[Q] Better control over location/GPS services? - EVO Shift 4G General

On my Palm Pre it was possible to enable network-based or network-assisted location without using Google services and without agreeing to let Google collect information about you and your device in the background. On the Shift, this doesn't appear to be the case: apparently, you can have pure GPS satellite location only *or* you can enable network assistance, but to do the latter you have to use Google's services and agree to Google's terms.
So I was wondering whether this is something that developers of custom ROMS and mods are able to do anything about. Would it be possible to tinker with the framework, or whatever part of the firmware controls such things, to allow for more finely-grained control over location services for the end user? Ideally, you would be able to choose:
1) GPS satellites only
2) GPS/aGPS (assisted location or rough triangulation)
3) The above, plus Google's network/Wi-Fi based location services (and agree to whatever terms Google requires for the use of same)
Interestingly, the Galaxy Tab already seems to have the sort of control that I'm talking about.
If I'm misunderstanding something about the way our EVO Shift devices handle location services, please let me know...e.g., could it be the case that selecting only "use GPS satellites" already enables aGPS? If so, you couldn't prove it by me. None of my applications, including Google Maps, seem to be able to use rough network location when I have only "GPS satellites" enabled, although the device itself clearly knows what tower it's registered with at any given time.
Anyway, I just thought I would bring this up to see whether there is any developer interest in tweaking this stuff, and also whether there are other users who are also interested.
BTW, I am aware that this is a "Google phone." No need to point it out. I just want to be able to use the same kind of network-assisted location services that I was able to use on my other, non-Google phones on Sprint.

AnalogXDA said:
On my Palm Pre it was possible to enable network-based or network-assisted location without using Google services and without agreeing to let Google collect information about you and your device in the background. On the Shift, this doesn't appear to be the case: apparently, you can have pure GPS satellite location only *or* you can enable network assistance, but to do the latter you have to use Google's services and agree to Google's terms.
So I was wondering whether this is something that developers of custom ROMS and mods are able to do anything about. Would it be possible to tinker with the framework, or whatever part of the firmware controls such things, to allow for more finely-grained control over location services for the end user? Ideally, you would be able to choose:
1) GPS satellites only
2) GPS/aGPS (assisted location or rough triangulation)
3) The above, plus Google's network/Wi-Fi based location services (and agree to whatever terms Google requires for the use of same)
Interestingly, the Galaxy Tab already seems to have the sort of control that I'm talking about.
If I'm misunderstanding something about the way our EVO Shift devices handle location services, please let me know...e.g., could it be the case that selecting only "use GPS satellites" already enables aGPS? If so, you couldn't prove it by me. None of my applications, including Google Maps, seem to be able to use rough network location when I have only "GPS satellites" enabled, although the device itself clearly knows what tower it's registered with at any given time.
Anyway, I just thought I would bring this up to see whether there is any developer interest in tweaking this stuff, and also whether there are other users who are also interested.
BTW, I am aware that this is a "Google phone." No need to point it out. I just want to be able to use the same kind of network-assisted location services that I was able to use on my other, non-Google phones on Sprint.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not much of a help, most likely.
All i know gps wise is theres a couple of ## codes for the dialer in Sense roms. I think one is ##gpsresetx#
There are gps apps too, which GREATLY help lock and accuracy. Check the market.
Hope somebody knows more than me
Sent from my HTC Speedy (Gonzalez)

Well, although I started the topic in the hopes of starting discussion about how to use network location without being locked down by Google...now that you mention it, it would also be cool if Speedy ROM developers could find a way to fix the cycle of "acquire fix, lose fix, acquire fix, lose fix" that is all too common with these devices...
Sent from my PG06100 using XDA App

