Hi guys, i just bought SGS3 in Australia. Everything is perfect and i notice that i can't find AGPS option in my setting ( i saw one picture online that with AGPS option). I reread what samsung said in SGS3 box, I can't find AGPS as well, but accidently, i find GLONASS/ How's ur devices, do they have AGPS or GLONASS?
hello,
On my, i have gps/glonass on writed on the box.
For an appli for AGPS , you can find it on the google play (like gps status).
For the glonass, i don't know if it's possible to connect on it.(i think it depend on the gps appli and maybe the country , only in Russia ?).
Bye
PS: After a little search, i found that the GPS and the GLONASS are active in same time .Now it seems you can find/use 55 active satellites instead of 31 with GPS alone and 24 with GLONASS alone
jasonlu1992 said:
Hi guys, i just bought SGS3 in Australia. Everything is perfect and i notice that i can't find AGPS option in my setting ( i saw one picture online that with AGPS option). I reread what samsung said in SGS3 box, I can't find AGPS as well, but accidently, i find GLONASS/ How's ur devices, do they have AGPS or GLONASS?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AGPS = settings Location Services Use Wireless Networks .
Glonass its built in to the cpu .
jje
GPS (USA), Glonass (Russia) and the upcoming Galileo (EU) are different protocols provided by different satellites with different features.
But for everything you as a consumer and user care they are the same.
It's just that consumers are used to it being GPS so they call it that way even if it's incorrect.
If your boss,teacher,friend, ... tells you to google something he means to search on the net and (usually) does not actually enforce you to use the Google search.
In technical terms the app couldn't care less about what country and protocol provides the data, I don't think it even could see the difference (except when polling raw data)
It's very easy to check if Glonass works as expected; just fire up a GPS-Test app (e.g. 'GPS Test') and check the amount of satellites it uses.
GPS is designed with 24-30 satellites total in orbit and as such provides visibility to a mimumum of 4 and a maximum of 12 satellites in clear area.
Glonass has roughly the same amount. When holding my phone against the window I get a (more or less) immediate fix on 17 satellites which is impossible with only GPS.
AGPS is something totally different which regroups network-based GPS with satellite-based GPS, accelerometers and satellite trajectory prediction to allow you to get an approximate fix when it would otherwise not be possible (e.g. underground) and to accelerate the time-to-fix.
AGPS is a combination of gps + mobile network data. With the GS3 you get gps + glonas + mobile networks + wireless networks + sensors (I assume barometer + magnetometer) all working together. I get very good positioning even indoors.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using XDA
Glonass satellites are detected automatically. I'm in nz and now pick up 17 sats rather than the 12 on previous devices using GPS sats only. TIFF is also excellent, a matter of seconds only for a cold start.
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
d4fseeker said:
GPS (USA), Glonass (Russia) and the upcoming Galileo (EU) are different protocols provided by different satellites with different features.
But for everything you as a consumer and user care they are the same.
It's just that consumers are used to it being GPS so they call it that way even if it's incorrect.
If your boss,teacher,friend, ... tells you to google something he means to search on the net and (usually) does not actually enforce you to use the Google search.
In technical terms the app couldn't care less about what country and protocol provides the data, I don't think it even could see the difference (except when polling raw data)
It's very easy to check if Glonass works as expected; just fire up a GPS-Test app (e.g. 'GPS Test') and check the amount of satellites it uses.
GPS is designed with 24-30 satellites total in orbit and as such provides visibility to a mimumum of 4 and a maximum of 12 satellites in clear area.
Glonass has roughly the same amount. When holding my phone against the window I get a (more or less) immediate fix on 17 satellites which is impossible with only GPS.
AGPS is something totally different which regroups network-based GPS with satellite-based GPS, accelerometers and satellite trajectory prediction to allow you to get an approximate fix when it would otherwise not be possible (e.g. underground) and to accelerate the time-to-fix.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thnx for your answer i just want to know if u guys have AGPS
jasonlu1992 said:
thnx for your answer i just want to know if u guys have AGPS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Im pretty sure all S3s have aGPS (Assisted GPS).
Its not really designed as an accurate positioning system on its own - it was originally designed as a clever means to get faster GPS fix by using cell network and/or WiFi provided time and location.
It can also be used to provide less accurate location data to mobile apps (eg GMaps), without GPS.
