Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy my new phone BUT, it is a bit preterbing that the maps function does not come within 3 blocks of my location. For instance, while sitting at the pub it shows me a half mile away. And you can leave it on for whatever amount of time, its still off.
sorry if you have done this already but let me throw this out there:
settings>location&security>use wireless networks (activate it)
i too experienced the same problems where the gps said i was a mile away. once i turned it on, it was spot on accurate.
DID YOU KNOW: there is a widget for "power" applications. on one of you home screens press and hold. choose widgets. scroll down and choose "power control". this widget will allow you to activate anything you might need to run the maps without going through the setup folder.
also, in the market, there is a new update for the google maps program. just make sure that is was created by google and download it. it will tell you that it will replace the one currently on your phone.
I had a similar situation where the location was almost a mile off. After doing some research here is what I discovered. In Settings under Location and Security there are 2 important settings for My Location - Use Wireless networks and Use GPS satellites. I had turned off the Use GPS and Use Wireless to save the battery. When I started Google Maps, it apparently turned on the Use Wireless setting and then computed my location by using signals from nearby wireless towers. This is not very accurate and the location can be off considerably as was the case. As an experiment I turned off Use Wireless and turned on Use GPS but I had to go outside my house as the Droid was having a problem acquiring the GPS signals inside the house. Standing in the yard the Droid acquired the GPS signals and my location was literally showing me in my back yard. You apparently need a somewhat unrestricted path to the GPS signals. I think you need to turn off the Use Wireless and turn on the Use GPS to force Google Maps to use the GPS signals or else it seems to use the wireless signals. I intend to test this in the car and hope that the GPS signals come into the car OK otherwise the turn-by-turn navigation would be a disaster.
I tried again inside the house and the GPS signals did finally connect and my locations shows exactly as my house. I am convinced that the only way to get an accurate location is to turn off Use Wireless and turn on Use GPS. I downloaded the latest release of Google Maps from the Market Place before trying from inside the house. Not sure if that new release made a difference but the Droid seemed to lock on the GPS signal fairly quickly from inside the house (actually in the lowest level of a 3 story townhouse so that is very nice). I expect I will not have any problems in the car.
You do not need to turn off Use wireless location. You just need to turn on the GPS receiver when you want / need accurate location. Use the power widget to easily turn on or off. I usually get a GPS signal in my house, but takes a little longer to acquire enought satellites.
I checked the Droid documentation. Without GPS turned on the location is only accurate to 1800 meters (1609 meters in a mile). No wonder I ended up more than a mile from my house when GPS was not turned on. The Battery Life widget on my home screen is great for controlling the WiFi and GPS settings without having to go into Settings. It does take longer to acquire the GPS signals from inside the house.
Mine locks on right away. You need to keep "use wireless" on as well as GPS. Assisted GPS (A-GPS) uses computer servers to help the GPS lock on faster and more accurately.
bufbarnaby wrote:Mine locks on right away. You need to keep "use wireless" on as well as GPS. Assisted GPS (A-GPS) uses computer servers to help the GPS lock on faster and more accurately.
You are correct. I did some testing from inside the house and if both WiFi and GPS are turned on the location locks very quickly - much quicker than if WiFi is turned off.
M_R_L wrote:
bufbarnaby wrote:Mine locks on right away. You need to keep "use wireless" on as well as GPS. Assisted GPS (A-GPS) uses computer servers to help the GPS lock on faster and more accurately.
You are correct. I did some testing from inside the house and if both WiFi and GPS are turned on the location locks very quickly - much quicker than if WiFi is turned off.
and incrediably more accurate. my garmin shows me down the street. with both settings on, i would say dead accurate.
New google map update in market place, works well with droid.
Yes the only downside to GPS is it needs an unrestricted path in order to function the GPS cannot penetrate anything. Hopefully soon they will have a way for it to do so.
Thanks for the suggestion on the GPS setting. I was wondering why it was so innacurate when I was in one place, but if I was moving in a car, it was accurate. It made no sense. I will just have to leave GPS turned off unless I need it. Which isn't very often anyhow.
so, what if your gps is off by say....half way around the earth? as mine is saying im in india, unless i have wifi on it locates me by that.
As i mentioned in the second post of this topic, i would download the newer version of google maps. maybe by replacing the version that came with the phone might correct your situation. if not then i guess you will always have to make sure that both "use wireless" and gps funtions are on.
I am pretty well through with Locale and Lattitude because GPS won't pick up inside a building. My house is usually ok depending on where I am in the house but at work when I wanted locale to turn off my ringer it went to default cause it couldn't lock. The aggravating thing about that is if I use the cell towers to identify where work is it keeps the ringer off until I lock onto another tower so I am well on my way before I can hear anything. I guess I will just have to try to remember to do it myself. Also Blackberry doesn't GPS with Maps so lattitude on my wife is useless. If she is at work it has her half a mile a way if she is at home she is on the other side of a major highway from our neighborhood. Also you have to manually tell it to find you and neither of us are going to think to do that when we get to work so it will always show us at home.
GPS is great for navigation though if you are in the car it is more accurate than any navigation system I have ever used. I had it navigate me to a few places I knew and sometimes it took odd routes (shorter but not really faster necessarily) but when I got to my destination it told me right as I got to it instead of just getting me within 1000 feet or whatever VZNavigator used to do. I was shocked and thrilled. So in the car yes in my office forget about it.
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