Location Service

[moparherb]

i have a 4 month old iPad Air 2 using IOS 8.3. About a month ago intermittently my apps ( mostly weather apps) will say location unavailable. At first I blamed the apps but they all work fine on my iPhone 5S. This is an intermittent issue that seems to be getting worse. Of course during these times the mapping programs cannot find me either. I don't use the mapping apps much do it is not a huge issue with them. But I use the weather apps all the time. I have rebooted the iPad multiple times. Any advise would be appreciated.

 

[dhewson777]

Is it a wifi only or wifi/cellular model?

 

[moparherb]

Thanks for your interest....my iPad Air 2 is wi-fi only. Today it is not working (location service) at all. The little location service icon is on in the upper menu bar.

 

[dhewson777]

As the wifi only iPads do not have a GPS chip in them, they rely on getting a location via the wifi connection. I believe this is based on the servers knowing where the particular router you are connected to is located. Obviously if there is no wifi connection, there would be zero chance of knowing your location. They may also be able to ping nearby wifi hotspots and routers to help triangulate a rough position, but I'm not 100% sure on that.

Your iPhone, on the other hand, has a GPS Chip, so can get a location based on satellite positioning, additionally, it can also triangulate a position using nearby cell towers.

 

[Gtatler]

Quote from macrumours.com "Like the previous-generation iPad Air, the iPad Air 2 contains a motion coprocessor with a gyroscope, accelerometer, GPS, and compass functionality. The new version also includes a barometer, to measure altitude based on air pressure.".

But the above does not say which version of the iPad Air 2wifi or wifi/cellular.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[moparherb]

Well after a heated and non productive discussion with my internet provider (DSL) I rebooted the router/modem and stepped outside to cool down. Low and behold after a few minuets it recognized my location again, mapping and weather. So outdoors it worked. I came back into the house set the iPad next to the router/modem and it does not recognize where I am. It's a strange deal but it looks like it is dependent on my location within my house or outdoors. I just don't understand this wi-fi stuff enough.

 

[dhewson777]

Quote from macrumours.com "Like the previous-generation iPad Air, the iPad Air 2 contains a motion coprocessor with a gyroscope, accelerometer, GPS, and compass functionality. The new version also includes a barometer, to measure altitude based on air pressure.".

But the above does not say which version of the iPad Air 2wifi or wifi/cellular.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Just confirmed there is no GPS chip in the IPad Air 2 wifi only:

The GPS chip is linked with the 3G/LTE radio as it has been in previous models.

 

[dhewson777]

Well after a heated and non productive discussion with my internet provider (DSL) I rebooted the router/modem and stepped outside to cool down. Low and behold after a few minuets it recognized my location again, mapping and weather. So outdoors it worked. I came back into the house set the iPad next to the router/modem and it does not recognize where I am. It's a strange deal but it looks like it is dependent on my location within my house or outdoors. I just don't understand this wi-fi stuff enough.

Just spitballing here, but possibly when you go outside, you're picking up other wifi routers within range that are already known to location servers.

 

[dhewson777]

Here is some additional information regarding how location services work:
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201357
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7016834

 

[cfurlin]

OK, I think it is iOS only.

Both of my MacBooks, both of my iPads, and my iPhone are all on the same WiFi network.

iPhone works fine. If I turn off cellular, then location services doesn't work. No surprise there.

Location services does not work on either iPad. Both are WiFi models only.

However, location services is working fine on the MacBooks. I don't think they have GPS chips in them so apparently it's not WiFi but iOS, or some combination with WiFi.

 

[twerppoet]

Most likely your iPhone has updated Apple's wi-fi location database so that your router is listed, and so it knows where your router is located. Your iPads should be able to get a rough location the same way. It is not as accurate as GPS, but is better than nothing.

 

[moparherb]

This is the most crazy thing I've ever encountered on an IOS device. My location service on my weather app and maps will work one minute and not the next. I still think it has something to do with my ISP but I can't get them to help or admit it could be their fault. This all started after the new router/modem was installed. But I have DSL and there have been quite a few outage as of late so I suspect the fixes are not right. I guess it's not worth losing a lot of sleep over, but I'm kind of anal about all this and I expect if it is supposed to work that it should.

 

[twerppoet]

That makes more sense. If the ISP changed your router, then it may no longer show up accurately in Apple's wi-fi database, and it could take several weeks for that to update. I really have no idea how often or aggressive the automatic updates are.

In the mean time your devices are probably using other networks they can see to guess their location. If other wi-fi networks aren't terribly common/dense in your area this could cause all kinds of intermittent issues. Desktop computers generally have better range than iPads, and will be more likely to see your neighbor's wi-fi networks. That would be why it is more reliable.

Of course, I'm still guessing. But it's my best guess based on what you've said so far.

The good news is that if I'm right, this issue should resolve itself after a while. Apple gathers wi-fi and location data from iPhones and other GPS capable iOS devices, then uses this to update it's wi-fi location database. Don't worry. It's anonymous. All they gather is that a certain wi-fi network(s) can be seen at this location. You're personal information and device ID are not associated with data.

 

[moparherb]

Thanks Twerppoet....I'm sure that you are correct and all I really have to do is give it some time. I'm retired so I guess time is one thing I have. Thank you and all the others for your insight.

 

[twerppoet01]

You're welcome. Please let us know how it goes.