Engadget Guide: Enabling One Setting Can Sharpen Android Location Accuracy

The setting is called Location Accuracy Service, formerly known as Google Location Services. It allows a phone to combine GPS with Wi-Fi, cellular networks and cell towers, plus device sensors such as the accelerometer, barometer and gyroscope. On Android 12 and later devices it sits under Settings > Location > Location Services > Location Accuracy; on Android 11 and earlier the path is Settings > Location > Advanced > Location Accuracy, Engadget reported.

With the option switched off, the phone is limited to GPS and its own sensors. Turning it on matters most indoors or in dense urban areas where tall buildings block or weaken satellite signals, the guide says. Engadget notes that a completely wrong location usually means no signal is reaching the phone at all, and the device may simply be showing the last place it registered.

Google collects information about wireless signals and sensors anonymously from users' devices, effectively crowdsourcing estimated location data to sharpen accuracy, according to the guide. Engadget compares the approach to how Waze gathers traffic information from drivers, or how item trackers rely on Bluetooth signals from nearby devices.

Beyond the accuracy setting, users also need to confirm that location is enabled for individual apps. Engadget points to Settings > Location and the App location permissions menu, where permissions can be reviewed for each app that needs positioning data.

The guide singles out Google Maps, now enhanced with Gemini integration, as the app most people rely on. When Maps cannot pin down a location, the blue dot representing the user is surrounded by a light blue circle and may be labeled "low accuracy." Engadget advises checking first that Use location is switched on under Settings > Location, then enabling Location Accuracy as described above, ensuring the phone has an active mobile data or Wi-Fi connection and is not in Airplane Mode. If the Wi-Fi signal is weak, disconnecting and falling back to cellular data is worth trying.

Maps also offers a calibration route through Lens. Standing near a landmark or specific venue, the user searches for the place on the map, selects View and points the camera at it, which tells Maps where the user is standing. Alternatively, the phone's compass can be recalibrated by moving the handset in a figure eight a few times inside Google Maps, which the guide says may tighten accuracy and remove the circle around the blue dot.

If the phone still struggles to determine an exact position, Engadget's recommendation is to move: close the app completely, walk to a nearby spot where a signal is likely stronger and try again.

Editor's Summary

Engadget's guide outlines a handful of Android settings and in-app tools that address imprecise location readings, centering on the Location Accuracy Service option that lets phones draw on Wi-Fi, cellular and sensor data alongside GPS. It also details calibration steps in Google Maps using Lens or the compass, and notes that app-level permissions and signal conditions must be correct for any of the fixes to take effect.