Tasker location acting stupidly...

[Garrett]

I have a Location profile to determine whether I am in a 1km radius.  Occasionally, this profile will activate even when I am several dozen kilometers away.  While this happens, if I look at my location in Google Maps, or run a Get Location action, or even open up the Location context and click the find button, all of those will correctly locate me far outside the bounds of the Location.  However the Location context still remains active!  Moreover if I change the Location context to somewhere else, then change it back, it still thinks I am in that same spot, 30km away.  So frustrating!  What is going on here??

[Pent]

Location method ?

Pent

[Garrett]

I noticed it first with both Net and GPS selected. Also occurs with GPS only.

[Pent]

You realize it only updates every few minutes even with the
screen on ? If you leave it does it recover after a while ?

Pent

[Garrett]

Whether the screen is off or on, it occurs even several hours or days after the time I was last at that location.

[Pent]

Whether the screen is off or on, it occurs even several hours or days after the time I was last at that location.

What I mean is, how long does it stay like that ?

Pent

[Garrett]

For several hours, at least.  I toyed with it from early evening yesterday into the night with no change.

[Robert Ryan]

Phone model, android version, etc?

Have you done all the power management steps?

I don't have this issue on my Droid Turbo 2 with Marshmallow.

[Garrett]

Nexus 5X.  I'm on Nougat, but the same issue was happening under Marshmallow.  I have Tasker exempt from battery optimization.

[Pent]

Nexus 5X.  I'm on Nougat, but the same issue was happening under Marshmallow.  I have Tasker exempt from battery optimization.

And the other power management steps ?

Pent

[Garrett]

Sorry, yes the other steps are activated too.

[Garrett]

I had hoped that following those steps would have fixed the issue but it is still occurring.  The last time I was in the area in question was yesterday, and starting today around noon Tasker again insisted I was within that certain 1km radius (GPS only) even though I clearly was not.  I do not understand why every other app on my phone obtains the correct location (and even Tasker itself when running a manual location step) , but this single profile will occasionally become and remain active for an extended period of time when I am certainly not in that area.  Is there anything else that can be checked?

Thank you,

Garrett

[Pent]

It's a mystery to me too. The location code hasn't been changed for a long time
and seems to work for almost everyone.

You could try the AutoLocation plugin.

Pent

[Robert Ryan]

Could you post the profile description? A link to the xml might also help.

[Garrett]

Link to the profile code: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1oBJ4rzrSajbfPLWXosbFfPC4ganCSUqQv7u_NDtV32Y/edit?usp=sharing.  I removed the associated task XML since it contains more personal info.

The profile only activates when %GETLOCATION = 1, which is set to activate for 4 minutes when the phone disconnects from my car's Bluetooth.

[Robert Ryan]

That xml is not importable, so it doesn't help.

Please export and post the human readable DESCRIPTION of the profile. See https://redd.it/50u0vz for instructions if needed.

Just edit personal content out of the description, leaving as much as possible intact.

[Garrett]

Here is the profile XML with valid associated task: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BxtrHx1C9V3hYlV0RG9qV09FYmM/view?usp=drivesdk

Profile: CopyOfY12BluetoothLocation (241)
Restore: no Enforce: no
Location: 35.98905944824219 / -84.25576782226562 / 1000.0m
State: Variable Value [ %GETLOCATION eq 1 ]
Enter: Anon (242)
A1: Write File [ File:log.txt Text:ENTERED Y12BluetoothLocation %DATE %TIME Append:On Add Newline:On Continue Task After Error:On ]

[Robert Ryan]

Ok, I think I see the problem.

I'll paraphrase from the UG:
> When a profile contains multiple contexts, power is saved by only monitoring for changes in order of the least-power-hungry first. For example, in a profile with a Variable and Location context, Tasker will decide that it does not need to monitor the Location unless the Variable context is active (because the profile cannot become active until both contexts are active).

So as long as %GETLOCATION does not equal 1, the Location variables do not update and retain their old values.

Hopefully Pent will chime in to confirm my diagnosis, but I think this is why this profile sees you in the wrong location.

[Garrett]

I could see how that might be an issue, except that the profile would have been active several times prior, and correctly reported that I was NOT in that location each of those intermediate times. For example if my profile is supposed to activate in location A and I then travel to locations B, C, and D (with %GETLOCATION being set to 1 each time), it incorrectly decides when I arrive at D that I'm really at A. >:(

It was recommended that I use the auto location app but it hasn't been updated in over two years and recent users are reporting issues with its compatibility.

[Robert Ryan]

On September 26, 2016 9:56:03 PM Garrett <g.co...@gmail.com> wrote:

> For example if my profile is supposed to activate in location A and I then travel to locations B, C, and D (with %GETLOCATION being set to 1 each time), it incorrectly decides when I arrive at D that I'm really at A.  >:(

Does it report your location accurately at B and C? If so, what is special about D?

This is sounding more like something wrong with your device rather than with Tasker.

> It was recommended that I use the auto location app but it hasn't been updated in over two years

True, but it is being actively supported by its developer and has an active support community.