Per a previous post if you have
System Settings->Location Services->Use Wireless Networks
checked, then you have enabled aGPS
Its a pretty standard thing on most smartphones these days.
subvertbeats said:
Im pretty sure all S3s have aGPS (Assisted GPS).
Its not really designed as an accurate positioning system on its own - it was originally designed as a clever means to get faster GPS fix by using cell network and/or WiFi provided time and location.
It can also be used to provide less accurate location data to mobile apps (eg GMaps), without GPS.
Per a previous post if you have
System Settings->Location Services->Use Wireless Networks
checked, then you have enabled aGPS
Its a pretty standard thing on most smartphones these days.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for your answering now i am sure my device have aGPS !
Related
Hi all im trying to use my GPS on navigation and it doesnt seem to be working one bit i even downloaded a gps app and that wasnt picking it up also any idea's what's wrong?
TipTopFlipFlop said:
Hi all im trying to use my GPS on navigation and it doesnt seem to be working one bit i even downloaded a gps app and that wasnt picking it up also any idea's what's wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EDIT: the only real GPS dead zones are underground and on a very rare occurence when your time and date aren't synchronized with that of the GPS sattelite. Other then that, have you tried to enable GPS in settings (would be weird if it was disabled by default). It also matters if you have a data connection when using some apps (I have never gotten google maps to show me where I am when I have no data).
Hope some of this is useful to you
Dyskmaster said:
EDIT: the only real GPS dead zones are underground and on a very rare occurence when your time and date aren't synchronized with that of the GPS sattelite. Other then that, have you tried to enable GPS in settings (would be weird if it was disabled by default). It also matters if you have a data connection when using some apps (I have never gotten google maps to show me where I am when I have no data).
Hope some of this is useful to you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thank's for the reply the GPS is enabled still no luck,you cant get data on the Galaxy Player anyway i think.
Other people must be having this problem too the thread has had about 200 view's does anyone know anything about this problem?
TipTopFlipFlop said:
Thank's for the reply the GPS is enabled still no luck,you cant get data on the Galaxy Player anyway i think.
Other people must be having this problem too the thread has had about 200 view's does anyone know anything about this problem?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
By data connection he means a wifi connection.
GPS uses data always. So it needs a data stream to get and use location services and maps.
On a phone it uses cellular or wifi but on an ipod style device or the galaxy player it needs wifi.
Without wifi it will never work unless your gps config files are modified; which is something i learned when trying to get the Acer Iconia GPS to work. And even then its probably not going to work.
Turn on wifi. I bet it works.
You now may be thinking "then what good is gps when i do not have a data connection!!?" - and my answer is exactly!!!
Gps on these devices is a gimmick and really only works when wifi is available.
True gps like a tom tom device doesnt need a wifi connection because it uses the gps link iyself for the limited data it needs plus the maps are built in.
On the galaxy player and phones the maps are downloaded at needed because they are hundreds of megs .
v_lestat said:
{snip}
True gps like a tom tom device doesnt need a wifi connection because it uses the gps link iyself for the limited data it needs plus the maps are built in.
On the galaxy player and phones the maps are downloaded at needed because they are hundreds of megs .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The Galaxy Player works fine as a standalone GPS without need of a wifi connection if you have the right kind of app. I use Sygic but there are several others. You download maps from Sygic to your player so they are available on your device. Works fine on my 5" Galaxy Player. Also there are apps like speedometers which use the GPS and work fine without a wifi connection.
I use Sygic. And also use pre recorded areas in Google Maps when I need it. No need to WI-FI, etc..
It is a good GPS 5 ".
In fact, very good.
Until now no problems experienced with GPS. If you do not connect may be related to your area.
v_lestat said:
By data connection he means a wifi connection.
GPS uses data always. So it needs a data stream to get and use location services and maps.
On a phone it uses cellular or wifi but on an ipod style device or the galaxy player it needs wifi.
Without wifi it will never work unless your gps config files are modified; which is something i learned when trying to get the Acer Iconia GPS to work. And even then its probably not going to work.
Turn on wifi. I bet it works.
You now may be thinking "then what good is gps when i do not have a data connection!!?" - and my answer is exactly!!!
Gps on these devices is a gimmick and really only works when wifi is available.
True gps like a tom tom device doesnt need a wifi connection because it uses the gps link iyself for the limited data it needs plus the maps are built in.
On the galaxy player and phones the maps are downloaded at needed because they are hundreds of megs .
