What to do if there is no GPS on Android. Speed ​​up GPS, GPS reception is bad, problems with GPS? Solution: Speed ​​up GPS on Android

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Many owners of phones running the Android operating system are faced with a problem when the built-in GPS module refuses to find GPS satellites or finds them but cannot connect. There may be several reasons for this behavior of the module, let’s consider the main ones:

The parameters for connecting to satellites are entered incorrectly in the settings file;

An A-GPS module is installed, which often does not find satellites on the phone on its own;

The module is not working.

I would like to look into the problem with the A-GPS (Assisted GPS) module, since Chinese phones that have it in 98% of cases are now extremely popular and are pushing global brands out of the market.

How does A-GPS work?

The main difference from the standard GPS module is that it connects not only with satellites, but also with mobile operator towers, which significantly improves the quality of location determination. When this function is enabled, the phone often cannot connect to GPS satellites itself and requires a “Full restart”, even if it was just turned on. This is not a problem with the Chinese phones themselves, but rather with the A-GPS module, which costs a penny compared to GPS, and therefore works accordingly. Let's figure out how to set up GPS on Android.

How to determine whether an A-GPS or GPS module is on your phone?

If you have a phone with two SIM cards and made in China, there is a 99.9% chance that you have A-GPS. But to make sure of this, you can go to the engineering menu. This will begin the process of fixing the issue of a broken connection with satellites.

To enter the engineering menu, you need to dial the following number in your phone: *#*#3646633#*#*. If the combination does not work, you can try entering *#15963#* or *#*#4636#*#*, however, in this case your menu may be different.

After entering the phrase, you are automatically taken to the engineering menu and will see a window with the following content:

You need to move to the left, scrolling through the settings pages to the “Location” tab.

Now select the first option “Location Based Service”. If you have the A-GPS tab, then follow the further settings. Otherwise, this article will not help you much.

Setting up GPS on Android

If you have an A-GPS tab, go straight to it. You should have a window that looks like this:

Compare the settings with yours, adjust if necessary, according to the screenshots:

If everything is written correctly, you can go back one level to selecting the “Location” items and go to “YGPS”.

Here you see that your GPS module does not find satellites, or rather, it finds, but does not connect due to incorrect inclusion:

You need the "Information" tab. The main manipulations will be carried out in it.

As you can see, the status is “UNANVAILABLE”, and TTFF is stuck forever searching. No matter how long you wait, nothing will change.

The essence of fixing the eternal search is to do a “Full” reset, and then, after 2-3 seconds, click on “A-GPS Restart”. Those. you reset the frozen search process to zero, thereby overwriting all preset settings, and immediately reboot the module. Not having time to pick up the standard configuration (incorrect), the module finds all the satellites from scratch.

After 10-20 seconds, on the “Satellites” tab you will see satellite signals, and after another half a minute the module will successfully connect to them.

The search was done from the 1st side of the house, on the balcony, respectively; nothing was found on the second hemisphere. You will find all your companions on the road.

Don't you like that the GPS on your Android takes too long to "search for and acquire satellites"? The location accuracy is worse than 10 meters? Did you think that “this is how GPS actually works”? Nothing like this. Your GPS can provide an accuracy of +-5 meters, or even more accurately. And I will tell you how to achieve this. And no more “patches” or third-party and “gemorrhagic” in the use of “GPS utilities that speed up the search for satellites and increase accuracy.” Everything you need is in your device. The manufacturer simply enters “medium-light” “calibrations” there - naturally, he won’t calibrate each phone individually. And where is the manufacturer? In China, but you need to calibrate where you actually use it. The instructions below were collected by me from different sources in parts and checked, except for the part “ensuring maximum accuracy,” which I will check later and make an addition, but even without it, time “ Cold start" GPS, after rebooting the phone, it was possible to bring it to less than 20 seconds, instead of 1-2 minutes before calibration. At the same time, the capture of the first satellites occurs in less than 3-4 seconds, and “GPS capture” (localization by satellites, when the “GPS search” stops blinking and the body switches to working on satellites) - less than 10 seconds (sometimes up to 40 seconds, but less often - depending on the accuracy of your smart watch and satellite visibility).
To decide which one you prefer, you can read impressions of both methods here:. I personally recommend the “native GPS calibration method” (described below) - it gives the same results, and in my opinion is much preferable and easier to use.
It should be noted that with the help of the program described here: the speed of activation from the “cold” state is still a little faster. but it’s more dangerous, and due to its “deep penetration into the Android GPS system”, it can “throw down” the calibrations of its “native system”, which are discussed below. Plus, everything that needs to be done with its help, before each turn on, the GPS makes the startup using it really slower than in the option outlined in this note.

