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Today after i woke up and checked my phone I noticed GPS icon is blinking at the top. So I turned it off through Location services but after a moment it turned back on again. And whether I turn it off it gets back on again and again. That's wired ! No new app has been installed recently no app settings has been changed manually (To use GPS). How could i find out what app(s) doing this?

Mehdi
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  • It has to be Google Maps, or something which is installed as a system app, because user apps generally can't do that. – rjt.rockx Apr 25 '15 at 12:46
  • Which phone model ? Is it rooted ? Is it on a custom ROM ? Which Android version ? Please mention all these details to get specific answers. – rjt.rockx Apr 25 '15 at 12:46
  • Huawei G700 ,Stock rom, Rooted, V100R001C00, Google Maps updated itself long time ago. App crashes when I tap on it's icon to open, So i uninstalled updates and factory version opens correctly. But at the start screen it says "Turn on GPS for accurate result", So i think it doesn't turn GPS on (I didn't choose to use GPS). Anyway... checked phone a moment later and GPS is on again !! – Mehdi Apr 25 '15 at 13:43
  • See if "Location-based Wifi" in Power Management & "Scanning always available" in Wifi Advanced settings are turned on. – ProPlayerMaxUltra Apr 25 '15 at 17:19
  • It was off there already, Still nothing. It gets back ON again – Mehdi Apr 26 '15 at 14:42
  • In my case (4.2.2) I found (by inspection) via Settings > Apps > Running (after manually killing all running Google services) that GPS turns on as soon as Google Location Service is launched (under one of the Google Services entries being displayed). Disabling GoogleLocationService and GoogleLocationManagerService using a DisableService app solved the issue (apps like Google Maps still do function properly when GPS is turned on). – Janaka Bandara May 08 '16 at 15:39
  • I have a g700 stock, too, not rooted, V100R001C00B115, and since a few weeks it does the same... did you solve this later somehow? – m.ardito Nov 08 '16 at 15:01

5 Answers5

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Also to see which apps are using location services go to Settings > Location. There you'll be able to see the "Recent location requests" under which the apps that requested location information is displayed. One of the app listed under this section should have turned on the GPS automatically to know the location info.

Whenever you see that the GPS is active (the GPS icon is shown in the notification bar, or Settings > Battery shows that the GPS is active), click on Settings > Apps > Running to see which apps are running. One of them is the culprit. So disabling or uninstalling the relevant app you think is causing this would solve your issue.

Note: The above settings are available on Android Kitkat and higher versions.

Also read this questions for more clarifications,

How can I find out what app is using my GPS from the background?

How to check which app uses GPS on Galaxy Nexus?

Community
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Lucky
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I believe that it is an app, look at investing in a security app like lookout and it will tell you what is doing, or get a process killer such as advanced task killer, and then selectively kill apps until you find the one that is doing it. Have a great day. Respond if you have any further questions.

Gamer Guy
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  • I very much doubt the "task killer" approach will help here, as many apps simply restart. – Izzy Aug 10 '15 at 20:03
  • Tried a few apps that claimed they secure phone, track activities and... none could do any good. – Mehdi Aug 11 '15 at 10:25
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As your device is rooted, a permission manager with logging functionality would help you identify the culprit. XPrivacy for one tells you if an app has used a given permission, displaying an alert-sign icon next to that and also providing you with logs. You could even have it ask you each time an app tries to access a permission (per-app and per-permission, if you want that). Set up that way for location access on each app having the ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION permission should definitely let you find the evil app.

For an alternative, LBE is capable of the same. If you want to give this one a try, make sure to pick a version from XDA, unless you know enough Chinese – and do NOT pick the international "light" version from Play as that will put your device into a on JellyBean and above.

Izzy
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That was happening to me too.. I called my company and they did something that helped. Setting>apps>running apps The name should be "IQagent". It could also be under "android system" and once you click on it you should be able to see IQagent and just click stop. This helped me

liz
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In my case, this was an issue with Google Now since it uses your location to personalized suggestions based on your location. I was able to solve it this way:

  • Open Google app from the Google apps menu drawer or by swiping up from the home key.
  • Open Google Now app Settings(swipe from the left side of the phone screen) and disable it by pressing the toggle button.
  • This shows a prompt with a confirmation popup Turn off Google Now with a checkbox "Also turn off Location History". Select the checkbox if you want don't want Google to remember your location history and press "TURN OFF".
Lucky
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Geniusleo
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    That may be the case, but consider backing this up with your search or research. At the moment, it's mere hypothesis. – Firelord Aug 08 '15 at 17:53
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    @Firelord not quite. To me this looks like Geniusleo had the very same issue, and was able to solve it this way ("solve the issue *as it did for me")*. Maybe a little rephrasing would make that clearer (see my edit). – Izzy Aug 10 '15 at 08:36
  • I searched all apps, there's no Google Now. Location Service is Off by the way. – Mehdi Aug 11 '15 at 10:32