iPhone experiencing GPS problems after 2.0.1 update?

While some complaints after any firmware update are to be expected, there seems to be a decided uptick in the number of reports of problems with the iPhone's GPS (ranging from general wonkiness to all out failure) after the most recent 2.0.1 update. As the responses on the MacRumors forums indicate, however, the problems are far from across the board (or confined to the iPhone 3G), and GPS problems haven't exactly been that rare of an occurrence before this latest update either. So, we'll open it up to you, dear readers -- have you had any newfound iPhone GPS problems?

[Thanks, Mike]

[Decoy @ Aug 11th 2008 4:20PM]

Does anyone have a phone that doesn't?

[Hamidxa @ Aug 11th 2008 4:31PM]

HTC Mogul here with TomTom, Google Maps, and Live Search, and the GPS capabilities are far far more responsive than any other phone Ive seen yet on the market.

I usually pick up anywhere from 6-9 satellites on TomTom and establish a GPS connection (via AstroGPS Launcher primer) within 5-10 seconds of launching the app on my Mogul.

[Blackstar @ Aug 11th 2008 4:37PM]

Mine works perfectly. It has the GPS location "Poor-house" with an icon on it saying "You are Here."

[Mike10010100 @ Aug 11th 2008 4:38PM]

Same here, i love my mogul. 10 seconds max to lock onto satellites, and turn by turn spoken directions.

Yay!

[waiownsyou @ Aug 11th 2008 4:38PM]

@ Hamidxa

STFU.

[rock99rock @ Aug 11th 2008 4:41PM]

Mine only works sometimes. I asked it for directions to the "Cat House", but it led me directly to the "Dog House". I looked in the mirror this morning, and realized i was in the "DOH! House".

True story.

[zomg0t @ Aug 11th 2008 4:52PM]

@waiownsyou

Why so serious? Hamidxa just answered Decoy's question... I haven't heard much about the Mogul until now and it sounds like a pretty good phone. You don't like hearing about phones that perform tasks better than the iPhone? :'(

[Dan @ Aug 11th 2008 4:56PM]

My iPhone has had issues with GPS from day 1 and still does have them. Issues with locking on (sometimes taking minutes and not even showing a guess as to where I am), and sometimes apps being told the wrong location or hanging because they can't get the location from the phone itself. If i power down the phone and restart it it usually locks in within seconds after these glitches.

[kjb434 @ Aug 11th 2008 5:33PM]

My HTC-Tilt with MS Live Search works wonderfully!

I could also by an antennae to make the receiver more powerful.....

Also, turning on the HSPDA makes the map download seamless where coverage exists...

[JDavis @ Aug 11th 2008 5:44PM]

The whole page is messing the entire point of the iPhone. It is first and foremost a cell phone, it just happens to be one that is capable of functions which you could get from a gps nav unit like tom tom, picture functionality of a digital camera. Although the iphone may not perform gps location as well as a tom tom or take high resolution pictures as a 10.0 Megapixel digital camera, show me a phone that performs better as a cell phone/gps/ipod/camera/organizer/etc.... It is a one in all device that main function was to be a phone. So if you want to complain that you went to just go buy a cell phone and along with this cool phone you also got a fairly accurate gps, a great ipod, the ability to surf the web anywhere, and many more features. If you wanted a great gps nav unit you should of bought a dedicated device, or a great digital camera go get a canon but don't complain that you bought the best phone in the world that also happens to do the job of multiple devices fairly well, and is in a state of constant improvement

[SOOPERGOOMAN @ Aug 11th 2008 7:30PM]

To quote Nelson Muntz of The Simpsons,

"HA! HA!"

[WuFu @ Aug 11th 2008 8:57PM]

Tested out using google maps and other apps that use GPS, to pin point the location either a once or continuously like google maps. Works just fine, helps me get from A to B if I am lost, accurately since 2.0 and 2.0.1

[jewwithasmallnose @ Aug 12th 2008 1:42AM]

i have a voyager and use VZ Navigator
sold my 1stgen iphone for it
works just fine
never any problems and the moment im off course by like ten feet it starts to find a different way just incase

its pretty baller

[AlexP @ Sep 12th 2008 1:37AM]

I am seeing a problem occasionally it will not find my location in Google maps and applications just get hung up trying to find my location. Turning the different radios on and off sometimes gets it working. Other times a reboot is needed.

