GPS or Global Positioning System is a consortium of satellites that broadcast signal 24/7 while your smartphone act as a receiver and intercepts data to pinpoint its location. Now that the number of apps and services requiring location access along with Google Maps which is widely used to locate user’s location and route to a destination and bunch of other applications, it wouldn’t help the cause if the GPS keeps turning off or not working at all. There is a bunch of GPS problem that you can think of such as incorrect or inaccurate results, incorrect results, etc. We tried combining all the GPS problem and then, we brainstormed an explicit list of methods that you could employ to get the GPS up and running on your phone.
Page Contents
Toggle GPS
Is it not working? Try toggling the GPS as doing so will force the GPS on your phone to kickstart its reception and thus, might rectify the problem right away. If you can’t get it to resolve, try tapping on the GPS icon under the notification tray for several times.
Reboot the phone
The other way around is to reboot the phone. Interestingly, rebooting the phone reduces the amount of memory and space and other resources in use while fixing both minor and major software-related issue that could cause hurdle while you are using GPS as it might show inaccurate details and much more.
Turn on the High Accuracy mode
Using, the location-based settings on your device is at Power Saving mode. But do you know that Power Saving mode can also cause hurdle in determining the user’s location as the mode tends to inhibit phone to work at its optimum level to converse power? Thus, if you are getting incorrect or slightly off-axis location, go to Settings >> Location >> Location Mode and select ‘High Accuracy’. This will enable the smartphone to use wifi, Bluetooth, signals from GPS satellites, cell towers, etc to pinpoint your location which is reliable and must fix the aforementioned GPS problem without further ado.
Disable power saving mode
Power saving mode is essential in smartphones as it restricts apps and services to consume more than usual power as well as restricts a few apps to even start. It can also interfere with the ‘Location’ feature on your phone. If you are facing GPS problem, you need to verify if the power saving mode is enabled or not. If yes, turn it off for some time and use the GPS to check if it makes any difference or not.
Clear cache files
There are more than one way to get rid of cache files which are known to cause a problem if it gets corrupted which is a common issue. So, deleting the cache files is essentially the best solution and you must do the same.
Method #1:
- First, you’ll need to access the Settings app on your phone.
- Proceed to ‘Apps’ and slide to the ‘Downloaded’ section.
- Now, you need to click on an app assuming that the login details and all temporary files will be erased.
- After selecting an app, tap on ‘Clear Data’ and ‘Clear Cache’ and that’s all.
Method #2:
- Proceed to the Settings app on your device.
- Now, Click on Storage and scroll to locate ‘Cache Memory’.
- You need to tap on the cache memory to delete it.
Method #3:
This method revolves around booting the recovery mode which you do with volume up + power button pressed and hold together for 10 to 15 seconds on a powered down device. Once you are in the recovery mode, select ‘wipe cache partition’ and that’s it.
Check for interferences
Similar to how your cellular network is attenuated when you are somewhere in the interior of the house or office, interference can cause the GPS-based results to wobble and therefore, check if there’s any interference. It could be anything from the phone cover or a metal object nearby, walls, buildings, towers, etc. Change your place and check if it helps or not.
Check what could be the GPS problem
Now, there are apps such as GPS Essentials or GPS Status and Toolbox that will help you narrow down the cause of the GPS problem on your Archos smartphone between software-based or hardware-based. So, download one of the apps mentioned above and scan for the satellites that your phone is able to intercept. At least 4 satellites are required to trilaterate your location while the more the merrier but if you see a lot of less or not satellite at all, it could be because of interference or the GPS receiver on your phone isn’t working properly respectively. Then, if the satellites are adequate, then it could be a software issue that can be resolved by performing a master reset.
Perform a master reset
Resetting the device to its original factory settings can simply vanish any software-related issue as it is known for. It can help you get rid of the GPS problem if it is caused due to any app or software. Here’s what needs to be done.
- Turn off the phone.
- Press power button + volume up buttons together and hold it.
- You’ll see an Android logo after 10 to 15 seconds and that is when you can let go of the buttons.
- You need to select the option ‘wipe data/factory settings’ in order to perform a master reset which is also called a hard reset.
- You need to confirm the actions by hitting the option titled ‘Yes — delete all user data’ and that must take you to the next window wherein a droid will perform the overhauling process.
- Reboot the phone once you are done with the hard reset and verify the problem.
Buy an external GPS receiver
The fix for interference or lack of signal strength is an external GPS receiver that will either complement to the built-in GPS receiver or act as an alternative if the built-in one is not functioning properly. Yes, this is an investment but it is worthy if you depend too much on GPS as I doubt anything else can replace it.
Get the GPS problem rectified by a technician
This is probably the last resort if the GPS problem still persists. You can report the issue to a service center and get it resolved.