Added 08/30/2013. Before starting calibration, look at this note and follow the procedures described in it: . This is especially true if you have serious problems with GPS, such as “it holds the satellites very poorly” and the “lock” “falls” at the slightest weakening of the signal, plus after that, the GPS will “hold” more satellites at the same time, which will improve both stability and accuracy . Without these procedures, I could not “bring the GPS back to normal” under JB 4.1.1 Cink King. Then perform calibration according to the method. outlined below in this note.

*italic font The points necessary to achieve generally theoretically possible accuracy are highlighted. Italics may be omitted, this will slightly reduce the accuracy (actually 2 times), and will not affect the “cold start” speed.
**Before the procedure, find out the code for the engineering menu of your device - you will need it.

1. GPS accuracy, and especially the speed of “capture after a cold start,” greatly depend on the accuracy of the time setting on your device. Usually, in the “Date and Time” settings, “synchronize time over the network” is set. I had it too. But as it turned out, the device uses the operator’s cellular signal to set the time, which in some cases can give time setting accuracy worse than + - several minutes, and in my case (Kyiv, Life operator) it gave a difference from real time of as much as 3 seconds. In general, feces, and not “exact time signals”. There is also the option to “determine the time using GPS,” but if you don’t live in a village, then this will consume a lot of battery, and will be of little use - neither in an apartment, nor on the subway, nor in a minibus, nor in the office... Well, you get the idea.
   Therefore, let us first take care of setting the most accurate possible time. To do this, I installed the free ClockSync program, from here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ru.org.amip.ClockSync&hl=ru, you can also get it from here: http://4pda. ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=171610 . You can also use the technique that I described here: - it does not require installing additional programs, but it does require manual editing of several system configuration files.
   Next, we decide on the reference exact time server that we will use. It is important that it be as close to you as possible and that the ping time to it be minimal. To begin with, the addresses of the “pools” - for Ukraine this is ua.pool.ntp.org, for Russia ru.pool.ntp.org. If you are in another country, look here: http://www.pool.ntp.org/ru/.
   Now we launch the terminal, and in it the command “ping ua.pool.ntp.org”, and look at the response time. We do this 10 times - each time it will contact a random “pool” server, and usually a different one. Even for Ukraine, the “response” time for different servers ranges from 5 to 60ms (on land), let alone Russia with its size. Accordingly, we write down the IP address of the server whose response time is minimal. We will use it.
   Launch the installed ClockSync program, Menu > settings. The first item is "NTP server". Enter the selected IP address there. Next, check the “automatic synchronization” box, then select “Interval”. The smaller the interval, the more often the synchronization will take place, and this means “a little traffic and a lot of battery”, on the other hand, my device “goes away” by as much as 160-180 milliseconds in 3 hours... I settled on 3 hours for now. Next You don’t have to check the “exact interval” checkbox - it will save the battery a little, I personally checked the “High precision mode” - check it, especially since synchronization will sometimes take place through cellular data transmission at a very unstable speed (you don’t have to check it - the accuracy will drop, but the accuracy will drop). Battery consumption will be significantly reduced during synchronization). We also set “detect time zone”
   Exit the settings menu, click “menu”, and select “synchronize” - how much your device is “past time” can be seen on the screen. Yes, in the settings menu after a day you can see how fast/late your device’s clock is per day (my Fly IQ 450 is 9.21 seconds per day).
   PS automatic time synchronization is only possible on a “rooted” device. If you are not rooted, there is a “manual mode” in the program, but the accuracy will not be the same.
   Note - added later. There is also a second way to accurately synchronize time, without installing an additional program, I described it here:. After comparing the results, I chose this method, but it requires some editing of the configuration files.