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The GPS technology works perfectly fine without data connection. To speed up the first fix, aGPS was developped and uses a data connection when available, but data connection is not mandatory. It's what is used in most if not all smartphones (search for "assisted gps" in wikipedia).
Data connection are required by some navigation software because they need to download the maps or for some obscure reasons. It's the case with google navigation for example.
But you can use a software that doesn't require data connection and store all its map on the device and only uses the GPS signal to do the fix, as gotok pointed out correctly. An android device with a good navigation software is no different than what you call a "true gps like tomtom".
I think you just don't make the difference between GPS (the technology) and navigation software.
I agree that the samsung S wifi's GPS capabilities are not very useful "out of the box" with the limitations of google navigation, but it can work perfectly fine with a good software. Don't blame this device (or any other one) for the shortcomings of google navigation and some other software.
MervinMinky said:
I agree that the samsung S wifi's GPS capabilities are not very useful "out of the box" with the limitations of google navigation, but it can work perfectly fine with a good software. Don't blame this device (or any other one) for the shortcomings of google navigation and some other software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The software is definitely an issue. The SGP i got for christmas couldn't utilize its GPS at all. Regardless of what app tried to use GPS location services, i always got a location error (E.G. Location unavailable at this time.) After doing a little searching, i found that someone had an app that fixed a similar problem. I downloaded "GPS Status & Toolbox" and let it run. Its primary use is a compass and getting information about location, but after i opened it and let it download GPS configuration information, everything worked perfectly. Maps showed where i was, Facebook gave me nearby locations and so on.
Dont know if everyone figured this out already or not, but after reading over most of the thread, i didn't see a definitive solution. Just thought I'd share what i had found.
MervinMinky said:
The GPS technology works perfectly fine without data connection. To speed up the first fix, aGPS was developped and uses a data connection when available, but data connection is not mandatory. It's what is used in most if not all smartphones (search for "assisted gps" in wikipedia).
Data connection are required by some navigation software because they need to download the maps or for some obscure reasons. It's the case with google navigation for example.
But you can use a software that doesn't require data connection and store all its map on the device and only uses the GPS signal to do the fix, as gotok pointed out correctly. An android device with a good navigation software is no different than what you call a "true gps like tomtom".
I think you just don't make the difference between GPS (the technology) and navigation software.
I agree that the samsung S wifi's GPS capabilities are not very useful "out of the box" with the limitations of google navigation, but it can work perfectly fine with a good software. Don't blame this device (or any other one) for the shortcomings of google navigation and some other software.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Data connection is never "mandatory" but with some GPS chipsets, it effectively is.
Some chipsets are so crippled they are almost never able to get a lock without assistance.
See the original GalaxyS phones as one example.
The Infuse is improved but not much better.
The Galaxy S II is VERY good at standalone operation.
Galaxy Players - ???, no clue
The GPS works fine, without wifi, on the Galaxy Player 5.0. To test it, get GPS Test (free). Of all the devices I have ever had with GPS (including Nokia phones, LG Android and HTC phones, Garmin) the GPS is the fastest I have experienced. Locks indoors and on moving trains very fast.
I use CoPilot mapping and navigation program and it works great.
I use "Mapdroid" (Free) and "Navdroid" (purchased) and both work great as stand-alone apps. The maps are open source maps and can be had for pretty much anywhere in the world.
Just like a real stand-alone GPSr the accuracy and speed of start up depends on a clear view of the sky, enough time to builds it's almanac of Sats and how far you are from the location you last accessed the app ( moving great distances between uses is almost the same as being turned on for the first time). The same can be said if too much time has gone by between use (such as months).
The Sat almanac gets built when your gpsr is turned on for the first time and is used as a predictive way identifying which Sats should be overhead at the current time you turn your GPSr on. Four or more Sataltites locked in gives you a higher degree of accuracy.
John
Is gps a real gps or actually a-gps? Seems all tablet and phone want to confuse people this.
The GPS on Galaxy Player is a real GPS and it is pretty accurate. However, you need to find an app that DO NOT use data connection. May apps require you to have a data connection and it will give you an impression that the GPS is not working.
People have been talking about this in this thread.
truelies1 said:
Is gps a real gps or actually a-gps? Seems all tablet and phone want to confuse people this.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Technically it is not a GPS... It is an aided GPS through the use of cell phone towers, so yes A GPS. It is very accurate though. Use Navfree if you want the use of offline maps. No internet connection is required once you install the maps. Hope this helps.