Related

Google navigator

Hi,
Have anybody tried google navigator on the HD. I heard it's supposed to work with the hd. Anybody know if a dataconnection is needed, or can we download the maps and use it "offline" with the built in GPS reciever ??
anybody know where we can find a trial ?
oldings said:
Hi,
Have anybody tried google navigator on the HD. I heard it's supposed to work with the hd. Anybody know if a dataconnection is needed, or can we download the maps and use it "offline" with the built in GPS reciever ??
anybody know where we can find a trial ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Attached Google.
This is freeware
thx for reply. But isn't this the same that came pre-installed with the HD.
I tried Google Maps but that uses the data connection. I heard on google navigation you can save maps on storage and the use it "offline", so no need of data-connection, only GPS reciever.
Sorry, I should have read your thread properly, been a long day.
Google Navigator attached
I haven't used this application to be honest, but just installed it and a data connection appears to be required. I'll play with it and let you know if this can be disabled.
I have also downloaded the trial from http://www.pdafun.net/
and first time I started it I saw it downloded dato. I then used HD tweak to stop all data connection, and went in to Google navigator and changed som settings.
I can still start the prorgam wihtout any problems and activated GPS. It find my postition(still noe data connection used, yet). But don't know how to get a map. I only see a "world" map.
SO would be nice to know how we can download offlien maps so we can use with GPS and not need to use dataconnection, since it says it's possible
Without sounding flipant, the CAB is 1.73Mbs so I would expect it does not contain map data, bearing in mind that TomTom Maps are in the region of 1Gbs.
Maybe you have to download from somewhere else though.
<double post>
The map are downloaded using Data connection, they are download on demand by the software.
Google Navigator
the meaning of offline Navigation in this Software is that you can specify an interested area and tell the program to download the related topo, road maps, etc to the device over a data connection at a a given Zoom level. (wifi or gsm)
once the download is complete you can switch off the data connection or remove the sim and use the application to locate/Navigate your self in the downloaded area. The purpose is to enable you to use the phone to navigate yourself in a area without network coverage and/or to cutdown on the data download cost over GSM.
FYI
Google Navigator works fine on the HD except for the 3D view. it creates some areas of the map to disappear. I wrote to the developers on this bug and they said they will correct that error in their 4.9V but till the latest version the problem is still there.
is it just me or is the trial version of this completely useless? what is the point in disabling the only features that actually make this different to google maps? surely a time-limited version rather than feature-limitedwould make more sense?
I for one will certainly not be shelling out for this unless I know it works (and on my phone too).
this is most unlike google, who's software (until now)I have always been most impressed with. google maps is simply phenomenal, but does lack the turn-by-turn voice commands necessary to operate it whilst driving.
the data, for me (and many who own this type of device - why on earth would you have a device this capable without some data included?!) is not an issue. but i need to see it in action before I can abandon Tomtom properly...
is this software actually from google or just based on google maps? I still can't work out why I have to pay for this when everything else google is free (and this looks decidedly shoddier)?!
kindregards
dr_nick
Apparently Google Navigator has nothing to do with Google. The developers are just using the name "Google" because it taps into the Maps database. Caveat emptor.
Google Navigator is one of the worst PDA Apps I've ever seen.
Not only do they #1 -- Use the FREE google maps service, and charge you for their crappy front end, but #2 -- Put the name "Google" in the title of their product, so you think it's actually from a reputable source.
Google really needs to put a stop to this company because they are basically ripping people off.

Google tracking your location

So... what with the hoohah about Idevices tracking location data and storing it locally, what do you think about on Android, location data is uploaded to Google?
If I were to create a ROM, I'd modify the source of Android to politely remove this feature / obsfucate where possible...
Considering Android is open source, if Google were doing that, someone would have found it by now. And technically you CAN do this with Android if you enable Google Latitude and allow it to report your phone's location.
Android is basically doing the same thing.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/apr/21/android-phones-record-user-locations
oldblue910 said:
Considering Android is open source, if Google were doing that, someone would have found it by now. And technically you CAN do this with Android if you enable Google Latitude and allow it to report your phone's location.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are. Read the TOS.
Can i ask why anybody cares? I mean seriously if you have a cellphone you've always had the potential to be tracked. If google uses it who cares? Personally i like it. It would let someone locate me if i was missing and it would let me locate my phone if i lost it. Google records everything. They scan your email for key words to bring up ads on other sites and on google itself. It's not a big deal it's just one of the things you have to deal with when you have to be in the tech loop.
Google plainly give you the option to opt out when you sign in to your Google account on the phone. You can also disable location in settings at any time. Big difference between that and what iOS is doing.
Security risk!
The android location service cache can be read quite easily with root access or without.
As long as this info isn't transmitted, but only used internally for better connection time and location accuracy, the risk is low (if the phone is stolen there is much more sensitive information).
If it is transmitted, it has to be anonymized, and I have to be able to switch the transmission off without loss of on any other non-dependent functionality (i.e. I don't want to be blackmailed).
Why should we put up with everything? Why should we be like stupid sheep? Only if we care about privacy, there is a chance that we can keep some freedom.
matt2053 said:
Google plainly give you the option to opt out when you sign in to your Google account on the phone. You can also disable location in settings at any time. Big difference between that and what iOS is doing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
even if you opt out when first signing on, you'll get a warning saying that to use location features you have to agree to uploading location data - in the background.
matt2053 said:
Google plainly give you the option to opt out when you sign in to your Google account on the phone. You can also disable location in settings at any time. Big difference between that and what iOS is doing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Agreed. CrApple doesn't even say that they collect data.
Agreed!!!!!!

