So what is the deal w Samsung Captivate GPS

[phexac]

Ok, first of all, my reference point for how properly-functioning GPS should work. My gf has iPhone 3G. When you use GPS while driving, you get a blue dot that moves smoothly along the road you are driving on and is good at representing where you actually are. You can tell which roach you are on exactly, and it is very precise so you can even use it to see which intersection you are on.

Now Samsung Captivate. Even after the most recent update. You are represented by a triangle/arrow shape. It most often does not correspond with your actual location, often appearing as far as a block away on wrong streets, and often on tops of buildings, making it practically useless at telling you where you actually are. Pinpointing just by using the GPS function which exact intersection you are on? Forget it. Moreover, it typically has a large circle around it to indicate that even that absurdly inaccurate location that it does have is actually absurdly inaccurate. When you move, you indicator does not move smoothly after you. It jumps around at random intervals as to stay within a few blocks of your location. So again, if you are using your phone to tell you when to make a turn on a certain street, it cannot help you there.

In short, the GPS function is frustratingly useless.

Has anyone had better experience that this?

 

[dougp]

Wow - really? There's multiple threads on this forum about the issue for all Galaxy S family phones. I'm already giving up, others might be holding on.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Based only upon the threads in here the captivate/Galaxy S line's GPS unit is just not working as designed.

 

[Special K]

You might try some of the techniques posted in this thread:

http://androidforums.com/samsung-captivate/187594-all-things-gps.html#post1655695

I posted one at the end of the thread that worked pretty well for me. Before I couldn't even get a lock, and afterward my listed accuracy was in the 30-50m range. That's still far from perfect, but it was a huge improvement.

 

[s44]

By "most recent update" you mean Froyo? Because, well, it's there to try.

 

[vshah]

the gps isn't even working in the scenario you're describing. it is only using wifi and or cell tower triangulation, which is why its jumping from one location to another.

 

[SKC]

This is a very annoying issue that Samsung should have solved prior to release. I use this workaround: downloaded GPSTest from Android Market. Then, within the app, hit the menu button and select "clear aiding data." GPS then takes ~30 seconds to lock, depending where I am (solid lock, not the blue circle approximation lock). It tracks fine in Google Maps and Navigation after that.

(Running on a verizon Fascinate).

 

[Mide]

Yeah the update they are referring to, at least for the Vibrant is called JI6 which supposedly improved the GPS locking time for some users. I sadly was not one of these people. Whenever I turned on GPS it would say "searching for satellite/gps and it wouldn't find shit. Using GPS Test or GPS Scan it would show that it saw 2-3 satellites but it never locked onto any. A working Vibrant would say something like 10/12 or 12/12 locked/seen.

I have also given up and have sold off the phone. I'll make a note to never buy a Samsung phone again.

 

[VashHT]

I've given up on samsung because of this as well. I had an epic, returned it within 30 days because the GPS would take 30 seconds or more to lock on and never get more than 30m accuracy. On my EVO it locks on in about 2 seconds, sometimes it locks on before maps is up and running even. I'm going to switch to t-mo I think and get the G2, I would keep the EVO but the lack of a decent gpu just annoys me, running any 3d games on that phone is an exercise in frustration.

If you're within you're 30 days on the samsung phone I would get rid of it, they don't really show any signs of fixing the gps problem, they actually said the epic was meeting their performance expectations for GPS. If you can go for an HTC phone, they seem to be the best android manufacturer.

 

[Special K]

This is a very annoying issue that Samsung should have solved prior to release. I use this workaround: downloaded GPSTest from Android Market. Then, within the app, hit the menu button and select "clear aiding data." GPS then takes ~30 seconds to lock, depending where I am (solid lock, not the blue circle approximation lock). It tracks fine in Google Maps and Navigation after that.

(Running on a verizon Fascinate).

That's strange - I'm running the app on a Captivate and I don't see a "clear aiding data" option when I bring up the menu. I was under the impression that the app was the same for all Android phones.

EDIT: Nevermind, I went to the market and realized there is more than 1 GPS test app out there. The one SKC is referring to is "GPSTest" by Mike Lockwood. I was using "GPS Test" by Chartcross Ltd.

 

[SKC]

EDIT: Nevermind, I went to the market and realized there is more than 1 GPS test app out there. The one SKC is referring to is "GPSTest" by Mike Lockwood. I was using "GPS Test" by Chartcross Ltd.

Sorry, should have specified. Thanks for the add. I've found use for both of those actually.

 

[CVSiN]

same experience on the 4g Epic.. gave up and went Evo..
love the Evo.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

same experience on the 4g Epic.. gave up and went Evo..
love the Evo.

weird because I don't have any locking or navi problems with my epic. I use the street by street and the google maps and it works perfectly. However when I first got the phone it didn't work so, I'm guessing one of the sprint updates fixed it. However I am early annoyed that we don't have froyo yet.

 

[Rottie]

Trust me my iPhone 3GS with GPS is not so perfect. It doesn't always find me at right location...it finds me 5 blocks away from the current location!

 

[Shlong]

weird because I don't have any locking or navi problems with my epic. I use the street by street and the google maps and it works perfectly. However when I first got the phone it didn't work so, I'm guessing one of the sprint updates fixed it. However I am early annoyed that we don't have froyo yet.

Same here, GPS has been working just fine on the Epic. Still waiting on 2.2 Froyo though.

 

[YoungGun21]

If I don't use the GPS often (or at all really...), would I still find these Samsung Galaxy S phones to be great?

 

[NutBucket]

Yep. Only had mine for 2 weeks and love it!

 

[Oyeve]

If I don't use the GPS often (or at all really...), would I still find these Samsung Galaxy S phones to be great?

Yep. Got mine a coupla months ago and was REALLY pissed at the gps thing, but the update hit last week and, while not perfect, the gps is mostly fixed as well as some lag. Waiting for froyo but not as much as I was waiting on the gps fix. Good phone, lousy support from samdung.

 

[SunnyD]

I've used the gps all of twice, both times were just to check what this GPS issue is all about. Other than that, I'm liking the phone just fine. Though I really need to stop playing in the service menus...

 

[Pliablemoose]

A GPS bug would be a deal breaker for me, It's the 3rd or 4th most used app of Google services I expect to function near flawlessly in an Android OS'd phone.

Of course I live in LA and can't find my way to the post office & back without a GPS

I've used Bing navigation a bit, and it really needs more polish to work for me, like reorienting to the direction I'm traveling would be flipping awesome, instead of looking at the screen and having to reverse everything in my mind...

 

[SKC]

..like reorienting to the direction I'm traveling would be flipping awesome, instead of looking at the screen and having to reverse everything in my mind...

Google Nav reorients automatically..?

 

[Pliablemoose]

Google Nav reorients automatically..?

Yep, turn a corner and it re orients so you've always got the direction of travel pointed to the top of the device/front of the vehicle...

Google Navigation is honestly the main reason I choose Android phones, it's free and it works pretty well (if your chipset and software are working)

I use the other Google features a lot as well, but can mirror their functionality on other platforms pretty smoothly.

Aside from a paid app (Navigon/TomTom), it's the best I've found so far...