AW5 LTE GPS accuracy problem

[NickYanakiev]

I haven’t tried any non-LTE runs- I track workouts with my Garmin 6X Pro Solar and also record activities with my Series 6 using Workoutdoors (while streaming music/podcasts);

Both tracks are equally as good. Something that definitely wasn’t the case with my Series 5 on WatchOS 6.

 

[mk313]

No I wasn’t streaming today. But did not notice such high consumption or dying watch before with watchOS 7.

Nice & just to confirm when you mentioned 'before with Watch os 7...", you have at some point used it while streaming & haven't seen the issue? Just want to make sure before I upgrade, since it's a one way street. Thanks again,

 

[NME42]

Nice & just to confirm when you mentioned 'before with Watch os &, you have at some point used it while streaming & haven't seen the issue? Just want to make sure before I upgrade, since it's a one way street. Thanks again,

Yes, never saw this issue neither with watchOS 6 nor 7.

What I saw with watchOS 7 was very high battery consumption, with LTE enabled (can't remember if streaming or not) in regions of about 4-5% per kilometer. Would still not explain why the watch should die after an hour. But these problems are resolved since 7.0.2 I am now down to 2% (with LTE but w/o streaming). No idea how much streaming would pack on this consumption.

 

[mk313]

Yes, never saw this issue neither with watchOS 6 nor 7.

What I saw with watchOS 7 was very high battery consumption, with LTE enabled (can't remember if streaming or not) in regions of about 4-5% per kilometer. Would still not explain why the watch should die after an hour. But these problems are resolved since 7.0.2 I am now down to 2% (with LTE but w/o streaming). No idea how much streaming would pack on this consumption.

Thanks, that’s great to hear

 

[NME42]

Thanks, that’s great to hear

Good luck. In the end every watch is different: configurations and different apps and different providers. But I am confident you can run for more than one hour with streaming.

 

[mk313]

Good luck. In the end every watch is different: configurations and different apps and different providers. But I am confident you can run for more than one hour with streaming.

Definitely. It's just nice to hear from someone who hans't had the issue. I kind of felt that it was universal before I heard of your experience. Thanks again,

 

[jared_herx]

Has anyone seen this problem pop back up? I'm suspicious that a recent update (last 4 weeks or so?) has caused this problem to re-emerge. Again, I have totally inaccurate running tracking when connected to LTE - jumping all over the road back and forth and telling me that I'm running a 6:30 min mile (as if!). None of the old tricks (unpairing, repairing, disconnecting watch from phone pre-emptively, getting a GPS lock before running, using other running apps, etc) seem to work. This is so frustrating as the watch is clearly capable of accurately tracking a runner with LTE on but Apple has done something re: software that has gotten in the way of that. As usual, tracks perfectly without LTE - but I, like many of you, purchased the LTE version and pay for service because we have to be able to be reached (for me, it's for work).

 

[NME42]

As you ask. I might have seen that behaviour too. „Might“ because I recently ran with LTE off except for a run where I switched on LTE for a short period of time to load a podcast. The track looked ugly in this section.

I give it a try with LTE on this week.

 

[rbart]

I haven't noticed the issue for a very long time.
I always run with LTE ON.
I am also developing a new running app for Apple Watch and do a lot of testing without problems.
I use the last stable watchOS version

 

[NME42]

Did a 14km run today with LTE on. A mix of difficult and easy conditions.

Mostly, the track is ok, not as good as with LTE disabled.

But two quirks:

 

[jared_herx]

Thanks for checking it out. My watch has become unusable for running tracking and is adding 0.2-0.4 miles for a 5 mile run which is discouraging. I'm going to contact Apple support about this although I know that many of you have not had great luck with this.

 

[NME42]

Good luck. They fixed it in the past so something should have reached Apple. We just don‘t know what.

 

[jared_herx]

I just wanted to report back after having my Apple Watch replaced by Apple last week. Since replacement, I have run about 25 miles in different locations (open space, trees above, trails, roads) and the performance of the new watch has been spot-on. The tracks are completely reflective of my movement, there is no jerking or location points that have me across the street. The pacing is consistent and aligns with my perceived effort (and importantly, checking the distances against a few online sources like "How Far Did I Run?" etc, the distance checks out) and historical pace. This is all while connected to LTE and using LTE to stream music, podcasts, get text messages, etc.

Hopefully this may help someone in the future if they're still having this problem. This is obviously non-scientific as it is only one experience, but this does make me wonder if there is a hardware difference between my old and this new watch.

 

[NME42]

Great news. Thank you for the update.

 

[rbart]

It's always difficult to conclude that an issue is completely solved ...
In very rare situations, I still have some jiggles, but the overall distance remains consistent.
To compute distance, the watch uses all the sensors, accelerometer, pedometer, GPS and apple mixes all this data.
A small error on the GPS tracking has a limited impact on a complete run.

 

[EricNau]

Has anyone seen this problem pop back up? I'm suspicious that a recent update (last 4 weeks or so?) has caused this problem to re-emerge. Again, I have totally inaccurate running tracking when connected to LTE - jumping all over the road back and forth and telling me that I'm running a 6:30 min mile (as if!). None of the old tricks (unpairing, repairing, disconnecting watch from phone pre-emptively, getting a GPS lock before running, using other running apps, etc) seem to work. This is so frustrating as the watch is clearly capable of accurately tracking a runner with LTE on but Apple has done something re: software that has gotten in the way of that. As usual, tracks perfectly without LTE - but I, like many of you, purchased the LTE version and pay for service because we have to be able to be reached (for me, it's for work).

I’m not sure if it’s the exact same issue, but I have a similar suspicion.

My last five runs have recorded incomplete GPS routes. It shows the green ‘start’ pin ~half way through my run. The distance, pace, etc stats are all correct, but the map shows a much shorter route (and one that doesn’t show the start and end pins in the same place, like they should be).

All five of my runs since April 24th have this problem, whereas it never happened even once in the 50+ runs prior to that date.

 

[NME42]

All five of my runs since April 24th have this problem, whereas it never happened even once in the 50+ runs prior to that date.

Hmmm. watchOS 7.4 was released on April, 26th so no correlation.
Strange.

 

[NME42]

Received my AW7 LTE last Friday and just recorded a run in difficult conditions with cellular enabled. Absolutely flawless. Issue seems to be finally fixed.