So I've had my phone for a year and rarely use the GPS feature.
In the past (stock) I've kept all my phone features on including Google location services, etc. Now that my phone is rooted and running AOKP, I turn off all the Google location services, report my location, etc, to save on battery.
My question is since this phone uses A-GPS (yes I wiki'd it) does it mean that it is REQUIRED to have these location services turned on in everywhere in the phone in order for GPS to work? I've tried using GPS without all these services but for some reason GPS didn't seem to work. It comes back with can't determine location, etc.
So do I need all these Google services to be running or should I just be able to enable GPS and have it work for turn by turn navi?
Should only have to have GPS turned on.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda app-developers app
jackal2001 said:
So I've had my phone for a year and rarely use the GPS feature.
In the past (stock) I've kept all my phone features on including Google location services, etc. Now that my phone is rooted and running AOKP, I turn off all the Google location services, report my location, etc, to save on battery.
My question is since this phone uses A-GPS (yes I wiki'd it) does it mean that it is REQUIRED to have these location services turned on in everywhere in the phone in order for GPS to work? I've tried using GPS without all these services but for some reason GPS didn't seem to work. It comes back with can't determine location, etc.
So do I need all these Google services to be running or should I just be able to enable GPS and have it work for turn by turn navi?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AFAIK agps just helps it obtain a lock faster.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using xda app-developers app
aGPS supplies the GPS the updated almanac and ephemeris data from the network, and allows faster lock by aligning the system clock using one of the clock servers.
If it sounds like Chinese - then google all the unknown terms, and eventually you'll be able to google the answer to your question.
I read some other article that stated you needed to have data turned on as it draws the maps. All the google maps are not stored to the device???
jackal2001 said:
I read some other article that stated you needed to have data turned on as it draws the maps. All the google maps are not stored to the device???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No. You need data. And either Google's location service or gps turned on.
Phalanx7621 said:
No. You need data. And either Google's location service or gps turned on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So what does "make available offline" in the maps settings do? I guess I just can't turn on GPS and enable "offline maps" mode and that will work too.
This is why I ask these questions. Some people say you don't need anything other than GPS and other say you need to have location services on.
jackal2001 said:
So what does "make available offline" in the maps settings do? I guess I just can't turn on GPS and enable "offline maps" mode and that will work too.
This is why I ask these questions. Some people say you don't need anything other than GPS and other say you need to have location services on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
When you enable offline maps it's only for a small area.
Sent from Team Pirate! Using Tapatalk 2
jackal2001 said:
So what does "make available offline" in the maps settings do? I guess I just can't turn on GPS and enable "offline maps" mode and that will work too.
This is why I ask these questions. Some people say you don't need anything other than GPS and other say you need to have location services on.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Enabling offline maps tells the device to cache any routes you plot in nav or maps so that if you lose data connection navigation will continue to function. If you depart from that route without data connection, you'll lose nav.
Sent from my SGH-I777 using Tapatalk 2
jackal2001 said:
I read some other article that stated you needed to have data turned on as it draws the maps. All the google maps are not stored to the device???
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1. If you just want to use the GPS feature, then it must be TURNED ON. That's it. No other requirement, other apps asking for location services have nothing to do with GPS function of the phone.
2. About google maps and gps service on this phone.
a. the map itself is stored on their Google server, so in order to use map, you must have accessed internet, hence either wifi or mobil data required.
b. if you carry other maps that stored locally in the phone internal space such Tomtom, Sygic, .... you DO NOT need wifi or mobil data to use this function.
3. About the Google's OFFline maps. A lot of people do not fully understand the usage of it.
Back to step 2a above, I said "google maps stored on their server" so you need internet access. In this case, offline map is just a small cache (10 miles radius) and it does store in the phone memory. So yes, you do NOT need internet (wifi or mobil data) to use "offline maps" (of course, you must create one before hand)
What is the down side?
a. As mention, it is just a small cache.
b. If you define the term "GPS" as global position system then you know all it does is getting lock and determine your location and that's pretty much is. You CANNOT route the route. You CANNOT navigate from point A to point B. You CANNOT search for an address.
Hello!
