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GPS not working after update to IOS11

Hi,

Since I’ve updated my IOS to version 11 (also to 11.0.3) the GPS is not working in maps and Waze anymore. This is happening both in my iPhone 6 and iPhone 5s.


I understand that this is happening to many users, is there any update that solve that?


Thanks,

Dror

Posted on Oct 12, 2017 12:26 AM

Reply
730 replies

Mar 24, 2018 12:25 AM in response to DublinTimo

After several days of testing, I find that:


  • I always get a good GPS satellite signal if I use Apple Maps to navigate
  • I always (eventually) get a good GPS signal if I use Apple's Workout app to track a cycling workout
  • I never have a satellite signal if just check the GPS Diagnostic app at some random time
  • I never have a GPS signal if I use Strava, unless I open Apple Maps first and start navigating. Strava will not work with just Bluetooth/WiFi/Cellular
  • I never have a GPS signal if I try to use Waze, or Google Maps, etc. But all those and many other apps are happy to use just Bluetooth/WiFi/Cellular


Hardware? I remain unconvinced. I’m sure there are iPhones out there with GPS hardware problems, but I don’t think my phone is one of them.


The screenshot shows satellite signal acquisition after starting to navigate with Apple Maps.


User uploaded file

Mar 9, 2018 2:04 AM in response to andry.w

In all honesty I can't say for sure that iOS 11 created the problem because:



Maybe our GPS stopped working coincidentally with the upgrade and is not linked to it.

Maybe the upgrade process made an already fragile GPS tip over to the fried side.

Maybe the documented battery shutdowns created by iOS11 put a strain on the GPS antenna.

Maybe this is some form of advanced planned obsolessence?


One thing for sure is that I will probably never upgrade my 6 to iOS12.

Apr 3, 2018 6:36 AM in response to Feldberg

If you have an iPhone 6 and no amount of contacting Apple Support or resetting your settings/your device has been able to give you back a functionning GPS fear not, there is hope.

Please check these posts further up in this thread where people have succesfully managed to get their GPS working again:

It clearly points to the problem being hardware. The GPS chip might be responding to the diagnostics and to all apps as being turned on, but the antenna is not able to access the satellites, either all the time either most of the time either some of the time. That's sometimes how something breaks: slowly, erratically. And because it's erratic you end up believeing that some software change you made made it come back and are even more convinced it must be software.

Until you end up, as the 4 above with no other solution than to either throw your phone away or replace the GPS chip.

You know what you need to do.

And if, like me, you get the battery changed at an Apple store for $29, you end up with an almost brand new iPhone 6 with a great battery life and a very good GPS.

Here is how to replace the antenna, step by step.

Oct 16, 2017 4:58 AM in response to Feldberg

I have the same problem. Apple Maps, Google Maps, Waze.


Start navigation, the icon for my location just wiggles, but never moves as I am driving.

Waze reports, no GPS, but I downloaded the GPS info map and it reports my lat / long changing over time.


This is a MAJOR issue as navigation no longer works at all on my iPhone 6 with iOS 11.0.3 installed.

Nov 15, 2017 8:14 AM in response to Rimmer2000

Yes it started after the 2nd update to 11.03. After the first update it was still working just fine. But now I am using 11.1.1 and the problem is still here. It’s kinda funny that you don’t see anyone posing about this on any news sites or even talking about this problem in the news. If Apple can’t fix this problem I am not going to upgrade to a new IPhone. GPS can’t even track my location only way it works is by connecting to my car radio with Car Play build in

User uploaded file

Nov 20, 2017 9:08 AM in response to Feldberg

So here is the issue in images, which is still very much present.


When I first got on the Subway, the GPS had absolutly no idea where I was - In fact it thought I was in San Francisco.

User uploaded file

Then after about 2 minutes it updated and still had absolutely no idea where I was... in fact I was no where. (In actual fact I was at 42st. Times Sq.