   It is also advisable, if you have a rooted device, to edit the /system/etc/gps.conf file. Namely, in the first line, after “NTP_SERVER=", replace the “default” one indicated there with a more suitable one for your country - for example, for Ukraine at ua.pool.ntp.org, or even with a previously defined IP address, but this will less universal and sometimes fraught with failures if a specific server does not work, so ua.pool.ntp.org is more universal, but the IP address in this field can further speed up the initial cold start. Editing can be done using "Root Explorer".
   Over time we figured it out. Further.
2. Let's go to the phone settings. Location. We mark the items: “By network coordinates”, “GPS satellites”, “Auxiliary data”, “AGPS”, the rest is “to taste”. Now go to the "EPO Settings" item. Turn off "EPO" during calibration. Everybody is here.
3. Launching Google Earth , In the settings, we switch it to show coordinates in the format of degrees and fractions. We are looking for a place nearby where we will carry out calibration. It should be a fairly open place, such as a square. We select the point where we will stand during calibration (select signs to stand exactly at it later), point the cursor at it, and write down the shown coordinates to the last digit. The preparation is over - let's go "to the field" :) with the phone.
4. If you used p3- we stand EXACTLY at the point we previously selected. Launch "root explorer", go to the /data/misc folder, delete the mtkgps.dat file. We download the latest AGPS data - for example, through the GPS Status program (menu>tools>AGPS Data>Download). We check the time, for example with the ClockSync program (we check it several times, look at the typical deviation, and then click synchronize - how to use the program and where to get it - see earlier in the article on time calibration). Go to the engineering menu, LocationBasedServices, select “GPS” in the menu, and press the “GPS” button (the inscription on it will change from OFF to ON). Go to "View". We wait until the “fix” appears (the GPS indicator stops blinking), and then for at least another 2 minutes. Then click RefPosition, and in the windows that appear, enter the coordinates previously written out from Google Earth for the point where you are calibrating (there will be zeros there). Click "OK". Go to the View screen again, and wait after the "fix" for at least 2x minutes, preferably 5 minutes. We go back to the engineering menu. If step 3 was not performed, simply choose any fairly open place. Taking out- don’t even try to do the calibration on the balcony or “from the window” - you’ll only make it worse.
5. ****Before calibration, you can also check the correct choice of SIM card for AGPS - if your cellular operator is “glitchy”, and there are two cards and two operators, then you can choose a less buggy one, this, if “buggy” was selected, can significantly speed up the operation of GPS, ATO and “revive” “GPS that is completely not working”, the procedure is described at the very end of the note.
6. Go to the "Engineering Menu"(for my FLY IQ 450 and many Chinese clones, this is the code *#*#3646633#*#*, which we dial where you usually dial the phone number when calling, you may have a different one). Find "YGPS location" and launch it. Hold your phone vertically.
7. Go to the Information tab. Click the "Full" button.
8. Go to the "Satellites" tab, wait for at least 5 satellites to appear (preferably more - I had 11 of them when setting up), and after they “appear and turn green”, wait at least another 2 minutes, holding the device motionless (it can be longer - it won’t be worse - only better ). This is the initial calibration. It took me about 3 minutes, but for some devices, according to reviews, it can take up to half an hour.
9. Go to Information", click "Cold". Continue as in point 8. Repeat point 9 3 times. More is possible.
10. Back to Information. Click "Warm". further as in paragraph 8. There is no need to repeat it anymore.
11. Back to Information". Click "Hot". Continue as in step 8.
12. If you followed step 3, go to the engineering menu, select the "LocationBasedService" item, go to the "View" tab (remember to activate GPS as described in step 4), and wait until the maximum satellites are determined. Minimum 7, better more (the more, the more accurate the calibration), and after the maximum is determined, wait another 2 minutes. Then go to the tab GPS, and click "RefPosition". You will have two numbers, from the one you previously recorded using Google Earth, they will most likely differ in thousandths. Correct both to those that you wrote down earlier in step 3. Click "OK". Now go to the GPS tab and wait for 5 minutes holding the phone motionless. Here in this place - the longer the better. The GPS program, having received real coordinates, compares them with those that it “obtains” and makes corrections. clarifying them. Below in the window you will see a “process” counter and data that changes from time to time.
13. Exit the engineering menu and reboot the phone.
14. All. We rejoice in the fast and accurate GPS.

