Samsung Galaxy S24 / S24+ / S23 FE / S25 FE / … - Android 16 - GPS locking during hiking when the app is in the background

A bug in Samsung's software specifically affects Samsung Galaxy S24 / S24+ / … series devices, and some other models (S23 FE, S25FE, …) when they have been updated to Android 16 (One UI 8).

This bug causes a frequent blockage of the GPS position when the application is running in the background.

This bug has been recognized by Samsung on their Italian forum and many other hiking tracking/recording applications are also affected:

https://eu.community.samsung.com/t5/galaxy-s24-series/gps-tracking-problem-after-udtating-to-android-16/td-p/13507609

One of our clients also reported this bug on the French-speaking Samsung forum:

https://eu.community.samsung.com/t5/gamme-galaxy-s25/gps-point-blockage-for-recording-my-hike-on-l/td-p/14148066

Solution paths

Here are the proposed solutions from Samsung for this issue.

They fix the issue on some devices but not on all.

We will keep you informed on this page if other solutions are provided by Samsung.

1. Make sure you have set the battery optimization parameters exactly as explained here: Background operation on Samsung devices
   
2. Check if a system update is available for your device through the “Software update” > “Download and install” section of your device's settings.
   
   The latest patches fix the issue on some devices but not all.
   
3. If the problem persists despite this, one solution is to clean the cache partition of your device.
   
   This requires accessing the “Recovery” mode of your Samsung device.
   
   Warning: this operation must be performed carefully because if you make a mistake in these steps, the device could be reset to factory settings.
   
   To do this:
   1. Turn off your smartphone
   2. Connect it to a computer (Mac or PC) via the USB-C cable and wait for the battery charging indicator to appear on the smartphone.
   3. Press and hold the VOLUME + and power buttons simultaneously until the Samsung logo appears.
   4. Release these 2 buttons
   5. A menu appears
   6. In this menu, scroll down using the VOLUME - button until you select “Wipe cache partition” and then press the power button to confirm your selection.
      Warning: Do not select “Wipe data / factory reset” under any circumstances
   7. You will then need to confirm by selecting "Yes" in the same manner.
   8. At the bottom of the screen, you will see "Cache wipe complete."
   9. Make sure that “Reboot system now” is properly selected in the menu and confirm again by pressing the power button.

   Here is a video (in English) illustrating the steps to clean the device's cache partition: https://youtu.be/68cEQmetaHk
   

If the problem persists / reappears after following these tips

We invite you to contact Samsung so that they are aware of the extent of the problem and the number of affected users.

The original post on the Italian Samsung forum explaining the issue https://eu.community.samsung.com/t5/galaxy-s24-series/gps-tracking-problem-after-udtating-to-android-16/td-p/13507609 apparently no longer accepting responses, one of our clients created this post on the French-speaking Samsung forum: https://eu.community.samsung.com/t5/gamme-galaxy-s25/blocage-point-gps-pour-l-enregistrement-de-ma-randonnée-sur-l/td-p/14148066

Feel free to reach out through this post to raise Samsung's awareness of this issue.