Yes it has Both..
AGPS when you have WiFi connection can be achieved.. much faster fix.
Once you had already acquired this and had initial fix, it's much faster to have a GPS fix for days..
use app like "gps status" free from market.
Note: It uses Satellites so its more easier to have a fix when you're outside and have a clear sky.
Two apps that come to mind for offline map is Map Doyd and Nav Droyd.
In map droyd the maps are free but Navdroyd will cost you a small onetime fee.
John
dunca123 said:
Technically it is not a GPS... It is an aided GPS through the use of cell phone towers, so yes A GPS. It is very accurate though. Use Navfree if you want the use of offline maps. No internet connection is required once you install the maps. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It can receive assistance from the network, but unlike many AGPS solutions, it does fairly well when operating standalone. It CAN lock fairly quickly when standalone, the only other devices I have that lock as well standalone are my Tab 10.1 and my GS2. (Original GalaxyS devices and the Infuse have GPS receivers that perform horribly without assistance.)
dunca123 said:
Technically it is not a GPS... It is an aided GPS through the use of cell phone towers, so yes A GPS. It is very accurate though. Use Navfree if you want the use of offline maps. No internet connection is required once you install the maps. Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No phone function in YP-G70, so not A-GPS obviously. Don't you need data connection in Navfree to enter address even you have offline map?
Sent from my YP-G70 using xda premium
The new update apparantly supports GLONASS, however I've read this:
To save power, the GLONASS receiver is only activated in problematic locations, such as in an urban environment with high rise buildings. Therefore, if you are in an open sky environment where there are enough GPS satellites available to calculate a good accuracy position, GLONASS will automatically be switched off temporarily to enhance the battery lifetime.
When using Endomondo the gps is even worse than my Galaxy S (which pretty much has a crappy GPS). I've tried this using my 2 devices side by side.
Is there a way to either improve the GPS or to forcefully enable GLONASS?
edit: i've analysed my GPX and it appears that about every 5 minutes the GPS signal is lost??? Anyone has any info on this (and maybe even a fix).
GLONASS is quite new, but nice to see it in Sony Ericsson.
GLONASS is automatic and it is not so popular, because only newest SE Xperia phones have its chip. So, there isn't any app yet about GLONASS, at least I haven't found.
I have used my phone's, SE Live with Walkman, GPS in a bigger city without problems. I used app GPS Test(from Market) to check, which GPS is being used. According to me, GLONASS is used only, if you see satellites numbers between 65 and 88.
Some info here: http://developer.sonymobile.com/wp/2012/01/19/glonass-support-in-our-latest-xperia-phones/
Someguyfromhell said:
So, there isn't any app yet about GLONASS, at least I haven't found.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As far as I know GLONASS is transparent accessible for any application through the android gps-api. So no need for special treadment of GLONASS for the applications.
My xperia active (firmware .42) use GLONASS all the time according to GPS TEST. It always show me satellites between 65 and 88.
GPS Fix is very fast (with mobile data enabled) and accurateness of the gps signal is the best I ever had.
Sprinter
Sprinter_HH said:
As far as I know GLONASS is transparent accessible for any application through the android gps-api. So no need for special treadment of GLONASS for the applications.
My xperia active (firmware .42) use GLONASS all the time according to GPS TEST. It always show me satellites between 65 and 88.
GPS Fix is very fast (with mobile data enabled) and accurateness of the gps signal is the best I ever had.
Sprinter
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I meant, that application about GLONASS, turning it on and so. I might have said incorrectly.
But indeed, all applications, which use GPS, have also access to GLONASS.
Yes, but according to SE, it seems to only use the GLONASS in urban environements. As I use this device for running, it would be nice to have an "always on" function. I don't really care about battery.
Also: anyone tried to use a tracking application to track the GPS (like mytracks, rungps, ...)? GPS test is a pretty static application and works fine to determine if you get a fast fix but not if there is a tracking issue.
i have the same problem to ..gps signal lost every 3-5 minutes in big city ..
even my x8 have better signal (never lost a signal) i'm using papago~
i just heard about GLONASS (recently on your thread that is)
and i don't even know that it have on our phone !
known issue apparantly since last update (for officials roms)
http://talk.sonymobile.com/thread/25770?start=0&tstart=0
Greetings!
I am going to Turkey this Saturday with my school, and I am wondering if I am able to use my gps without huge costs?
My data will be disabled
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using XDA
Last time checking...
