It turns out you can get a location just by scanning nearby wifi and cell tower signals!
ITT people not understanding that non-de-googled android phones use that method for localization by default, falling back to GPS only when WiFi trilateration fails.
It is a smart robust way for localization and beacondb breaks the data monopoly.
Google, Apple and Qualcomm already have all this data. BeaconDB democratizes it.
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.
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),
which seems to be working really good. I’m impressed.
Yeah of course you can, but why?
Power consumption is way lower and satellite acquisition takes time (or you keep your GPS running and warm/hot-start, but that draws even more power)
You have that backwards. Power consumption is way lower using WiFi and cell.
Thats what I am saying :) wifi scans are cheap compared to booting up GPS.
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.
Receiving GPS data is not bad. Apps like this are more for demonstrating cool technology, not for practical use (though it seems to be working really well as well).
That being said, MicroG does use BeaconDB as a network location provider, so there is a lot of utility there as well.
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.
what are you talking about? GPS is far from a “passive receiver” in any sense of that vague term. It’s running an oscillator at the carrier frequency.
GPS is probably the most power hungry sensor on your device.
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!
Don’t worry your gut feeling is right. Wifi / Bluetooth scans are orders of magnitude cheaper. People in here don’t unterstand how localization works.
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
Yes, MicroG uses BeaconDB to accelerate getting a lock.
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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.
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it would help investigators if you get murdered
Cops won’t even get off their asses for stolen property with an airtag, location history, and even clear video footage.
…how?
There is an API where you can put in a phone number and you get the location by triangulation. You need proof you need it. Ask your provider
