iPhone 8 GPS problems

William

Your anecdotal evidence is outweighed by the number of views of this (40,000) and the iOS11 & GPS thread (80,000). And there have been over 700 posts on each of these threads, which is way higher than on many other threads. If you want anecdotes, it is ironic to note that 2 or 3 new people with GPS problems have posted during our correspondence 😉

Anyway, we will just have to agree to disagree on whether this issue is common, compared to other Apple product issues.

As I mentioned before, I have been to the Genius Bar.

They insisted I factory reset the phone, which did actually fix the A-GPS system. They also gave me a replacement phone as I told them the problem would recur after a while.

I went back with the new phone, tried it without installing my old system (as they correctly told me that brings the old problem back) but the problem resurfaced anyway, and I had to do the SIM trick OR factory reset again.

I could try going back to the Genius Bar but they will just make me do the whole thing all over again - factory reset, test, find the GPS thing works for a while, then doesn’t.

It has happened with two phones, I don’t want to go through the hassle of setting up a phone from scratch yet again - like Groundhog Day - to find the problem happens a third time.

I reported it via the Apple feedback forms and several times via the Tech helpline, visited the Genius Bar, posted here, and recommend other people do the same.

The bottom line is if you don't want to follow up with Genius Bar replacements if the issue recurs, there's nothing more Apple can do.

As stated before, this is far from a common issue, number of views of threads notwithstanding. Many people here helping others with issues view both these threads multiple times a day yet are not experiencing the issue, and some number of people with issues find they go away when they reenable Wi-FI or reset their phone.

Literally the only way this will ever get fixed is if Apple sees the issue occur on devices they get back for exchange or service.

Posting here is wonderful, but it is nowhere near the importance of Genius Bar exchanges in Apple's issue tracking systems.

Let me make two points and then I give up.

(1) I had the same problem on my iPhone 7, which was a big part of the reason I upgraded to the 8.

(2) I took the phone to a Genius Bar and they pronounced it perfect and sent me on my way.

Given that, what do you suggest?

William,

You say "Views aren't a reflection of anything" and "As stated before, this is far from a common issue, number of views of threads notwithstanding."

These GPS threads on this site have a total of about 150,000 views: 40,000 here, 80,000 plus on the iOS11/GPS thread, and a few thousand on other threads, which seems way higher than other threads I have seen, and all threads presumably have the same small proportion of "helpers" that are not personally affected.

Surely that means something?

How many views would meet your definition of a non-"far from common" issue?

JGostl wrote:

Does anyone know if when CarPlay is engaged does the iPhone rely on the car's GPS? If so, that put the problem squarely in Honda's lap.

No one knows for sure, but several people have tested it and have found that at the very least CarPlay will use the car's GPS to aid in location finding if not rely upon it altogether, as the car's GPS system is usually better positioned to receive GPS signals than the receiver inside the phone when the phone is inside the car.

That's amusing. The dealer said that the car's GPS would rarely be as accurate as the GPS in the phone. It would be nice if there were an option to disable this "feature" and allow the phone to use it's own GPS. The GPS in my phone, either Waze or Google Maps, is awesomely accurate, but when I try to use the car's build in nav system,Garmen, it spends more time looking for satellites than actually using them.

I have had my iPhone 6s replaced twice for the same GPS issue, now that the phone is out of warranty, my only options are to restore as a new phone or do the SIM trick as suggested. I have done my part of going over to Genius bar and report my issue with iOS11 GPS performance, and also sending numerous feedback reports. And mind you, this issue didn't exist in my 6s that was replaced for iOS10.

The only connection one could make is that this is a software issue, if it were a hardware issue, the restore and SIM fixes wouldn't have worked. So the ball is in Apple's court for them resolve this issue.

In fact after less than a month of doing the SIM trick, the GPS on Waze and Strava is getting sloppy. I have to do the SIM trick again.

Thanks AppleQer for your help.

spacemnspiff,

You're welcome. I did the SIM trick again 10 days ago but yesterday found myself having to stand stationary for an irritatingly long time to get the first location fix, despite being in a wide-open space. My issue is with getting that initial GPS-based position. Once I get that first lock-on, Motion X and presumably other apps give me very accurate readings.