GPS is free,
As for data ,
It really depends on the App you are using.
For example :
Google maps requires you to download the maps which would require data.
Try Maverick GPS app
Try Maverick, a GPS app without the need of data or wifi.
You can d/l the lite version for free off the market.
Wont give you a great navigation but it will do the job for free
Also try Navfree.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.navfree.android.OSM.ALL
Sent from my Desire HD using xda premium
You can pre-cache a 10milex10mile square in the google maps app but you'd have to know where you were going to go in advance to cache the areas but this can be done during a trip whenever you have wifi and know you're changing cities. No turn by turn or searching but at least you'd have a map you could plot your position on from the phone.
Well, most phones have A-gps, that stands for "assisted GPS": it is not the same as the common gps in Tom Tom devices and so on.
A-Gps has less power consumption, but a weaker receiver so, without the help of a data connection, it would turn to be quite useless, apart from the maps that should be loaded in advance.
GPS positioning data is always free..
You just need the right software to do turn by turn nav (Like Sygic or NavFree / etc)..
You can cache maps off of Google, but that won't give you turn by turn.
Sure GPS connection is free, but data run on 3g or 2g network to assist the GPS. May be it's not a big amount but, if you're travelling abroad, it won't be so cheap
I wonder if the main population will ever understand what a-gps are.
You can use iGO MyWay for android. Easy program and it dosn't connect to internet
Straight from Wikipedia. Now it'll be clear that a-gps needs data connection...
Standalone GPS provides first position in approximately 30-40 seconds. A Standalone GPS system needs orbital information of the satellites to calculate the current position. The data rate of the satellite signal is only 50 b/s, so downloading orbital information like ephemeris and almanac directly from satellites typically takes a long time, and if the satellite signals are lost during the acquisition of this information, it is discarded and the standalone system has to start from scratch. In AGPS, the Network Operator deploys an AGPS server. These AGPS servers download the orbital information from the satellite and store it in the database. An AGPS capable device can connect to these servers and download this information using Mobile Network radio bearers such as GSM, CDMA, WCDMA, LTE or even using other wireless radio bearers such as Wi-Fi. Usually the data rate of these bearers is high, hence downloading orbital information takes less time.
AGPS downloads very little data and it doesn't even require cell service. I have a non activated Android device and using GPS Status it will download AGPS data over wifi. This data is pretty small in size and you only need it to initially lock on satellites faster. Without AGPS data you'll just have to wait longer to get a lock.
For an offline GPS app, I use Sygic since it uses TomTom maps and I've owned a TomTom unit before. But there are other good ones out there.
Yes, there's no contraddiction between all that has been said by both of us. Not a huge data amount but if you are abroad and a roaming area it won't be cheap, because the data flows any time a fix is needed... Just think of tunnels and areas where the GPS signal is weak. I mean, the fix is not one only, it may be 20 or even 100 during an hour of navigation.
I haven't found the "one" best mock location fake gps app - but I found a few good ones that have ads.
But if I had to pick just one as the "best", I'd pick Lexa simply because it works without ads.
*Fake GPS Location* by LexaFree, no ads, requires gsf, rated 4.6, 456K reviews, 10M+ Downloads<https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.lexa.fakegps>
Note that these mock location apps are set inside the operating system, such that EVERY app gets their information from them, and that these mock location apps can randomly move along roadways by a given distance per a given time period, and they can start at the last location, and they can randomize the amount of movement per second, and they can spoof the altitude, and some can set a specific exact location by the keyboard instead of only graphically, etc. They can even send the location to another phone or get the location from another phone if you want that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But others (with ads) do a better job of random location following roadways with random movement time periods.
Others (with ads) can also shift the GPS location from one phone to another (either way) - but what use is that for you?
Also others (with ads) can spoof both the wi-fi provider & the GPS provider - but what use is that for you?
Which fake GPS mock location app do you feel is best and why?
GPS position falsification is currently not very effective when RIL is enabled on the phone. Apps can easily orient the phone in space based on the signal strength to the network operator's mast.
ze7zez said:
GPS position falsification is currently not very effective when RIL is enabled on the phone. Apps can easily orient the phone in space based on the signal strength to the network operator's mast.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For privacy reasons... I have every setting for location accuracy turned off, and I also have every unused radio on the phone turned off (e.g., NFC, bluetooth, gps, wi-fi, etc.) and my phone's wi-fi does NOT reconnect (auto-connect is turned off) as my home AP SSID is hidden (for privacy, not for security!) and it has a "_nomap" appended to keep out of the well-behaved databases such as Google/Mozilla, but not Wigle/Netstumbler/Kismet,etc, which aren't well behaved, and I randomize the phone's Wi-Fi MAC upon every connection - which is a new feature of Android 12 in Developer options, etc., ....
