cell phone or dedicated GPS/map device?

@ Paul S

If you have recently purchased your phone, something is wrong if it is slow to report your location.  Slow is a relative term but if your device has line of sight with the sky, it should not need more than a minute or two to lock a location.

Perhaps you have too many apps using location services? Or you have some privacy settings that need to change to allow your phone to share its location?

Also if you are trying to find your location and download the map at the same time, that can be slow.

Bruce – a minute or two to lock?  That seems very slow…

When I wake my Android 11 Moto it takes a max of 5 seconds to give me a fix that is good enough for most purposes – a few seconds more to zero in on the last 5 or 10 meters of accuracy.

This is when I’m not tracking. If I’m tracking, the lock is instant.

A couple of times I’ve had to reboot because the app locked up. Even then, the lock only took seconds.

I’m occasionally under dense, moss-enshrouded, satellite-signal-absorbing Sitka spruce old growth canopy. It can take a good while before my phone gathers enough satellites to get a clue on my location if I’m not tracking in GaiaGPS. The solution is simple; when entering an environment that is challenging to a GPS signal, I just turn route tracking on. It uses a bit more battery, but it forces the phone (iPhone Xr) to pay attention to my position at all times and so it always can place me instantly on the map. When out in the open I can leave tracking off and I can still get a good position in seconds. I also have a shoulder strap clip for the phone, so it has a decent view of the sky, which helps.