PS If you are also going to use the program described here: then please note that you need to calibrate after installing it. And if it is uninstalled, calibrate it again - it resets the calibration data during uninstallation, and the GPS again begins to “search for satellites for several minutes.” Loading its “acceleration” data does not SEEM to affect the calibration, but it also makes no sense - the difference in speed is “within the limits of statistical error.” But it seems that the real accuracy is a little better, with freshly downloaded data (by 20 percent, but also within the statistical error in essence). Also keep in mind that the downloaded data from the above program quickly becomes outdated, and after a day or two, on the contrary, it will slow down the GPS and reduce accuracy (compared to a simply normally calibrated native one using the method described above in this article). Plus, I took it down nafik :) Bo, firstly, is not needed, and secondly, with it you can get “GPS which does not determine anything” if you forgot to download new data. Even if you clicked the “reset downloaded data” button and do not launch the program itself. At least this happened to me once - I didn’t check the rake again.

PPS There are rumors on the net that “turning on EPO data” (specific GPS data for MTK chips), which gives some acceleration of the “cold start”, reduces the number of “captured satellites”. This is unlikely. The number of captured satellites is determined by their “number overhead at the moment” and their height above the horizon (in the city, those above the horizon are usually not visible). But still, when calibrating it is better to turn it off. And use only if you are traveling to a place where the Internet may not be available. Then it will give you a real launch acceleration (it downloads data a month in advance). In a normal situation, it is better to use only AGPS - its data is fresher, and therefore more accurate, so the “start” speed with it is typically higher.

PPPS Below is “reference information” for those who received a device with a completely non-working GPS. It’s worth checking it - the reason may be that you have something different from the following listed in your settings:

In the engineering menu, in the LocationbasedService item, in the AGP tab S:

Enable A-GPS, MSB, User Profile, SLP Template - GOOGLE, supl.google.com, 7275, TLS Enable, RRLP, IMSI, K-Value must be enabled.
Horizontal Accuracy - 22, Vertical Accuracy - 0, Location Age - 0, Delay - 0. Location Estimate is selected.
*********Selecting a SIM card for AGPS
Go to the NET tab - select - click look at the map (Map tab), the address where you are located, or close to it, should appear there. We do the same with . We compare what is more accurate to your real position, and on the AGPS tab select your preferred SIM card.
On the AGPS tab, click
Yes, if any of the things listed in this PS differed from the settings of your device, or if you changed the SIM card to which you have AGPS attached, you need to perform a new calibration.

PS About the influence of clock accuracy on the GPS cold start time.

From the “inconvenient place” - a balcony, everything on top is covered with concrete, a courtyard-well - houses on 4 sides, the sky is “a piece from above”, 4 satellites are barely visible (then you can barely see 3, and the 4th one appears and disappears). the phone was calibrated according to the method outlined above (before calibration, there was no capture at all under these conditions). The clock “lags” by ~160ms (2 hours have passed since the clock was calibrated by the ClockSync program). Cold start time ~250-300 sec. After forced time calibration by the ClockSync program, the “cold start” time is ~100 seconds. However, these are the conditions. in which GPS usually does not work at all, but clearly illustrates the effect of clock accuracy on the “cold start” time.

PPS To force the loading of AGPS data, for example, if you are far from the place where they were downloaded - for example, you went 200 kilometers for fishing/vacation, etc., and the AGPS data downloaded at home has become irrelevant, which can negatively affect the “cold start” time.

You can use the GPS Status program from here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eclipsim.gpsstatus2&hl=ru. Launch this program. At the bottom left under the “coordinate circle” is the age of the AGPS data in hours. Click Menu > Tools > A-GPS Data. Then "download".

