IPhone Location Services Is Erratic While Driving (Navigational Assistance Is Useless)

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Level 1

35 points

IPhone Location Services Is Erratic While Driving (Navigational Assistance Is Useless)

This question regards my iPhone 6 using iOS 10.3.3.

I could use some help troubleshooting the location services on my iPhone.

While I am using my iPhone to navigate from one place to another, my iPhone has an issue with accurately knowing where I am. While I am moving, the phone thinks I am up to half a mile or so away from my true location, which makes the phone a total brick when it comes to giving me driving directions. Occasionally during the drive, the phone will correctly locate me and give me a couple minutes worth of good directions before it goes to lunch in terms of where it thinks I am.

When I am stationary, the phone knows where I am OK, but the blue circle that shows my location accuracy is really huge when normally the circle for location accuracy should be a lot smaller than it has been for me.

I have this problem in both Apple Maps and Google Maps.

I have gone through every conceivable troubleshooting step that I can find. I've reset everything multiple times. I erased and reinstalled Apple Maps and Google Maps repeatedly. The Apple Store and my wireless provider's app both shows that the GPS antenna is working fine. Twice now, I have completely reset and erased the phone's data then restored it from iTunes backup - once when the Apple Store reset me then again yesterday at home.

Neither of my map apps will say directions over the Bluetooth connection even though my vehicle and the phone recognize each other just fine.

My suspicions at this point are:

1) The GPS and Bluetooth hardware / software / firmware (?) are actually broke, but the phone thinks the hardware / software are OK.

2) There is some corrupted data somewhere causing the issue.

3) There is some weird setting somewhere I am overlooking.

4) There is something else in a completely tangential direction that I am missing.

Has anyone seen issue? Does any one know how to fix it?

Thank you in advance!

Posted on Aug 13, 2017 12:58 PM

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Answer 1

CTSeaDragon Author

Level 1

35 points

Jan 1, 2018 6:37 AM in response to IdrisSeabright

Well, I think that I must have dropped the iPhone 6 enough to the point where I damaged components. The battery just started going within the last few weeks (not unexpected considering the age of the phone and the known issues with the battery lifespans). I just got an iPhone 8 the other day, and it works swimmingly now!

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Answer 2

Jan 1, 2018 6:35 AM in response to CTSeaDragon

Sounds like time to make an appointment at the Genius Bar at your local Apple Store again.

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Answer 3

deggie

Level 10

167,537 points

Aug 19, 2017 12:10 PM in response to CTSeaDragon

Apple is not a government agency so they are censoring anything. Since replacing the antenna yourself voids any warranty and any chance of an out-of-warranty replacement they do remove posts concerning self service on their devices that are not designed for user servicing. So how many times did you drop it before the antenna broke?

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Answer 4

CTSeaDragon Author

Level 1

35 points

Aug 13, 2017 2:29 PM in response to CTSeaDragon

And yes, I have disabled then reenabled location services, WiFi.... yada yada yada... If there's a setting to be disabled then renabled, I've done it.

While I am driving, I've seen the phone think I'm a significant distance (like a half or full mile significant) left or right of the road. When I'm stationary, my location is accurate to within approximately a 25-yard CEP (circle of error probable).

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Answer 5

CTSeaDragon Author

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35 points

Aug 13, 2017 2:37 PM in response to CTSeaDragon

I have noticed one thing since I reset my phone last night. Prior to the reset, the phone was fairly sluggish when switching between apps and moving around on the phone. In the time that I reset, erased, and restored the phone last night, that sluggishness isn't there anymore. Could there be a source of sluggishness somewhere on the phone (besides my complete inability to solve this problem) that is affecting my location services?

PEBCAK!!

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Answer 6

CTSeaDragon Author

Level 1

35 points

Aug 14, 2017 2:11 PM in response to IdrisSeabright

Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Fortunately, the issue isn't enough of a problem yet to warrant the extra effort to go back to the Genius Bar.

The problem is that I can't replicate the issue standing still - the phone behaved itself in the Apple Store. I thought the Genius fixed the problem at the time, but the problem resurfaced as soon as I drove away now

I can still use my Garmin, which has lifetime updates, but I really don't want to lug around the extra device if I can help it.

Oi vey!

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Answer 7

CTSeaDragon Author

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35 points

Aug 19, 2017 11:39 AM in response to CTSeaDragon

Apparently Apple decided to censor and remove one of my responses because people are solving this problem by replacing the GPS antenna themselves. Hey, Apple - I'd appreciate it if you spent a little less time censoring my content and a little more time fixing this problem!!

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Answer 8

CTSeaDragon Author

Level 1

35 points

Aug 19, 2017 1:02 PM in response to deggie

I didn't think that I had dropped the phone in such a way as to cause physical damage, but the process of elimination means that I must have damaged the antenna somewhere along the way without realizing it.

The only part that doesn't make sense is that even the Genius Bar said that the GPS antenna is working fine. It would be a different stataement if the Genius Bar had said, "You're a big dummy - there's a sign of physical damage from user misuse."

Thanks so much for the helpful feedback!!

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Answer 9

Aug 19, 2017 1:21 PM in response to CTSeaDragon

One thing that I have discovered is that the phone connects to the various cable company WiFi networks as I travel, just long enough to bypass my LTE connection but not enough to provide useful data; this really confuses whichever navigation app I am using (which is usually Waze). I fixed it by forgetting all such networks that I may have connected with at some time in the past. I use them only when desperate now. Mostly I stick with LTE data. I also have a Keezel, which makes insecure networks secure (it's a hardware VPN interface). I use it when I'm in a fixed location for a while, like a hotel.

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Answer 10

CTSeaDragon Author

Level 1

35 points

Aug 19, 2017 1:21 PM in response to CTSeaDragon

... and just to clear up any confusion ... if I had dropped the phone in such a way as to cause damage, then yes, the fault is mine, warranty protection is off the table, etc., etc. In that respect, deggie, you are correct. However, my GPS antenna shouldn't come up as "healthy" if in fact it's broken.

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Answer 11

CTSeaDragon Author

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35 points

Aug 13, 2017 2:22 PM in response to CTSeaDragon

In case anyone is wondering, yes - I keep the phone up on the dashboard under the windshield so that it can receive the best GPS and cellular signals.

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Answer 12

CTSeaDragon Author

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35 points

Aug 13, 2017 2:41 PM in response to CTSeaDragon

I got the phone in October 2014, which means that the phone was manufactured over 3 year ago. Is the age of the phone a factor? Could age or a manufacturing defect be an issue?

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