[Q] Question about Skyhook vs. Google location services

I'm writing a story about the current mini-controversy surrounding the Skyhook lawsuit, particularly about the information that has come out that Google has made it part of the Android Compatibility criteria that manufacturers cannot use Skyhook and must use Google location services. (Full story)
My question is: does this make a difference for developers? Would the location API calls change whether a device uses Skyhook vs Google location services? Would it make things more difficult for devs if some manufacturers used Skyhook and others Google Location Services?
Thanks!

[Q] Google Latitude replacement?

As we all know the Google Latitude service is shutting down on 9th August 2013.
Does anyone know of a suitable replacement?
p.s I never made it to the moon :crying:
The official replacement is "Locations" in Google+. Any reason why that won't work for you?
Solutions Etcetera said:
The official replacement is "Locations" in Google+. Any reason why that won't work for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My family and friends don't use Google+, any other apps?
meyert11 said:
My family and friends don't use Google+, any other apps?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Come next month, they won't be using Latitude either. I don't understand why looking for another app is preferential to switching to Google+. Is it just having to add it to your account? Or is it something else?
Solutions Etcetera said:
Come next month, they won't be using Latitude either. I don't understand why looking for another app is preferential to switching to Google+. Is it just having to add it to your account? Or is it something else?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google latitude ran under Google maps, so users of Google maps (virtually anyone) could follow each other. Now that latitude is being moved under Google+, only people with plus accounts will be able to use it. Since my family and friends don't use Google+, if we want to follow each other we will all have to sign up for Google+ accounts, just to use latitude. Seems like an unnecessary amount of work, for a feature that is useful during vacations and trips. Hope this explains it a bit.
meyert11 said:
Google latitude ran under Google maps, so users of Google maps (virtually anyone) could follow each other. Now that latitude is being moved under Google+, only people with plus accounts will be able to use it. Since my family and friends don't use Google+, if we want to follow each other we will all have to sign up for Google+ accounts, just to use latitude. Seems like an unnecessary amount of work, for a feature that is useful during vacations and trips. Hope this explains it a bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google+ is a single option on a Google account. If they are using Maps with Latitude, the already have a Google account. IIRC adding Plus to an existing Google account is a single mouseclick.
Solutions Etcetera said:
Google+ is a single option on a Google account. If they are using Maps with Latitude, the already have a Google account. IIRC adding Plus to an existing Google account is a single mouseclick.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Google+ is a social media service, like facebook, that is altogether separate. Larry Page is obsessed with having everyone sign up for Google+ because most people are surfing the web via their mobile phones and Facebook is dominating the mobile ad space. My friends and family are not likely to migrate from Facebook to Google+, so I need an alternative to Latitude.
If you'd like further clarity, feel free to PM me, rather than us having a long personal conversation on a forum about Latitude alternatives.
You don't have to use it, you just need to opt in to use the location services. I don't see what the big deal is but to each their own.
Solutions Etcetera said:
You don't have to use it, you just need to opt in to use the location services. I don't see what the big deal is but to each their own.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You will have to open the Google+ app to follow your friends and family. It has been physically removed from the updated Maps app.
The problem is that you don't even HAVE to have a Google + "account" just because you have a Google account. I can go into my Google account right now and delete my Google + profile. So that's not even true. To have to opt into and then use the Google + app is a pretty lame alternative. ALSO, the Google + Locations really sucks right now. My boyfriend and I are in each other's circles, have shared our locations with each other, and turned on background location reporting, but he does not show up as a person who I can see his location. He showed up for 1 hour when we first set it up, but he's since disappeared, even though I've been right next to him and seen his settings on his phone as we tried to troubleshoot. It needs some serious work before it's ready to replace Latitude.
I've been trying to use Glympse for those times when I need to let someone know where I am, and for them to track me. The only down side is you can only let people see your location for up to 4 hours at a time. When you've got an active Glympse running, your GPS is in constant use too, so it will drain your battery faster than Latitude did. You can opt to turn your GPS off and just let Glympse use WiFi or cell networks to locate you, but it won't be as accurate.
Other than that, all the other alternatives are also closer to social networking or checkin apps that also happen to share your location. I just want something simple, LIKE LATITUDE.
Oh. I guess the alternative is Latitude. I don't understand why they killed it off. I hope maybe Backitude will pull a Feedly and create something neat out of this.
Solutions Etcetera said:
The official replacement is "Locations" in Google+. Any reason why that won't work for you?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For me, three things:
1. No option to navigate to a person on the map
2. No "last update" time stamp means sometimes the locations are 5 minutes old. Sometimes an hour.
3. No accuracy bubble
It's basically useless as a way to figure out where people are at any given time. Extremely annoying to have that go away. Hopefully there will be a replacement that shows up that doesn't drain the battery. Something that automatically responds to a ping for a check-in rather than polling for locations every X minutes would be great.
ppdd said:
For me, three things:
1. No option to navigate to a person on the map
2. No "last update" time stamp means sometimes the locations are 5 minutes old. Sometimes an hour.
3. No accuracy bubble
