Help GPS Load Times

[jse2480]

I'm on my third Nexus, and this one finally seemed to be working well. I don't want to have to part with it.

Question is, how long does it normally take for you all to get GPS signal? I feel that I will start Navigation, or open maps, or some other activity and it just keeps searching and searching without finding a signal.

I also use GPS Status from time to time and it shows the phone sees the satellites (perhaps from the a-gps download), and it often takes close to 90s or more before the first gps-fix.

After it finally finds signal the first time though, subsequent attempts at opening gps enabled apps get a first fix much faster (around 10-15 sec). I feel like on the previous two phones that the fix was in less than 5 sec all the time.

Is it possible there's some way this is a hardware issue, if it eventually finds the signal?

 

[Lucky Armpit]

Mine always takes quite a long time to lock onto a satellite (+1 minute or longer) but it always locks on. It just takes a while. Longer than my Droid X ever did.

 

[jkc120]

I wonder if the barometer only helps a lot in bad (or low pressure) situations.

The reason I say that is when I had my original (release day) nexus, it locked in < 1 minute. Probably 15-20 seconds. BUT, it was overcast and rainy that day.

Never really used the GPS on this Nexus (purchased later) and it takes 5+ minutes to lock onto the GPS signal. If I turn it off and turn it back on in the same location without a reboot after a couple hours and it locks much more quickly. But the 5+ minute thing has been happening a lot here, but then again it's been very clear and sunny. It's dreary now, I should check how long it locks

 

[arche3]

Less than 5 seconds. NYC/NJ area.

 

[jkc120]

Just tested outside in drizzle and it locked in 2s...I definitely think it is faster in low pressure...

 

[ANewDay]

Mine takes less than 5s.

 

[drhill]

The more often you use it the quicker it works as well. I believe most gps chipsets try to use your last known position to do some number crunching quicker.

 

[dhworph]

just took between 30-40 seconds to get my position on Gmaps, however, I was counting time while moving my phone around to try and get a signal -- had to hold it up to the window... in a cabin in canyon in the mountains. Sometimes it is buggy, but normally it locks pretty fast when I'm out in the open.

I cleared the map, exited, turned off gps, and then held it up to the window straight away and turned gps back on and opened maps... it found my location in 11s that time (from opening of maps).

 

[jse2480]

After the first time, it then finds it pretty quickly. The first time is the inconvenient one though. For example, I was trying to figure out what exit to take while in the car, so I loaded up navigation. Minutes later, it still hadn't locked on, and couldn't tell me where to go. I need it to respond quickly.

 

[Sandroidfan]

Mine used to find GPS lock pretty quick in less than 10 seconds. But it got worse now and it sometimes takes more than a minute, somewhat annoying. It seems to get faster if GPS map is used often though. I normally keep GPS off for battery saving and wonder if keeping it on will help GPS lock quicker.

 

[trophynuts]

5 seconds in South Korea atm

 

[eaknet]

Mine used to find GPS lock pretty quick in less than 10 seconds. But it got worse now and it sometimes takes more than a minute, somewhat annoying. It seems to get faster if GPS map is used often though. I normally keep GPS off for battery saving and wonder if keeping it on will help GPS lock quicker.

I have been reading power saving threads (incidentally just picked up a 3800mAh from Seidio so power is no longer an issue), and many claim leaving GPS on is OK these days; that Android is behaving like iOS and only powering it up while needed. I'm testing this now, but I suspect the same as above, that it will lock more quickly when left on and/or used frequently.

 

[eaknet]

As I suspected, leaving the GPS on gives an instant fix. <2 seconds. This makes me think maybe the GPS is constantly running or is getting a fix every X number of minutes. I'll watch my battery life to see what happens.

 

[jse2480]

Cool, I guess I can try that out as well... doesn't seem to make too much sense to me though. I don't recall having this problem on my Moto Droid. It would lock on in less than 10 seconds, indoors.

Let us know what you find. I'll try this as well, but I don't often have the need come up where I need to test it. I do find, though, that once that initial minute long gps fix happens, it will find GPS pretty quickly the next bunch of times. You sure that's not the case in your hypothesis as well? Perhaps you're checking it often?

EDIT: Out of curiosity, for those of you who said it locks in very quickly, do you leave GPS on all the time, or turn it on only when it's needed?

 

[jkc120]

Cool, I guess I can try that out as well... doesn't seem to make too much sense to me though. I don't recall having this problem on my Moto Droid. It would lock on in less than 10 seconds, indoors.

It makes sense when you factor in Samsung's history of poorly performing GPS hardware The barometer addition may have improved it somewhat, but at least from a "cold boot" of the GPS hardware, it's very slow for me.

I'm curious to see how the battery life is leaving GPS on as well. I think as long as nothing is asking for the location via GPS, it shouldn't really drain the battery much. I'm guessing if you don't have anything asking for the location and you look at the battery info, you shouldn't regions of "GPS on" at all, and that would indicate little to no effect on battery.

 

[jse2480]

It makes sense when you factor in Samsung's history of poorly performing GPS hardware The barometer addition may have improved it somewhat, but at least from a "cold boot" of the GPS hardware, it's very slow for me.

