Navigation and GPS
Why is my GPS inaccurate?
Short answer
Because GPS is a radio signal from satellites roughly twenty thousand kilometres away, and anything between you and the sky weakens it. Tall buildings, dense trees, tunnels, heavy cloud and being indoors all reduce accuracy. Walkable shows the position your phone reports — it cannot be more accurate than that.
Updated · 3 min read
What is actually happening
Your phone works out where it is by timing signals from several satellites. It needs a clear enough view of enough of them. In a narrow street between tall buildings, signals bounce off the walls before reaching you, and a reflected signal arrives late — which the phone reads as being further away than you are.
This is why accuracy is worst in exactly the places people walk most: city centres, wooded paths and anywhere with something big overhead.
Why it is not Walkable's doing
Walkable asks the phone where it is and draws that. Every app on your phone gets the same answer from the same hardware, which is why two walking apps on the same phone will drift in the same places.
What good accuracy looks like
In the open with a clear sky, a few metres. In a city street, ten to twenty is common. Under heavy tree cover or between tall buildings it can be worse, and it recovers as soon as the sky opens up.
Related guides
- How can I improve GPS accuracy?Give it sky, give it a moment, and leave the phone's location services on high accuracy.
- Why did my location marker jump?A reflected or newly-acquired satellite signal corrected itself, usually near buildings.
- Why is my distance different from another app?Different apps smooth GPS noise differently. Neither number is wrong; they are measuring the same wobble.
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Feedback about the guide: Why is my GPS inaccurate?Still stuck? Contact Walkable Support or ask the Community.