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IOS 9 and GPS - are there issues?

Since upgrading my iPhone 6 to IOS 9 (and ultimately IOS 9.0.1 I have experienced issues with my GPS. I use Motion X GPS while in the car and up until the change to IOS 9 it has been reliable and rarely (if ever) dropped out even in the centre of cities. Now I have the situation where it takes quite a while to acquire GPS satellites and the connection breaks after a few minutes / miles and a reboot of the program is required to re-acquire a GPS Satellite signal only to drop out again a few minutes later. Has anyone else experienced this or is it a fault with Motion X GPS?

Posted on Sep 29, 2015 10:24 AM

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118 replies

Nov 5, 2015 7:27 AM in response to JSCornell

Same here. First with iOS 8.3 now with iOS 9.1. I upgraded from 8.3 in hopes that the latest iOS version would fix the GPS issues (that's really the only reason I updated the iOS) after trying all what you've described but at no avail.

- soft reboot

- reset network settings

- reset all settings to factory settings and restore backup

- hard reboot

- turn off location settings / reboot / turn back on


GPS works fine (or so it seems) when I'm connecting to WiFi, but not when using the carrier's network (AT&T for me). GPS used to work 95% of the time with fair accuracy until I updated to 8.3. And now with 9.1 I'm still having the same issues. So it this a hardware issue that many iPhone 6 users are having or, is this an iOS issue after 8.3 (heard that 8.4 had the same problems)? APPLE, HELP! This is an expensive device and monthly service charges, and GPS is a main function that most users rely on.

Nov 5, 2015 7:40 AM in response to memel75

Follow the factory reset procedure and that didn't fix the GPS problem.


First with iOS 8.3 now with iOS 9.1. I upgraded from 8.3 in hopes that the latest iOS version would fix the GPS issues (that's really the only reason I updated the iOS) after trying all what you've described but at no avail.

- soft reboot

- reset network settings

- reset all settings to factory settings and restore backup

- hard reboot

- turn off location settings / reboot / turn back on


GPS works fine (or so it seems) when I'm connecting to WiFi, but not when using the carrier's network (AT&T for me). GPS used to work 95% of the time with fair accuracy until I updated to 8.3. And now with 9.1 I'm still having the same issues. So it this a hardware issue that many iPhone 6 users are having or, is this an iOS issue after 8.3 (heard that 8.4 had the same problems)? APPLE, HELP! This is an expensive device and monthly service charges, and GPS is a main function that most users rely on.

Nov 17, 2015 2:07 PM in response to cdiaz74

So I took my device to Apple where they did a clean install. Didn't work. They could not find any issues looking at the diagnostic logs (hardware or otherwise), yet I would need to pay $299 to get a replacement phone because mine came out of warranty a month ago. So now I'm with a worthless GPS device unless I give Apple more money, which is the third most important function for me after calling and internet access. I know this was coming after Steve Jobs died...more profit, cut costs, product quality going down the drain....

Nov 17, 2015 2:19 PM in response to cdiaz74

Tomorrow i will take my phone on genius bar to analise the problem. My gps works some times... but less, much less times works. I checked the internal GPS antenna and all is perfect.


I performed a clean install of iOS 9.1 and nothing.. I performed a clean install of iOS 9.2 (Beta) and nothing too. Now i returned to 9.1.


Another thing that i noticed, is. the bluetooth is dropping connections some times (iWatch shows missing phone icon) and Wifi drop connection sometimes too...

Nov 17, 2015 2:27 PM in response to cdiaz74

That's what I am afraid of. My when out of warranty in September. This reminds me of when my wife updated her 4s to iOS 7 and it burned out the WiFi chip. It happened to lots of other 4s owners (although mine survived). There was something about update that caused the WiFi chip to overheat, breaking the solder joint to separate (beyond my pay grade). It also caused the Blue Tooth to fail. I was pretty ****** off about it. Since the update was pushed out by Apple, and it causes the equipment failure, Apple should compensate the owners.


There is a pending class action lawsuit on the iOS 7 graying out the WiFi, http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2014/04/angry-apple-fans-file-new-cl ***-action-over-ios-7-problems-the-graye…


and http://lessig.tumblr.com/post/65340641605/the-slaughter-continues-apples-latest- deleted

Nov 18, 2015 9:04 AM in response to kamilgrzyb

I wonder if the update causes the GPS chip to overheat and then malfunction. So, it might work for a brief period after a hard start, but then the chip overheats and malfunctions. My Waze app shows a status message "No GPS. Showing approximate location." My Fitbit mapping app shows "Poor GPS Alert. Continuing with tracking court result in irregular GPS data for this activity" (hence a 3.5 mile walk is recorded as 6 miles).


The iOS7 upgrade for some 4s phones caused permanent damage to the WIFI chip, which also disabled the Bluetooth connectivity. If the iOS 9.1 update caused permanent damage to the GPS function, then subsequently issued patch is not going to restore the function on the broken phones.


I called Apple support on Nov. 11th to seek a fix. Got transferred to a senior support agent. That senior support tech submitted the information to the engineers and was supposed to get back to me Monday. She called back on Sunday instead, when I had told her that I was not going to be available on Sunday. When I tried to reach her on Monday, I got assigned to an new senior support agent, who asked me to downgrade back to 9.1 (I had installed 9.2 beta 3) and send screen shots of what the mapping apps were showing, which he was going to send to the engineers. I sent screen shots in the morning, but he had not sent them to the engineers yet. Now I have to wait until next Monday to hear the engineers' verdict.

I asked the support agent about possible remedies, since my phone went out of warranty in September. Assuming the engineers can't restore the GPS (I have done a new install of 9.1 and everything that is supposed to be on is on, so I really doubt it is a software issue), and they don't "verify" a hardware problem (notwithstanding how it was caused), am I out of luck? I don't expect an upgraded replacement (such as a 6s), and would okay with paying something like $150 for a refurbished replacement iPhone 6, but I don't like the option of paying $299 (although, I guess I might, since I am dependent on the GPS apps), or worse, will I have to purchase a new phone for full price.

Nov 18, 2015 9:20 AM in response to Gregory Jones2

@Gregory Jones2: In my case (and echoing other postings here and elsewhere), the issue started to appear after iOS8.3, getting worse with 8.4 and not improving with 9.1. Before 8.3, the GPS on my phone was working almost flawlessly. It makes sense that the new iOS after 8.1 are causing the chip or another piece of hardware to overheat and/or malfunction. But Apple is not admitting this despite the numerous postings I've seen in the internet from users having the same symptoms. It could also be a bad batch of phones with a defect that causes the GPS systems within the phone to stop working right around the year mark. I'm curious to know the serial numbers of most users to see if there's some correlation there.


Anyhow, please post here when/if Apple's Senior Support Agent tells you. There are too many incidents reported out there for this to be random events. Thank you.

Nov 19, 2015 4:07 PM in response to sergiorru

I went to see Apple today as I am back in the UK for 15 days. They agreed that the phone was faulty and should be replaced. I now have to wait until next Tuesday to get the new phone. I have been advised to make an encrypted backup so that all my data and passwords will be preserved. The data that convinced Apple that there was a fault was a 4km walk which recorded (with Runkeeper) as a 7 km walk - I showed them the zoomed in trace and they immediately agreed there was a fault with the phone. I suggest that you all download and use the free version of run keeper over a known distance and the confront your Apple store (Genius bar) with the results. I will post again when I have restored my phone and tested it out.

IOS 9 and GPS - are there issues?

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