GPS-based navigation apps like Google Maps have become an essential component that is hard to miss on any phone today. These apps serve as a lifesaver for those who need to know directions, routes, and access to different destinations while traveling, not to mention the additional services they provide such as traffic condition prediction, weather status, and road conditions during their trips. These apps are supposed to access your geographic location and accurately determine it via GPS, which collects signals sent from satellites to pinpoint the device’s precise location. However, this does not always happen, as sometimes it fails to determine your location, which may hinder you from using map apps and deprive you of their benefits. Determining the accurate location of the device depends on several factors, and in this article, we suggest a set of ways and tips that can help you improve the accuracy of your geographic location determined on your Android phone.
Improving GPS Accuracy on Android
First: How are smartphone locations accurately determined?
Smartphones determine their locations accurately through the Global Positioning System (GPS), which uses satellites orbiting the earth and sending radio signals to devices and the built-in receivers in smartphones and smart devices. By knowing the distance radio signals travel from the satellite to the receiver, the Global Positioning System can recognize the device’s geographic location and pinpoint it accurately.
Second: Ways to improve location accuracy on Android
1- Enable location access and phone data
The traditional trick seems to work well in our case, and if you notice that your phone cannot determine your current geographic location accurately, the first recommended step is to turn off location access and turn off phone data, then restart them again.
Disabling phone data and turning off GPS can be easily done either through the quick access menu of the control center by swiping down the top part of the screen and tapping on the “Mobile Data” and “Location” icons to disable them if they are enabled, or through the settings app by opening the “Settings” app and going to the “Location” section and tapping on the toggle button next to the “Turn On” option to disable it, then opening the settings app again, going to “Mobile Networks” or “SIM Cards and Mobile Networks” and tapping on the toggle button next to the “Mobile Data” option to disable it.
After disabling phone data usage and location access, you should wait for a few seconds before turning them back on, and you can do that in the same way as mentioned earlier either by opening the control center or by opening the settings app. Now, apps that were previously granted permission to access your location will try to re-determine your geographic location. Granting apps permission to access your geographic location and enabling the location access on your phone helps you get more accurate results from search engines and better performance from apps that use GPS.
2- Recalibrate location on Google Maps
The failure of GPS to pinpoint accurate geographic locations on phones and smart devices sometimes results from improper calibration of the phone’s compass, and this problem can be easily rectified by manually recalibrating the phone’s compass. However, to do this, you must first check if the location access feature is activated as explained in the previous paragraph. You can then calibrate by opening the “Google Maps” app and searching for the blue dot on the map that represents the geographic location your phone believes you are in, then tapping on this blue dot.
The blue dot may be surrounded by a light blue circle, indicating that Google Maps is not entirely sure of your current geographic location. If the app is unable to determine your exact geographic location, a low-location accuracy message will appear on the screen and at the bottom of the map. Now all you have to do is press the “Calibrate” button that appears above that message, then tilt and move the phone in a path resembling the number 8 as indicated. Repeat the movement and tilt of the phone, then finally press the “Done” button. When the compass calibration is successfully completed, you will notice a change in location accuracy from “low” to “high.”
3- Enable location accuracy improvement in Google
Usually, the GPS on the phone is set by default to operate in battery saver mode, and although this preserves the phone’s battery life, it reduces the rate of sending and receiving the phone’s location data, limiting the GPS’s ability to determine the phone’s accurate geographic location.
If your geographic location continues to appear inaccurately on Google Maps and other apps, you should activate what is known as high accuracy mode or location accuracy improvement feature provided by Google Maps. When enabling high accuracy mode or location accuracy improvement, Google will use random data derived from the Wi-Fi network used and the cellular network, along with GPS data and the acceleration meter to accurately determine your geographic location.
To enable high accuracy mode or location accuracy improvement feature in Google Maps, all you have to do is open the “Settings” app and go to the “Location” section, then tap on the “Location Services” option, then select the “Google Location Accuracy” option, and then proceed to the “Improve Location Accuracy” option, and tap on the toggle switch next to it to activate it.
4- Granting permission to access your accurate geographic location
Any app that uses location data while running on your phone asks the user to allow access to their geographic location first. This does not necessarily mean that all apps requiring access to your location need to know your exact geographic location as a basic requirement to function correctly. Unlike “Google Maps,” which requires accurate geographic location to fully benefit from its features, an app like Facebook, for example, can work normally without needing access to your accurate geographic location.
Some people prefer not to provide accurate data about their geographic location to some apps, especially apps that raise concerns about privacy, and although some apps may need access to our exact location to enjoy their full features, we can allow specific apps to access our accurate geographic location.
All you have to do is open the “Settings” app and go to the “Location” section, then tap on the “App location permissions” option. In the “Apps not allowed to access” section, you can tap on the name of the app you want to grant access to your accurate geographic location from the apps list, then select “Always Allowed” or “Allow only while using the app,” or you can choose “Ask every time,” but in this case, you will be asked to grant permission to access your accurate geographic location every time you use the app. Finally, tap on the toggle switch for the “Use precise location” option to enable it.
5- Location determination through Wi-Fi and Bluetooth scanning
If the issue of inaccurate location persists on your phone, you can still help the GPS determine your phone’s precise location by using nearby Wi-Fi access points and Bluetooth devices in the adjacent areas. All you have to do is allow apps to search for nearby Wi-Fi access points and Bluetooth devices in adjacent areas. You can do this by opening the “Settings” app and going to the “Location” section, then tapping on the “Location Services” option and enabling “Wi-Fi scanning” and also “Bluetooth scanning.”
6- Activate Emergency Location Service
