and is compatible with the vast majority of cars.
In further
Don't you like that the GPS on your Android takes too long to “search for and acquire satellites”? The location accuracy is worse than 10 meters? Did you think that “this is how GPS actually works”? Nothing like this. Your GPS can provide an accuracy of +-5 meters, or even more accurately. And I will tell you how to achieve this. And no more “patches” or third-party and “gemorrhagic” in the use of “GPS utilities that speed up the search for satellites and increase accuracy.” Everything you need is in your device. Just “calibration” there - naturally, he won’t calibrate each phone individually. And where is the manufacturer? In China, but you need to calibrate where you actually use it. The instructions below were collected by me from different sources in parts and checked, except for the part “ensuring maximum accuracy,” which I will check later and make an addition, but even without it, the time “ cold start" GPS, after rebooting the phone, it was possible to bring it to less than 20 seconds, instead of 1-2 minutes before calibration. At the same time, the capture of the first satellites occurs in less than 3-4 seconds, and “GPS capture” (localization by satellites, when the “GPS search” stops blinking and the body switches to working on satellites) - less than 10 seconds (sometimes up to 40 seconds, but less often - depending on the accuracy of your smart watch and satellite visibility). To decide which one you prefer, you can read impressions of both methods here: https://vyacheslav.blogspot.com/2013/07/android-gps.html. I personally recommend the “native GPS calibration method” (described below) - it gives the same results, and in my opinion is much preferable and easier to use. It should be noted that with the help of the program described here: https://vyacheslav.blogspot.com/2013/07/android-gps-6.html, the activation speed from the “cold” state is still a little faster. but it’s more dangerous, and due to its “deep penetration into the Android GPS system”, it can “throw down” the calibrations of its “native system”, which are discussed below. Plus, everything that needs to be done with its help, before each turn on, the GPS makes the startup using it really slower than in the option outlined in this note. Added 08/30/2013
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Before starting calibration, look at this note and follow the procedures described in it: https://vyacheslav.blogspot.com/2013/08/gps-android-jb-411-cink-king-gps.html. This is especially true if you have serious problems with GPS, such as “it holds the satellites very poorly” and the “lock” “falls” at the slightest weakening of the signal, plus after that, the GPS will “hold” more satellites at the same time, which will improve both stability and accuracy . Without these procedures, I was not able to “normalize” the GPS under JB 4.1.1 Cink King. Then perform calibration according to the method. outlined below in this note. *
points necessary to achieve generally theoretically possible accuracy are highlighted
in italic font Items in italic font can be skipped
, this will slightly reduce the accuracy (actually 2 times), and will not affect the “cold start” speed. **Before the procedure, find out the code for the engineering menu of your device - you will need it.
- The accuracy of GPS
, and especially the speed of “acquisition after a cold start,” greatly depends on the accuracy of setting the time on your device.
Usually, in the “Date and Time” settings, “synchronize time over the network” is set. I had it too. But as it turned out, the device uses the operator’s cellular signal to set the time, which in some cases can give time setting accuracy worse than + - several minutes, and in my case (Kiev, Life operator) it gave a difference from real time of as much as 3 seconds. In general, feces, and not “exact time signals”. There is also the option to “determine the time using GPS,” but if you don’t live in a village, then this will consume a lot of battery, and will be of little use - neither in an apartment, nor on the subway, nor in a minibus, nor in the office... Well, you get the idea. Therefore, let us first take care of setting the most accurate possible time. To do this, I installed the free program ClockSync, from here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.org.amip.ClockSync&hl=ru, you can also get it from here: https://4pda. ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=171610. You can also use the technique that I described here: https://vyacheslav.blogspot.com/2013/07/android-gps_12.html - it does not require installing additional programs, but requires manual editing of several system configuration files. Next, we determine the reference exact time server that we will use. It is important that it be as close to you as possible and that the ping time to it be minimal. To begin with, the addresses of the “pools” are ua.pool.ntp.org for Ukraine, ru.pool.ntp.org for Russia. If you are in another country, look here: https://www.pool.ntp.org/ru/. Now we launch the terminal, and in it the command “ping ua.pool.ntp.org”, and look at the response time. We do this 10 times - each time it will contact a random “pool” server, and usually a different one. Even for Ukraine, the “response” time for different servers ranges from 5 to 60ms (on land), let alone Russia with its size. Accordingly, we write down the IP address of the server whose response time is minimal. We will use it. Launch the installed ClockSync program, Menu > settings. The first item is “NTP server”. Enter the selected IP address there. Next, check the “automatic synchronization” box, then select “Interval”. The shorter the interval, the more often the synchronization will take place, and this means “a little traffic and a lot of battery.” On the other hand, in 3 hours my device “goes away” by as much as 160-180 milliseconds... I stopped at 3 hours for now. Next, you don’t have to check the “exact interval” checkbox - it will save the battery a little, I personally checked it. “High precision mode” - check it, especially since synchronization will sometimes take place via cellular data transmission at a very unstable speed (you don’t have to check it - the accuracy will drop, but the battery consumption during synchronization will be significantly reduced). We also set “detect time zone”, exit the settings menu, click “menu”, and select “synchronize” - how much your device is “past time” can be seen on the screen. Yes, in the settings menu after a day you can see how fast/late your device’s clock is per day (my Fly IQ 450 is 9.21 seconds per day). PS automatic time synchronization is only possible on a “rooted” device. If you are not rooted, there is a “manual mode” in the program, but the accuracy will not be the same. Note - added later.
There is also a second way to accurately synchronize time, without installing an additional program, I described it here: https://vyacheslav.blogspot.com/2013/07/android-gps_12.html. After comparing the results, I chose this method, but it requires some editing of the configuration files. It is also advisable, if you have a rooted device, to edit the /system/etc/gps.conf file. Namely, in the first line, after “NTP_SERVER=”, replace the “default” one indicated there with a more suitable one for your country - for example, for Ukraine at ua.pool.ntp.org, or even with a previously defined IP address, but this will less universal and sometimes fraught with failures if a specific server does not work, so ua.pool.ntp.org is more universal, but the IP address in this field can further speed up the initial cold start. Editing can be done using "Root Explorer". Over time we figured it out. Further. - Let's go to the phone settings.
Location. Oh, “GPS satellites”, “Auxiliary data”, “AGPS”, the rest is “to taste”. Now go to the “EPO Settings” item. Turn off “EPO” during calibration. Everybody is here. - Launch Google Earth
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in the settings we switch it to show coordinates in the format of degrees and fractions.
We are looking for a place nearby where we will carry out calibration. It should be a fairly open place, such as a square. We select the point where we will stand during calibration (select signs to stand exactly at it later), point the cursor at it, and write down the shown coordinates to the last digit. Preparations are complete - let’s go “to the field”
