Maps are blank white. New to GrapheneOS.

Makrus

Hello. I've decided after much time thinking to switch to a de-googled OS, and have run into an issue. Trying to use apps with maps (so far I've tried Transit and Google Maps) results in the map view areas being blank. I have sandboxed google play services installed and updated, I downloaded and updated the map apps through Aurora, and I have tried giving the desired map apps location services. Does anyone know a fix? I have searched and have not seen this issue discussed.

other8026

Makrus A good first place to start is by reading this section of the website: https://grapheneos.org/usage#sandboxed-google-play-configuration

It's possible the reason you're getting a blank screen is because your setup is set to "Reroute location requests to the OS". If that's the case, the phone might not get a lock on your location if you don't have a clear view of the sky. You can consider using Google Play for geolocation by following the instructions I linked above.

Makrus

other8026 I tried what was suggested by you and in the article. Same issue. But I think it's worth mentioning that even when I initially had this problem, my location services seemed to work. I could drop a pin (blindly, since the map was just a white void) and I would get the results I'd expect: familiar street names, local businesses, etc.

I figured I may have messed up some kind of settings being overzealous during my initial setup, and decided to factory reset. Graphene booted up, I went through the setup, installed google play services, F-Droid, Aurora Store, Transit and Google Maps (via Aurora Store). All is now working as expected so far.

While I've fixed the issue with a reset, I'm not sure what the cause was. But thank you for the suggestions and insight!

other8026

Makrus I see. So it was getting the correct location, but just didn't show the map. Maybe there was some content blocker blocking the connection to a Google server?

Either way, I'll mark this as solved since you were able to fix the problem.

TheGodfather

Makrus While I've fixed the issue with a reset, I'm not sure what the cause was.

Glad you fixed it. As a rule of thumb, reinstalling or resetting the OS is not needed to fix errors in apps on Android. It's not like Windows or most Linux distros, where this is sometimes a good way. The base OS is immutable and apps are confined with a sandbox, so they can't mess with the OS.

mrtoo

I know the issue is solved, but just to add my experience: Google Maps works fine for me without Play services installed, until the latest version. I get the same blank screen. Maps knows where I am but decides not to show the map. I stepped back a version and all is well again. I guess Google has added Play Services as a dependency to Maps just like many other apps have recently done.