I'm curious to see how the battery life is leaving GPS on as well. I think as long as nothing is asking for the location via GPS, it shouldn't really drain the battery much. I'm guessing if you don't have anything asking for the location and you look at the battery info, you shouldn't regions of "GPS on" at all, and that would indicate little to no effect on battery.

Well, I do use Latitude, and I also notice that Facebook will use GPS for location. Like we've said, it shouldn't use too much battery, and I always had it on on my Moto Droid. I wouldn't be too worried about batt consumption, howwwwever, if it takes a super long time to lock on to GPS, that timecould potentially be significant, no?

 

[Sandroidfan]

As I suspected, leaving the GPS on gives an instant fix. <2 seconds. This makes me think maybe the GPS is constantly running or is getting a fix every X number of minutes. I'll watch my battery life to see what happens.

I also noticed that GPS lock is pretty quick if GPS radio is left on. Strangely I didn't have to leave it on for fast lock for first a few weeks of getting my Nexus. don't know what has changed on my phone since then.
At least I can get fast GPS fix this way. Impact on battery is still early to tell, but so far it doesn't seem to take any noticeable hit.

 

[jkc120]

Well, I do use Latitude, and I also notice that Facebook will use GPS for location. Like we've said, it shouldn't use too much battery, and I always had it on on my Moto Droid. I wouldn't be too worried about batt consumption, howwwwever, if it takes a super long time to lock on to GPS, that timecould potentially be significant, no?

Sorry, I misunderstood what you were saying. So you are saying you didn't notice a major drop in battery while leaving the GPS on all the time on the OG droid?

It would probably be a minimal drain compared to 4G and screen. I'm looking forward to eaknet's results as far as battery is concerned. If it's imperceptible, I'll probably just leave GPS enabled 24x7. As it is, I get terrific battery life, so even losing 1 hour (out of 30-40 or more) isn't a big deal to me if it means instantaneous GPS lock!

 

[jkc120]

I also noticed that GPS lock is pretty quick if GPS radio is left on. Strangely I didn't have to leave it on for fast lock for first a few weeks of getting my Nexus. don't know what has changed on my phone since then.
At least I can get fast GPS fix this way. Impact on battery is still early to tell, but so far it doesn't seem to take any noticeable hit.

Hmm has anything changed since then for you? Are you running a different ROM or in a different area? Or perhaps has the weather changed since the first few weeks? The reason I ask is I have noticed it locks on faster (at least in the minimal tests I've done) in cloudy/rainy conditions (read: lower atmospheric pressure), which could be related to how the barometer helps the GPS lock.

 

[Sandroidfan]

Hmm has anything changed since then for you? Are you running a different ROM or in a different area? Or perhaps has the weather changed since the first few weeks? The reason I ask is I have noticed it locks on faster (at least in the minimal tests I've done) in cloudy/rainy conditions (read: lower atmospheric pressure), which could be related to how the barometer helps the GPS lock.

Mine is still on stock OS. Good points on barometer with weather change. But it didn't change much here other than getting a little warmer than when I got nexus.

 

[jkc120]

Mine is still on stock OS. Good points on barometer with weather change. But it didn't change much here other than getting a little warmer than when I got nexus.

Yeah it was just an observation based on anecdotal evidence. The first time I used the GPS it was a dreary/rainy day on the east coast and it locked in a couple of seconds. Other times I've tried lately have been 5+ minutes. Then a little while back I tried it when leaving my house (walking) and it was cloudy/etc outside and it locked quickly. However, it could just have been that I was still inside my house's wifi range and it was able to use that to speed up the GPS fix. I'll have to test it out in various places (with and without wifi being connected) to rule that out.

 

[jse2480]

Sorry, I misunderstood what you were saying. So you are saying you didn't notice a major drop in battery while leaving the GPS on all the time on the OG droid?

It would probably be a minimal drain compared to 4G and screen. I'm looking forward to eaknet's results as far as battery is concerned. If it's imperceptible, I'll probably just leave GPS enabled 24x7. As it is, I get terrific battery life, so even losing 1 hour (out of 30-40 or more) isn't a big deal to me if it means instantaneous GPS lock!

I guess that is what I'm saying. I meant I always had it enabled on that phone, and didn't notice any significant battery loss that I'd associate with GPS usage. However, I also got very quick locks, and if it takes minutes to find the signal, the drop could turn out to be significant. Can't say without any data to back it up.. let us know what you find in your experiment. I often use GPS status, which will actually tell you your time to first fix.

I do find it odd that anything would be different from simply leaving GPS enabled. What could it be doing?

 

[hurricane630]

I don't get much battery drain with gps constantly on. I always have it enabled because I was PLAGUED with my OG droid not being able to pick up a location EVER if I didn't leave it on all the time, but it drained the battery. It doesn't drain my battery on my gnex and I get a location instantly everytime.

 

[drhill]

I don't get much battery drain with gps constantly on. I always have it enabled because I was PLAGUED with my OG droid not being able to pick up a location EVER if I didn't leave it on all the time, but it drained the battery. It doesn't drain my battery on my gnex and I get a location instantly everytime.

That's because GPS is only really "ON" when an app is explicitly using it. The GPS "On" setting switch is just a permission. It allows apps to use GPS. Unless you wear a tinfoil hat you are only doing yourself a disservice by turning off GPS.