Ten years ago, car GPS navigators were a curiosity in the domestic market for electronic devices. But today it’s hard to surprise anyone with the presence of modern global positioning systems in modern smartphones and tablets.
GPS Overview
Most of the modern smartphones and tablets currently on the mobile device market are equipped with a GPS module for determining location. This is a really convenient and advanced option. In addition to laying the route for a car or bicycle on the ground, the GPS module will be able to determine its own location with high accuracy up to a dozen meters. Along with this, the system makes it possible to turn on some programs or activate the reminder function on the phone when you are at a certain point on the globe. How to set up GPS on Android?
The main disadvantage of GPS positioning
The main disadvantage of GPS positioning in a smartphone is the rapid discharge of the battery. In this regard, the correct adjustment of the operating mode of global positioning is an important point . Below we will consider the basic tools for how to set up GPS on Android, as well as the principles of operation in the smartphone’s engineering menu in case of incorrect functioning of the system.
Enabling GPS mode
To enable GPS navigation, you can use the smartphone notification bar. The included positioning system is displayed at the top of the screen as a periodically flickering circle. To change or see the GPS operation order, you need to enter the smartphone settings, then in the "Personal data" section, from there to "Location" and select "Mode". As a rule, the operating system provides a choice of three options, among which are "By device sensors", "Battery saver" and "High accuracy". If we are talking about phones that use the latest versions of Android, the menu may look a little different. How to set up GPS on Android 5.1? In this case, the items listed will bear the names "By all sources", "By network coordinates" and "By GPS satellites".
Highest GPS Accuracy
The most accurate positioning option is High Accuracy or Across All Sources. At the same time, in this order of operation, the battery charge will be the most intense and fast. In this mode, the system tries to determine the location by all means available to it, namely: GPS, Wi-Fi and using mobile networks. The smartphone will permanently evaluate the space for the presence of a signal and try to determine the location not only in open areas, but also indoors.
This operating procedure is sometimes called A-GPS. Its distinctive feature compared to the operation of conventional navigators is the ability to obtain additional service information about the satellites through an Internet connection. This speeds up the search for satellites and obtaining data about their signals.
Other global positioning modes
GPS operating mode "Battery Saver" or "By Network Coordinates" is used to receive a signal exclusively from wireless networks. In this case, the GPS module is not activated. Of course, in this mode, the accuracy of position determination is somewhat impaired. At the same time, indoors, you can determine the position using Wi-Fi.
The "By device sensors" or "By GPS satellites" operating mode can only function in an open area in the absence of interference. In this case, the position of the object is determined using satellites. In the event of interference in the form of high-rise buildings or walls and floors of premises, the satellite signal will be lost, and the position will no longer be determined. By the way, it will be said that in this article we are talking about how to set up GPS "Android" without the Internet. But it should be noted that such installations are possible with the help of the World Wide Web. In this case, the Internet is used to correct the situation when the signal from the satellites is not good.
The latter mode of operation is the most economical for the battery. In addition, you can disable the determination of your own position on the ground in the notification panel. If necessary, lay a route from point A to point B, positioning can be turned on and follow the prompts built into the smartphone navigator. If you need a personalized search for an object, you should give preference to the "Battery Saver" mode. Well, if the phone has a powerful and capacious battery, the user may well stop at the most expensive way of working "High accuracy". The methods described above are suitable for solving the problem of how to set up GPS on Android through the device’s main menu.
Setup using the smartphone engineering menu
However, on some models of smartphones, especially Chinese-made based on MTK processors, it may be difficult to connect or unstable communication. There are even cases when the device does not determine the location of the object at all. This is due to incorrect configuration of the GPS module to work in domestic geographical latitudes.
This software malfunction can be leveled and GPS set to “Android” through the engineering menu of the mobile device. It should be emphasized that such functionality can be used on devices on which the Root operating mode is activated, providing the user with the ability to control the smartphone as developers.
Next, perform a series of sequential operations. First you need to turn on GPS and Wi-Fi and go outside or the room’s balcony. After that, you will need to enter the engineering menu by entering the following combinations on the telephone keypad: * # * # 3646633 * # * #, * # 15963 # * or * # * # 4636 # * # *. It should be noted that on different models of smartphones, combinations of characters may differ, or even not at all. Then, to solve the problem of how to configure GPS on Android, you can use the Mobileuncle ToolHero application, in which, after starting, select the desired item and enter the engineering menu.
Here, the user will find several bookmarks, among which you need to select Location, and then go to the Location Based Service. In the EPO line, check the boxes next to Enable EPO and Auto Download. It should be clarified that the EPO is a system file that contains information about the coordinates of GPS satellites and their lines of movement. This item is often deactivated in some phones.
Now you need to go back one step and select YGPS, and then go to the Satellites tab, in which the user will find a map of the position of the satellites in orbit. If the satellites are displayed in red, this indicates that the mobile device sees them, but cannot receive a signal from them due to incorrect settings.
To fix this problem, you need to go to the Information section, press full, and after a few seconds AGPS restart. After that, you need to return to Satellites and wait until the satellite icons turn green. It is best to carry out this operation in an open area, since on the balcony due to significant interference in the form of walls of the house and trees, the signal quality is much worse. The last step will be to reboot the device, whether it is a smartphone or tablet. Thus, the most common ways to configure GPS on Android are considered.