Root Is gapps required for working gps?

[eviljim]

Hi everyone -

First of all let me say thanks for this awesome resource for rooting and modding android phones. With this forum as a guide, I was able to successfully root my phone and I am now runing the latest PG LG Motion cyanogen mod. The process was extremely well-documented and I felt that I was adequately prepared for every step. Thank you so much!

I opted not to install gapps and i am enjoying having a more lightweight android system. The only issue that I have run into so far is that gps simply does not work without gapps. I have tried replacing gps.conf and gps.default.so with my backed up stock versions, but the phone still refuses to get a fix after as long as 30minutes (after which time I gave up). I even tried replacing libgps.so and libgps.utils.so in system/lib to no avail...

I decided to experiment and tried a factory reset and fresh install with gapps and then gps worked flawlessly and got a fix nearly instantly. I am not a big user of gps services, so I reverted back to the non-gapps (and non-functional gps) system. I have also noticed that my battery life is much better without gapps. Even when gps was turned off, my phone ran hotter and put more of a drain on the battery with gapps.

Note: The battery was an issue before I even thought about rooting and modding the phone. When google updated google+ and maps a few months ago, I had noticed that my phone started running hotter and shorter as a result. I think this has something to do with the gapps location services and media server processes.

Is gapps absolutely neccessary to get gps working or am I missing something here?

Thanks again!
eviljim

 

[SwoRNLeaDejZ]

Hi everyone -

First of all let me say thanks for this awesome resource for rooting and modding android phones. With this forum as a guide, I was able to successfully root my phone and I am now runing the latest PG LG Motion cyanogen mod. The process was extremely well-documented and I felt that I was adequately prepared for every step. Thank you so much!

I opted not to install gapps and i am enjoying having a more lightweight android system. The only issue that I have run into so far is that gps simply does not work without gapps. I have tried replacing gps.conf and gpd.default.so with my backed up stock versions, but the phone still refuses to get a fix after as long as 30minutes (after which time I gave up). I even tried replacing libgps.so and libgps.utils.so in system/lib to no avail...

I decided to experiment and tried a factory reset and fresh install with gapps and then gps worked flawlessly and got a fix nearly instantly. I am not a big user of gps services, so I reverted back to the non-gapps (and non-functional gps) system. I have also noticed that my battery life is much better without gapps. Even when gps was turned off, my phone ran hotter and put more of a drain on the battery with gapps.

Note: The battery was an issue before I even thought about rooting and modding the phone. When google updated google+ and maps updates a few months ago, I had noticed that my phone started running hotter and shorter as a result. I think this has something to do with the gapps location services and media server processes.

Is gapps absolutely neccessary to get gps working or am I missing something here?

Thanks again!
eviljim

This is something that all of us here in the Motion 4G forum have been battling with for months. I'm not sure about Gapps and its effects on the functionality of GPS, but I am sure of one thing: That was the single most well thought out, clearly written, new user first post of all time. Congrats

 

[PlayfulGod]

+1 very nice first post.

I have noticed in a logcat that gps is going nutso and which is whats prolly causing battery life and heat issues. Will look into that more.

Unless you are using an alternate gps app, you need at least the PlayStore and Google Maps.

 

[eviljim]

I never bothered reinstalling gapps - I actually think that my user experience is greatly improved without it... The phone is faster and runs cooler and longer. I have been able to find a lot of great software through F-Droid, including my favorite phone game to date (Andor's Trail).

I just recently grabbed the latest Replicant SDK and am set up to start working on some free games for the F-Droid repos.

It would be interesting to attempt to port Replicant to the Motion, but something tells me the hardware is going to be a pretty impossible issue there...