Trouble finding your destination or the fastest route to a Starbucks or a marriage banquet? GPS to the rescue. GPS stands for Global Positioning System which is a constellation of satellites that allow users to track his/her location via a technique called triangulation. Android smartphones use AGPS or Assisted GPS wherein it not only utilizes satellites but also nearby cell towers and other antennas to grab user’s location and all the user to track his/her location to an optimum accuracy. Use of GPS has increased over the last few years as nowadays, many apps and services required a location to accomplish a given task and that is why Android smartphones have AGPS.
But the grass is literally greener on the other side because the GPS on Android smartphones is sometimes considered crappy due to its inaccurate or wrong results or searches, etc. These are nothing but minor software-related or hardware-related errors where most of this Nokia GPS problem can be sorted using simple solutions. We compiled a list of all the solutions that can provide you an accurate result as well as reduce the errors that you have been facing while using GPS on your smartphone.
How To Fix Nokia GPS Problem?
Toggle Location
This is the easiest method you can employ to get correct results. Android smartphone users use Google Maps and other map services in order to track their location or to find a route, etc while other apps like Uber, McDonald’s, etc use the location of the user to provide location-based services. But what if the GPS is unable to pinpoint a location or what if the location shown on the screen is not correct or inaccurate? The first method is to select both ‘Use wireless networks’ and ‘Use GPS Satellites’ to get the most of GPS on your phone. This will enable the user to get correct location.
If you are observing the same issue again, you can either turn on the High Accuracy feature on your phone for which, the procedure is as followed.
- Open ‘Settings’ on your device and proceed to ‘Location’.
- Next step is to tap on the option called ‘Mode’ where you can spot a number of location modes.
- Now, for higher accuracy of results, click on High Accuracy and confirm using it.
- Note that although it consumes more battery power, it provides accurate results and it can be switched off when not required.
Power down the device
When a user opens Google Maps or any other services and enables ‘Location’, there are several processes that occur in the background which means, there are chances that errors could occur during startup. This is a minor software glitch which can be resolved easily by shutting down the phone for few minutes. Then, simply press the power key to turn off the phone which must rectify the Nokia GPS problem.
Reset AGPS
It is possible that the application AGPS that enables the user to utilize GPS services on the phone has introduced any corrupted cache or data file. The easy way around to get rid of this problem is to delete the cache and data of this particular app from the Settings tool on your device. We have listed the procedure to do the same.
- Firstly, open the Settings app on your phone and location ‘Apps’ or ‘Application Manager’.
- Now, AGPS app is a pre-installed app which will be listed in the pre-installed or system apps category.
- Search for the app in these two categories and tap on it.
- Now, click on ‘Clear Cache’ and ‘Clear Data’ buttons to delete the said files.
- This will restart the app and thus, provide required resolution to the observed Nokia GPS problem.
Clear Cache
There are three ways you can clear the cache from the system. Go to “Settings >> Storage >> Cache Memory” to delete storage cache. Now, go to “Settings >> Apps >> Google Maps (same as AGPS) >> Clear Cache. The next method is to boot into the recovery mode using the steps explained briefly in the ‘Perform a factory reset’ section in this article and tap on ‘wipe cache partition’.
Check out the cause of the problem (Hardware Vs. Software)
Now, this is little technical as you are going to find out the cause of issue which can be either hardware or software-related. First of all, download the app called GPS Essentials from the Google Play Store and install it on your system. This app allows users to check out all GPS-related hacks as well as it helps to find the root cause of an issue related to GPS.
To check if all the GPS satellites are providing the required service on your device or not, tap on Satellites. This will allow the user to track the location of all the GPS satellites using which, your phone finds triangulates your location. Note that if no or fewer satellites are displayed on the screen, it is highly possible that a metallic object is interfering with the connection between the GPS receiver on the phone and the satellites. It can be your case or cover or it can be due to damaged or not working GPS hardware i.e. the receiver.
Buy an external GPS receiver
In case if the GPS receiver already installed in your smartphone is not working properly or if it is damaged or showing inaccurate results, you can either replace the GPS receiver by reporting the issue to a service center or you can use an external GPS receiver. This is an external receiver that will enable the user to track location with ease and accuracy. There are plenty of options available to choose from shopping sites like Amazon or you can buy it from an electronics store and get tips on how to use it since most of the receivers are Bluetooth-enabled and thus, easy to use.
Perform a factory reset
Now, if the Nokia GPS problem that you are observing is software-related, performing a factory reset is the most powerful method you do to get rid of the problem. Remember that it will also delete all the data stored on your device. If you are going with the factory reset method, firstly, take the backup of the data stored on the phone and remove all the SIM cards and microSD card from the phone and keep it aside. Now, there are basically two ways you can perform a factory reset on your device which is explained below.
Backup and Reset feature
This is a built-in option where the user can reset the device using this built-in feature which is located in the Settings tool.
- Firstly, go to the Settings and locate Backup and Reset.
- Choose the option ‘Reset the phone’ and then, enter the pattern lock or password to confirm the actions.
- Then, tap on ‘Reset everything’ after which, the system will perform the reset on its own.
Hard Reset using hardware keys
- To perform a hard reset, you’ll have to turn off the phone.
- Now, tap on Power key and Volume key together and hold it for some time until the phone vibrates.
- Now, release the keys and let the phone enter into the recovery mode.
- Here, you can use volume buttons to scroll through the menu and power button to select an option.
- Proceed to the option ‘wipe data/factory reset’ and then, choose ‘Yes — delete all user data’.
- Once the hard reset is complete, tap on the ‘reboot system now’ option. The phone will restart into factory settings.
Hope all these methods are used to fix Nokia GPS problem which is also applicable to other smartphones. Kindly let us know in the comments below. Visit GetDroidTips for such content.
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