Photo: Softpedia
Samsung is currently the number one phone manufacturer in the world, so it’s obviously no surprise that its devices are most often the ones powering the navigation experience either right on their screens or on Android Auto.
But as far as Galaxy S8 users are concerned, running Google Maps, Waze, or another navigation app on their smartphones has become quite a nightmare, and it’s all because of a June update that broke down the GPS sensor.
More specifically, the June security update that was shipped to the Galaxy S8 causes the GPS sensor to be disabled at random times, obviously blocking navigation apps from determining users’ locations and thus provide directions to a configured destination.
Needless to say, navigation apps aren’t the only ones that are impacted by this issue, as pretty much any other piece of software that needs GPS access is broken down too.
And now Samsung has released the September update for the Galaxy S8, and I’m seeing early reports that the GPS problem has been corrected. While the South Korean company hasn’t officially announced this update, so we’re still waiting for a confirmation on this GPS thing, some of those who received the new September patch early report some improvements in the way their location is determined by the phone.
What’s important to know is that the update is rolling out gradually to devices across the world, so if it doesn’t show up for you just yet, the only option is to wait for a few more days (or maybe weeks) and then check again.
Samsung Galaxy S8 no longer receives new Android versions, but on the other hand, the South Koreans roll out security patches every three months. These releases resolve a series of vulnerabilities in the software powering the device, but at the same time, they also bring fixes for certain bugs discovered by users in the previous updates.
We have reached out to Samsung to ask for more information about this update and will post a follow-up story if we hear back.
More specifically, the June security update that was shipped to the Galaxy S8 causes the GPS sensor to be disabled at random times, obviously blocking navigation apps from determining users’ locations and thus provide directions to a configured destination.
Needless to say, navigation apps aren’t the only ones that are impacted by this issue, as pretty much any other piece of software that needs GPS access is broken down too.
And now Samsung has released the September update for the Galaxy S8, and I’m seeing early reports that the GPS problem has been corrected. While the South Korean company hasn’t officially announced this update, so we’re still waiting for a confirmation on this GPS thing, some of those who received the new September patch early report some improvements in the way their location is determined by the phone.
What’s important to know is that the update is rolling out gradually to devices across the world, so if it doesn’t show up for you just yet, the only option is to wait for a few more days (or maybe weeks) and then check again.
Samsung Galaxy S8 no longer receives new Android versions, but on the other hand, the South Koreans roll out security patches every three months. These releases resolve a series of vulnerabilities in the software powering the device, but at the same time, they also bring fixes for certain bugs discovered by users in the previous updates.
We have reached out to Samsung to ask for more information about this update and will post a follow-up story if we hear back.
Google News