Pixel 10 users report GPS glitches

Have we become a little entitled when it comes to location data? It wasn’t that long ago that when we needed to navigate anywhere we had to print out turn-by-turn directions and pay very close attention to where we were – and now, when we don’t have a GPS satellite lock on to our location pinpointing our location a meter or two down the road, we panic. If you find yourself in the same location-anxiety group, we certainly hope you’re not carrying a Pixel phone, as a large number of users report various issues related to the quality of their GPS data.

GPS problems in general are nothing new, and we occasionally hear reports of a new phone having some persistent problems getting a good, accurate GPS lock. Even Pixel hardware isn’t immune to these kinds of complaints – but it certainly feels like they’re spreading everywhere with Google’s latest handsets.

Over the past few months, we’ve identified dozens of reports on Google’s own Pixel community forums (such as this post). Matt Adamski) and Reddit’s Pixel Subs (like this one). last_ad1873), all describe inconsistent, poor-quality GPS location data – and the bulk of it on the Pixel 10 handset.

So, what could be the problem here? Well, it’s possible that we’re looking at a problem with the Pixel GPS receiving hardware or the software that controls it. It’s also possible that this isn’t a Pixel 10 problem specifically, and could stem from some system-level Android change – like perhaps the density-based coarse location system that debuted in Android 16?

Perhaps the most disappointing thing about this issue is that it doesn’t break GPS support completely – if location data wasn’t available, users would have returned their phones in droves. But with the glitches described by these users, the phone shows location data – it just jumps around randomly, resulting in inaccurate direction and speed estimates. This means we may have a large number of affected users who don’t even realize that this experience is not normal.

Now, we’ve contacted Google to see if it’s aware of these reports, if it has a better idea of ​​what might be causing the problem, and – perhaps most importantly – whether it has any advice for affected users. We’ll be sure to post a follow-up about anything useful we learn.