... But I had to look up what RIL stands for, so I thank you for bringing up that unknown-to-me Radio Interface Layer detail...
RIL references:
https://wladimir-tm4pda.github.io/porting/telephony.html
https://source.android.com/devices/tech/connect/ril
Specifically
Radio Interface Layer: It is the bridge between Android phone framework services and the hardware. In other words, it is the protocol stack for Telephone. The RIL consist of two primary components.
RIL Daemon
Vendor RIL
RIL DaemonRILD will be initialized during the Android system start up. It will read the system property to find which library has to be used for Vendor RIL, provide the appropriate input for vendor RIL and finally calls RIL_Init function of Vendor RIL to map all the Vendor RIL functions to the upper layer. Each vendor RIL has RIL_Init function.Vendor RILIt is a library specific to each modem. In other words, we can call it as a driver to function the modem. The RIL daemon will call the RIL_Init function with the device location (eg: /dev/ttyS0). It will initiate the modem and returns theRIL_RadioFunctions structure contains the handles of radio functions
After skimming that RIL information, I'm not sure exactly what you're trying to tell me, but I guess you're saying that we can be geolocated when we make phone calls and even when we don't, in that the cell towers can be triangulated if the phone is in calling mode... which I understand full well.
But, in terms of privacy, how many apps that need to be fooled by their GPS location have access to that cell tower radio location information?
You understood correctly. A phone in call mode, as you wrote, can be easily located while moving.
The google map tricked out by "Fake GPS Location", does quite well while driving a car, as I recently verified in the field.
I don't analyze the app for route tracking.
ze7zez said:
You understood correctly. A phone in call mode, as you wrote, can be easily located while moving.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree with you that any phone, if it's going to be used for two (or three) things, will be easily tracked by those with the resources to do so
Make/receive phone calls
Send/receive sms/mms texts (mms requiring data)
Wi-Fi connections (aka "the Internet")
However, in all cases above, the geolocation isn't as accurate as with GPS (if you are judicious about your location settings), and, more to the point, the applications themselves don't have access to the cell tower information (although they do have access to your IP address, which can be roughly geolocated).
We have to assess our threat level where I'm not using fake location apps to hide from a well-funded TLA adversary; I'm using the fake location to simply hide from the likes of Google and other nefarious outfits that put the tracking APIs inside the code (which is why almost none of my apps require GSF).
ze7zez said:
The google map tricked out by "Fake GPS Location", does quite well while driving a car, as I recently verified in the field.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If what you're saying is that the mock location apps "fool" the likes of Google Maps, I fully agree with you. If... If... if...
If you don't allow Google Maps to run a more detailed analysis that is.
As an example, I recently ran a test inside of a local town where I had the fake location set to miles away, and Google Maps was telling me I was where the fake location said I was... but...
But... then Google Maps asked me to snap a photo so that it could better figure out where I was, and BINGO! It figured out where I was based on the video that I allowed (for test purposes) to show the storefronts.
When I tested it again without allowing the video to see anything of value (e.g., I panned to the mountains above), Google Maps could NOT geolocate me.
Likewise when you don't let Google Maps geolocate by WI-Fi address (although for all I know the camera mechanism sneakily allowed that as I'm well aware there are TWO APIs for turning on your GPS radio, one of which (from Google) is downright nefarious)...
ACTION: "android.lintent.action.MAIN"
PACKAGE: "com.google.android.gms"
CLASS: "com.google.android.gms.location.settings.LocationAccuracyActivity"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
vs
Notice it's similar but different from the Android setting for accuracy.
ACTION: "android.intent.action.MAIN"
PACKAGE: "com.android.settings"
CLASS: "com.android.settings.Settings$ScanningSettingsActivity"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Notice that, for this very reason, you NEVER want to turn on your GPS radio from ANY Google app prompt!
ze7zez said:
I don't analyze the app for route tracking.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you need to navigate and if you don't want to be tracked by Google, I found a little trick that works kind of nicely with the simple interfaces of the offline mapping programs.
