OS and Software > Android > [Mods] Speeding up GPS on the Android

[Mods] Speeding up GPS on the Android

From looking at the proposed 'fix, it seems that the objective there is to ensure the availability of a synchronized NTP time server to the GPS location algorithm in the smartphone.

This sort of suggests to me that the real problem is that (some) smartphones don't automatically synch their time signals, either because they've never been configured to do so or because they're configured to the wrong time servers. Is that correct?

The concept of needing 5 to 15 minutes to get a GPS lock blows my mind.
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Regards,
Joseph V. Morris

reply to stev32k
This is the app you are showing: »play.google.com/store/apps/detai···0dXMyIl0.

I use it for my Thunderbolt. You are able to clear your GPS state/cache & download fresh GPS locations. Comes in handy when you are traveling. It's an easy app to use. It shows speed, altitude, pitch, etc.. I like the Radar feature that they have.

It does require root.
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"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” - Edmund Burke

reply to stev32k
Don't know if it's related or not but I was having a terrible time getting my phone to work with GPS, too, but this last OS upgrade made that problem go away.

reply to stev32k
I've never had any problem with GPS on my Droid2. Though the elevation between my car GPS unit and phone differs by about 100ft. I'm not sure which one is more accurate.
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What smells like blue?

reply to jvmorris

reply to djtim21

reply to stev32k
Okay, this is getting interesting. I extracted the gps.conf file from my GARMINfone and it's interestingly different from that in the external post you cited. I suspect that is because it's using a unique GARMIN-developed chipset. It appears to provide several settings that are simply not present in the more generic GPS chipsets, so I think it would be best if I not post it because it might cause far more problems that it would solve, if anyone tried to use it.

One difference is that the GARMIN chipset seems to be able to function without a data connection (which I know is true) whereas it seems most of the more generic smartphones use (but the GARMINfone will use one if it can get one). Also, the GARMINfone discards low accuracy signals and apparently stops searching after 30 seconds (by default). These two factors probably play in both the quicker response time and the higher accuracies I typically see. (Outside under canopy I can get accuracies of less than 20 feet routinely and I've verified them by geolocating known survey markers available from separate sources.)

I also found an earlier source for the gps.conf file that you referenced that refers to gpsonextra.net for the NTP server, followed by a subsequent post in which someone fiddling around they got faster responsiveness (not sure about accuracy) by going to a local regional NTP server.

And, for anyone who'd like to understand a bit more about all of this, I found several interesting article on GPS, A-GPS, and GPSONEtra, particularly those at »www.gsmarena.com/glossary.php3?t···sonextra and »androidforums.com/lenovo-lephone···nce.html .
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Regards,
Joseph V. Morris

When I get some time I'm going to try different servers. Like NIST, Ga Tech, and FL State to see if there is any difference vs the generic U.S pool.org. May try that tomorrow.

Yes, that could be very interesting.

I just got 7 secs and 36 feet walking out onto my basement patio (in a pouring rain). The error will slowly improve during the course of the next 10 to 20 seconds.

I've now seen at least one reference to rooting the GARMINfone (which I had thought was likely impossible), and I would have to do that to play around myself. Only thing is I want to know I'm not going to screw anything up in the process. The old "If it ain't broke, don't fix it..." thingy.
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Regards,
Joseph V. Morris

reply to stev32k
When the phone is rooted you can back up a file, make any changes you want and if they don't work go back to the original. I've done that many times. Most of the time my changes don't work and in some cases have completely hosed the phone, but I've always been able to recover.

The gps.conf file is particularly easy to mess around with and recover if it goes bad. Just save a copy on the SD card as gps.txt then copy it to the /etc folder delete the messed up file and rename gps.txt to gps.conf and you are back in business.

reply to djtim21

That's the same app.

The need for rooting is not the app, but rather the ability to change the configuration of the app (at least for most of us).

Specifically to change the NTP time servers used and (possibly) other configuration parameters that are not accessible through the "Settings" choice of the Menu key.
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Regards,
Joseph V. Morris

reply to stev32k
Oh I forgot to download this app again after I changed roms.

reply to stev32k
Interesting so many are so concerned with exactly where they are.
Maybe it just being on a small island I know where I am.... traveling maybe another story.

But I have disabled GPS, just for batt drain. Still sort of scary how accurate they can be just from WiFi IP's these days. Turn on the GPS might be 20 feet away.
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I don't think there are really all that many of us who necessarily have a need for highly accurate and timely GPS location information (certainly not based on the level of interest in GPS demonstrated in this very forum). Still, for those of us who find ourselves in such situations, the ready availability of accurate, timely location information (and right on our smartphones) wins hands-down against having to also carry a hand-held GPS unit (often forgotten and left behind) or no information at all.

Driving on the left (in the UK or, say, Japan) and having to navigate through a maze of unfamiliar and often complex interchanges on a motorway quickly and accurately is one example.

Walking across an English moor (or the Pacific Northwest) and encountering bad weather is another.

And, finally, waking up in strange surroundings after an overindulgent night on the town, one likes to quickly figure out where one is (and where one left the car).

But you're certainly correct about disabling GPS when you don't need it. That probably produces more savings in battery life on a smartphone than anything else.
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Regards,
Joseph V. Morris

Well all I can say for the GPS (before I turned it of and again how scary close wild Wifi is to where you are)

You need it turn it on otherwise ( know enough of where you are) disable it if batt consumption an issue... it will save power.
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reply to stev32k
It appears that you keep your original entries in this. My only semi-stupid question is this: Does a satellite radio setup interfere with this at all?
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