[iltafas @ Aug 11th 2008 4:22PM]

GPS does seem to be off in 2.0.1, but that may have been true before as well.

[icepop4who @ Aug 12th 2008 3:14AM]

Apple wants to prove its point that the iphone cannot support turn by turn directions. Aren't they quick?

[Kris @ Aug 11th 2008 4:23PM]

No problems here, but I just got 3G a few days ago and had only used it for one day before installing the 2.0.1 upgrade, but so far as I can tell, GPS is working now as well at before.

I did have one instance of GPS not working this morning, but I was inside a building and as soon as I moved to a window the pin dropped. I assume this was a signal problem and not a GPS problem.

[aardWolf @ Aug 11th 2008 4:23PM]

The GPS doesn't really work all that well... For instance, watch the little blue dot closely as you approach and stop at a stoplight. It will continue moving a little bit at a time as if you're just driving really slowly. We need the 2.1 update for it to function properly.

[Brian @ Aug 11th 2008 5:35PM]

This is normal. If you watch a, or should I say several, GPS signals in raw data on ANY device you will see that there are variations of about 10m. So second by second you could move that 10m.

Modern GPS units fudge this by using algorithms to detect a signal that has stopped moving and just focus the main point on an average of those areas.

If TOMTOM do come out with an app then you will see a more GPS like display as the current iPhone - Google Maps is very basic but in terms of GPS as accurate as any other unit in the price range.

Of course you could get an iPhone and whack another GPS chip in then it could average out the two signals and be more accurate (although again not always 50% better)

[icepop4who @ Aug 12th 2008 3:18AM]

that's interesting. i have a USB GPS device from DeLorme, and that thing is pin point (pardon the pun) accurate. Calculates my driving speed within 1 mph, and never moves when i'm not moving. Too bad the acquiring time is painfully slow.

[pbritton11 @ Aug 11th 2008 4:26PM]

My gps is all out of whack... doesn't seem to be registering at all.

I thought that the shiny metal back of my iphone might help with it's reception as well...

Seriously though, on my friend's 3G iphone (fido) it still works fine...

[Ross @ Aug 11th 2008 6:53PM]

Um... i didn't know that original iPhone even had GPS, i thought it was only Cell tower :S

[(01) @ Aug 12th 2008 8:00PM]

This is why people shouldn't be allowed to own nice things...
1) you own a 2G iPhone. There is no GPS in it.
2) if you really think that radio & GPS signals go through metal better than plastic, I should be more concerned about the state of this country's education system than I already am.

[JasonYng @ Aug 11th 2008 4:25PM]

I have had problems with mine. The tower location works fine but it will not activate the GPS chip for the more accurate positioning. I have tried every combination of radios on and off and nothing works. iPhone 3G 16GB Black

[DJWaffles @ Aug 11th 2008 4:25PM]

It works just as poorly as it did before the update.

Sometimes I think I'd be better off with a map and compass

[dBs @ Aug 11th 2008 4:39PM]

Ooooh, the analog way!

[MfgGuy @ Aug 11th 2008 4:25PM]

That's probably not the only issue. I've had to restore via the Poweroff-HomeKey method twice already after the 2.0.1 update. The first time was when it ran out of battery and didn't get past the Apple logo. The second was this morning when it suddenly rebooted and didn't get past the Apple logo.

[David @ Aug 11th 2008 4:25PM]

I'll have to admit that mine has been hit or miss since the update. I usually turn off Location Services, and then load Google maps again. When I get the prompt "Maps would like to use your current location", and click OK, it works fine. It's still something they need to address.

[Juaquin @ Aug 11th 2008 4:26PM]

Mine isn't giving a full lock - it gets the big blue crosshair but nothing more.

[aardWolf @ Aug 11th 2008 4:27PM]

So, you traded a device with more functionality than pretty much anything I know for something that replicates a pocket? Great purchase...

[lanejasper69 @ Aug 11th 2008 4:28PM]

Mine working same as before, but I also notice at a stop light there is a little hiccup, but it's always done that. Though not really a true GPS, still def. cool for location based stuff or to get you back on track if you made a wrong turn etc. not great, but not horrible either.

2¢

Lane

[jmcinnis @ Aug 11th 2008 4:33PM]

I use my iPhone 3G for geocaching. I've used it extensively pre and post 2.0.1.

I've had more problems with the GPS after the update. I've also had problems with keyboard lag that I did not have before...

