[FIX] [All Amazon tablets] Enable/Fix Google Location Services [MARCH 2019]

[DragonFire1024]

****UPDATE MARCH 7, 2019:****
If the guide below doesn't work for you, see additional instructions at the end.

This seems to be a huge problem for many users...location services not working when the Google Play store is installed. I have found a way to install the Play Store without breaking location services. NOTE: You don't need to install these Google APKs as system applications, but it does help a lot. So if you own an HD 8, you can perform all of the steps below by installing the four APKs as regular applications. Just follow the same steps without using any root applications.

WHAT:
When you go to settings > wireless > location services and toggle it on, you are using Amazon's location services. When the Play Store is installed on the HD 10, sometimes Google's location services doesn't kick on. The reality is, the services DO turn on, but when doing so, creates a conflict in the system. This is due in part to Amazon redirecting fragments of the internal settings. Since installing the Play Store disables Amazon's services, if Google's doesn't take over when you install the Play Store, you don't have any location services period. Although my rewrite of the settings fragment in FireTabletSettings.apk redirects the setting back to AOSP, the toggle is useless if Google never asks you to use their location services.

HOW:
For the past week, I have tested this method over and over and over, as wells as others, and the fix method I will be guiding you through, has worked every single time. WARNING: You will need to start from a freshly installed version of FireOS. Make sure you have rooted your tablet so you can DISABLE OTA

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. On your PC download these four Google Play APKs from this thread. (NOTE: Download the APKs as they are. Do NOT download any newer versions of the APKs. When they are installed and working they will update themselves.)

2. Making sure you have ADB enabled in developer options (settings > device options > tap serial number 7 times then enable ADB in developer options). Plug your tablet into your PC. Place the four APKs into your tablet's internal storage.
3. On your tablet, go to settings > wireless > Connect to Wifi (REMEMBER TO DISABLE OTA UPDATES FIRST! THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT BEFORE CONNECTING TO WIFI!)

4. Then go to settings > wireless > location based services > make sure services are turned ON.

5. Download and install a file manager like Total Commander. In Total Commander, from the home screen, tap on Internal storage. Install the Google APKs by tapping them, IN THIS ORDER SPECIFICALLY:
1. com.google.android.gsf.login_5.1-1743759-22_minAPI21(nodpi)_apkmirror.com.apk
2. com.google.android.gsf_5.1-1743759-22_minAPI22(nodpi)_apkmirror.com.apk
3. com.google.android.gms_11.5.09_(230-164803921)-11509230_minAPI21(armeabi-v7a)(nodpi)_apkmirror.com.apk
4. com.android.vending_8.3.41.U-all_0_FP_170066753-80834100_minAPI14(armeabi-v7a)(240,320,480dpi)_apkmirror.com.apk

6. Once all the APKs are installed, open the Play Store and sign into your account and IMMEDIATELY go to settings and TURN OFF auto-updates then close the Play Store and reboot your tablet. Once rebooted, if needed, the APKs will start to update.

7. When the tablet boots, tap on settings > wireless > location based services. If you followed instructions earlier and toggled this setting on, good job. Now turn it off and wait about 15 seconds and turn it back on.

8. You may get a pop-up window asking you to agree to the use of Google Location Accuracy/Services. YOU MUST TAP AGREE.

8. From your home screen, tap the Google Settings icon then Location. You MIGHT get a pop up saying something like: "In a previous version of Google, you turned off location history. Do you want to turn it back on?" YOU MUST TAP YES.

9. Download and install Settings Database Editor. Then open a terminal app, or plug the tablet into the PC and open an ADB window and type the following commands, hitting enter after each one:

adb shell
su
pm grant by4a.setedit22 android.permission.WRITE_SECURE_SETTINGS

10. Open Settings Database Editor and tap on the drop down menu on the right and select the 'secure' tab. Scroll down until you see 'location_providers_allowed'. The value should say:

network

11. Tap the 'location_providers_allowed' setting then tap 'edit value' and in front of 'network' add the text 'gps' (without the ') and separate the two with a comma, but no spaces and tap save. The value should now look like this:

gps,network

12. Reboot. Google location services should now work. Download a weather app like Weather Underground and set the location up for GPS. If it detects location, you're good to go. If not, you missed a step and have to start over.

