iOS12 GPS Accuracy is off?

Hi Austin,

Bit of a mystery, I still suspect you got some of your Google service functions blocked in mainland China, if you had no VPN access and had to channel your China Unicom data through mainland telecom systems.

If it is a problem with Google Maps itself, it is odd that you can use Google Maps with the same phone in the US, but not mainland China. I can't explain why the performance of Apple Maps in HKG was not as bad as for Google Maps - the subpar performance of both was probably due to the tall buildings in HKG, which would explain why Apple Maps performance improved in that street of 4-storey buildings in Beijing (while Google Maps in Beijing could have been affected by blocking by mainland systems).

Hi AppleQer,

Thank you for your continued input to this issue. I did exactly as you described for the SIM. I hadn't used the GPS Diagnostic before it however, so I don't know if it made a difference - as I also had 4 satellites showing of variable quality c. 60%. When I got home (where I jog) the satellite reading was same but dropped occasionally sub 50% (red).

This morning I used a different app (MapMyRun) which has also been affected (but does a better job than Strava of correcting) and I followed your instruction to first go outside and monitor picking up satellite GPS (MapMyRun helpfully has a GPS measure - it showed 2/4 bars) and after that it seemed to record accurately (no lines through buildings etc).

I don't know now if that was the SIM change, the standing outside at 6am in the cold monitoring for GPS pick up (don't want that to be the requirement every morning, particularly as this was introduced by iOS12) or something else. I'll need to try with Strava tomorrow to see if this holds, because Strava has been particularly bad (15%+ off) under iOS12 GPS.

One observation is I did an interesting experiment this morning where I also tracked the run on my Apple Watch at the same time, and it wound up with almost the same "messed up" 15% off distance and erratic route. I wonder if that is a confirmation that the inaccuracies are related to not having satellite GPS (assuming the phone app was using that).

In parallel I went to Apple as instructed by them yesterday and had a horrific ordeal to match the past two weeks on the phone with no support. They refused to honour warranty without payment due to a hairline screen crack (unrelated and 3 months older than the GPS issue). They made me stand in the store and negotiate to phone support for 2 hours.

In the end after 3 hours I got nowhere, and the whole trip I was advised to make to resolve this GPS issue, was wasted (after 5+ hours the past two weeks). It's great that there are users like you AppleQer but after 10 years my negative experience of Apple is now irreversible and once I get this GPS issue resolved, it's the last time I buy an Apple product.

Thanks again. I downloaded GPS diagnostic yesterday, and both then and today, I get green at 75% on 4 satellites. I've started testing a bit on my local walks, and today things seemed spot on--I'll try with WiFi turned off tomorrow . I'm not sure what happened just before and on our recent trip. Certainly, part of it was the rental car--had problems unlike any before on personal or rental cars (we were given a Jeep Renagade rather than our specified car--never again for many reasons!), but we didn't drive the car up to our hotel floor, where I got positioning suggesting we were in a different hotel with both Apple and Google maps, and we weren't connected to a car when I got a start point 15-20 miles from where we were a week or so before the trip. Perhaps the recent software reset has done more good than I realized (or perhaps there is an intermittent problem that will resurface). I'll keep testing, but will also defer upgrading IOS for now. Prior to all this, I had had such good performance with location on the maps that I had not realized the problems others have been having at times and had taken map performance for granted (except that Google refuses to change the numbering on the road to our local lake campsite, although Apple has corrected their addresses in the area.--but, that's not a GPS problem.) Thanks for tip on SOS; I'll look into it. Have also been interested that Apple has been working to make location better for 911 calls. I'd like to get rid of my lake cabin land line, but have hesitated because of fears that 911 might not work well.

AppleQer wrote:

This may be yet another fluke or false dawn.

Time will tell.

So I've now run 5 x 10km since I had my "false dawn" and something (in my opinion) definitely changed.

Out of 5 runs, all 5 show markedly better tracking than I had so far experienced since updating to iOS 12.

3 of the 5 runs are perfect - identical to the route/accuracy before iOS 12. This includes my last two runs.

2 of the 5 runs have GPS issues only in specific locations, worse than before iOS 12 but better than after.

