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gps not working properly after iOS 9.3 update

Hi all.


After updating to iOS 9.3 my GPS cannot find my exact location. It keeps telling me I am in a big area, (Triangulating) seems like it does not activate the GPS.

Sometimes very little it works and give me the correct position, but 97% of the time its not working. Anyone else with the same problem?


Besides that: A hot phone & bad WIFI


iPhone 6 running iOS 9.3

iPhone 6, iOS 9.3

Posted on Mar 23, 2016 1:25 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 28, 2017 4:39 AM

Folks, I have iPhone 6 and after updating to 10.2.1, I have lost wifi signal strength ( I have to sit in front of router to get signals) and GPS just cannot locate me. I did reset, hard reset, restore, got hardware checked at Apple but to no avail. I had to go out of town relying heavily on my GPS in phone and the **** thing just dint work. I never even dream that one day I will have to say the apple is not reliable. This has happened to me and this can happen to anyone.

335 replies

Aug 1, 2016 7:48 AM in response to aisen2

I've had this issue too, but I seem to have fixed it by trail and error. The iOS version is definitely having a harder time triangulating your position with the nearby cell towers.



The way I corrected this was simple and annoying.

1) I open Google Maps.

2) Program where I want to go.

3) Start the directions.

4) Put the phone down.

5)Then DON'T move it for a minute or two so the phone can figure out where it is. It's worked every time since I figured it out.

6) if you still see the transparent blue area around the compass after 2 minutes, close out Google Maps and start over from step 1.



I think the root cause is the weak software for the internal antennas. I also have trouble keeping wifi and cell signals unless I'm pretty close to the source.



Hope this works for others.

Aug 6, 2016 6:18 PM in response to aisen2

I experienced the same problem after upgrading my iPhone 5C to 9.3.3. GPS couldn't find my location, plus, all of my apps seemed to load and run slower, like it would take several extra seconds to respond to a tap. Even signing in to my phone seems to take a few extra seconds. I wonder if there's something running in the background that's eating a lot of extra CPU cycles. I wish there was some kind of process explorer that I could run.


I tried running Waze over the weekend during a long drive, and Waze would find my location and do an update about every three minutes, but then in between would say, "No GPS." That's one of the reasons why I think some other process might be interfering with the GPS and other functions. I also seem to have less storage than before.


I also just got the 9.3.4 update, and I thought doing another update might solve the problem, but it did not. I'm thinking about doing a factory reset, but want to make sure I won't lose my apps & data if I do so.


I don't think it's a hardware issue, because so man other people seem to be experiencing the problem after an iOS update.

Aug 7, 2016 8:54 AM in response to CrouchingBruin

Three things:


I also - even with my brand new phone - sometimes get a fleeting 'no GPS' signal. Pokemon Go is really good for telling you. I never get it in Google Maps or Maps though. But that does suggest something might be momentarily interfering with it, as you suggest. Every new version of iOS is more of a memory hog. I have a 6s and it's fine with it. But it's slowing my husband's 4s to a crawl.


Every 3 minutes for an update on Waze or anything else is just not acceptable. Driving on the highway, fine. But in the city? I was ready to throw it out the window. It works like that when GPS isn't working and it's getting triangulated signals from cell phone towers. Useless. My phone worked like that when it had a bad antenna.


For diagnosis: In Maps, you will see a blue circle around your location. It pulses every time the antenna pings GPS. If it's not pulsing, it's not pinging.The size of the circle tells you how exact the location is. When my phone was broken, the circle didn't pulse and was very large - blocks and blocks - most of the time. Sometimes it would get a good signal and get small. Mostly it was huge. And my location would be wrong all the time. It would consistently showing me at a house half a mile from where I live or on a bike trail half a mile from where I live. That was within the location circle, but not where I was.


You've probably read about those people who have houses that always get shown as stolen iPhone locations? I bet they are on those cell phone axes where my phone is shown that are just wrong.


In Google Maps, you see the circle, but not the pulses. The size of the circle again reflects the accuracy of the location.


Third, people keep saying lots of us are complaining so that proves it's not mechanical. I don't think it does. I'm a statistician. There are how many iPhones out there? How many have antenna problems because - like mine - they've been dropped? How many got dropped within a week or two of an upgrade? If you do a search you'll see with every upgrade people say their phone broke because of it. I'm going to suggest a lot of those are coincidences.


Plus - you're absolutely right - every time the iOS becomes more demanding on the phone, it brings out more problems, particularly if you don't have a lot of memory. Just my 3 cents.

Aug 11, 2016 11:35 AM in response to TOBALL

Repeatedly. And the store did it for me too. The Find My iPhone was what made it obvious GPS was messed up. It often showed me at a house 1/2 mile away or on a bike trail. I couldn't find my phone one night at midnight (why I was on Find My iPhone). It showed it on the bike trail, which I had walked earlier that evening, so I almost went out in the middle of the night to find it. Fortunately, my husband called it and it was in the house.


Find My iPhone is a fantastic diagnostic because it pulses every time it sends a GPS ping and the relative accuracy of the search. If it isn't pinging and the circle is big, your GPS antenna isn't working.

gps not working properly after iOS 9.3 update

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