Today, all modern smartphones are equipped with a built-in GPS module that shows your location. You can use your smartphone as a navigator while playing sports or driving, and you can also use it to get up-to-date news or weather information in your city. Now let's figure out how to check the operation of GPS on Android, that is, whether the location module works on your device or not.

There are 2 options to resolve this issue, simple using the application, and a little more complicated using the standard capabilities of your smartphone (engineering menu).

Checking and setting up GPS using the app

Based on all the applications that we tried, the simplest and most effective turned out to be. This program can quickly help you find all the satellites in your region, pre-configure them and, possibly, use other functions.

Features of the GPS Test program for Android

• Shows information about visible satellites;
• Shows active satellites currently in use;
• Gives accurate data geopositioning;
• Shows exact coordinates;
• Gives information about the time zone at the location;
• Indicates the position of satellites in the sky;
• Can serve as an electronic compass;
• Provides a variety of data, ranging from time and date to altitude;
• Gives information about sunrise and sunset times in the place where the device is located.

How to check the status of your GPS navigator using GPS Test

We open the application, and if we see the inscription “ 3D Fix“This means that the navigator works correctly and performs all its functions without the slightest problem. Shows " No Fix"? Unfortunately, there is a problem with the device and its smooth operation is impossible.

Constant switching between the above modes may also be due to poor conditions for receiving a GPS signal. This is caused not only by being indoors; even unsuitable weather conditions, such as rain or strong wind, can affect it.

Shows " off"? Everything is simpler here. The receiver is simply turned off. To enable it, we follow a simple procedure: open “Settings”, go to the “Location” item. A new menu called "Location Services" opens. There are three modes in total:

1. "By network coordinates"
2. "GPS satellites"
3. Supporting Data.

To most accurately determine a location, for example, in a car, we recommend activating all items at once. Of the networks, Wi-Fi works best, of course, but if conditions do not allow this (being on the street, etc., as is usually the case), use mobile Internet.

Using this program, you can find out a lot of useful information about your phone and its additional capabilities.

Setting up and adjusting GPS through the engineering menu

This method will help you check the quality of the established standards that indicate how well the GPS on your phone works.

1. To do this, you need to go to the engineering menu. Enter the code (where we usually write the subscriber number) *#*#3646633#*#*;
2. Next you need to find the YGPS item (or something similar);
3. As a result, a map should appear with many yellow dots on it. They may not appear immediately.

Just these points and talk about the number of satellites that were found. If you record the time from the start of scanning until all found satellites are fully loaded, the quality of the installed GPS will become known. Later, this data can be compared with other devices, for example, by taking it from a friend.

Video instruction

Poor performance of GPS satellites indoors

But do not forget that GPS may have poor signal reception when you are standing indoors (especially in a high-rise building) or near electrical appliances. So it is better to use the location function in an open area (street) or, as a last resort, near a window.

It is worth remembering that it is better not to leave GPS on all the time; use it only when necessary. This will save battery charge two or even three times longer. Using widgets, you can turn GPS on or off on your desktop.

09.02.2017 14:36:00

In one of the articles we looked at the question of how to make a TV remote control out of a smartphone.

It is difficult to find a smartphone that is not equipped with a GPS module. Even the most budget gadgets have this useful navigation tool installed. It doesn’t matter what model your smartphone is if you need to get directions or find out the location in an unfamiliar place. To turn on GPS on your smartphone, you don’t need any special knowledge - you press the right button and everything works. But not everyone knows how to configure GPS on Android so that the smartphone’s battery does not overload.

We will tell you about the main stages of setting up GPS, and also recommend several Android applications with which you can check the operation of the GPS module.

GPS does not start automatically on your smartphone. To enable and configure it, you need to dig a little into the settings. In each version of Android, the activation path looks a little different. We will look at the main steps to enable and configure GPS in a smartphone running Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

Stage 1: Turning on

To turn on GPS, slide the notification shade down and click on the bar that displays the time, date, and battery charge. You need to click on the gear icon, after which you will be taken to Settings. In addition, you can get to the settings through the corresponding button in the general menu. Find the Personal Data section and click on the Location button. At the top of the screen there will be a switch that activates GPS.

