Level 1

18 points

iOS12 GPS Accuracy is off?

Updated to iOS12 in the states about a day before my trip began. Landed in Hong Kong and the GPS functionality in my iPhone 7 (and my wife's 7) has been horrific.

In Google Maps the screen spins wildly, almost like a compass has a magnet next to it. Apple Maps is vaguely better, but both have a hard time accurately locating us. We vary from 3-6 feet to sometimes up to a block away. Navigating in a foreign country is a real pain if you can't accurately work the GPS.

Does anyone have any tips?

iPhone 7, iOS 12

Posted on Sep 23, 2018 3:30 PM

Top-ranking reply

AppleQer

Level 1

35 points

Posted on Oct 10, 2018 4:40 PM

Hi tntoofore,

In other threads on these forums some people with older iPhone models resolved their problems by replacing their Wifi/GPS chip-sets and antennas. To confirm your problem is not a hardware-related, I would consider the following (it is a re-paste of my suggestions to others above)

Are you sure you had a genuine A-GPS-based location, rather than a cellular/wifi-only based one?

When I had problems with iOS11, my first step was to use GPS Diagnostic. It is an app that is useful because it shows clearly when your phone has a genuine Assisted-GPS based location, or just one based on Cellular triangulation and Wifi signals. During my jog, I would keep checking GPS Diagnostic to see if it was the app (Motion X in my case) to blame, or if the culprit was the A-GPS system itself.

My solution was the following: (do so at your own risk as some sites advise against SIM replacement while phone is on, ***see note at bottom)

remove the SIM while phone was left on

shut down phone (with SIM left out)

turn on phone (with SIM still out)

insert SIM once phone comes back on

This does not work for some, but it made a big improvement for me, and it worked for others in other GPS threads on this forum. I suspect there was an issue with how the phone registers with cell towers (i.e. the cellular aspect of Assisted-GPS), and resetting via this procedure may have fixed it.

Turning the compass setting to True North, which some recommend, may also have helped.

Just for good measure, I turn location settings off for as many apps as possible, I have none set to "Always" and shut down as many apps, especially other GPS apps, when using a particular GPS app. Also, I always stand stationary until I am sure I have an A-GPS-based location, before starting my jog.

***Out of an abundance of caution, I would advise anyone to do the SIM procedure at their own risk, as some sources say you should shut down first. Apple's instructions as of today still do not mention turning the phone off here as far as I can see, although that may be their omission/sloppiness:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201337

https://help.apple.com/iphone/11/#/iph3f11fba92

And another discussion's thread as of today seems to say there shouldn't be a major problem. Check it yourself.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7468878

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Similar questions

53 replies

Oct 9, 2018 4:49 PM in response to AustinBike

Updating to iOS12.01 also does not fix this issue

nir279

Level 1

13 points

Dec 5, 2018 5:43 AM in response to AustinBike

since the last update my iphone doesnt work well with GPS

1 No signal
2 Not updating your location
3 Slow in tracking your location
4 Showing the wrong location

when apple is going to fix ios 12 GPS

nir279

Level 1

13 points

Dec 20, 2018 12:38 PM in response to Dogcow-Moof

losing gps signal or gps doesn't seem to keep up (losing after a few minutes)

navigation apps like waze or google maps can't locate me.

but everything is working good now like i wrote before

Dec 23, 2018 5:38 AM in response to pandahill

Anything back from them? I play Pokemon go and this issue has been plaguing my XS from the start. An entirely new XS is doing the same thing.

AustinBike Author

Level 1

18 points

Oct 4, 2018 12:58 AM in response to Rob2775

For Strava I just opened the app and it showed me in the right place. I did not try to record a track as I was just checking to see how accurately it identified my location. On the bike i use a dedicated Garmin GPS and Import the track into Strava. Will be back in Austin tomorrow and can try recording a track with Strava instead of the Garmin.

AppleQer

Level 1

35 points

Oct 10, 2018 4:14 PM in response to Rob2775

Hi Rob,

Did you remove the SIM while the phone was on (see the warning), turn off, then turn on, and re-insert?

Was there any difference before and after?

On GDP Diagnostic, I have four satellites showing and 60% quality when testing on the edge of my balcony, with the sky half covered by the edge of my roof but nothing immediately and diagonally in front of me. It is changeable and I get about 30m accuracy on average on the balcony, which I consider good, given the situation. When jogging outside I think I get about 5m-10m accuracy which is good enough. The trail maps that Motion X produces at the end of the jog are very accurate, right down to the particular path in a park. The main problem is time to first fix, which gets worse over time, until I have to do the SIM thing all over again- I did it first in May and then three months later in August.

AppleQer

Level 1

35 points

Oct 12, 2018 5:56 AM in response to tntoofore

Tntoofore,

In-vehicle GPS issues with your iPhone can depend on your vehicle model. They are discussed in other GPS threads in these forums, perhaps the "iOS11 screwed my GPS" (or whatever it is called), or the "iPhone 8 GPS one, or the iPhone X GPS one, or the iPhone 6 GPS one 😉. I have lost count of how many threads there are on GPS issues. Just when I thought this issue had subsided, if not been resolved, this new thread crops up (someone on another thread mentioned it to me).

It is up to you but I would definitely want to have a working A-GPS-based function as soon as possible, especially for emergencies. To give Apple, credit, its SOS function for sending out your location and alert messages to designated friends and family is pretty good, so I would make use of it by making sure you have a working A-GPS system . Also, your FindMyiPhone function won't be much use either if your location is based only on cellular triangulation/wifi, particularly whenever you are in rural areas.

nir279

Level 1

13 points

Dec 19, 2018 1:25 PM in response to AustinBike

I had the same issue and finally I solved it.

In my car there is fm transmitter that connect the iphone through the bluetooth to car speakers.

I had noticed that every time that the phone was away from the fm transmitter the GPS signal was fine.

So in my case its not software or hardware issue but Collision between frequencies.

Its a good idea to check the GPS signal without any other devices around.

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iOS12 GPS Accuracy is off?