GPS not working after update to IOS11

This becomes more and more interesting (or frustrating).

I have an iPhone 6. Google Maps, Apple Maps and Waze was working perfectly while it's on IOS 9.0.3. A week ago, I was told by IT department to upgrade to IOS 11.

After the upgrade, I noticed Google Maps does not have the "Start" (navigation) button anymore. Location service was turned off for Google Maps. This is weird, because it never happened before in any of the IOS upgrades. No big deal, I just manually turned it back on.

Then I start noticing Google Maps got huge delay on updating my location. My location showing on the App was half a mile off.

Many people claimed to fix the problem by replacing the flex cable. I'm going to try that since the cable is just a couple dollars. So far, I haven't seen anyone NOT fixing the problem by replacing the cable. But I'm curious - if it was the cable problem, why the problem only surfaces after IOS 11 upgrade?

Was it because IOS 11 is less forgivable on defective cables?

I’ve put it down to coincidence as the most likely cause. There have been the same complaints since iOS 9. We’ll over 100,000,000 iPhone 6’s have been sold and all but a tiny few have this issue.

Let us know how it goes.

Though we cannot rule out the possibility of "coincidence", I have to humbly disagree "coincidence is the most likely cause". 🙂

I've done many IOS upgrades in the past. Though I tried NOT to upgrade unless being forced to. As a tech guy, I truly believe "if it ain't broken, don't fix it".

After upgrading from IOS 9 to IOS 11, I noticed "location service" was turned off for Google Maps. This never happened in the past. Another coincidence?

I manually turned location service back on. But I immediately noticed Google Maps constantly displays my location half a mile off (delayed). This never happened before. Another coincidence?

Some users were lucky enough to downgrade to previous IOS version and fixed the problem. Yet another coincidence?

Yes, there are billions of iPhones out there and only "some" of them are reporting this problem. But given the facts that:

1) Not all users are using GPS functions.

2) Not all users will report GPS problem.

3) Not all users will report the problem on THIS particular forum.

4) Some of the users just get a replacement phone as a "solution".

5) Many users reported that Apple staffs were aware of the problem and said developers were working on it.

6) Getting a new or replacement phone does NOT necessarily fix the problem. The trick is - you CANNOT restore your old backup to the new phone. If you did, you'd break GPS again(confirmed by Apple Genius Bar). You'll have to use it as a new phone so it won't be impacted by "old setting".

Last but not least, when too many coincidences happened at the same time, it's hard to believe it's coincidence.

As an engineer, I hate to speculate. But if I had to guess, IOS 11 has different coding for GPS. I won't necessarily call it a "bug". But it's impacting many old users. Why a new flex cable fixes the problem is still a mysterious. The cable is a non-moving part. In theory, it should not wear out or deteriorate over time. Maybe it would. Maybe replacing the cable resets some parameters in the IOS.

Yes, I will try the flex cable just because it's so cheap to try. But if I had known this IOS 11 GPS issue before hand, I would never upgrade.

I seem to recenlty experience the same problem. iPhone 6s here. I updated to IOS11 long time ago (didn't install 11.2.5 yet) and used GPS regularly but in last 10 days GPS started to malfunction in Waze and Google maps.

A fix i tried and work was to delete and reinstall Waze. It worked after reinstall but it didn t work after a few days. This is surely a software problem.

Apple - please solve asap!!!!!

Here are some test results. Not sure if it's a "fix" or not. Just want to share.

I have iPhone 6. After upgrading from 9.0.3 to 11.2.5, GPS starts malfunctioning in Google Maps, Apple Maps and Waze. The symptom was: my location in the Apps was not updated promptly. Sometimes it's half a mile off, sometimes it's a mile off.

I did quite a lot research on Internet and tried almost everything - toggle location service on/off, toggle airplane mode, turn off LTE， reset network settings, soft reset the phone by holding power button and home button... None of them seemed to fix the problem.

Then I read that some users got a replacement phone from Apple store. GPS worked. But once they restored their backup to the "new" phone, GPS stopped working again. It sounds like the settings in the backup was messing up with the new IOS (version 11).

To prove this theory, I backed up my iPhone 6. Please keep in mind that location service was turned on at this point. Then I wiped my phone (erase all settings and contents). Then I activated the phone as a new one (didn't restore from backup). Installed Google Maps right after activation.

I drove around with Google Maps and Apple Maps. GPS was working as it should be. This proves the previous GPS issue was a software issue other than hardware (flex cable or what).

Then I restored my phone from backup. I noticed that location service was turned off. Why location service would be turned off from restore? It was on when I did the backup and was on right before I did the restore!

Anyway, I turned the location service on, drove the same route again. GPS is still working as expected. But I'm not sure how long it'll work. As I heard from some users that once you restore from backup, GPS will stop working in a couple days. I'll report back in a day or two. But now I know I don't have to replace the flex cable to fix it.

I wiped my phone as if I had bought it from someone else, so without restoring backup : GPS still not working any better.

I passed by a (non-Apple) phone repair shop today. The guy told me that i was not alone with this problem, they have had many other people coming in complaining of that same "coincidence". The guy said that he could swap the antennas/flex cable of my phone but that there was no point as he already did it with multiple customers and it did not help. I will try it out as a last resort. But first I will walk to the Apple store and ask what they can do for my old 6. I have a feeling that I won't be fully or even partly compensated for my loss.

