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I just got a new Acer Iconia Tab 8, A1-860, and had the same problem with the GPS.
No matter what the Acer Tech guy says, the GPS should work just as it does on your phone. Well, the GPS on my A1-860 did not work at all. I was very upset, because the GPS is what I got it for.
Well, I worked out a solution as to how to get it to work just fine!
The first thing I did was set it to Settings>Location>Mode>Device Only. I am not sure if this was necessary, but it is what I did first, and I got it working so it may be a necessary step.
Then I downloaded an app called GPS Test from the Play Store. [url]https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.chartcross.gpstest[/url]
I ran the app for a long time and all I got was "No Fix" which is not good.
Then I tried something that actually worked! In the upper right corner of the app there is the three dot symbol, and I clicked it.
I then clicked Clear AGPS, and Update AGPS. Nothing seemed to happen right away, and so I started searching for a solution to the GPS issue on Google, which brought me here.
After reading this thread I looked over at my tablet and the GPS Test program read "3D Fix" where "No Fix" was, and EVERYTHING seems to be working great now, even Waze!
GPS does not REQUIRE an Internet Connection. The Acer guy probably doesn't know there are map apps that work OFFLINE.
Not on ANY tablet or phone anywhere does GPS REQUIRE Internet.
For it to be usable, MOST apps require an internet connection as we've discussed before. But if you download maps to use offline, then yes, your GPS will work just fine.
It is prbably defaulted to on. They usually are. If you open Maps at home, does it find you? Betting yes...
If not:
Go to SETTINGS > LOCATION to turn it on.
It sounds like you were in the Google Account location settings, not the Location settings for the device.
Okay, that makes some sense. Yes I do have a data plan for my phone. Apparently there is no way to save maps for offline use with Waze, but there is with Google Maps, so I've started doing that for Florida, which is where I drive for a living. I'm figuring out how to use Google Maps now, and hopefully will have it down for work today. Reviews have it that nothing is better than Google Maps for GPS. We shall see.
maybe you can set your fone up as a wifi hotspot. then if you connect your tab to your fone you should be able to browse the internet on the road. it wont work well if you are driving thru a forest but most cities have at least decent 3g coverage.
Last edited by stanley-88888888; 10-30-2015 at 09:46 AM..
This is an interesting thread and I suspect could be helpful to a lot more people than the OP, so I thought I'd write a summary to help clarify some basics:
GPS (Global Positioning Satellites) system: are a bunch of satellites that radio information that GPS receivers can use to identify their position. IE: If your tablet/cell phone (synonymous for this discussion), has "GPS capability" then it means it has the radio receiver to pick up these signals. (This is why you almost always 'loose GPS' when in a tunnel or parking garage, the radio signals from those satellites to you are blocked). The only information it provides is your location (latitude, longitude, and elevation, typically to within about 10 feet). FYI: the "Mode" or "Accuracy" setting on your phone doesn't really effect it's ability to show your location more accurately. Rather it enables WiFi and Cellular location information to speed the initial GPS calculations, which otherwise could take a minute or so.
Stand-alone GPS navigational devices like TomTom and Gamin are GPS receivers that also have built-in software to do their route/re-route planning and use their own built-in maps. Some also can utilize a connection, (Internet or radio depending on the device), to get up-dates on traffic. All need map updates on a regular basis.
Smartphone Navigation software applications (aka Nav apps or just Nav): These are apps (IE: Waze, Google Nav), on your phone to utilize the GPS location information to place your current location on a street map provided by a map app, to show you an optimized route to your stated designation.
* Nav uses your moving GPS location to determine your location.
* Nav needs an Internet connection to download Map's appropriate block-by-block street information as you drive. (See below about cached map info)
* Finally, Nav also calculates your initial driving route and a new route anytime you deviate from that route. Nav needs to connect with a central computer for this calculation, to determine the shortest way to your destination, sometimes taking account current traffic. I use Waze because I can be in the middle of a drive and it will re-plan my route due to sudden traffic blockage ahead.
Keep in mind the distinction between:
Google Maps, the app that provides map information about roads and buildings, that is typically updated much much more often (weekly), than the map information used by the stand-alone GPSs (annually). The Google Map app you have on your smartphone will download the map info, can accept the location information from your phone's GPS, and then show your current location, but has no routing / re-routing capability.
Google Nav, the routing and location display app that uses Google Maps map information. It can also use the Internet connection to receive traffic information to consider when calculating the route planning.
Waze, (recently purchased by Google Corp.), an app like Google Nav, that also uses Google Maps for the map info, but also has a social networking capability to display information on real-time traffic, hazards, speed-traps, etc.
Some additional notes (based on my experiences with Android):
I know the Google Maps app can pre-download and cache the detailed map information for a region (center of a metro area). But the information is much more limited than what you'll see on-line with a browser on Google Maps. I don't know how well Nav can use cached Google Map info for displaying detailed street info, much less buildings and business info.
I use Waze every time I drive, and the downloaded data needed for the routing and the map information is insignificant to my cell phone plan's monthly data limits.
Sometimes when traveling, I want to look at a bigger map than my phone. I'll set my tablet (non-cellular but with GPS), to tether to my phone. That way I can use Google Maps (or even Waze) on the tablet, connected to the Internet via my phone's cellular.
I often used my desktop Google Maps to save locations as "favorites" to My Maps, and I can view those on my phones Google Maps too. I do this with a lot of categories, (favorite grocery store chain's locations, restaurants, friends houses). It can be convenient to look at a map of the city with all these starred.
Like you, I purchased a brand new Acer Iconia Tab 8 A1-860, and the GPS was not working. After installing the "GPS Test" app you suggested, then "Clear AGPS" from the menu as you described, GPS immediately got a fix and started working. I did not need to run the "Update AGPS", personally.
I have a feeling this might be related to a system update performed just after unboxing. Clearing AGPS is obviously the trick, and the "GPS Test" app initiates the Android API call to do it.
I love it when the Internet shares solutions. Thank you!
Quote:
Originally Posted by HypnoticGuy
I just got a new Acer Iconia Tab 8, A1-860, and had the same problem with the GPS.
No matter what the Acer Tech guy says, the GPS should work just as it does on your phone. Well, the GPS on my A1-860 did not work at all. I was very upset, because the GPS is what I got it for.
Well, I worked out a solution as to how to get it to work just fine!
The first thing I did was set it to Settings>Location>Mode>Device Only. I am not sure if this was necessary, but it is what I did first, and I got it working so it may be a necessary step.
I ran the app for a long time and all I got was "No Fix" which is not good.
Then I tried something that actually worked! In the upper right corner of the app there is the three dot symbol, and I clicked it.
I then clicked Clear AGPS, and Update AGPS. Nothing seemed to happen right away, and so I started searching for a solution to the GPS issue on Google, which brought me here.
After reading this thread I looked over at my tablet and the GPS Test program read "3D Fix" where "No Fix" was, and EVERYTHING seems to be working great now, even Waze!
I hope this helps!
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