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GPS Problems Breaking Down Google Maps, Waze on Google Pixel Phones

The Android 11 rollout is slowly but surely turning into a small fiasco from a GPS perspective, as more and more users are coming across different problems with navigation apps after installing the new operating system update.
Pixel 5 is Google's latest phone 1 photo
Photo: Google
This time, it looks like owners of Pixel phones, Google’s very own lineup of devices, are encountering GPS connectivity struggles, which in their turn lead to apps like Google Maps and Waze to no longer work properly.

The good part is that the glitch doesn’t seem to affect all Google Pixels updated to Android 11, which makes many people wonder what exactly is actually causing the problems on the impacted devices.

As we told you in September, Waze could no longer determine users’ location after the update to Android 11 due to a problem with location permissions, and switching to the “always” setting restored the expected app behavior for some.

In the meantime, Google has already released a Waze update to resolve the GPS problem, and this version is now available for download for all Android devices.

However, the issue this time doesn’t seem to be related to location access, and some users say in this reddit discussion that Google Maps sometimes works correctly and only loses the GPS connection randomly.

Needless to say, the generic workarounds, which include everything from clearing the cache of Google Maps and removing the app data to a full phone reset, don’t make any difference, and the GPS tracking still isn’t working properly.

The issue only happens on the phone, though there’s a good chance a similar behavior would obviously be encountered on Android Auto too since the experience is powered by the mobile device in the first place.

Google has so far remained completely tight-lipped on the GPS problems hit by Pixel owners, so for the time being, waiting for a patch is pretty much the only option for users where Google Maps and Waze are broken.
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About the author: Bogdan Popa
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Bogdan keeps an eye on how technology is taking over the car world. His long-term goals are buying an 18-wheeler because he needs more space for his kid’s toys, and convincing Google and Apple that Android Auto and CarPlay deserve at least as much attention as their phones.
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