User uploaded file


Then 5 minutes later it decided I was somewhere in the upper west side, near home. I had left home approximately 25 minutes earlier. In actual fact, I was now at 14th street in the lower side of Manhattan.

User uploaded file

Then all of a sudden, after leaving the subway and going to street level, I had time travelled from the Upper West Side 72nd street to 14th Street all within the same minute. Previously this was never an issue and the location would update at every stop along the subway.

User uploaded file


Apple, this is an absolute joke. How is this still a problem over a month after the release of iOS 11. FIX IT!

Again, this does not only happen to me but our entire office, around 11000 devices are experiencing this issue - iPhone 6 -> 7 Plus

Dec 11, 2017 12:34 AM in response to Rimmer2000

Rimmer2000


ok explain this and try not to be an Apple fan boy. Try to explain it and think like a normal person would think if they was just trying to find a simple solution to a problem that really makes no since other then a software bug for some devices. I have an iPhone 7 running IOS 11.2 and I use my GPS 5 days a week about 5 hrs a day because I am always driving. And right after I did the 2 release of IOS 11 my GPS started acting up. So lets say I am leaving one location to drive to the next location one I put in the address into the Apple map it will show me the directions. However once I start driving it will no longer update it just shows that I am not moving any longer. But wait before you say broken GPS cable in phone Here is the kicker. Now if I repeated the same steps but this time connects the phone to my Vehicles build in stock car radio with build in Car Play the GPS will work perfectly fine with no problems. Now again this is Apple iPhone 7. Now let me throw in another kicker just for you. My wife also has an IPhone 6s it was working just fine all the way until just last week. And that was until I updated it for her. And I ran the same test I put in a address in the phone using Apple maps because that’s the only program that works with Car play. I did not connect the phone to the car radio yet started driving and map stopped tracking movements. But just for the kicks of it I then plugged it into my Car Play radio and it updated my location and from that point on worked trouble free just like my IPhone 7.

But the problem with that is only one of our cars has Car Play. And just for the kicks of

i have attached a pic of my work phone and personal phones so you will not say this guy has not tried it on different devices.

User uploaded file

Dec 28, 2017 8:41 PM in response to Feldberg

SOLVED:


At least for my phone, let me tell what I exactly did:


I turned off/on location services

Reset location settings

Restar phone

Reset network setting


Turn off 4G network mode (this is the Key !)


Turn on location service

Open Waze

Accept all asked authorizations.


Done!, working back again.

User uploaded file


Source of the solution: https://appletoolbox.com/2016/05/gps-issues-iphone-latest-ios-upgrade/

Jan 22, 2018 12:55 PM in response to Feldberg

So as I have mentioned many many times on this forum this is clearly a software issue and not a hardware issue. Many of you have obviously got a different issue to the original poster and myself where your GPS does not work at all; however, the issue which first started this forum related to a problem where the GPS would be unreliable in many areas including tunnels, subways, trains etc. I had reported this to Apple using my developer account last September and it looks like now there is finally a fix. I have been informed by Apple that this issue should be fixed in iOS 11.3.


User uploaded file

Jan 27, 2018 3:40 PM in response to Feldberg

Good evening to everyone. I faced the same problem with GPS of my iPhone 6 and for months I could no longer use google maps, waze or even maps, I waited several updates and I also joined the developer program for more updates in the hope of solving the problem.

I have also waited for the latest update iOS 11.3 convinced that the problem was software. Unfortunately, the GPS still not working properly.

As for many of you, my GPS detected the position but does not move on the map. Wi-fi and bluetooth works regularly. Finally I decided to replace the antenna and the wlan module due to the low cost of the modules (less then 10$). An hour of work full of hope. Eureka ... GPS is back to work properly.

Ok... in my head I'm still convinced that everything was a bad software nightmare ... but hardware fix has solved my problem.

Hope it can be the same for you. Good luck.

In the pic below the module set.

User uploaded file

GPS not working after update to IOS11

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