I have responded to the Apple Senior folks who don't seem to know if anything has changed on their side.

I don't actually think engineers had done anything on my issue anyway, even when it barely worked at all!

My one remaining test is with an Apple Watch paired to the iPhone, as this was where my issues started..

Thanks Austin. I'm still seeing Apple Maps GPS location unstable, incorrect and variable, even when stationary. It just moves my position around wildly, without any pinpointing. This is true even after rebooting my phone (iPhone X).

What did you test to be sure Strava is working, as that is my killer app for GPS and all my stats are getting torched this past week or so, which is really demoralising and enough alone to move away from using Apple devices ASAP.

My Apple Support Case has been open for over a week, I've had 4 different senior representatives, promised updates repeatedly not occurred, and despite sharing huge amounts of diagnostics, the engineers reverted with the question "does it happen all the time" after 5 days (something they already had recorded), which I'm sure was to buy time.

This has been an all-time low in years of buying Apple products (iPhone, iMac, MacBook, iPads, Watch etc). I'm not even a fan boy I just believe for the price you get the peace of mind of reliability of hardware and ability to perform your desired use cases, which is why this matter introduced since iOS 12 is so thoroughly depressing and frustrating.

Hi AppleQer,

Thanks for your contribution and your experiences! I installed GPS Diagnostic (whats £2.99 when I can't use a £1200 phone properly! 😕 ) and it only shows satellites outdoors, and even then it is amber, between about 50% and 75% quality and quite changeable, which seems to be in step with the erratic movement on the map even when stood still.

This is around my office, not at home, where I have the real issues running, but I assume it's the same pattern (and I'm going to Apple later before I go home, so won't get a chance to test it). I also tried your SIM suggestion before I went outside using GPS Diagnostic but unless the <60% satellite quality and movement is normal, it didn't change anything.

Appreciate the ideas however, way more than anyone at Apple volunteered.

Rob

Thanks. I'll try some of the test apps; have always minimized allowing location permission for apps. Can't be sure whether WiFi was always on in past, but some of problems have been in car far from possible WiFi . Usually is on; Bluetooth usually off, but hard to believe that would help except in very special cases. Think I'll wait to try the Sim maneuver; it's going to be a while before I seriously need accurate maps location. In meantime, will follow news of upgrades, etc and defer IOS upgrade. Plan on buying either iPhone 8 or the upcoming 10 model before a trip in March, and hope things will become clear before that. Very frustrating: during trip to London in June, had amazingly precise location while walking using Google Maps--was very helpful. Hope Apple hasn't concentrated too much on adding new features I'll never use and let some of the old standards deteriorate.

AppleQer wrote:

It is pitiful.

To complicate matters, this morning, out of the blue, I got a perfectly tracked 10km run on iPhone GPS. Like accurate every step of the way, as good as it ever got a month ago before iOS 12. I'm very confused. Phone was onto 12.01 and still been way out, so I don't know what changed today or if this is a fluke or what. Need more runs to see if it holds.

In parallel no progress with Apple - for what I am convinced is/was a software issue - and a letter had already gone into Apple Distribution to escalate, but am going to look very stupid if this is now fixed (though will be very happy).

Glad to hear your good news.

Mine has certainly not worsened.

On most days it seems better, as long as I stay motionless at the very start to get the first location fix.

My issue was never with accuracy, as long as I got the initial fix.

The problem was with the time to first fix.

The iPhone X still seems far more fussy about me remaining motionless initially, compared with my previous models, but I think the initial fix time has shortened on average since 12.0 or 12.0.1

Since mapping in iOS 12 works fine for most, please be more specific as to what issues you are having and what you have tried to resolve them.

I use Waze daily and have used both Apple Maps and Google Maps on recent trips with my Xs Max and have seen no issues.

It is unacceptable for a flagship apple device in 2018 to be experiencing these issues. I instantly regret getting my first iPhone. After the bogo promotion has fully been applied, I will be promptly switching back to pure android, which will never have these issues.

I will be promptly switching back to pure android, which will never have these issues.

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Also, I have tried the following without success:

• Restart phone
• Reset privacy settings
• Reset network settings
• Opening multiple apps that use GPS at once