Why is my location not accurate?

You may notice your device may not have been located to where it is in the real-world

Enable location access

After enabling Find my Location within Bushfire.io, you may notice your device may not have been located to where it is in the real-world.

What’s likely going on

Depending on the actual hardware available in your device, permissions granted, radio coverage and even weather your location can be inaccurate. Sometimes very inaccurate, or on a completely different continent.

Typically, your device will implement something like this:

1. Try and get a GPS fix (most accurate). If this fails, then;
2. Try and determine if the location of any nearby Wi-Fi access points is known. If this fails, then;
3. Try and determine if any cell-towers are contactable close by, failing this then;
4. Determine the device’s current IP address, and the rough region that IP belongs to (least accurate).

If your location is really inaccurate your device has likely resorted to method 3 or 4, and methods 1 (GPS) and 2 (Wi-Fi) are not available.

Most PCs, laptops and Macs don’t contain GPS hardware and so will be unable to use GPS positioning.

Method 2 (Wi-Fi positioning) is typically available in cities and urban areas, but rarely works well [if at all] in rural and remote areas simply due to the distances involved.

How to fix it up

If you’re on a device without a GPS AND your location is inaccurate, you’ll likely struggle to improve your location without the necessary hardware. Changing devices is your best option.

If you’re on a device with a GPS AND your location is inaccurate, make sure you have granted appropriate permissions for Bushfire.io to access your device’s GPS and location services, for the most accurate permission.