TomTom losing GPS location on Android Auto.

[Coolwalk]

As per the thread title, TomTom keeps losing its position on the map with the pointer grey rather than blue. It seems to have started happening around the time coolwalk was enabled on my device. I'm having to use Google maps which is poor in comparison IMO.
Phone is Android 12 and Head Unit Atoto S8.
Anyone have a solution please?

 

[canderson]

Am surprised it matters what app you are using. The GPS data comes from the phone, and feeds whatever app is calling for that information. If there's a lousy fix, it should show up on any GPS enabled app. However, it may be that not all apps signal a loss of fix immediately. Would take some research into various apps to see how each responds.

My preference when it comes to testing this sort of thing for Android phones is the GPS Test app from Chartcross.

 

[Coolwalk]

Thanks for your reply. I forgot to say I'm using AA wirelessly and although I haven't definitely confirmed it, the issue seems to happen when my phone screen switches off.
I will have a look at the chartcross app., thanks.

 

[canderson]

Ah - there have been reports of issues where when users don't enable “Run app in the background” option when the screen shuts down due to UI activity, and disable any battery optimization settings. Might be worth looking at both of those. I assume you keep your phone plugged in all the time during this kind of use. It can be a real battery hog.

 

[GCrabb]

This looks like a bug in either Coolwalk or AA. Instantly looses position on AA unless phone screen is on. Perfectly repeatable. "Run in background" is on. Battery optimisation is off. Android 12 on Moto G30.

 

[Coolwalk]

Thanks canderson for the suggestions. I checked them again but they were correct. It was worthwhile checking them again though.
Anyway on Sunday I messaged TomTom on Twitter not sure if I would get a reply but first thing Monday they had messaged me back saying to always open TomTom on the phone before the Head unit is switched on. That worked. When I let him know he said they knew about the issue and were working on a solution.
Like GCrabb says it's probably a problem caused by the coolwalk update.

 

[canderson]

Good to hear that there is a workaround. Coolwalk is still definitely a work in progress.

 

[oeL]

I can confirm that the issue has been solved now. Tested with two different Smartphones. It is running fine with this versions for me:
====
TomTom Go 3.6.128-beta
Android Auto 9.1.120944-release-daily (from apkmirror)
Android 13 (Security Update 1st Jan 2023)
====
However, the issue still exists (on my Sony Xperia 10 III) with Android 12.
YMMV.

 

[Coolwalk]

I can confirm that the issue has been solved now. Tested with two different Smartphones. It is running fine with this versions for me:
====
TomTom Go 3.6.128-beta
Android Auto 9.1.120944-release-daily (from apkmirror)
Android 13 (Security Update 1st Jan 2023)
====
However, the issue still exists (on my Sony Xperia 10 III) with Android 12.
YMMV.

I've only done a couple of short trips but it seems to be solved for me too. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[BigWolf]

Hi Folks, I just registered here because I have similar trouble with my TomTom App connected to AA.

I upgraded my antique Galaxy S8 to a Galaxy A70 (Android 11) with the latest TT release installed. It is connected to the car via USB. After receiving the coolwalk update on S8 I never had any trouble but with A70 I permanentely experience a loss of GPS signal. After plugging in and beginning to drive everything is fine, even when receiving messages or changing apps on AA display. The A70 is inactive with black screen then.

But when actively sending a message or using a non-TT-app on the phone the blue arrow turns to grey and position is lost. It can be recovered by starting TT on the phone and keep active on the phone screen.

I already tried several APKs of AA from 9.0x to fresh 9.4 beta without success. My next try will be a downgrade to versions before Coolwalk was released.

I also contacted TomTom and obviously this is a known issue, but they assume this to be an error on AA side. They recommend to wait for a major update of AA and have the same workaround I already found: keep TT app active on the phone screen.

Someone here having any news or more usable workarounds on this issue? Would be glad if I were able just to plug the phone and drive as I was used to before.

Thank you for your time
Wolfgang

 

[oeL]

Hi Folks, I just registered here because I have similar trouble with my TomTom App connected to AA.

I upgraded my antique Galaxy S8 to a Galaxy A70 (Android 11) with the latest TT release installed.

For me, the issue disappeared with latest TomTon GO + latest AA + Android 13. On Android 12, I still had this issue.

 

[BigWolf]

Thanks, I noticed this. The obvious dependency on Android versions makes it even more difficult to catch.

 

[BigWolf]

Small update: inbetween TomTom advised me to deactivate battery optimization for AA app, but this did not have any effect. I also tried to install AA 8.0x but this did not allow connecting my A70 to the car. Today I will try 8.3x.

 

[Willy875]

If you are using the app on your phone without being connected to Android auto, you are experiencing the same problem.

 

[BigWolf]

Hi, Thank you for looping in. No, TomTom on the phone is running fine as ususal. It does not matter whether connected to the car or not. But when connected and visible on AA only (black screen on phone or other app visible) the signal gets lost sooner or later.

 

[BigWolf]

Hello, I have a small update. The problem also occurs when using the wireless connection to Android Auto. Right after connecting everything is fine but as soon as I bring another app than TomTom in foreground on the phone the arrow turns grey on AA display and the position is lost.

 

[mvl]

Hello, I have a small update. The problem also occurs when using the wireless connection to Android Auto. Right after connecting everything is fine but as soon as I bring another app than TomTom in foreground on the phone the arrow turns grey on AA display and the position is lost.

Make sure you re-enable all your permissions on Android Auto, Tomtom, Google Play Services, Google, etc. Make sure you turn on things like location services, run in background, nearby device access, etc everywhere. Probably easiest to just turn on every permission on all four apps.

I disabled lots of stuff as a workaround for the original positioning bug, which eventually got positioning bandaided at the time. After it was properly fixed by Android, I forgot to turn some permissions back on and had random issues like you described. Fixing permissions fixed all the issues.

 

[BigWolf]

Hi and thanks for your hints. I checked the mentioned permissions again and I believe they are all enabled for the apps involved. Supposingly your Android version is newer than 11. It seems to me these phones are not affected by this issue.

 

[Paulindevon]

Joining in the discussion as I’ve the same issue with VW mib3 and android 11.
I’ve found that switching off and on bluetooth on the phone immediately recovers the position and blue arrow.
I have now forgotten both the phone and car on each bluetooth settings, then re-paired them.
Lets see what that does!

 

[BigWolf]

Hi, thanks for joining and sharing your experience. It is good to see I am not completely insane ;-)
Just after reading I went into the car (which is MIB3, too!) and tried the bluetooth toggle. It worked as you described: after switching off it is reactivated (by Android Auto?) and GPS is magically recovered. But after some time the effect of flickering GPS re-occurs. Really strange.
Meanwhile I observed, that not only bringing TomTom to the foreground but also Android Auto app recovers the GPS signal.
I've been in contact with TomTom support a few times and what confuses me ist that on the one hand they claim to know this issue and working on it and on the other they ask me to wait for a major update of Android Auto. It is really annoying.