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Help "Searching for GPS"

J

jconway23

Member
Since this past weekend my phone is constantly searching for GPS. Its smoking my battery life. Now of course indoors it won't find good signal. But why all of the sudden is my phone doing this. I didn't nothing to it. I'm guessing an app updated and this is whats causing it. But how in the world do I find out what app it is.

I've rebooted the phone multiple times and it still does it.

Suggestions are welcome. LoL

Jesse
 
jconway23 said:
Since this past weekend my phone is constantly searching for GPS. Its smoking my battery life. Now of course indoors it won't find good signal. But why all of the sudden is my phone doing this. I didn't nothing to it. I'm guessing an app updated and this is whats causing it. But how in the world do I find out what app it is.

I've rebooted the phone multiple times and it still does it.

Suggestions are welcome. LoL

Jesse
Click to expand...

As in, it does not acquire a lock? Not in navigation or anything?
You didn't install any new apps recently?
 
I believe this related to the Jellybean upgrade. Prior to the upgrade, my GPS was absolutely flawless, the best of any phone I've ever owned. Once I upgraded to Jellybean (on AT&T, for full disclosure) I began seeing this message. It is massively frustrating; you can be in the middle of navigating somewhere and the phone will suddenly lose any GPS connection.

I think this is clearly a GPS driver issue in Jellybean. The only solution is to reboot the phone, and everything goes back to normal. Until it happens again.

I'll also add that I recently did a factory reset and that problem persists, even in my current minimalist configuration.

I'll also note, unrelated, that battery usage after resetting is just awesome. My resting usage (according to Battery Monitor Widget Pro) is typically less than 50mA and I can go 15-18 hours on a single charge with regular use.
 
Mikestony said:
As in, it does not acquire a lock? Not in navigation or anything?
You didn't install any new apps recently?
Click to expand...

No recent apps installed. Some may have updated but I don't know.

And GPS does work.I use Foursquare all the time and it usually locks on quick.
 
cmusciano said:
I believe this related to the Jellybean upgrade. Prior to the upgrade, my GPS was absolutely flawless, the best of any phone I've ever owned. Once I upgraded to Jellybean (on AT&T, for full disclosure) I began seeing this message. It is massively frustrating; you can be in the middle of navigating somewhere and the phone will suddenly lose any GPS connection.

I think this is clearly a GPS driver issue in Jellybean. The only solution is to reboot the phone, and everything goes back to normal. Until it happens again.

I'll also add that I recently did a factory reset and that problem persists, even in my current minimalist configuration.

I'll also note, unrelated, that battery usage after resetting is just awesome. My resting usage (according to Battery Monitor Widget Pro) is typically less than 50mA and I can go 15-18 hours on a single charge with regular use.
Click to expand...

I've had Jellybean for a few months now. This really wasn't an issue till this past Friday or Saturday. I only noticed it cause my battery dies very fast. I didn't really leave my house this past weekend either. Phone was just sitting on the table and I wasn't using it all that much.
 
Are you sure the GPS is what is killing battery?
Download GsamBattery Monitor from the PlayStore.
After a full charge, use it as normal then check it out at the end of the day to see what apps or processes are using the most battery.:)

Edit: Gsam is free in the Play Store.
I dont use that particular app, I use BatteryMonitorWidget Pro just like cmusciano or another fantastic app is Better Battery Stats--not free but very good
 
Mikestony said:
Are you sure the GPS is what is killing battery?
Download GsamBattery Monitor from the PlayStore.
After a full charge, use it as normal then check it out at the end of the day to see what apps or processes are using the most battery.:)

Edit: Gsam is free in the Play Store.
I dont use that particular app, I use BatteryMonitorWidget Pro just like cmusciano or another fantastic app is Better Battery Stats--not free but very good
Click to expand...

Well I'm pretty my issue is still GPS related. However I downloaded that widget so I will see how it goes. Last night before I went to bed my phone was around 50% Woke up to my alarm on it this morning and the phone was at 1% Connected to wifi in my house of course but I didn't do a thing on it since i was sleeping.