In my application I want to get real coordinates from GPS module so I can post my location to the web. The problem is, I want those coordinates to be true (as much as GPS module alows it). I know there are application which fake GPS location. Is there any way to check if current location was provided from GPS module on my device or was it created by one of GPS spoofing devices?
I know that I could check location from cell towers IDs and check if it's similar to my GPS location, but the problem is I want to get GPS coordinates even in places whitout mobile network access. So is there any known solution to this problem?
Thank you for your help.
Hi,
I currently have the problem, that since a couple months now I apparently have a new neighbor that brought his router with him. Apparently this router was previously located in another country, because since that time the Google geolocation places me somewhere in Germany (instead of Austria, where I live) - and this slowly drives me mad because it makes every app relying on geolocation more or less unusable while I am at home. Google Maps support ignored several reports sent via the Google Maps app, Google Enterprise support not gives a **** because they don't care about Google Maps and want a json call which reproduces the issue (and I cannot find the according MAC causing the problem)
Appart from that the internet suggests to get a GPS signal as often and as good as possible to fix such an issue. Unfortunately that doesn't work for the areas in my apartment where I have this problem. Therefore I bought a bluetooth GPS receiver. The idea was to put it outside onto the terrace, while my phone connects to the receiver from inside of the apartment (near the wifi ap). This way - so I thought - I would be able to bombard Google with the f*ink data, that I don't live at this f*ing place in Germany. Turns out, that the bluetooth range was too small for that and that I have to use "mock location" in the dev options to do that, which also seems to make Google make ignore its data.
That is also my problem with the various 'Fake GPS' apps. They use the mock location option and therefore get ignored. So now my question: What is the best way to fake the location, which also cannot be detected by Google? So that I can use that on the inside of my apartment to provide Google with the data needed to finally correct this wrong data. Currently I am trying out this xposed module https://repo.xposed.info/module/com.fakemygps.android Does anyone know about a better way?
So no secret druid knowledge of faking gps present in this forum?
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?
Hello comrades,
How exactly are location and google location accuracy different? I thought the location option in the settings meant that the device used a combo of wifi, network and GPS data to arrive at the location pin as android removed the option to select the sources of the GPS. So, if I follow this logic, what's the purpose of google location accuracy other than duplication and battery drain!?
Location allows you to use the GPS service on your phone and it's not tied to your data unless your app is requesting live traffic. I have Here Maps which allows offline download of maps, I also have Google Maps that allows you to download sections, so you can technically use offline mode and not use any mobile or wifi data to navigate to your destination. The Google location accuracy is a combination of your WIFI, mobile networks and your phones sensors.
cledee said:
Location allows you to use the GPS service on your phone and it's not tied to your data unless your app is requesting live traffic. I have Here Maps which allows offline download of maps, I also have Google Maps that allows you to download sections, so you can technically use offline mode and not use any mobile or wifi data to navigate to your destination. The Google location accuracy is a combination of your WIFI, mobile networks and your phones sensors.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh I thought the location setting in your phone actually fused all the networks together..I guess enabling the google location accuracy just when using the maps might be beneficial..wonder if there's a routine for this. I don't want to have google location accuracy on all the time...
i have found a lot of apps will not use location unless google location accuracy is turned on, ive tried a few different weather apps and they wont find my locaton without google location accuracy, but it is quite a battery hog
matty100147 said:
i have found a lot of apps will not use location unless google location accuracy is turned on, ive tried a few different weather apps and they wont find my locaton without google location accuracy, but it is quite a battery hog
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, google maps is crippled without google location accuracy although Waze works fine without it. There are quite a few apps that are dependent on this accuracy setting whilst it's a great battery drainer. I have all location services disabled except for when the Waze is running in the background as a bixby routine.
amirage said:
Yes, google maps is crippled without google location accuracy although Waze works fine without it. There are quite a few apps that are dependent on this accuracy setting whilst it's a great battery drainer. I have all location services disabled except for when the Waze is running in the background as a bixby routine.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It works without google location accuracy but you have to download maps or sections for offline use. If you don't have a map of the area you are looking to use navigation then it won't work accurately.