My friend and I both noticed an issue with the auto backlight feature immediately after performing the update.

[Derek @ Aug 11th 2008 4:30PM]

Mine has been a lot better since the update. Before the update I would sometimes have to restart the iPhone because other apps were not finding my location, at all, not even a general find using the cell towers. Once I restarted it was fine. Also, I would not get even a general cell tower location while inside.

After the update, I have not yet had to restart the phone, and even in my basement I get a cell tower location lock, and out in the open I get a blue dot of GPS almost right away.

So while not yet all the way there, its in a good place for me until 2.1.

[rich_trenholm @ Aug 11th 2008 4:35PM]

I got a new 8GB last week and upgraded to 2.0.1 on activation. GPS hasn't worked once. Indoors, outdoors, wifi on and off, it just beachballs for minutes on end. I never know where I am.

[Steve Miller @ Aug 11th 2008 4:32PM]

i seem to only have a problem when using other apps, like weather bug (it doesn't get the right location/town name), not google maps

[who? @ Aug 11th 2008 4:36PM]

You know GPS stands for Global Positioning Unit, right? The iPhone tells you your position on the globe.

Sure sounds like a real GPS to me...

[TJ @ Aug 11th 2008 4:34PM]

well, the 2.0.1 update screwed up the locator on the maps application for my ipod touch. i cant even locate my own house now, although if i just sit there playing around with it for 5 hours just pressing the little blue button over and over again it just might work. seriously, i hate this crap, the keyboard is STILL laggier than 1.1.5 btw, and still overall less smooth.

[Volite @ Aug 11th 2008 4:46PM]

Same here. iPod Touch w/ 2.0.1 update. Shoulda just velcroed my Nano to the TomTom.

[Anando @ Aug 11th 2008 4:35PM]

Something makes me wonder if an iPhone is really worth it afterall:

iPhone 3G GPS problems
http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/11/iphone-experiencing-gps-problems-after-2-0-1-update/

iPhone 3G MobileMe problem
http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/26/apple-admits-to-lost-mobileme-messages-bad-karma/

iPhone 3G cracked
http://www.engadget.com/2008/07/30/are-iphone-3gs-cracking/

iPhone 3G App remote kill-switch
http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/11/jobs-60-million-iphone-apps-downloaded-confirms-kill-switch/

iPhone 3G 2.0.1 breaking carrier unlocks
http://www.engadget.com/2008/08/05/iphone-2-0-1-breaking-some-carrier-unlocks/

[Timmah! @ Aug 11th 2008 4:54PM]

Awesome! :)

[Zak @ Aug 11th 2008 5:00PM]

Because no other phone has any problems? Or maybe it's because the iPhone's problems get massively overblown by the media because it's so popular? Haters do love a scapegoat, don't they?

I mean you could easily counterbalance all those reports with reports from quite literally *millions* of iPhone owners whose iPhones are all working just fine, thank you. But iPhone and FUD usually go hand in hand around here, so feel free to panic if you need to.

[simon @ Aug 11th 2008 5:42PM]

@ Zak

I think the problem is that Apple fed the hype with slogans such as "It just works". Hubris.

[Nohone @ Aug 11th 2008 5:50PM]

@Zak:

Let me do a little editing on your response, and see what you think.

Because no other [OS|Media player|game console|Other MS product] has any problems? Or maybe it's because [Window's|Zune's|360's|Other MS product's] problems get massively overblown by the media because it's so popular? Haters do love a scapegoat, don't they?

I mean you could easily counterbalance all those reports with reports from quite literally *millions* of [Windows|Zune|360|Other MS product] owners whose [Windows|Zunes|360s|Other MS products] are all working just fine, thank you. But [Windows|Zune|360|Other MS product] and FUD usually go hand in hand around here, so feel free to panic if you need to.

[Zak @ Aug 11th 2008 6:08PM]

Simon: That slogan was in 2006, and it was for Macs. My Mac does, in fact, "just work". What's the problem? The iPhone wasn't even out in 2006 so "hubris" my ass, try again please.

Nohome: I get it, you don't have a response to the points I made so you want to ridicule me instead. For the record, as if it wasn't completely obvious, I never said anything bad about MS. But you go ahead and have your imaginary conversation, and I'll continue to make points that are apparently beyond your ability to counter.