Stage 2: Setup

By default, the location of the smartphone is determined from all sources. GPS, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and mobile networks data are used to accurately determine the location with an accuracy of 10-15 meters. This function ensures high reliability of geolocation, however, please note that this mode puts a lot of strain on the smartphone’s battery. Therefore, in the settings you can choose one of two economical modes:

• By network coordinates
• By GPS satellites

The first mode uses only Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and mobile network data. It is necessary that the smartphone is connected to the Internet via Wi-Fi, or the user needs to start Bluetooth mode. Without a network connection, the location of the smartphone is determined by the base station signal.

If there is no access to the Internet, and the nearest radio tower is several tens of kilometers away, then you should enable geolocation using GPS satellites.

Once the GPS on your smartphone is turned on and configured, you can safely install the navigator application for Android. The most convenient and functional navigator you can choose is .

To check how GPS works on your smartphone, you can download a special application from the Google Play store. We'll look at three programs available for free download. For them to work properly, you need to go outside.

Other Fly smartphones
All Fly phone models can be found in our online store.

AndroidTS GPS Test Free

OS version: Android 3.0 or later
Download

The application works with the main Russian and foreign navigation systems: GPS, GLONASS, QZSS, BeiDou Satellite Compass, GoogleMaps, OSMDroid OpenStreetMap, BingMap, Yandex. Maps, Map Test, AGPS, MGRS Maidenhead WGS84 Xtra data Datum GPS/KM VMG. Without leaving your home, you can find out your exact coordinates. The main functionality of the application is concentrated in 6 menu items:

• Compass
• Map of satellites in orbit
• Satellite data
• Route data
• Detailed map navigator
• Waypoint table

GPS Test

OS version: Android 4.0 or later
Download

The application allows you to check the quality of GPS signal reception, supporting GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO, SBAS, Beidou and QZSS satellites geolocation systems.

Complete GPS test information is displayed on six main screens:

1. GPS signal (SNR). A chart that shows the signal strength for each satellite, as well as the accuracy and status of the GNSS network.
2. Positions of satellites in the sky.
3. User's current location. Displayed with coordinates on the world map. The position of the sun and the transition curve between day and night are noted. The screen can be used as a navigator.
4. Screen compass
5. Current speed, course and altitude
6. Current GPS reading time and local time in the current time zone, as well as sunrise and sunset data for a given location.

The disadvantage is the lack of Russian language. On the other hand, the application interface is easy to learn.

Navigation in unfamiliar terrain, both in a huge metropolis or a small town, and in a village, in an open field, today is mainly carried out using a smartphone. It is much easier for a person to buy a phone with a built-in GPS module than to deal with maps and ask strangers for directions. Entered the coordinates - here you have a complete route from point A to point B. But not every person can understand modern gadgets, especially if they have not used such devices before.

In this material we will tell you how to set up GPS on Android, what programs can and should be used for navigation, and what to do if GPS stops working correctly!

GPS – help or panacea for the user?

Before moving on to describing the correct settings, it is worth mentioning about this system, namely, its advantages and disadvantages. As you know, the geolocation system allows anyone to know their location, no matter where they are. However, two negative factors can be identified:

1. If you use the GPS option on your Android frequently, you will see that the battery drains quite quickly.
2. The GPS system constantly monitors your movements, and all the data, oddly enough, is stored under your Google account. They even have a special service with which you can view where you were at a certain time, what places you visited, what countries you visited, and much more. And who knows what else Google has left when using this module...

Initial setup

So, you purchased a phone with built-in GPS or it was given to you by relatives. How to configure it? In principle, the service is disabled by default and to configure it you only need to activate it. To do this, go to the “Settings” item and find the tab "My location" and be sure to allow the system access to geodata on your smartphone. Also activate the items "By network coordinates", "By GPS satellites".

In the future, you will only need to tap down on the start screen of your device so that the quick access menu appears and activate the GPS service. There are also usually buttons and tabs for working with wireless networks, mobile networks, and phone brightness. You can also place individual widgets on the desktop to manage services.

