(If you see Settings / “Developer Options”, then you are already a developer!)Ĭheck the "Allow mock locations" in Android Settings’ Developer settings. You do that by opening Android Settings > "About phone" and then scrolling down to find the "Build number." Tap the build number about 7 times and you'll see messages that count down until you "become a developer."
On newer OSs, "Developer options" are at the top level of Android Settings, but you may need to make them visible. On older OSs, you can find the developer settings in the Android Settings app, under Applications > Development.
Recent Android operating systems don't have developer settings available by default, and the location of those settings is in different places on different OS versions. Make sure your Android has developer settings.
The exact steps depend on the version of Android you’re running, but these instructions should work for most configurations - I’d appreciate hearing if these steps don’t work for your particular phone, tablet, or GPS receiver.Īs should be obvious, this is something you need to do with a good data connection (preferably Wi-Fi), before you leave for your 3-week wilderness trek: you need to download software from the Google Play Store and if you’re going to use a mapping app that can store maps for use off line, you need to download your maps.ġ. Getting a GPS receiver to provide location data to your Android apps requires a bit of fiddling and glue.
Connecting a GPS receiver to an Android is another matter.Ĭonnecting an Android Phone or Tablet to a Bluetooth GPS Receiver I gather that with iOS devices (Apple iPhones and iPads), you simply pair the iOS device with the GPS device and you’re good to go. I’ve tried several models of GPS receivers with a variety of Android phones and tablets and seen great results (see “Tested GPS Receivers” at the end of this article). Because they connect wirelessly, you can even put a GPS receiver in a sealed ziplock and store it at the top of your daypack, in your hat, tape it to the top of your backpack frame, and so on, and get great GPS data even in the pouring rain. You can use these devices to get great GPS location data for apps that run on your phone or tablet, such as Calflora Observer, Google Maps, Backcountry Pro, My Tracks, and so on. GPS receivers are small, because they have no screen or keypad, and are surprisingly inexpensive ($100 or less is typical). The receivers connect to your phone or tablet via Bluetooth (a short-range wireless standard for this kind of purpose). Several manufacturers now make GPS receivers, which you can connect to your phone or tablet and get great GPS location data out in the wilderness. Then the weakness of the AGPS chips becomes apparent: dedicated GPS devices are much better at getting a precise location from GPS satellites. Unfortunately, this advantage is lost when you’re in rural areas, particularly if you lose your cell network connection. AGPS is great in populated areas, because it uses cellular networks, Wi-Fi, and other signals and hints to quickly get a rough idea of your location, which in turn helps the chip quickly find and connect with GPS satellites for more precise location data. Mobile smartphones get their GPS signals from Assisted GPS (AGPS) chips. I’d welcome hearing from anyone else who’s had success with Android 6. Then when you open Bluetooth GPS, you can connect to your GPS receiver and check “Enable Mock GPS Provider.” I had a heck of a time getting this all to work, but finally did this morning on a Nexus 5 phone and a Nexus 7 tablet with a Bad Elf GPS receiver - but it was really fiddly and feels like there are still issues.
Once you update your Bluetooth GPS app, you need to open the Android Settings app, tap “Developer options,” and tap “Select mock location app” so you can select Bluetooth GPS. GPS utilities need to be rewritten to work with Android 6, and version 1.3.7 of Bluetooth GPS, released in the past day or two, looks like it’s getting there.
With Android 6, there is a new system for supporting “mock location providers,” which is the mechanism described in this doc to connect location data from GPS receivers with Android apps like Observer Pro via a utility like GG MobLab’s Bluetooth GPS. If you find the information in this document helpful, please donate to Calflora. This page is maintained by volunteers from Calflora, a California 501(c)(3) nonprofit that hosts information about wild plants in California. Using an External Bluetooth GPS Receiver with a Smartphone or Tablet