It's basically useless as a way to figure out where people are at any given time. Extremely annoying to have that go away. Hopefully there will be a replacement that shows up that doesn't drain the battery. Something that automatically responds to a ping for a check-in rather than polling for locations every X minutes would be great.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, these are some valid concerns. I am not a big fan of the location tracking features so were unaware of these. Hopefully, as Google continues to unify its social services we will eventually see more granular features resurface. I miss the offline ability in the new maps more than anything else at the moment. Hangouts not showing online status is annoying as well. Its important to leave Google feedback through official channels when valued existing features go AWOL. It has always been Android's nature to throw out something half-baked, and improve (or kill ) it over time based on user feedback.
As for battery... Google announced a number of new API's that would be rolling out this year. Some of which are specifically designed to reign in apps that poll/push data. I remember location services being a big part of that.I'm willing to bet this will get better over time.
Solutions Etcetera said:
Hi, these are some valid concerns. I am not a big fan of the location tracking features so were unaware of these. Hopefully, as Google continues to unify its social services we will eventually see more granular features resurface. I miss the offline ability in the new maps more than anything else at the moment. Hangouts not showing online status is annoying as well. Its important to leave Google feedback through official channels when valued existing features go AWOL. It has always been Android's nature to throw out something half-baked, and improve (or kill ) it over time based on user feedback.
As for battery... Google announced a number of new API's that would be rolling out this year. Some of which are specifically designed to reign in apps that poll/push data. I remember location services being a big part of that.I'm willing to bet this will get better over time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've already complained to google, but I'm not real hopeful there. If Latitude wasn't being used heavily, it didn't make sense to leave it in Maps cluttering up the interface. I don't blame them.
For me, literally the only thing I want to use this for is making it easier to coordinate with my wife, or friends/family when we're on road trips. I suspect thats how most people were using it. It's great to be able to see that she's left her office or is at our kids' daycare or is 10 minutes away from a restaurant without calling her a dozen times a day. Losing the 'last update' stamp ruins that use case. Really not sure how they envision people using the G+ locations feature.
Apple's Find My Friends was great when my wife and I were on iOS. It behaved almost exactly right, only ever reporting your location when someone on your whitelist opened up their FMF app. There was no real power drain associated with it. All the apps in the Play store that fill this niche seem to report locations on their own, which is dumb *and* a redundant power drain given that Google location services is already grabbing that location.
Oh well.
ppdd said:
Apple's Find My Friends was great when my wife and I were on iOS. It behaved almost exactly right, only ever reporting your location when someone on your whitelist opened up their FMF app. There was no real power drain associated with it. All the apps in the Play store that fill this niche seem to report locations on their own, which is dumb *and* a redundant power drain given that Google location services is already grabbing that location.
Oh well.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Apple does it right in not allowing apps to just go out and post/get whatever they want, whenever they want it. The app has to register for the info, and the system coalesces these requests for when the corresponding hardware is connected. Google is well on their way to implementing this same behavior.
Having much of this stuff better unified is a good thing IMHO, and I understand the thinking that things related to friends and family should be found in + and not maps. And based on what I saw at I/O, this will get better.
From what I've heard, the previously mentioned Glympse is a pretty decent replacement depending on what features you need. It's more aimed towards temporary location sharing between people during car trips, theme park visits, going out for lunch, etc. There's no option to leave it permanently on, though, and it doesn't appear to use intermittent polling.
Now that Latitude is dead, who knows if it will introduce this functionality to get new users?
I'm hoping that there is a location history feature in the new Google+ locations as I use this a lot, but I would love to eventually reach the moon - and maybe beyond!
It's an opening for another Feedly to come in and increase their market share. Someone like echoecho or swarmly could tweak their application to provide the same functionality, while furthering their own growth, a percentage of those new users would start using their services as result.
If I knew enough about Android development I’d quickly drop an app that pulled the Google+ location information and dumped it into maps provided by the Google Maps API with the options for satellite imagery and streetview. I'm really surprised that Google didn't merge the existing functionality into Google+, it must be available as they'll only be leveraging Google Maps anyway, certainly in regards the above.
theickleone said:
I'm hoping that there is a location history feature in the new Google+ locations as I use this a lot, but I would love to eventually reach the moon - and maybe beyond!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Location history will remain:
If you use Location Reporting and have Location History enabled, your location data will continue to be recorded to your Location History. You can view and manage Location History data on the Location History dashboard.
Note: We’re no longer supporting Google Maps for Mobile 6.14.4 and below for Location History or Location Reporting settings.
google is forcing us to use their G+, first was gtalk converted to hangouts, now latitude
i have yet to find a map of people in G+ on the PC, i can only see people on the phone
now they have a universal "location tracking" setting in android, the new maps v7 is garbage, hopefully someone is able to mod the old maps apk to push and pull data from their new location service, reformat it and keep latitude working in the old maps
laur3n.newm4n said:
Other than that, all the other alternatives are also closer to social networking or checkin apps that also happen to share your location. I just want something simple, LIKE LATITUDE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi laur3n.newm4n, I'm currently building location sharing app for many of the same reasons you mentioned. We're still in private alpha but if after you checkout the features and it's sound like we're solving your problem you can signup for the beta
Hope it will help: yougy.co

