Location is not added automatically in Android

Bug Reports
1

Platform: Android

App version number, if a mobile app issue: 1.38.2 (646)

Browser, if a website issue: -

URLs (aka web addresses) of any relevant observations or pages: -

Screenshots of what you are seeing:

Description of problem:

Step 1: create a new obs with “plus” icon, add photo or not

Step 2: tap on “location”

Step 3: location is not adjusting automatically (as I would expect), I need to either tap on the GPS icon or look for it with the search bar.

If the coordinats via GPS are found, the place is named correctly only, if I close and re-open the “location” “window” in the App, firstly, only the coordinates are saved there.

Could it be some data protection setting on the device? Or it’s a bug? If you need additional information, please feel free to ask for.

Please see in my topic, too: https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/location-often-missing-for-observations-from-new-users/80277

addendum:

for my part I can tell, that it seems to happen only, if the pictures are taken not directly in the app itsself. How they have been added:

open the explorer app, chose the relevant pictures taken before, “share” them with iNat App. It’s easier to add multiple pictures at one time that way. They are loaded correctly without issues in the app, but don’t have GPS coordinates included in meta data. If GPS is activated, I would expect that the App starts “its processes” as usual, to look for the place.

2

on your phone, does your camera app have permission to access your location?

3

no, I dont add any location information to the pictures.

4

then that is the cause of the issue, it’s not a bug related to iNaturalist. If you take a photo at a particular location and date, without location services turned on for your camera app, and then you load that photo into the iNaturalist app at a later time, then iNaturalist has no way of knowing where you took that photo

6

But shouldn’t it notice, that the GPS is turned on on the device and I’m standing somewhere in the field at relevant place?

7

I have to admit to being a bit confused by your explanation of the scenario.

When you take a photo using the normal camera app on your phone, ignoring iNaturalist completely for now, have you previously given that normal camera app permission to access your location, ie when you take a photo with it, coordinates/location data will be automatically embedded in the image? If the answer is no, then if you load one of those photos into iNaturalist at a later point, the iNaturalist app will not have any way of knowing where that photo was taken

8

as user, I would have been expecting, that when a picture without location information is included in the app (independently from how a picture was taken).

For me, it’s the same “process” (allthough it could be different from technical point of view): Add a picture should start the app to search for a location if the GPS is turned on on the device.

I’m just a user, not a IT person. ;)

As you can see, this is leading to some confusion and a lot of missing data for iNat.

10

but the location where someone takes a photo is not necessarily the same location as where they import that photo into the app. For example, I might go on a hike and take 50 photos. I catch the bus home, and when I get home I then open up the iNaturalist app and start to add those photos as observations. I definitely wouldn’t want the app to then use the location of my house, as that doesn’t match where I took the photos.

12

ok, that’s the other possibility how to work with the app, I understand. Thanks!

So we will have to live with the point, that new users will have missing location, when they are not aware to tap on the right symbols. I can’t tell, if this is really discouraging in using iNat, or if it’s only me who noticed the missing location and for users, who just quickly want to know what they have seen, it’s ok how it is.