Pocket geolocation is a fairly common and recently commonplace business. Now all models of modern phones have a GPS system. But often, users have questions about it. For example, they are interested in how to improve GPS reception on Android or IOS in order to get more accurate location information or to play games that require detailed geolocation. We will analyze this problem and find out what can be done.
What is GPS?
GPS is a system that allows your smartphone to use navigation applications and determine your location in order to build the best route to your destination. It is based on receiving data from satellites in outer space.
Why do I need it?
GPS navigation is used by navigation applications. Together they help get to the right place without a detailed study of paper maps of the area and a survey of others on the topic "Where to go next and where to turn?"
The most famous free GPS navigators for Android: Yandex.Maps or Yandex.Navigator, GoogleMaps and MapsMe. You can also find a pirated version of Navitel on the Internet. But the program may be the old year of release. In this case, it can lead you to non-existent roads and under the "brick". In addition, the program may be infected with a virus. Then there is a chance that it will “break” the system of your smartphone, and you will have to change not only the navigator, but also the phone or at least its firmware.
Now the most common and modern phone models are IOS-based IPhone and phones supporting another system (“Android”). GPS in them is used in a more advanced form - A-GPS. This is a function that increases the speed of the application during cold and hot start, due to other communication channels (WI-FI, cellular), and also increases the accuracy of positioning.
Cold start - a situation when the phone cannot connect to new satellites when you turn on the application. In this case, it works autonomously according to the data transmitted during the previous switching on by the satellites to which it was connected. Hot start - when the satellites are immediately included in the work. They appear on the application screen or in a special tab for tracking their work and receiving data.
The first option to improve the signal
There are a lot of ways to improve GPS reception on Android or iOS. Let's analyze the 3 most famous. The first and easiest way to amplify the GPS signal is to enable the corresponding mode in the phone settings. To do this, follow these steps:
- Turn on GPS (geolocation) and go to the phone settings.
- Find the "Location" section.
- Select the top "Mode" button.
- A window opens with the name "Detection Method".
- Select the item "High accuracy".
Your phone’s performance will be improved by enabling accuracy. At the same time, its operating time without recharging may decrease several times. The thing is that the included navigator will simply "eat" the battery.
The second way to improve GPS reception on Android
The second option is more complicated. But he helps as often as the first. You need to download the app to clear GPS data. After updating satellite information, the navigation system will begin to work better than before. But this option may not be suitable for some phones due to the incompatibility of the application and the model, lack of space, etc.
The most difficult but reliable method
There is a third, most difficult way to solve the problem of how to improve GPS reception on Android. It is more suitable for computer geniuses. Its essence is to alter the system file that controls the operation of the phone’s GPS system. Let's figure it out in order:
- You must extract the GPS.CONF file, located in the system / etc / gps / conf folder, through special programs that give access to system files. Then we move it to the internal memory of the phone or to the SD card so that it can be opened on the computer in the future.
- Changing GPS.CONF settings is done through Notepad ++ on a regular PC. And the phone is connected to the computer via a standard USB cable.
- Next, you need to change the settings of the NTP server with which time synchronization occurs. Usually they say something like this - north-america.pool.ntp.org. The record needs to be rewritten - ru.pool.ntp.org or europe.pool.ntp.org. The result should be like this: NTP_SERVER = ru.pool.ntp.org.
- It will also be useful to enter additional servers without making any changes to them: XTRA_SERVER_1 = http: //xtra1.gpsonextra.net/xtra.bin, XTRA_SERVER_2 = http: //xtra2.gpsonextra.net/xtra.bin, XTRA_SERVER_3 = http : //xtra3.gpsonextra.net/xtra.bin.
- Next, you need to decide whether the GPS receiver will use WIFI to amplify the signal. When entering the parameter ENABLE_WIPER =, you must put a digit that will allow (1) or prohibit (0) the use of a wireless connection. For example, ENABLE_WIPER = 1.
- The next parameter is the connection speed and data accuracy. There, your choice is as follows: INTERMEDIATE_POS = 0 <—— (exactly, but slowly) or INTERMEDIATE_POS = 1 <—— (not exactly, but quickly).
- In the type of data transfer use, knowledgeable people are advised to install User Plane, which is responsible for the widespread transfer of subscriber data. Then in the program line is written DEFAULT_USER_PLANE = TRUE.
- The accuracy of GPS data is monitored via the INTERMEDIATE_POS = parameter, in the line of which you can set both taking into account all the data without exception and removing errors. If you put 0 (zero) after the "=" sign, then the geolocation will take into account everything that it finds, and if 100, 300, 1000, 5000, it will remove the errors. Programmers recommend setting 0. But if you want to try, you can use error removal.
- The use of the A-GPS function, as mentioned above, is supported or automatically enabled on all modern devices. But if you still want the function to work exactly, then in the A-GPS enable line you need to set DEFAULT_AGPS_ENABLE = TRUE.
- The final version of the file must be saved and dropped onto the phone, and then reloaded.
An important point: if you do not want to do it all yourself for various reasons, for example, because of laziness, fear of breaking something in the system, etc., you can find the GPS.CONF file with the parameters you need and just copy it to your smartphone. It only remains to restart the phone and use the improved GPS.
Why GPS doesn’t work on Android yet?
The problem has other causes. It happens that GPS does not work on Android at all (it doesn’t turn on, it doesn’t look for satellites, etc.). The demolition of the system to the factory settings can help with this problem. This is done through the phone settings. In addition, the gadget can be reflashed or given to employees of the service center who "delve" into the electronics and correct the defect.