[Nohone @ Aug 11th 2008 6:38PM]

@Zak:

Ah yes, the true Apple apologist - attack somebody for pointing out flaws in your argument for being too stupid to comprehend your elitist attitude. Just like the other day when you leading an all out attack on somebody named Doug for spreading FUD about there being a way that Apple could remotely disable an app. But when Jobs admits to this, nothing more from you is said. Why should we believe anything you say when you have been proven to be completely, and utterly wrong?

Looking through your post history, you have resorted to calling people morons, "mouth breather", dumb, dipstick, "Dickweed", braindead, stooge, hypocrite, ignorant, and more - and that was just in two pages of your comments. I was trying to compare your reaction to many other comments that have been made around here about non-Apple products, and get your honest response, to see if you apply the same reaction to those products. Instead, well, I guess trying to debate something is wrong of me, because the Zak has single-handedly said my question is not worthy of his response.

You have no problem making any comment you wish about a product that competes with an Apple, but how dare anybody say something about Apple - even if those people are Apple users.

[Nohone @ Aug 11th 2008 6:40PM]

@Zak:

One other thing (bring out the Apple lawyers for using their patented quote), at least try to get my alias correct. Or is that another pathetic attempt at making fun of others that are not as wonderful as you are?

[Joppa @ Aug 11th 2008 6:41PM]

Anando, you can add no refunds for apps to that growing list.

[Zak @ Aug 11th 2008 7:50PM]

Nopone - You call what you did "pointing out flaws in my argument"? Hahaha. Wow. You must still be fairly new to English or something.

Oh and wait, nothing more from me was said? I'm sorry, I didn't get the memo, where was I supposed to post something so you could read it? Oh right, and then I remembered I don't exist to serve your interests. And you think I have an elitist attitude? Compared to you? Really?

Oh yes, and please point out the name calling done by me, but not by other people. That's being objective, good job. And let's be clear, if you were really trying to debate something with me, you would have addressed what I said instead of copying it and subbing in Microsoft products. Snarky sarcasm is not what I would call a "debate", maybe it's different where you come from.

And sorry to disappoint you by not proclaiming my utter hatred of all things Microsoft, but it's pretty typical of tools like you to assume I hate Microsoft. But please backpedal over your original response to me, that will be funny. Come on, make some excuses, let's see it.

And finally, if you really believe I'm knee-jerk defending Apple, you are seriously not paying attention to what I'm saying. I take issue when people say things that are blatantly wrong, stupid or just uninformed, not when they are simply anti-Apple. Look harder, you might be surprised. Did you even read the original post that I was responding to, or did you just respond to me out of some misguided sense of anti-Apple justice?

"Gosh look at all these problems, I wonder if the iPhone is even worth it."

Look at my response again. Look harder this time. Can you see it yet? You gonna tell me my iPhone isn't working? Why don't you go door to door and ask all the millions of people out there how their iPhones are doing if you want to prove me wrong on this one. Calling me an apologist without even reading or understanding what I'm saying is pretty weak, not to mention old. Try harder.

[johnoe @ Aug 11th 2008 8:12PM]

@zak

maybe we should change that old slogan to 'it just doesnt work' then

[Nohone @ Aug 11th 2008 8:39PM]

@Zak

The funny thing about this is that I was in agreement with you. Yes, everything has their problems, and as somebody who has defended Apple to the end, I was trying to get you to extend that assumption (that everything has problems) to all products rather than your beloved Apple.

But insted, you go on a rabid "You do not deserve any response from me, because I support Apple" tear, showing your elitism. You did not attack me the other day, but you did attack others accusing them of spreading lies and FUD when there was proof behind their claims, and something that your Steve Jobs admitted to. Just like you are having a fit that I brought up Microsoft in an article about Apple, you are making claims that were not true - that I am demanding you notify me of your error, and then saying I am elitist for it. You could have easily gone back into those posts and said "I was wrong, sorry about that." But you will not, because based upon your responses, everybody is below you and you cannot be wrong. You say that others have called you names, if they did, that was uncalled for. But where did I call you stupid, or unable to understand English, or the like - much like you called me? Attack, attack, attack - anybody who says anything bad about Apple, Jobs, or any one of the Apple true, must be attacked.

I never said anything about your iPhone not working. But I know that mine has been far, far from anywhere near satisfactory. Are there many people that are perfectly happy with their phone? No doubt. Just like I am sure there are many people that are happy with Windows, 360, Zune, etc.

The only name I will call you is insecure, because that old phrase "Methinks thou doth protest too much" comes to mind.