4 ms·

Location is definitely the weakest link in the MicroG/Lineage ecosystem. Does anyone have any idea why this is? Are the open source location provider backends

by Liquix 7y ago

Location is definitely the weakest link in the MicroG/Lineage ecosystem. Does anyone have any idea why this is? Are the open source location provider backends just not as robust as Google's?

_underfl0w_ 7y ago
It may just be a matter of data disparity - who really has more info to correlate multiple data points and triangulate you? Big G or one offline data provider? That said, I've actually (anecdotally, I guess) seen an improvement in the speed with which my device can locate me with LineageOS + microG. I've been using Unified NLP with the GSM location backend that you can find on F-Droid. Not sure how well this would work out if I, say, road tripped through an area without cell service - not sure if it uses ANY carrier's tower it can find (that your baseband supports) or just your carrier's towers. Waze finds me much faster on launch, though.
- amaccuish 7y ago
  For me it's not so much a problem locating me but the map display. The map and pins would often not be in sync etc.
commoner 7y ago
Most MicroG users get their location data from Mozilla Location Services: https://location.services.mozilla.com/ https://location.services.mozilla.com/ https://github.com/microg/IchnaeaNlpBackend https://github.com/microg/IchnaeaNlpBackend If you want to improve the data quality in your area, you can use the Mozilla Stumbler: https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.mozilla.mozstumbler https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.mozilla.mozs... Firefox for Android also lets you opt in to help improve Mozilla Location Services whenever Firefox makes a location request. This is equivalent to using the Stumbler app (and you should check its battery/RAM usage to make sure this setting is acceptable for you): https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/improve-mozilla-location-services-turning-location https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/improve-mozilla-locatio...

by Liquix 7y ago

Location is definitely the weakest link in the MicroG/Lineage ecosystem. Does anyone have any idea why this is? Are the open source location provider backends just not as robust as Google's?

_underfl0w_ 7y ago

It may just be a matter of data disparity - who really has more info to correlate multiple data points and triangulate you? Big G or one offline data provider? That said, I've actually (anecdotally, I guess) seen an improvement in the speed with which my device can locate me with LineageOS + microG. I've been using Unified NLP with the GSM location backend that you can find on F-Droid. Not sure how well this would work out if I, say, road tripped through an area without cell service - not sure if it uses ANY carrier's tower it can find (that your baseband supports) or just your carrier's towers. Waze finds me much faster on launch, though.

amaccuish 7y ago
For me it's not so much a problem locating me but the map display. The map and pins would often not be in sync etc.

commoner 7y ago

Most MicroG users get their location data from Mozilla Location Services: https://location.services.mozilla.com/ https://location.services.mozilla.com/ https://github.com/microg/IchnaeaNlpBackend https://github.com/microg/IchnaeaNlpBackend If you want to improve the data quality in your area, you can use the Mozilla Stumbler: https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.mozilla.mozstumbler https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=org.mozilla.mozs... Firefox for Android also lets you opt in to help improve Mozilla Location Services whenever Firefox makes a location request. This is equivalent to using the Stumbler app (and you should check its battery/RAM usage to make sure this setting is acceptable for you): https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/improve-mozilla-location-services-turning-location https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/improve-mozilla-locatio...