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Samsung Galaxy S24 / S24+ - Android 16 - GPS freeze during hiking when the app is in the background

A bug in Samsung's software specifically affects devices Samsung Galaxy S24 / S24+ 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

Solution paths

Here are the proposed solutions from Samsung for this issue.

They fix the problem on a large number of devices but not on all of them.

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 via the “Software Update” > “Download and Installation” section of your device's settings.

    The October or November 2025 patch update fixes the issue on some devices but not on 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

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