Google Latitude finding VERY wrong location

[cNo7]

Ever since the RC33 update where the new Maps version came out with Latitude included....my Latitude acct has been...well...off.

I'm running my GPS when Maps is used...rather than a triangulation method w/ the towers. However...there have been QUITE a few occurances where Latitude shows me in a totally different STATE. I live in metro Atlanta, but apparently, I spend a lot of time at a country club near DFW in Texas. Once, I was going down the road...started up Maps, and it was tracing me going up an interstate in a city 120 miles away from me. At the time, I was no where NEAR an interstate...but Maps was showing my movement second by second.

This is rather irritating. Google developed the O/S, they developed Latitude...yet Latitude seems to work fine on other phones OTHER than the G1. Upon reading up on Google's Help Forums...I'm not the only one with problems when it comes to Latitude and Android.

Has anyone experienced something similar? I mean in terms of Latitude showing you're in a place FAR from where you actually are?

 

[E-Doo]

Sometimes I will log in and my phone will be sitting right next to me in Elk Grove, CA, but Latitude shows me in Palo Alto, CA. A refresh usually puts it back in the right spot. I'm not sure why it does that -- I haven't been to Palo Alto in over 5 years.

 

[jaymzz]

If I am ever on the run from the law, my first step will be to turn on Latitude. No one will ever find me!

 

[noonehereyet]

If I am ever on the run from the law, my first step will be to turn on Latitude. No one will ever find me!

It would be really cool if there was an app that did that intentionally.... have the same issue thinks I'm somewhere I'm not half the time...... The only good thing is I almost never use it so doesn't bother me to much......

 

[cNo7]

Sometimes I will log in and my phone will be sitting right next to me in Elk Grove, CA, but Latitude shows me in Palo Alto, CA. A refresh usually puts it back in the right spot. I'm not sure why it does that -- I haven't been to Palo Alto in over 5 years.

well, google *is* headquartered in Mountain View...

I've noticed when I start up igoogle.com from the desktop PC, it shows the palo alto area for a few seconds and then goes back to my last known location in Latitude.

 

[kabbie_mcfeely]

1. Turn on GPS (OP stated they had done this) and let the GPS work for a couple of minutes. If you have not used your GPS for a while, or at all, it will take a few minutes for your GPS to "link-up" with the satellites. This is something all forms of GPS have to go through.

2. Latitude, in my understanding (http://www.google.com/mobile/default/latitude.html)
is for people to find you. Not you to find yourself. You can just use the normal Google Maps to find your own location. If using My Google Maps, you can also add stuff to the map.

3. There is a help page for Latitude if you need it. http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/topic.py?topic=19501

4. There is even a "Known Issue" page. http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/answer.py?answer=139588&topic=20070

 

[cNo7]

1. Turn on GPS (OP stated they had done this) and let the GPS work for a couple of minutes. If you have not used your GPS for a while, or at all, it will take a few minutes for your GPS to "link-up" with the satellites. This is something all forms of GPS have to go through.

2. Latitude, in my understanding (http://www.google.com/mobile/default/latitude.html)
is for people to find you. Not you to find yourself. You can just use the normal Google Maps to find your own location. If using My Google Maps, you can also add stuff to the map.

3. There is a help page for Latitude if you need it. http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/topic.py?topic=19501

4. There is even a "Known Issue" page. http://www.google.com/support/mobile/bin/answer.py?answer=139588&topic=20070

1. I'm quite aware that GPS devices need to align with satellites and I already pointed out that I had GPS enabled on my phone rather than dealing with triangulation of towers.

2. My friends are the ones who pointed out that I was showing up states away from where I actually was....even when we're all checking Latitude standing side by side.

3. Been there, done that...they don't respond promptly.

4. This doesn't happen while connected to a wifi network exclusively.

 

[kabbie_mcfeely]

1. I'm quite aware that GPS devices need to align with satellites and I already pointed out that I had GPS enabled on my phone rather than dealing with triangulation of towers.

2. My friends are the ones who pointed out that I was showing up states away from where I actually was....even when we're all checking Latitude standing side by side.

3. Been there, done that...they don't respond promptly.

4. This doesn't happen while connected to a wifi network exclusively.

I stated that you had done that already. Just trying to help with people that didnt know the correct way to use GPS.

I use Pintail myself and it has been right every time I have used it.

 

[troyk9]

Latitude used to work GREAT!!! Since this latest update my droid and my friend's Droid X are no longer accurate as far as locating our other friends and family. I have noticed that 1 minute the location is off by only a few blocks and the next minute it's off by over 20 miles. Other times it's accurate within approximately 100-200 feet. The other problem I noticed is that even though my family has their phones set to best location they appear to go stale for several hours to a day or 2; this has also happened to my friend's Droid X. We are both performed resets on the phones and family members as well as signing out and back into Latitude. This latest update is bug ridden I miss the previous version. It worked great.

 

[Pixiefrogw]

My husband and I like to check out what crazy places it puts us. We can be in the same room and it will show him miles away or show me out in a field somewhere. Last night it showed him in someone's back yard in MO, he was in IL (he's a truck driver) pretty tricky getting that big rig into someone's back yard LOL I think when it can't find you it puts you at the nearest cell tower or the last one you were bouncing off of. Just a thought.

 

[troyk9]

My daughter doesn't know it's even on her phone it was great watching her safely drive to a concert 30 minutes away but after she arrived it showed her in Texas and we live n south Florida lol

 

[Copleo]

My daughter doesn't know it's even on her phone it was great watching her safely drive to a concert 30 minutes away but after she arrived it showed her in Texas and we live n south Florida lol

Install free MyLookout on her phone. It shows you her (correct) whereabouts, in realtime, in any web browser.

 

[Copleo]

Originally Posted by jaymzz
If I am ever on the run from the law, my first step will be to turn on Latitude. No one will ever find me!

It would be really cool if there was an app that did that intentionally....

There IS an app that does that intentionally. It's called 'My Fake Location', and it's free.

I've programmed it to show me on safari in South Africa...

 

[ironass]

If you are having difficulty getting, and maintaining, a GPS fix then give this a go:-

GPS Fix For CyanogenMod 6 On The Nexus One | Android News, Reviews, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets, Tips, Mods, Videos, Tutorials - Android Police

It works on un-modded phones as well.

Another, free, app that helps is GPS Test from the Market.

Hope this helps.

 

[takeshi]

Latitude used to work GREAT!!! Since this latest update my droid and my friend's Droid X are no longer accurate as far as locating our other friends and family. I have noticed that 1 minute the location is off by only a few blocks and the next minute it's off by over 20 miles. Other times it's accurate within approximately 100-200 feet.

Sounds like it's just using whatever method of locating you happens to be available at the time and the GPS isn't always available (or unable to get a fix) for whatever reason.

GPS Status has a feature to clear the aGPS cache which has always helped when my Droid's GPS receiver is unable to obtain a fix.

 

[mikedt]

Google Maps location is only as accurate as whatever you're using. When I use GPS on my phone, it's spot on, as I would expect. However when I use Wi-Fi from my router, it puts me as been at the Metropark Hotel, Kowloon, Hong Kong, the other end of the country. I bought the router in HK, and first used it when I was staying at that hotel last year.

 

[jfunk]

I don't think this issue has anything to do with accuracy. Accuracy will obviously vary, but clearly something else is going when it shows you half way across the country. My wife's frequently shows as being in California or Chicago when we are in NY. This has never happened with me to my knowledge (at least nobody has ever noticed it).

So the question is, what exactly IS happening when it does this? We're not talking about an inaccurate triangulation here, it's obviously using some other method entirely.