Set your position as your destination in the mock location app
Use any offline map to set your current position as a waypoint
Then use the offline map app to route to your destination
Another "trick" that keeps you out of Google maps' databases is that you can easily get traffic using a web shortcut of the area you are currently traveling in - where you don't need to know your exact location in order to check out the traffic in front of you.
Yet another trick for traffic is that PLENTY of web sites provide Google traffic updates without logging into Google web servers (afaik), such as sigalert apps, 511 apps, and many local DOT apps such as caltrans (for California).
Overall, in summary, the mock location apps work to prevent apps that use your GPS location from tracking you - but as @ze7zez warned, it will only work for GPS and not for cell tower tracking.
GalaxyA325G said:
(...) the applications themselves don't have access to the cell tower information (...)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not true.
Go into your phone's service mode and see for yourself what the phone knows about the mast connection.
Here's a cheesy Cell Diagnostic app that I wrote myself:
Note that the only permissions that it uses is android.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE and android.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION
It refuses to give you this information if you have "Location" turned off.
ze7zez said:
This is not true.
Go into your phone's service mode and see for yourself what the phone knows about the mast connection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As always, you're correct... but.... you're being too narrow I think... in that debugging apps which we use when we need to are different from the run-of-the-mill apps we use all day every day...
There are only "some" apps, which I'm well aware of, that have your telephony information, such as this one which requires you to provide that permission first...
Once you manually provide that permission, yes, of course, the app has you dead in its sights... but most apps (that don't need it) don't ask for THAT much permission... (nor would you let them if they did).
Renate said:
Here's a cheesy Cell Diagnostic app that I wrote myself:
Note that the only permissions that it uses is android.permission.READ_PHONE_STATE and android.permission.ACCESS_COARSE_LOCATION
It refuses to give you this information if you have "Location" turned off.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You bring up a good point that a few Android releases ago Google cheated like hell by forcing apps to request "Location" being turned on in order for the app to display unrelated things such as "Wi-Fi signal strength"...
Which is ANOTHER good reason for being able to set the mock location... because the Wi-Fi Signal Strength of all nearby access points has nothing (per se) to do with your current GPS location.
EDIT: BTW, as a related aside, I post a billion screenshots to the Internet, where some of them contain GPS location - which - if spoofed - means I don't need to redact it in those screenshots. For other information though, such as the cell tower information, I never know how much to redact (for privacy) where you didn't redact anything on your screenshot.
Can you let me know which are the cellular tower information pointers that we should redact for privacy when posting screenshots?
https://forum.xda-developers.com/attachments/cell1-png.5676683/
The CDMA system has a place for actual Lat/Long. But, these cells are set up by various people and the amount of information in them is variable.
I've rarely seen lat/long on a CDMA signal
The LTE stuff only references cell number. You need a database to reference it to location.
I have a few cell numbers hard-coded to named location.
I can't even find my current tower on https://www.opencellid.org/
Renate said:
The CDMA system has a place for actual Lat/Long. But, these cells are set up by various people and the amount of information in them is variable.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm aware there are open signal public OSM cell-tower-location databases (which essentially suck - but which are good enough to track your general location) and then there are the "real" databases (which the carriers and the FCC kind of sort of keep to themselves.
Renate said:
I've rarely seen lat/long on a CDMA signal
The LTE stuff only references cell number. You need a database to reference it to location.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The reason open signal public OSM databases only "essentially" suck is because they're averages from lots of people, so, for example, a tower might be on the wrong side of the railroad tracks or in the middle of a river on those open signal public OSM maps when it's not really the case - but they're still good enough to geolocate you to a general area were I to publish the unique number in the screenshots.
Renate said:
I have a few cell numbers hard-coded to named location.
I can't even find my current tower on https://www.opencellid.org/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My tower is almost always my own femtocell or my cellular repeater (both of which I have but usually the femtocell wins out), which is unique to me (which is why I'm worried about privacy).
Unless you're in my driveway, only I would be using that femtocell (I don't know how far out they go, but it's not more than a few hundred feet at the most, isn't it?).
Hi, I'm a new member of the forum and this is my first post.
I've read this thread and it's an interesting discussion about layers in global positioning. But I have a simpler question out of curiosity;
is there perhaps a way to work around this plugin (https://github.com/wongpiwat/trust-location) without root / only with developer option, since I haven't found any fake gps app that could fool/bypass this part.
Or do I have to use a custom ROM to accomplish it?