Interesting to hear that you have a 6S and the same problem as I do. My wife has a 6S and yet has no issues, even though she and I use the same carrier, same setting preferences, and tested in the same location using the GPS Diagnostic app from the App Store, before reinstalling the other apps. The only difference is she doesn't have Motion X or other 3rd party navigation apps. One person on this or other threads mentioned something about reinstalling Google Maps and Waze etc. to fix the problem. I wonder if the issue has something to do with the way the iOS interacts with 3rd party apps or whether bugs in them can affect the A-GPS system.

If I remember next time I have this problem, I will try deleting all my 3rd party apps other than GPS Diagnostic, and then use GPS Diagnostic to test the GPS/location system . Of course, deleting and reinstalling those 3rd party apps would not necessarily fix such a problem if it existed.

Still a total mystery to me.

I know, yeah I have a problem with 6s, I first started with the thought that this was a hardware issue and got the phone replaced under warranty. Did that twice and realized that it was a software issue with iOS 11 and didn’t have the issue with iOS 10.

I have written feedback on Apple site and also to Fedrighi few times. I didn’t get any response and probably shouldn’t have expected one.

I finally resorted to restoring the phone if it got bad enough, I would wait for Apple to release software updates to restore.

Then I found the SIM trick, thanks to you and folks on this forum. Waze, Runkeeper and Strava have trouble with iOS 11 and GPS.

Clarification: I meant to say you and I seem to have the same problem despite having different iPhone models. And both of our phones were replaced - also my iPhone Xs were each from totally different sources. So it would be a coincidence if the two of us continued to get faulty phones for a total of five times. That and the fact the factory reset also temporarily fixes the problem, plus the comparison with my wife's 6S mentioned above, suggests it is probably a software issue in this case.

I wonder if anyone with GPS problems on an iPhone X or 8 has updated to iOS 12 and checked to see if the problems persist. I am one of those who bought an iPhone X soon after launch, but returned it because of poor GPS performance while walking and driving in the car (no mount used). Now I have an iPhone XS and have encountered no problems while walking. I haven't tested it in a car yet. I wonder if the improvement is due to a new hardware design or if iOS 12 has solved the problem for iPhone X owners as well.

Rather than accuracy, my problem is time-to-first-fix on the iPhone X. That has not got worse with iOS12, and may have improved slightly. However, the initial fix still takes more time than on my wife's iPhone 6S, which I tested in the same location with the same OS, carrier, and settings. Once my iPhone X gets that initial lock, its fine.

Just to expand on that:

Rather than GPS accuracy, my problem is the TTFF (time-to-first-fix) on the iPhone X. That has not gotten worse with iOS12, and it seems to have improved slightly. However, some people on here say that their problems improve for the first few weeks after update and then get progressively worse thereafter. It is still early days for me. If things go horribly wrong, I will post here. Also, the TTFF is still longer than on my wife's iPhone 6S, which I tested in the same location with the same OS, carrier, and settings.

As GPS accuracy has always been fine for me, the TTFF issue is obviously not the end of the world. It just bothers me having paid all that money and yet having to stand totally stationary outside for 30 secs to 1 minute or more to get the first lock before I begin my jog. I confirm a GPS-based location rather than just a cellular/wifi-only one by looking for the blue/green spinning globe on Motion X, in my case, but you can also use the GPS Diagnostic app, which I use too.

In previous iOS, the TTFF gradually increased until it was well over a minute, at which time I did the "SIM trick" (see earlier in this tread, and the accompanying warning about it). That reduced the TTFF to about 15-30 seconds, but it started to creep up over many weeks, and after 6 months I had to do the SIM trick again. It is not that big a deal, but it seems odd that my wife's much older model has no problems at all.

Correction (**** this posting system and its five minute? time limit for correcting your own posts!)

I just checked; seems like I only went 3 months, not 6 months, until I had to do that SIM trick to sort out the TTFF.

I have had the same issue ... I can’t explain the reason for this, but I moved my phone away from the middle of my dashboard, and it now works. Maybe too close to the radio and/or ez pass transponder, and the signals were interfering with the gps signal. I went through 3 new phones before discovering this.