Trouble in getting GPS from versa 3

[Nadeesha]

In the app I'm developing I need to take the location of the user, So I'm trying to get the location from the device itself because they say that the versa 3 has inbuilt GPS in the device, It works in the simulator as expected but when I install the app on the actual device it's not working.

Why is that? I saw another community thread which was submitted in 2018 saying the same issue.

And also in the fitbit watch default exercise app when I go to cycling or something in the top most of the display it keeps loading saying "Connecting to GPS" but it's never connected.

Is this some kind of a common issue in versa 3?

Thank you in advance for your concerns.

[Guy_]

Hi @Nadeesha - it would seem the watch is actually having trouble with the GPS, or it's not getting turned on whereas it may be on by default in the simulator.

On the watch you will have to manage both turning it on and off otherwise it can run the battery down.

You might consider getting the information from the phone instead, as this will be on and possibly more accurate.

I used the phone's location in SimpleAstro (for you to see how it works) to avoid using the watch battery excessively but for your app you may need to be independent. 

By using the companion and settings you have the possibility to set the coordinates manually too.

[Gondwana]

The sim doesn't check permissions, but the watch does. GPS requires two of them. Make sure you've put them in your package.json, and accepted them on the watch.

[Nadeesha]

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@Gondwana wrote:

The sim doesn't check permissions, but the watch does. GPS requires two of them. Make sure you've put them in your package.json, and accepted them on the watch.

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Yes I did put the "access_location" and "run_background" permissions in the package.json. Sadly it's still not working though.

[Nadeesha]

Yeah for now I'm getting the location from the companion as you mentioned here, But I need some other case in case the user does not have his mobile closer when running the app, I need the watch to take location from itself. 

But seems like it's not possible to do.

[Guy_]

@Nadeesha - if you are indoors it may not work.

Try it outdoors first, and also try an exercise with GPS on to see if the watch can do that when it's not working in your app.