Location Services

The Location Services application allows you to control the sending of information about your location to websites and applications that request it.

Manage location information passed to websites

A website might request your current location so it can provide you with information that is relevant to where you are. For example, a weather site might require your location so it can let you know the weather forecast for your area.

1Open Location Services .

2If required, tap Turn On GPS.

3You can set Location Services to always ask your permission to send your location to a website when the site requests this information, or you can set it to never share your location with any website. The current setting is displayed in the For Websites field. To change the setting, tap the current setting and then select the other option from the displayed list.

4To clear all location data currently in use by websites, tap Clear My Location Data and then tap Clear.

Manage location information passed to applications

An application might request your current location so it can provide you with information that is relevant to where you are. For example, Maps might use your current location to provide driving directions to a destination.

1Open Location Services .

2If required, tap Turn On GPS.

3Select one of the following in the For Applications field:

Auto Locate: Applications can automatically identify your location.

Always Ask: Applications display a request to identify your location. You choose whether to allow this for the current session only.

4Select On or Off for any of the following:

Geotag Photos: Available only when Auto Locate is selected. When Geotag Photos is on, photos are tagged with the latitude and longitude of the location in which they were taken.

DID YOU KNOW? The geotag data is stored as an Exif tag in the photo file. A common use of the geotag data is in online photo services like Photobucket and desktop apps like Google Earth, which use the data to position the photo as a thumbnail on a map.

Background Data Collection: Available only when Google Services is on (see Turn location service providers on/off). When Background Data Collection is on, anonymous location data is collected from your smartphone. This data is used to improve the quality of location services.

Turn location service providers on/off

Location Services provides access to two location service providers—GPS and Google Services. At least one of these must be turned on for Location Services to be enabled. Both of them can be turned on at the same time.

1Open Location Services .

2To turn GPS on/off, open the application menu, tap Locate Me Using, and tap GPS.

GPS, which is turned on by default, is a radio technology that uses line-of-sight communication with satellites orbiting the earth. GPS is very accurate for turn-by-turn directions and for pinpointing your location when you are outside and have a clear view of the sky.

150 Chapter 10 : Web and wireless connections