It turns out you can get a location just by scanning nearby wifi and cell tower signals!
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Yes, because Google scans and logs everything in your area. You can do this on stock Android, but it probably requires Google location services.
you don’t need google services, as this app proves.
Just so long as BeaconDB can keep its data relatively up-to-date (which requires many users contributing via running another FOSS app in the background on their phones), never mind trusting them any more than Google.
I tried it in my city, geolocation accuracy is really good. MicroG also uses BeaconDB, so they collect a lot of data.
Yeah of course you can, but why?
I think it’s more of “isn’t this really cool” than “this is pratical to use”. It’s a proof of concept of a really cool idea.
I’m not sure why anyone thinks receiving GPS data is “bad”.
If you’re somewhere where GPS is frequently jammed (such as a warzone, etc.) then it could be useful.
Enegy use comes to mind.
GPS is a passive receiver.
There’s processing going on, but you dramatically decrease energy use by just updating less often.
It’s not like you’re sending a signal to space.
I am aware of that but somehow expected that it still took more energy to receive until there are enough SATs available than to do a BLE scan. Just a gut feeling though and only receiving should have a bigger impact than I thought. Makes sense!
It can help with location when you’re on a device that doesn’t have a GPS receiver. Like a laptop.
It might also help with initial positioning since it can take several seconds or minutes to get a GPS lock.
Edit: For anyone who want to contribute to BeaconDB there is NeoStumbler on F-Droid
Ok but this is Android…? Not a laptop.
How does removing WiFi and cell data improve initial positioning?