I'm on a 6 with iOS 11.2.5.

Same problem getting Waze or Maps to connect to GPS on my 6s. Can sometimes get it fixed temporarily by toggling certain settings on and off, but fix never lasts. I had been blaming my carrier (Verizon Wireless) because this seemed to start after they put me on safety mode after we went over our data allowance last month. Its a new cycle and I turned that off, but it still shows as in safety mode. VW says that could mess with GPS but they cant reset it till the end of the following cycle. But seeing all these other people with the same issue makes me thing that might not be the problem. Really rely on Waze so this is pretty annoying.

I'm having the exact same problem. Three other friends of mine are also experiencing this bug.

As for now I'm obliged to buy a GPS system for my car. Unbelievable that a malfunction of a critical function like this occured and most of all that it still hasn't been solved!

iPhone 7plus -

Have the GPS problem since November 2017 since after I upgraded to iOS11.x

I now have a case opened with apple support. Case is with apple tier 2 support and last night they told me how to capture the detailed system diagnosis logs of phone and send them. Did that and now the logs are with apple engineering team. SLA is 3 days so lets see what they respond with.

Meanwhile, I will encourage everyone having this issue to download "apple support" app and file a case. This way apple can keep track of this. I was told by their sr. support person that these forums (although on apple official site) are not tracked.

I will provide an update once I hear back from their support team.

The Waze fix worked for me but only for a few minutes. Then no more until yesterday when I, amazingly, managed to drive to work for a full hour with Waze working. I had not had GPS working since a long time before then.

The GPS is not completely 'hardware-broken' as it can work perfectly...2% of the time.

Another "coincidence" after the "it all started just after upgrading to iOS11" coincidence?

Still could be hardware related. As reported, several users were able to tap on the corner of their phones and get GPS to work. Eventually this stops working altogether and replacement cable fixes it for good. I’m not convinced the cable itself it actually bad at all, possibly reseating the four analog connectors would do the trick. But it takes time to do this yourself, if I’m going to be working with impossibly tiny screws for a couple hours, I want to increase my odds of success when it’s put back together.

As an engineer, I wouldn't rule out any possibility.

It *could* be the hardware issue. But it sound very suspicious that a non-moving part suddenly broke by itself. We also heard that a repair shop replaced flex cable for many users but didn't fix the problem.

For the users that "fix" the problem by replacing the flex cable, there's another explanation:

In order to replace the flex cable, we'd have to disconnect the battery totally. It's possible that by disconnecting the batter, some parameters were reset to factory default and fixed the problem. For testing purpose, someone may try to disconnect/reconnect the battery without replacing the flex cable. See if that makes any difference.

Same issue with iPhone 6. Maps stopped working after I upgraded to iOS 11.x

Just got off my 4^th or 5^th call with Apple Care. Last week it was more
than 1 hour with technical team, who completely removed all apps and did complete
new phone setup on iPhone and they could not resolve it. Therefore, Apple care
asked me to go to store to check if it is a hardware issue. Spent 1 hour at the
store. The diagnostic showed that my phone’s hardware is perfect. No issues with hardware. That means as per Apple,there is no issue with software and hardware. Apple Store people told me, I have
to pay $300 to buy new phone, because they do not know what is going with my
phone and I am out of warranty. Wow APPLE, you do not know the issue and you
are asking me to buy new phone. My expectation from Apple is at least tell me
what the problem is.

Why should I spent money, when Apple does not stand behind its product? Complete RIP-off.

Called the Apple care again. Explained the whole story again. Spoke with the Supervisor and got the same answer “We do not know what is going on with your phone. You will have to pay $300 to pay for new
phone”.

I tried to explain them, maps are not working after iOS update, but they do not
listen. I believe this is entirely a software issue. I did some research online
and found out that many iphone users have the same issue during the same time. It
is obvious that it is a software issue. Very upset about Apple.

I have just gone through the exact same experience. I think there are many users affected by this and that's just those that use GPS for navigation. There are probably many more than don't even know they have a problem. I'm almost suspicious that because sales are so low of the latest product that this software upgrade may have been designed to cause the problem so we all have to buy new phones... how cynical of me!

Mine has now stopped working entirely now. For a while the toggling off of location services or resetting network would bring it back sporadically. In my case, I'm waiting to try one more thing before restoring (which is what Apple says to try next), or trying to get a new phone through my carrier's insurance.

I haven't seen this suspected cause posted anywhere on here, but for me this all started after Verizon put me on "safety mode" last month after we used all our data. Apparently they do this now if you are about to go over your data allowance. Reduces the speed of your connection. Most annoyingly once you turn it off, it takes until the end of not just the current, but the following 30 day cycle to reset. Verizon claims they can't reset it sooner, which seems to me like a scam to force people into buying their unlimited data plan. Anyway both the Verizon rep and the Apple rep I talked to indicated that this could have an effect on the GPS, and the only way I will know is to wait another 8 days till the next billing cycle is over. Seems ridiculous, but guess I'm going to have to wait. I downloaded a gps diagnostic app, and it tells me everything is fine with my phone, except its not finding any satellites.