I am someone who would rely on Google Maps to know where am I and where I need to go and of course if I have a working internet connection. There are millions of people who would do the same with many underlying reasons of which some are, they are introvert or they don’t know a local language, they often get lost when asking for the route with the locals, and the list goes on. Google Maps is a fantastic application of GPS which is a free service provided by GPS satellites all over the globe that provides accurate location of the user and when combined with apps like Google Maps, it also provides a bunch of other benefits such as tracing the location of the user, route to a destination, information about nearby places, hospitals, ATMs, museums, attractions, and much more.

But what if GPS is not working on your phone or if it is not showing an accurate location? What if the GPS is showing inaccurate or offbeat location-based results? These are just a few of the many problems for which, we have discussed the possible solutions in this extract about Sony GPS Problem. So, read through and follow these methods to fix the issues on your phone. We have also included the methods on how to improve the accuracy and results of the GPS and more.

Toggle GPS To turn on GPS aka Location on your phone, you just need to tap on the Location icon which is available on the notification tray. Now, that’s pretty simple as you literally just have to tap on it to turn it on. But many times, it happens that the GPS doesn’t start even if the location is on. If that’s the case with your phone, simply turn it off, wait for few seconds, and then, turn it on. This will kick start the GPS services on your phone and hopefully, it will commence working but if not, here’s how you can do with other methods mentioned below.

Turn On/off Airplane mode If the previous method doesn’t kick starts the GPS services on your phone, it could be due to minor technical or software-related glitch or a tiny bug that might have obstructed the feature from turning on. So, the best way to tackle this is to turn on the airplane mode or say, flight mode and keep it active for few seconds. Once you have deactivated it, the location services must start working without further ado.

Remove the case Unlike what we see, there much more to the GPS service than just the phone and the satellite. Nowadays, smartphone use AGPS and GPS satellites collectively so that the satellites could pinpoint the user’s location on a map. Talking about the phone, there is a GPS antenna/receiver built-in your phone that does all the communications between satellites and cell towers but any obstruction in signals can disrupt the results as well. There can be a number of things between the signal of which, the first is the phone cover or case which is the closest to the receiver and thus, it has a greater probability to disrupt the incoming and outgoing signals. Check if your case or cover is causing the issue or not by removing the case and checking out the results shown and compare it with the results displayed when the case was on.

Reboot the phone Yes, this is one of the most recommended methods in any software-related problems such as Sony GPS problem which is profound but can be easily fixed. When you reboot the phone, it releases all the hoarded and blocked resources which otherwise would conflict with the GPS feature on your phone thus preventing it from working normally. So, whenever you feel like the phone has turned sluggish or if it is freezing, flickering or if the GPS, Wifi, Bluetooth, etc isn’t working, simply reboot the phone and notice the difference.

Reset AGPS Android smartphones use Assisted GPS or AGPS along with GPS satellite in order to improve accuracy results. But if the GPS isn’t working properly, reset the app. You can go to Settings » Apps.

Update Google Maps (or others being used) Since almost all the android user uses Google Maps for all location-related services except apps that offer dedicated maps, it needs to be updated whenever the update patch is available. As said, every update has its own advantage over the previous patch as it increases the efficiency of the app as well as curbs all the discovered bugs that were reported by users and developers across the world. This also fixes any software-related issues such as Sony GPS problem.

GPS Status and Toolbox App GPS Status and Toolbox app have a number of features that allow you to diagnosis and check out the GPS-based services on your phone. It lets the user check if the hardware component i.e. GPS receiver is properly detecting satellites or not. It also enables the user to calibrate the compass and other features that make it an all-in-one app.

Update the OS Unlike another operating system, Android O.S. is pretty awesome when it comes to updates and patches for the firmware. Although it may not sound too important, it is of par importance because, with every new update, it contains fixes for discovered bugs and problems that is why Android smartphone receives patches for its operating system at every interval of time. Once you have updated the OS, you would experience that the phone has become more efficient. If you have been suffering from GPS problem, the outdated system could be the reason which is now resolved.

Clear Cache To fix cache-related issues, there are three methods involved.

  • The first method revolves around clearing cache from the Google Maps or any other app that you have been using for location-based services. You can check out the cache files stored simply by going to ‘Settings » Apps » Google Maps’ and tap on ‘Clear Cache’ and ‘Clear Data’ to clear the said data and reset the app.
  • The second method revolves around clearing the cache collected by the phone as a whole. Note that this is where all the cache stored by all the apps and services used day-in and day-out is stored. You can check it out at ‘Settings » Storage’ and tab on ‘Cache Storage’ to clear it.
  • The third method includes the user and developer to boot into the recovery mode for which, the procedure to boot is mentioned in the next method. Once you have successfully booted into the recovery mode, remember that you need to click on ‘wipe cache partition’ and then, ‘Yes’ to delete the remaining cache files.

Reset the system Now, you can reset the whole system to fix any and all errors and bugs related to software. There are basically two methods using which, users can reset their system for which, the procedure is as followed. Method 01: Using Backup and reset feature Open Settings on your phone and click on ‘Backup and reset’. Select Reset the phone and enter the pattern or PIN to confirm. Ensure that you have saved the data required as reset feature will permanently delete all user data.

Method 02: FDR Note that this particular method on how you can boot into the recovery mode is the same for the above-given method ‘Clear Cache’ using recovery mode.

  • First, turn off the phone and wait for few seconds.
  • Next is to press both the Power button and Volume Down button together and hold it for 20 to 30 seconds.
  • Release both the keys the moment the phone vibrates or displays Android logo on the screen.
  • When you are in the recovery mode, you can scroll through the available option using Volume Up/down button as specified on the topmost section.
  • For selection, use the power key in this mode.
  • Now, select ‘wipe data/factory reset’ and confirm by selecting ‘Yes – delete all user data’ in the next page.