I messed with the google services and when I shut off the GPS feature under google services the icon on the status bar goes away. But thats only because my GPS is off at the point. I'm thinking its GPS only because the icon was never there (unless in use) prior to this past weekend.
 
Sitting at work right now with my phone connected to my PC to charge. No reason to use GPS at all but yet this is what its doing. Again...has to be related to an app. I can clear memory and all running apps but it still does this. I have Wifi off cause I have my AP down in my office.


gps search by JesseC1006, on Flickr
 
4u8yvu8u.jpg

....Looks like mine when that app GPS Status is running.^^^^^^^^^ click "show"
Just for giggles, uninstall that app "GPS Status".
 
Yeah with that App prior to this past weekend it never showed that. I actually uninstalled that app when I first posted this message and it still was searching.....
 
jconway23 said:
No.....Prior to my original post. I tend to try and fix the issue myself before asking for help. Being a computer guy I guess I'm trained that way. LoL
Click to expand...

I guess I'm a little confused, sorry, but prior to your OP, you uninstalled the GPS Status app. But in your screenshot, it shows it running.
Like I said, I may be confused so I am sorry.
 
Mikestony said:
I guess I'm a little confused, sorry, but prior to your OP, you uninstalled the GPS Status app. But in your screenshot, it shows it running.
Like I said, I may be confused so I am sorry.
Click to expand...

Yeah thats what I did. However since then I re-installed it. Sorry for the confusion....
 
o.k..here is my suggestion.
Charge your phone overnight. Use it like you would normally during the day.
Then at night, check the Gsam Battery monitor to see what apps are using the battery and perhaps it will narrow it down to an app the utilizes the GPS.
The other thing to check, is in menu/settings/location services and just have the one box checked next to "Standalone GPS services".
Leave the other 2 options UNchecked.
 
I used to use gps with ice cream sandwich. Ever since the jellybean update I can't use gps at all. When I go into the nav app and turn on gps it just searches for my location without any success. I open the app and it searches for a bit and then just closes the app.
 
mikes1 said:
I used to use gps with ice cream sandwich. Ever since the jellybean update I can't use gps at all. When I go into the nav app and turn on gps it just searches for my location without any success. I open the app and it searches for a bit and then just closes the app.
Click to expand...

I read that alot of people have that issue. However thats not the case for me. In fact I think it even works better. "GPS Status" probably helps from what it sounds like its doing its job. But something is constantly keeping my GPS on and I swear its smoking my battery. Plus the icon in the status bar is there all the time now.
 
My GPS will not lock on a satellite at all since the Jellybean update. It always says searching for GPS. It was flawless prior to the update.
 
Yeah I don't have that issue. I have the battery app suggested in the above posts and it says my screen is eating battery. My phone just came off the charger (about an hour now) and its down to 78% got two phone calls and checked my Facebook and email. No reason it should be that low that fast.
 
Scratch that. Was using foursquare this morning and I noticed my GPS was a little off. Well....I rebooted my phone and now its back to GPS constantly on. I know its an app causing this. I just wish I can narrow it down to which one. I've turned off location settings in several app and still nothing. I have a strange feeling its a widget or something but I don't know.

I google'd this somewhat error and it appears alot of people are having this issue. Yes I can turn GPS off but I use it all the time with the foursquare app as well as a few others. Toggling it on and off would be more of pain.
 
Go into GSam app and click on the oil can symbol at the bottom left. Tap on the header of that screen and pic "View GPS Time Used". This will show you a list of apps using GPS and for how long. You can pick each app for more detailed stats. This should let you know what is driving the GPS issue.
 
svensett said:
Go into GSam app and click on the oil can symbol at the bottom left. Tap on the header of that screen and pic "View GPS Time Used". This will show you a list of apps using GPS and for how long. You can pick each app for more detailed stats. This should let you know what is driving the GPS issue.
Click to expand...

Well thanks for this info. I might be on to something now. Did what ya said and it was showing the Cabelas app (which I won't use) whacking my GPS for some reason. Couldn't even see any settings in there to turn it off. Just rebooted my phone now so I'll see how it goes.
 
Son of a gun I think it worked. FU Cabelas App. LoL Man I owe ya......Now to figure out how to use this battery monitor. It looks pretty cool. Lol
 
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