Really interesting GPS problem with apple car play

[LVLAaron]

I have the 8 inch uconnect system without navigation, so I use car play when I need GPS.

My phone's GPS outside of the truck is always fine. I can open apple maps/google maps/waze and it knows where I am. No problem.

If I am in the truck and plugged into the USB port, the phone always things I am in Toledo Ohio (I live about 4 hours away from there). To get things back to normal I have to go into airplane mode and unplug the USB.

A real WTF problem.... Anyone have any ideas?

 

[LVLAaron]

Looks like a not uncommon problem:

Jeep’s Uconnect thinks my location is in Ohio.

I have a JLUR with the smaller screen and no navigation. Every time I use my IPhone for directions and connect it through Carplay, the jeeps thinks that I’m in Ohio, where I believe the vehicle is built. I live in California. I took my Jeep to the dealership and they couldn’t figure it out...

www.jlwranglerforums.com

 

[mkel2010]

iPhones use a hybrid of GPS and Cell Towers to get their location. It may be that where you have your phone in the vehicle is interfering with the phone receiving the signals correctly. It may also be a problem with the app or phone settings themselves. Here's a link to an article on troubleshooting any issues: https://www.payetteforward.com/my-iphone-location-is-wrong-heres-fix/ .

 

[LVLAaron]

iPhones use a hybrid of GPS and Cell Towers to get their location. It may be that where you have your phone in the vehicle is interfering with the phone receiving the signals correctly. It may also be a problem with the app or phone settings themselves. Here's a link to an article on troubleshooting any issues: https://www.payetteforward.com/my-iphone-location-is-wrong-heres-fix/ .

That's not it. The phone works fine until you plug it into the truck. Then bam, you're in the city center of toledo ohio.

 

[riccnick]

That's not it. The phone works fine until you plug it into the truck. Then bam, you're in the city center of toledo ohio.

It still sounds like a phone issue to me as well though. The truck has no way of changing or modifying the information your phone uses to determine your location. I have a feeling it's an issue with your gps settings on the phone, and / or using do no disturb while driving, or something similar.

 

[danielle2019]

Had this issue. I now plug my iPhone into USB first thing when I get in before starting engine and now it seems to work perfectly. Not sure what’s happening, but this was an easy fix, for me at least.

 

[PorBoy]

GPS using my Android seems to work fine for me, let’s hope I haven’t jinxed myself lol.

 

[Rick8325]

I am having this issue as well. I think it has something to do with the compass. While only connected to CarPlay, my phone will only show it's correct location when the compass is working. Sometimes it takes a good 5 minutes for the Ram's compass to kick on. The CarPlay GPS location and compass issue are definately related on my Ram. I read that disconnecting the battery for 30 mins fixes it. This all started last month after I had the ground cable recall done. Haven't got around to disconnecting the battery yet.

 

[NDRam]

I have this same issue. Mine will always put me in Wilton, North Dakota. We live about 20 miles from there, but no matter where I am, that’s where I get dropped. We were in Omaha, Nebraska this morning and when I plugged the phone into the truck to get directions to our next stop, sure enough, Wilton. Had to wait about 5 minutes for the compass on the truck to come up and then we were in Omaha.

 

[NDRam]

It still sounds like a phone issue to me as well though. The truck has no way of changing or modifying the information your phone uses to determine your location. I have a feeling it's an issue with your gps settings on the phone, and / or using do no disturb while driving, or something similar.

It’s not the phone. It’s the truck. I have the same issue (see previous post). The iPhone will show your current location and then when plugged into the truck it will magically fly you to an incorrect location until the compass on the truck comes up.

 

[Briencrotty]

It’s not the phone. It’s the truck. I have the same issue (see previous post). The iPhone will show your current location and then when plugged into the truck it will magically fly you to an incorrect location until the compass on the truck comes up.

I had the same issue, but thankfully only once (knock on wood) and it was fixed by turning the truck off and then back on. It was showing me about three miles south of the highway I was driving down. Had the speed right, but just had me in the wrong place, and only when I plugged into the truck. The second I unplugged, it would pop back to the correct location and vice verse. Pulled over, shut off the truck for a few, and voila, fixed.

I do wonder what information is flowing from the truck to the phone when CarPlay is up and running. That has to be the source of it.

B

 

[upstateram]

I have a similar but very sporadic issue and I have a theory on why it happens. Basically I believe, without evidence mind you, that the satellite receiver on the truck that's used for SiriusXM is also a GPS receiver and that both Carplay and Android Auto cause the phone to use that instead of the phone's built in GPS receiver when engaged. From there there's countless ways the software or even the trucks hardware could be buggy and behave differently than it should.

 

[NDRam]

Does @RamCares have any insight on this issue?

 

[SacRebel]

I have the exact same problem. Using any Maps app the phone always shows my correct location. But if I plug it in it'll show my location close to my home even if I'm a hundred miles away. This has happened numerous times. I even tried restarting the phone and the same thing happens.

 

[upstateram]

So, I found some confirmation on my theory:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AndroidAuto/comments/alyeje
Basically what's supposed to happen is that when you're walking around with your phone, of course, it will use the phone's built-in location services (its own GPS antenna and perhaps some data from cellphone towers and whatever other secret sauce your phone's OS does). But when you plug the phone into the vehicle to use Android Auto or Apple CarPlay, the phone is supposed to receive its location data from the vehicle's GPS antenna, if it has one. I believe all our trucks have one, because it's possible for the vehicles to be outfitted with Uconnect navigation.

My experience has been that the trucks' GPS antenna can rather easily find itself without a satellite and when it happens, my Google Maps will decide I'm in this one place (it's always the same place). In recent memory it's happened twice: once while there was substantial cloud cover from a snowstorm, and once while I was at a gas station under the "canopy". In both cases, once I got moving, the truck's antenna eventually re-acquired the satellite and the situation resolved itself. In both cases, unplugging the phone from the truck gave me a good location lock, presumably due to the combination of 1) my phone's GPS antenna not being as finicky as the truck's, and 2) my phone having other ways of determining location such as cell tower data.

 

[TwinBeech]

Count me in with the same problem. What say you, @RamCares?