No App Can Access Locations Services

BlackHatMagic

I'm using GrapheneOS with sandboxed Google Play, and location services generally worked without issue when I was in the U.S. Recently, I've been in Seoul, South Korea for a work trip, and no app can access my location.

I can't use Google Maps, but that's expected since I think for some regulatory reason Google is not allowed to offer in-depth location services in Korea the same way they do in the U.S. KakaoMap and NAVER Map, which are more common for navigation here, also can't access my location despite having full permission.

Is there a way I can fix this? If I can't use location, this operating system is completely unusable.

fid02

BlackHatMagic Did you try to reboot your device? It could be a temporary hardware glitch.

GrapheneOS

BlackHatMagic

If I can't use location, this operating system is completely unusable.

Location services work fine on GrapheneOS. Either you have a hardware failure of the GNSS radio or a misconfiguration such as disabling rerouting location requests without further steps. There's little reason to disable rerouting location requests anymore. If the GNSS chip is indeed dead, you should still be able to enable the network location service feature in the location services setting to have a location estimate based on Wi-Fi networks.

DeletedUser313

can Vanadium access your location? Are you able to navigate by using a map without GPS, using landmarks and signs?

BlackHatMagic

DeletedUser313 after some testing, it seems that Vanadium also cannot access my location. Yes, I can navigate just using landmarks, but it's a lot more convenient to be able to use my phone.

BlackHatMagic

fid02 Yes, I have tried rebooting. Still no dice.

BlackHatMagic

GrapheneOS I've turned on network location and it seemed to work, which was sufficient.

Rebooting into safe mode and then back into "normal" mode seems to have completely fixed the issue even after normal reboots didn't. I did so because something was meddling with my network connection (seems like it was ProtonVPN, even when disabled), so finding that GPS worked fine as a result (even though my GPS issues predated my ProtonVPN installation) was a nice surprise.

Sorry if I came off as a little antagonistic in my original post; GrapheneOS so far has just been a decidedly compromised experience (namely lack of tap to pay), but not really through any fault of its own. They're compromises I'm willing to make, but unreliable location services outside of North America/the EU would 100% have been the straw that broke the camel's back.

fid02

BlackHatMagic Rebooting into safe mode and then back into "normal" mode seems to have completely fixed the issue even after normal reboots didn't.

GPS now works even with Network location disabled?

GrapheneOS

BlackHatMagic Maybe a network issue was blocking both PSDS and SUPL. GNSS without either of those will take a long time to get a lock. Disabling SUPL while still having the static PSDS downloads is still quite usable but not having either makes it work more like an old school GNSS unit without internet access. It still should have worked after a minute or two of trying to get a lock and then become quicker after that point.

BlackHatMagic

fid02 yeah, even without network location