GPS is a fundamental tool of mobile phones. Without it, most users would not be able to use apps like Google Maps, Waze or any other application that needs our location as data to work. What happens then if the GPS of our phone does not work or gives an error ?
In today’s tutorial we will see how to recalibrate the GPS and correct any location errors on Android. Attention, because this post looks quite interesting!
How to fix GPS errors on Android phones
First checks
Before blaming the GPS or the phone manufacturer for creating such a faulty device, it is advisable to carry out a couple of checks. Chances are you’ve already gone through these points before coming to this tutorial, but it’s always best to make sure:
- Disable and re-enable your phone’s location service. You can do this by displaying the top quick access menu, just above where the notifications are. There you will find a button to activate-deactivate the GPS on the touch.
- If turning GPS on and off doesn’t work, you can go a little further. Activate “airplane mode”: this will disable all wireless communications from your smartphone, including the location service. After a few moments deactivate the airplane mode and check the operation of the GPS.
- Lastly, restart your Android device.
With these basic checks done, if you’re still having trouble locating your phone, roll up your sleeves and read on.
Check the GPS status and do a little test
Android mobiles have secret codes that help us to activate some hidden functions of the device, such as testing the GPS signal. Nowadays these codes have fallen a bit out of use, but they still work on many smartphones.
What we have to do is open the Phone app and dial one of these numbers.
- ##4636#
- #0#
- #7378423#
Depending on the manufacturer of our mobile, one of these codes will work and we will access a hidden Android menu. Navigate to the “Sensors test”, “Phone information”, “Service test” or similar option. There you will find the option to test the GPS signal. The device will perform several basic checks and tell us if there is something wrong with the GPS sensor .
If you have problems opening the Android secret menu, you can also choose to install the GPS Test app.
With this application you will be able to analyze the GPS sensor more easily to see if there are any errors, and you will also be able to update the AGPS data to obtain more accurate results.
Some previous adjustments to avoid errors with the GPS
If we are using an app that uses GPS and it is not working correctly or throws us errors from time to time, we can make the following previous adjustments.
Enable High Accuracy Location
The location service on Android has 3 different modes:
- Device only : Determines the location only with the GPS.
- Battery saver : Determines the location with WiFi, Bluetooth or mobile networks.
- High accuracy : Determines the location with GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth or mobile networks.
Of course, the “high precision” mode is the one that works best, since it uses all the available services to determine our position.
To turn on high-precision pinpointing:
- We go to “ Settings -> Security and location -> Location ” and make sure that Google’s location accuracy is turned on.
- In Android 12 this setting is found within « Settings -> Location -> Location Services -> Google location accuracy «. In other relatively recent versions such as Android 11 or Android 10, for example, this option is found in a very similar place, within « Settings -> Location -> Advanced «.
- In older versions of Android we will find this in “ Settings -> Location ” within the “ Mode ” menu .
It may sound silly, but setting your phone’s location this way fixes a lot of GPS issues. Especially with those phones that have a weak GPS signal .
Check if the app has access to the location service
If we have the problem with a single application, it is convenient to check if the application has location permissions activated . To do this, we follow the following steps:
- We enter « Settings -> Location -> Application permission «.
- Here we will find a list of the applications that we have installed classified into 3 groups: “ Allowed ”, “ Allowed only while in use ” and “ No permission ”.
- If the app appears in the “ No permission ” list, we will click on it and activate the “ Allow if the application is in use ” option.
Leave Wi-Fi on
Some applications and games use assisted location systems . This means that they make use of both GPS satellites, the nearest cell tower and Wi-Fi to locate us in the best possible way.
Therefore, if an app doesn’t locate you correctly on the map, activate your Android’s WiFi signal , even if you can’t connect to any wireless network.
Open Google Maps
This is a rather curious trick. If we open the Google Maps app and leave it running in the background, many apps that make use of GPS suddenly start working correctly.
In other words, if Google Maps locates us correctly, it is most likely that the other apps that we have installed on our mobile will also do so.
