Make your phone get a GPS lock quicker

Most Android phone come with a GPS receiver built into them and Google offer there own free Navigation software. Sometimes if you are in a hurry the GPS can take a while to lock on. Here's how to speed it up.

Step 1: Find your local time server

Navigate to http://www.pool.ntp.org/en/ and under ‘Active Servers’ choose your region. Copy the server list eg .server 0.europe.pool.ntp.org , server 1.europe.pool.ntp.org etc. and then click on your country and the servers eg. server 2.uk.pool.ntp.org

Step 2: Edit gps.conf file

In a file manager such as Estrongs navigate to the root, and then the etc folder. Open up the gps.conf file. For each of the servers we copied earlier, add them in NTP_SERVER=0.COUNTRY.uk.pool.ntp.org , NTP_SERVER=0.REGION.europe.pool.ntp.org etc.

Step 3: Clear GPS cache

Restart the device, and then download GPS status and Toolbox from the Market. This free app gives you detailed information about your GPS. Open Tools then ‘Manage A-GPS state’ and ‘Reset’ to clear the GPS cache.