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Is there a way to tell if an iPhone is receiving GPS data?


Highlands_guy

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I have an iPhone 6s and have had random problems of it not showing my correct position on a map. Sometimes it's 50-100 meters off, sometimes several Kilometers off.

I downloaded a 3rd party app (GPSdiagnostics) to show me the GPS signal strength. In each case where my position was off, the GPSdiagnostics app showed the phone was not receiving GPS data and was only getting position from cellular/WiFi data..

I opened several cases with Apple. In each case, the item that resolved the issue was a full factory reset of the phone and restoring from back up (which is a pain).

Apple finally replaced the phone about 3-months ago. The new phone worked well until 2-days ago. Again, it was not receiving GPS data.

Another call to Apple. It was identified that i was 1 OS version behind (I was at 11.4 and 11.4.1 was out). I did the OS update and the GPS started working again. I expect it will be happen again.

One thing I found with Apple support, as soon as I mention I'm using a 3rd party app for my position (like Cachly, Google maps etc.), they try to shift the blame to the 3rd party app, so I only reference the issue is happening with the native Apple "Maps" app.

What I was looking for was some Apple native app or test that would show me the GPS signal level that the phone is receiving that I could use when talking to Apple about this issue.

Does anyone know of any Apple app or test to show the GPS signal strength on an iPhone 6s?

FYI: Here's what the GPSdiagnostics app shows me when the GPS is working:

Thanks

 

IMG_5357.PNG

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Thanks Nick.

I suspect this is a software issue on the phone and is more widespread than just my phone as I've experienced it on 2 phones.

There may be some value in having a GPS signal health indicator in Cachly. Some apps use a satellite dish icon to show good GPS signal (with a slash through the icon when poor/no GPS).

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3 hours ago, rragan said:

GS had a GPS indicator. 

 

That looks like a very intuitive indicator. Having it on the compass screen is not a bad idea, as it's of most concern when navigating to a cache. Even if it was also in the corner of the map while navigating would be nice. An indicator is probably not needed on the map when not navigating as it would add clutter and block map detail.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Since I haven't heard of this issue before, I'd be curious as to if you have an app or something specific you've done on your phone causing issues that's following you via that backup.  Have you tried force closing all your apps followed by rebooting and only using cachly?

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