GPStatus: Realtime GPS Status

About GPStatus: Realtime GPS Status Android App

Constantly updates your screen with a dozen metrics describing the status of GPS as seen by the GPS receiver in your device. Touch any metric to get a chart of the history of that metric. Share that screen via email, Dropbox, Drive, etc. System metrics include estimated location accuracy, number of satellites in last fix attempt, how many satellites are visible. Per-satellite metrics include signal strength, satellite elevation above the horizon and whether the satellite was used in a fix.

FEATURES
Touch a number on the main screen to produce a chart of that metric’s history. Pinch-and-zoom the chart to see detail.

Metrics are color-coded: good - green; fair - white; poor - red, with user-selectable values.

Sort the satellite table by PRN (a sort of satellite ID), SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio) , etc. By default the satellites are sorted by decreasing SNR so the strongest satellite is in the table's first row. Strong is relative: consider that GPS satellites transmit about as much power as a weak light bulb, a bulb that's over 12,000 miles away, so S at the Earth's surface is tiny.

Share the charts and tables so you have a record of GPS performance. So to document GPS signal strength just run the app for a while, then email (or use Dropbox, Google Drive, etc) the signal-to-noise chart. The email will contain a link to your location.

Displays Russian GLONASS satellite status, if your device hardware supports GLONASS.

Take in the state of the GPS receiver with a glance:
• Is it turned on?
• Is it getting fixes?
• How long since the last fix?
• How often is it getting fixes?
• How marginal is GPS coverage?

WHAT GPSTATUS IS NOT:
GPStatus is not a location logger. It does not display latitude, longitude, altitude, speed or maps. Many apps already do this well. GPStatus displays GPS status information.

PERMISSIONS:
Location: Needed to get status information from the GPS receiver in your device.
External Storage: Needed to store the history of GPS status so it can be plotted on charts
Internet: Used by the advertisement component of the app.

TIPS:
* To reset a chart: from the main screen select Menu/Clear History. This deletes all stored data points and resets the "t=0" point.

* The SNR (Signal-to-Noise Ratio) chart shows SNRs from the first five rows of the satellite table. Which SNRs are shown depends on how the table is sorted. If the table is sorted by descending SNR, the "1st Row" in the chart shows the strongest SNR. The satellite with this SNR may change from sample to sample. The "2nd Row" SNR shows the second strongest SNR, and so on.

* Large time gaps in charts probably mean
o the Clear History Automatically option is not enabled AND
+ the screen went to sleep or
+ another app became active or
+ you left the app a while ago and it's been paused ever since.

* GPStatus suspends GPS activity when it's not visible so it doesn't drain the device's battery. To get around the display sleeping, select Menu/Settings/Prevent Display from Sleeping.

* Russian GLONASS satellite PRNs are pink and underlined.

FAQ:
Q: I've launched the app but the buttons and table are blank.
A: For the app to display GPS status, GPS must be 1) enabled and 2) turned on.
1) To enable GPS, in the Settings app under Location, set Mode to High Accuracy and set Location to On. On some older devices the names are a bit different: you may need to select Location Access in Settings, select GPS Satellites as a Location Source, and set Access to my location to On.
2) Touch the "GPS On/Off button until On is blue. GPS is now on.

Q: I don't see three vertical dots in the top right of my device's display, that are in the Play Store pictures.
A: Your device probably has a physical menu button. Use that instead of the vertical dots.