Google Navigation

Got my thunderbolt on the release day and so far loving it exept for a minor issue, navigation. Whenever I enter an adress to navigate, the navigator searches for gps signal anywhere from 2 minutes and up to 5. The screen say "Follow the route" at the top, and "Searching for GPS" at the bottom. I had the Incredible before that and it never did that. I have a very strong signal where I live, so it must no be the issue. Also, when I turn on maps, it shows wrong location, and after about 2 to 5 min, it finally finds me. Anybody else having these issues? Any suggestions? Yes, everything that needs to be turned on, is on. I don't use gps a lot, but I want to have it resolved before I really need it. Any feedback is appreciated.

Accepted answers

Dnakaman

Ok, this is not a permanent solution, but I know others (including myself) have used this method to get GPS lock faster.

First thing is to go to the Market and download a program called "GPS Status".

Launch the application. Once in the app, hit menu ->tools->Manage A-GPS state.

A pop up will show up on your screen, hit the reset button.

This will clear the internal GPS state and may help you get a lock faster.

Once i've done that, I usually will lock in a matter of seconds (just so you know I've had this issue with other Android devices other than my TBolt as well).

Also remember that the GPS really is supposed to require that you are outdoors, so you may not get any lock if you are in a building someplace.

Hope that helps.

All comments

GreenRobot

I had the same exact issue. Noticed it yesterday which happens to be the first time I used the navigation. Although I was expecting such an issue due to the poor ability for this device to locate my on maps or latitude. Both my D1 and DX had way better location abilities. I'm hoping an update will contain a fix for this.

Dnakaman

Ok, this is not a permanent solution, but I know others (including myself) have used this method to get GPS lock faster.

First thing is to go to the Market and download a program called "GPS Status".

Launch the application. Once in the app, hit menu ->tools->Manage A-GPS state.

A pop up will show up on your screen, hit the reset button.

This will clear the internal GPS state and may help you get a lock faster.

Once i've done that, I usually will lock in a matter of seconds (just so you know I've had this issue with other Android devices other than my TBolt as well).

Also remember that the GPS really is supposed to require that you are outdoors, so you may not get any lock if you are in a building someplace.

Hope that helps.

tim600sl

Thanks Dnakaman, it took about 10 seconds to locate me. Hopefully it stays like that! Once again, thanks a lot!

Dnakaman

It is by no means a permanent fix. You probably won't have to do it all the time, but if you do notice it is taking a long time to lock your GPS down, then just do it then and it will usually clear the problem up.

Glad to help.

droiduser61

I wish I had found your post before the dozen others I tried. I have a droid 2 global that could no longer find the GPS signal. I tried this, which took about 60 seconds to find and download the App. Then it took about 2 seconds for the phone to find the GPS signal.

You're a rock star!!

larrylef

I have the Thunderbolt with the extended battery... GPS lock was real bad, 5 + mins...

I found other post about this and compared the inside cover to find the bridged connection on the standard battery was different than the extended cover. So, I place a small piece of solder braid wire in the phone to bridge the connection.

GPS lock happens with in 2 - 5 seconds.

If you don't know what you are doing, don't try this...