Install a GPS signal booster
Another alternative that we can try, especially if our GPS signal is weak, is to install a GPS booster such as « Active GPS – GPS Booster
This free application is responsible for launching a service in the background that keeps the GPS sensor active at all times, avoiding cold starts, and offering more accurate navigation and tracking.
Turn off power saving
When we have a low battery, some Android devices usually activate the “energy saving” mode by default. This is a functionality that modifies the phone’s settings in order to extend the autonomy as much as possible. This entails a drop in screen brightness, but also the deactivation of other services that are not essential or that consume a lot of battery.
GPS service may be liable to be disabled when power saving mode is activated. Enter the settings menu and look for “battery mode” or “power saving mode” and make sure it is not activated. Normally this is a setting that is also usually found in the top quick access menu next to Android notifications.
Likewise, we can also connect the mobile to the charger, which will automatically deactivate the energy saving mode.
Update your maps app
In case the problem is not in your GPS sensor, another action that we should check is the status of our maps app. If Google Maps or the maps tool that we have installed is out of date or has a very old version, it may not work correctly.
- Open the Google Play Store app.
- Locate your map application and enter its tab.
- If you see that the “Update” option is available, click on it.
How to clear cache data and recalibrate GPS on Android
At this point, if the problem we have is that the GPS offers an erroneous location completely far from reality, it is likely that we need to recalibrate it .
There are apps like Fake GPS that are used to manipulate the location of the terminal, and many times they end up causing havoc.
If our GPS works, but is completely disoriented , we can recalibrate it with the “ GPS Status & Toolbox ” app.
To recalibrate the GPS sensor signal we just have to install the app (it’s free) and follow these steps:
- We display the side menu of the app.
- Click on “ Manage A-GPS status ”.
- Select “ Reset ” to clear all GPS cache data .
If after doing this we still have problems with the GPS, we will return to this same menu, and instead of “ Reset ” we will click on “ Download ” to obtain location data from external sources (ie, the Internet). This will make our GPS faster for a few days.
As a detail, mention that “GPS Status & Toolbox” also allows us to recalibrate the compass and the tilt and tilt of the device.
If you’re still getting GPS errors, try the following
If the GPS continues to give us problems there are still a few more things we can check.
Location history on
Some Android apps require location history to be turned on to work properly.
On recent versions of Android:
- Go to « Settings -> Security and location -> Location «.
- Click on “ Google Location History ” and make sure the “ Location History ” tab is activated.
On older versions of Android:
- Go to “ Settings -> Locations -> Location History ”.
- Make sure the “ Activated ” tab is set to “ Yes ” as shown in the image below.
Disable test locations
Unless we like to mess around a lot with our mobile, it is unlikely that this is the cause of our problem. In any case, it never hurts to check it out.
- Go to “ Settings -> System -> Phone info ”.
- Tap 7 times on the build number to bring up the developer options.
- Go back to “ Settings -> System ” and go to “ Developer Options ”.
- Check that no app is selected under “ Choose app to spoof location ”.
- Some versions of Android also have a “ Test Locations ” option . If this is our case, let’s make sure it is disabled.
Clear the data and cache of the app
To finish, if the problem with the GPS signal we are having with a specific application, we must assess that the problem may be in the app and not in our GPS . In this case, it is recommended to clear the cache and data of the application, in case the problem is in a corrupt or temporary file that does not work correctly.
- Make sure the app that is having GPS issues is closed completely.
- Open the Android settings menu and enter the “Applications and notifications” menu.
- In the list of all installed applications, select the app that is giving you problems.
- In the information tab of the app, access the “Storage and cache” menu.
- Click on “Clear cache” and “Clear storage”
Once this is done, restart the application. If the cause of the error was a temporary file or some faulty configuration setting, the GPS will work properly again. Otherwise, it is best to uninstall the app and perform a clean install from scratch .
Do you know any other tips or tricks to fix errors with the GPS signal on Android? If so, do not hesitate to stop by the comments area.
