GPS accuracy iOS 13 and/or 11 Pro Max

I also have an iPhone 11 Pro having these problems.

I agree it is ridiculous to "upgrade" and have basic functionality that we have come to rely upon, like GPS, become far less usable. In fact it's a safety risk.

I called AppleCare and they suggested turning off my Wifi. Not a very encouraging suggestion, after years of telling us Wifi increases GPS accuracy.

Hi guys

I have exactly the same problem. I’m on 11 pro max and the last iOS 13.3 and I noticed exactly when it does that issue of being not accurate.

In fact, when your iPhone is just in cellular data (3/4G) the accuracy is really bad (10/20km) and that is not normal it is probably an iOS bug (I hope so). To solve it, just activate the WiFi without connecting to any WiFi router, the accuracy will be back to normal.

i don’t know why this solution works but it is convenient cuz the WiFi uses battery even when you don’t use it ...

i hope  developers will fix it soon

Everyone should pay $3 and get the app GPSdiagnostic. It is invaluable. It shows that it takes up to a minute for my hiking app Guru Maps Pro to acquire the satellites to an accuracy of + - 20 feet. When I allowed this time and started my track I did not get any weird points on it. Satellites were consistently about 80%. In the car running Google Maps it was more like 50% and accuracy was about + - 50 feet.

For the Uber driver - get Apple to replace the phone. I have had almost no problems with Google Maps. Occasionally it gets off, but not often.

Replacing the phone won't help. iPhone 11 owners (including myself) have been noting this issue for months and there still hasn't been a fix, even for those who've replaced their phones. The GPS-based apps (including running ones) have been horribly inaccurate since I've "upgraded" from an iPhone 7. There was even some small coverage on this issue in December from some of the Apple blogs (e.g. 9to5 Mac).

It's unclear when Apple will address this...or even if they will, as they haven't made any acknowledgement of it. Would be great if we could identify a path for elevating this issue as I'm frankly quite disappointed in my purchase and Apple because of this.

GPS responsiveness on my iPhone 11 Pro with iOS 13.3 is abysmal. It frequently takes 30 seconds or a minute for it figure out where I am or which direction I am going. I will say that battery life on the phone is amazing, virtually never going below 75% at the end of the day. But I'd rather use more battery and have better GPS.

Same problem here with my iphone X. Never had any kind of GPS problem so far in my old Iphone SE, changed to this one and on the first travel attempt i lost myself. The signal freezes many times, it has a failure accuracy by more than 70m taking me to other streets. For example in a freeway it constantly moves to secundary parallel roads.

Have anyone ever considered being a sim card issue?! because in the open air with only 3G/4G and no WI-Fi the problem is more serious.

Wi-Fi is absolutely essential for GPS accuracy. GPS by itself only works with a very clear view of the sky; no tall buildings, no trees, no overpasses, etc. And GPS by itself can take several minutes to get an accurate fix.

@mrich75 - have you tried turning off WiFi? Some of us have noticed much improved GPS once WiFi has been turned OFF. Not a fix, but at least a workaround until they fix it. I too have had multiple tickets with Apple for this and got referred to the engineers. On my last call with them, they said they plan to include fix with next update, but were not sure when that would be.

This obviously won't help your GPS wackiness while sitting on your porch, but I'll share an observation: I borrowed a friend's Range Rover for a few days, and the GPS in my iPhone 11 Pro while driving that car was EXTREMELY erratic. I returned to my car and the GPS returned to normal-range inaccuracy (not too bad). Now I don't want Apple just blaming car companies like they did with connectivity for years, because they should have their own systems working. But I've experienced directly that certain cars seem to interfere with the signal.

If you are sitting on your patio most likely the phone does not have a clear view of the sky in all directions. Your phone needs to be able to see at least 4 satellites to get an accurate position. As the satellites move very fast, your phone will see different satellites every few minutes. The erratic track is a typical symptom of incomplete GPS coverage. Get the free app GPSDiagnostic, which will tell you (among other things) how many satellites your phone is receiving at any given time.

Then I’m sure you are absolutely right, the 11 is a piece of junk. You should get rid of it immediately and get a really good Android phone. As you think your life depends on it to do anything else would be foolish.

mrich75 wrote:

I'm gonna leave some of these pictures here for you guys if I have a head on collision there's proof

You do realize that by including that statement in your post you are admitting that you are using a device that you know is defective, so if you have a head on collision that is clear evidence of your negligence.

Please allow me to apologize for most of my posts in this thread today. I was put off by your first long post, but reading through it again you really do have a problem with the phone. I hope you and Apple can work it out.

That is very kind and generous to offer me that and I must apologize to for my demeanor as well. Sometimes I get frustrated when we feel like somebody is minimizing a problem so I apologize for being snippy as well

It’s April, have got a brand new iPhone 11 Pro and I have exactly the same problem with my GPS.

Turning off the WiFi does not bring any advantages to my GPS tracking accuracy.

I guess it’s not just a software issue, I think it’s because Apple is using a new GPS chip in the X-series iPhones. I am really happy with the image quality of my new iPhone but I am also rather disappointed about the GPS accuracy. This should not happen with a >1000$ phone.

Shall I give it back or really wait for a GPS fix software update that maybe will never come? I do not know.