altering gps

Im a java programmer new to android. Im currently doing some research into geo location based services and privacy and want to develop an app that can counter the privacy concerns.
I want to develop a security app for a college project that can alter my gps co-ordinates on my device, thus fooling all other apps on my phone into thinking I’m somewhere else, may be another country or just a mile away.
I am aware that there are apps out there in the play store to do this, but I'm not sure how I could implement it myself.
I believe there are classes and methods that can be used. such as Location and setMockLocation. I could use some advice or a point in the right direction.
I believe these methods and classes are normally used for testing purposes but I wonder If I could use them to say fool a service into thinking I’m in my city, but not in my neighbourhood.
Any help, advice would be greatly appreciated
I know this is a late response but better late than never.
I'm sure your intent is benign, but this is precisely the sort of thing frowned upon by the community. Think about it. If an app is allowed to spoof a location, all sorts of fraud could take place. Also, i would assume that any classes provided by Java/crapdroid would be "read only" when it comes to GPS.
That being said, what you can try doing is manually switching off the GPS radio, and then hard-coding a location in your app. For example something like:
int main(void) {
SomeClass.setLocation("Seattle");
}
Normally this is bad practice, and inflexible.
The other thing you can do is sort out your location (city, state, country) based on IP address and adding logic in your app to use that info without ever touching the GPS.
I would also urge you to use GPS location sparingly for 4 primary reasons
1.) You are never guaranteed the user has a device with a GPS radio. Even if s/he has one, there is no guarantee that such radio is turned on in the first place
2.) We don't live in a perfect world. GPS location may not be accurate. For example it may say "Seattle" if you're in the Seattle metro area but that could mean anywhere from Tacoma to Bellingham (a pretty large area)
3.) GPS uses power. This may be a mute point somewhat, but its still valid.
4.) Location services are not always provided by a GPS radio. usually android settings allow for a "hybrid" location approach based in part on your GPS radio, and in part on cellular radio triangulation, and / or relying on your wifi and/or cellular data. This links to point 2 above as well.
Hope this helps in some way
Since my original post, I have pursued my objective, and successfully spoofed the location of my device, Android provides a number of possible ways to do this. I font think the intent is frowned upon at all. My app provides privacy. It cant really be used to commit fraud. Any good forensics investigator would still be able to determine if a location had been spoofed.
There are at least 50 similar apps available on google play store. You should try one

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