The Android operating system usually comes with a location software installed by default. This could be, for example, Google Maps or Yandex Maps, depending on the developers. Despite the fact that all Android phones are initially certified by Google, the software is supplemented by companies that use this operating system in their phones.

Setting up GPS on phones with a Media Tek processor

If you are not aware, all Android phone models are designed and equipped with different processors. Today, one of the leading companies is Media Tek, which provides processors of various configurations for smartphones. It also uses its own technology for the correct and stable operation of GPS modules.

Above we described the standard GPS settings that are present in almost every smartphone. If your device runs on a chipset from Media Tek, then additionally in the settings there will be an item “GPS EPO Assistance Data”. Activate this tab and go to the “EPO Settings” menu. Have you come in? Great! Now activate the Startup tab. Moreover, if at the time of setup you have the opportunity to connect to the Internet, you can immediately download special data that provides information about the position of the satellites. To do this, in this menu you will need to click the “Download” button at the very bottom and wait until the files are downloaded.

GPS setup for advanced users

Attention! This subsection involves not only setting up, but also speeding up the operation of GPS in general on your smartphone. The fact is that the speed and accuracy of determining your current position is affected by information about satellites, namely, their location. As a rule, in most smartphones this data is out of date due to a long-standing software or operating system update.

Another reason is Chinese phones. By default, such devices have settings for the location of satellites for their country; accordingly, when using GPS in Russia, the GPS module works much longer because the data in it is registered incorrectly.

Have you ever noticed that it takes 5-10 minutes for your location to be determined? We usually chalk this up to “phone performance,” but that’s far from true! What to do in this case? We suggest you set up GPS on your Android with a small “hack”.

The situation with slow GPS operation is solved with A-GPS technology. Its essence is as follows: data on the position of satellites is stored on special servers and, using the Internet, your smartphone can connect to them and receive all the information in a matter of seconds. Thanks to this data, GPS connects much faster and determines your location more accurately.

But, as mentioned earlier, some smartphone models, especially Chinese ones, contain data for their region by default. To change them, you need to find the gps.conf file!

How to work with the gps.conf file! You can change the data in this file manually or download a ready-made one for a specific country. If you don’t want to bother, then download it for your country from the link -

If you are going to edit gps.conf yourself, then find instructions on the Internet that describe each line and what it is responsible for. To edit you will need to use the Root Explorer application and Root rights.

Attention! The file is located in the /system/etc directory. Once you replace it or edit it manually, save all changes and download the GPS Test application. This is a special utility with which you can clear all old satellite records and check the correct operation of GPS. Just install it, launch it and click the AGPS tab, after which restart your smartphone. Once your phone has restarted, open the program again and check your location speed.

Operating modes of the GPS module in Android

And the last, no less important point concerns GPS operating modes. Each smartphone has separate settings for this technology, which can be set at your discretion.

Go to Settings on your phone and select the Location tab. Please note that menu options may vary slightly depending on Android version. Next, click on “Operation Mode”. You will have three of them:

1. "According to all sources"
2. "By network coordinates"
3. "By GPS satellites"

Now specifically for each point!

The first mode is “Across all sources”. The GPS system will automatically connect to all possible networks, namely: wireless Wi-Fi points, mobile networks, satellites. This is precisely the A-GPS technology, which ensures the highest accuracy of the received data and increased operating speed. But don’t forget about the downsides! The battery charge will be consumed much faster in this mode!

The second mode is “By network coordinates”. Mainly uses information only from access points and towers. But at the same time, the correctness of determining your location is slightly distorted. Approximately several meters, sometimes tens of meters.

The third mode is “By GPS satellites”. Completely deactivates A-GPS technology. Your smartphone will only determine its location using satellites. Moreover, if you enter any building, the connection will be lost or temporarily interrupted.

Which mode to use is up to you. If you need to accurately determine coordinates or location, then activate the first item. If the battery charge is low, but you still need to somehow determine where you are, then activate the last item.

As you can see, setting up GPS can be done in different ways and methods, depending on the version of Android, software, and manufacturer. Over time, an increasing number of different applications and “hacks” appear on forums to enhance GPS performance and introduce additional options into your smartphone. Stay tuned for updates and test!