Existing users, 
GPS Not Working Under iPhone OS 2.1, Fix
Posted 17 September 2008 @ 9am in Troubleshooting
Several users have reported an issue in which GPS functionality and location services in general do not work properly after the update to iPhone OS 2.1. In most cases of the problem, location service crosshairs appear, but the tracking blue dot (indicative of GPS) never appears.
As described by Apple Discussions poster hitchsaid:
“Both my brother and I have iphones and we both updated to 2.1 and the GPS on both our phones were working fine prior to 2.1 Now all we get are the crosshairs- the blue dot is nowhere to be seen. I have tried all the recommendations sitting outside for 20min, 3G off, airplane mode on/off, soft reset, location services on….wi-fi on, bluetooth off…. but nothing seems to make it work again….what is really bugging me is that it was working fine before the update.”
The fix for this issue, for many users, is to navigate to Settings > General > Reset and choose Reset All Settings.
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16 Comments
Posted by xcecllpress
17 September 2008 @ 11am
I did reset all..Did not fix the blue dot. It is still missing in action.. All it did was reorganize all my apps and forgot my wifi and dotmac info..
Posted by lleachie
17 September 2008 @ 11am
I didn’t get the fix you suggest above to work. This is frustrating, because this is the first problem I’ve had with the iPhone since I got it. Any suggestions on other possible fixes?
Posted by Matthew Culmore
17 September 2008 @ 12pm
I saw this and opened Maps and as observed, crosshairs and no dot. Hmmm. Went to Settings/General, observed settings for Location services and a few others, changed nothing, turned off iPhone, rebooted, went to maps and crosshairs again, but this time the blue dot is back. However, it did take an unusually long time to dot in, whereas it was almost instantaneous prior to the 2.1 update. I did not move more than six inches during this process. Just tried maps again, no problem, blue dot.
Posted by Matthew Culmore
17 September 2008 @ 12pm
“However, it did take an unusually long time to dot in, whereas it was almost instantaneous prior to the 2.1 update. ”
Well, as they say, compared to what: several tries show an average of 17 seconds to go from crosshairs to the dot.
Posted by xcecllpress
17 September 2008 @ 3pm
update… Restarted my iphone twice, now I have a blue dot on the maps app..
Posted by Matthew Culmore
18 September 2008 @ 8am
Today it seems to be averaging 27 seconds to blue dot. It’s is very cloudy. Weather?
I wonder if the extra time equates to more accuracy? Has anybody noticed improved accuracy?
Posted by tmorrow24
18 September 2008 @ 10am
I did the Settings > General > Reset and choose Reset All Settings and it worked for me - at least for now. wasn’t getting Cross Hairs unless on Edge, and even then, wasn’t getting blue dot. I’ll test when i go in and out of Edge/3G and do a reset and see if its still fixed. glad to have my dot back tho!
seriously, and they feel alright with continually running anti-Vista ads? this is getting ridiculous. i convinced my wife i needed iPhone because, “apple/mac stuff just works”, and replaced my win mobile phone. its cool and all, but i spend just as much time trying to get stuff working on the iphone as i did with the windows mobile phone. some of it is at&t, I know - but then again, some windows issues are their partners (pc makers) too.
Posted by revazone
18 September 2008 @ 1pm
GPS works fine for me. After reading about GPS problems experienced by the brothers, I immediately tried my GPS and quiet quickly got the blue dot.
Posted by tmorrow24
19 September 2008 @ 6am
UPDATE: on my drive home yesterday, the “blue dot” wouldn’t come up, and had trouble getting even cross hairs until i turned 3G off. this morning, got the blue dot on Edge, but takes forever. The “fixes” are only temporary it seems. C’mon Apple!!
Posted by freyac
20 September 2008 @ 2pm
i tried the fixes and i still don’t get the “blue dot” here in San Francisco, just the damn crosshairs! it seems to work occasionally when i’m driving out of the area, but i had no problems with it before the fix. it does seem able to drop a pin in my location so it knows where i am.
Posted by bcalisto
20 September 2008 @ 4pm
Ok, after a lot of problems and trying “fixes” I found all around the Web, finally I discovered (by myself) a better way to “fix” the GPS in Google Maps app. This is useful especially for all those folks outside the US and in not-so-developed countries (like me, I live in South America). I noticed that Apple, in the 2.1 version of Google Maps, introduced a “time-out” in the app that doesn’t allow enough time for the GPS hardware to align with the satellites. Hence, you’ll always get a “Your location could not be determined” error. So, to allow the GPS hardware to align with the satellites, do the following:
1. Download a PURE GPS app from the App Store. For this case, I got the free “TrackThing” app.
2. Go outside, preferrably where you can find lots of open sky
3. Start the TrackThing app
4. Allow the app to use your location
5. Tap on “Geo”, and wait until it reads your location (latitude, longitude, altitude). This can take from 10 seconds to more than 1 minute, until the GPS hardware aligns correctly with the satellites
6. After you have a reading, exit the app and get into Google Maps
7. Tap the location button. VOILÀ! it will almost immediately pinpoint your location with a blue dot!
Also, in the first screen of TrackThing (”Vitals”), if the “GPS” label turns from red (to orange) to green, then you have good GPS reception. If it remains orange, then you don’t have good reception, so it’ll use tower triangulation.
Posted by hitchsaid
22 September 2008 @ 1pm
I tried all these fixes to no avail.
I have a nokia E70 and the GPS on it in the same location (my garden) is working fine.
I get 3G reception.
I reset all settings.
toggled airplane mode on/off
toggled 3G on/off
toggled location services on/off
i did a soft reset
downloaded “track thing” app and “GPS tracker” app
both get stuck in the “locating…” cycle
the closest “GPS tracker” app was able to get was 800-1000m
which means it, like google maps is able to triangulate but not able to get a specific location i.e the blue dot.
is it possible that a firmware like 2.1 could disable the A-GPS antenna?
will apple fix this in its next firmware (2.1/2.2)?
Might a restore from itunes fix the problem? or will it cause more damage?
i read several people are suffering from the restore option…
is there a software that can help?
any help would be appreaciated
Posted by sauuude
23 September 2008 @ 3am
It works alright.. Thanks bcalisto.
A few minutes until ‘TrackThing’ locates and it pulsed again the blue dot. It seems so that Maps app does have a ‘time-out’ and kicks out a message, because it doesn’t give time for GPS hardware to senses satelite signal.
I hope they fix it soon because even now (after 2.1 upgrade’s first run) Maps app runs out before geolocation making it unusable.
Posted by sil3nfsnip3r
12 October 2008 @ 6am
Thanks bcalisto! It worked great!
Posted by stlfan
12 October 2008 @ 7pm
I downloaded Trackthing Lite and once I fired up Maps the blinking blue dot came right back. Thanks for the suggestion…worked perfectly!
Posted by kalfuche
20 October 2008 @ 5pm
Thanks bcalisto , worked perfect far in southern south america.