30
Nov
Samsung-Captivate-Android-Phone

Samsung Captivate And Vibrant Finally Get GPS "Fix" Via GPSSamsungRestore App

Posted by in Apps/Games, AT&T, Captivate, News, Samsung

The Galaxy S phones are, without a doubt, among the best Android phones out there, but for some time now, the handsets have been plagued by one potential showstopper - malfunctioning GPS capabilities. Worry not, though - in addition to an update that rolled out a few months ago, Samsung has developed an app called GPSSamsungRestore which is now available from the Android Market for all users of AT&T's Captivate and T-Mobile's Vibrant. So what does it do? It undoes any modifications to the GPS and basically reverts it to its original state. While it remains to be seen how reverting the GPS to its original, broken state fixes it, I suppose it can't hurt to give it a shot if you're a Captivate or Vibrant owner.

Note: The app only shows up in the Market for Captivate and Vibrant owners, so if you're looking for it just for kicks, you won't find it unless you've got one of those devices. It isn't listed on AppBrain, either.

Source: Samsung Mobile US (Twitter), Samsung Tech Support

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Jaroslav Stekl
Jaroslav Stekl is a tech enthusiast whose favorite gadgets almost always happen to be the latest Android devices. When he's not writing for Android Police, he's probably hiking, camping, or canoeing. He is also an aspiring coffee aficionado and an avid moviegoer.

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  • Steve

    It does nothing to "optimize" or fix the GPS, this app merely resets all of the LBSTest menu settings (which are a-gps anyways) back to Samsung's orininal (non-working) default values. Now I have to re-find the combination of settings that WAS working and re-fix my GPS. Leave it to Samsung to not only NOT fix the GPS, but to break it twice.

    • http://www.androidpolice.com/author/jaroslav-stekl/ Jaroslav Stekl

      Thanks for the clarificiation, Steve. I've updated the post to make this more clear.

  • David

    I hate that news sources are doing this. Despite Samsung's claim this does not fix the GPS. It's just another PR stunt that is working. Ugh.

    • Aaron Gingrich

      Hate which part? Putting "Fix" in quotes to show doubt about the effectiveness, or clearly stating in the article that it's not really a fix?

  • Shane

    I found out the best way to deal with the gps is to leave it on all the time. If you run google maps, then turn on the gps, it locks up almost every time.

  • Cry

    I have never had a GPS lock on my captivate. Not once. Not ever. Not with GPSrestore, not with new firmware from the people on samsung's chat site. NOTHING. DON't BUY THIS PHONE IF YOU WANT GPS.

    Cry

  • Bawked

    My gps works fine 10 satellites everytime, serendipity 3.5.3 custom rom on samsung captivate.

  • http://koowie.com Koowie

    I never notice this issue. I guess I don't use the GPS function.