ALTERNATIVE:
1. Turn off location services.
2. Install Google maps and open it. Or download and install chrome.
3. Maps: A box will pop up asking to enable location services. Tap yes/ok. Chrome: scroll to bottom of page and tap 'update location' or 'use exact/precise location'.
4. Maps: Tap on the blue or gray dot representing your location.
5. Tap on 'pick a place' and pick your location.

 

[DragonFire1024]

I had to do a non-root rewrite after running into some issues. This should work on the HD 8 as well.

 

[niz180sx]

Awesome...!

Love your work, long time reader but never really needed to post as I've generally read out of interest and my old trusty Samsung tablet has been serving it's purpose. As my Samsung tablet has now aged and I'm putting it to rest (R.I.P.), I've acquired a few Fire HD 10 tablets (one for me and one each for my parents). Problem is that after installing Google Play, am not able to use it with GPS software (like Sygic). I've tried the process listed here on a fresh tablet and also by reflashing to stock my tablet, but does not seem to get working.

Following your process step-by-step, there is no indication that the Play Store files gets updated and no pop-ups like the ones shown at step 8 and onwards...

Questions:
1. Is there an indicator to show that the Play Store files are being updated?
2. Is the pop-up window (indicated at step 8) always suppose to occur when we complete this step?
3. Do we need to install your APK's for the updated framework and the systemconfig updates from you before this will work?

Finally... Thanks for your great work and you're definitely a very large contributor to this community. Thank you.

 

[DragonFire1024]

Awesome...!

Love your work, long time reader but never really needed to post as I've generally read out of interest and my old trusty Samsung tablet has been serving it's purpose. As my Samsung tablet has now aged and I'm putting it to rest (R.I.P.), I've acquired a few Fire HD 10 tablets (one for me and one each for my parents). Problem is that after installing Google Play, am not able to use it with GPS software (like Sygic). I've tried the process listed here on a fresh tablet and also by reflashing to stock my tablet, but does not seem to get working.

Following your process step-by-step, there is no indication that the Play Store files gets updated and no pop-ups like the ones shown at step 8 and onwards...

Questions:
1. Is there an indicator to show that the Play Store files are being updated?
2. Is the pop-up window (indicated at step 8) always suppose to occur when we complete this step?
3. Do we need to install your APK's for the updated framework and the systemconfig updates from you before this will work?

Finally... Thanks for your great work and you're definitely a very large contributor to this community. Thank you.

1. There may not be an indicator.

2. If you turned location services on prior to installing the 4 apks , it should show up every time when you toggle it off then back on. I've done this more times than I care to admit and in each case the fort box pops up every time. The second one may only pop up when you've previously turned off location history. Also make sure to sign into play store wait a few minutes then toggle location off then on. Might need to clear data of 4 apks and try again though. I don't know what Amazon made this such a pain.
.
3. No. This guide it not related to any of my mods and housing need any other special APPs for this particular guide.

Side note: the GPS chip in these devices is not active. It does exist, but according to the .mk file, was deactivated in the kernel. That's why Android OS has AGPS integrated into their framework (in case a device doesn't fully support gps).

 

[niz180sx]

Thanks for the reply. Very helpful...

Anyways, I did another reflash to stock and reinstalled the Play Store APK's and monitored the versions. The updates never happened and I tried to force an update by pressing on the version number (in settings) a few times. But after a few hours of still not updating, the Play Store never updates and hence I tried a clear cache and clear data for the Play Store apps. This then actually allowed for the update to progress after logging in again next. Hopefully this helps anyone else that gets stuck with the same.

DragonFire1024 - One more favour, can you try and install Sygic and see if the GPS locks or not? I've tried on the 3 devices here and I'm not sure if I've just done something wrong and hence the GPS is not locking or if Sygic just isn't able to use AGPS as the GPS source and isn't able to lock since the other parts of the GPS modules are not active? Thanks in advance.

Also, if you have any GPS apps that you could recommend with on device maps, that's the only criteria I have left that I need to get working for my parents.

Thanking you.

 

[WCE68]

No Root required now?

I had to do a non-root rewrite after running into some issues. This should work on the HD 8 as well.

So, if I understand correctly, we can follow the instructions without a rooted device?

Also, you indicated that we have to start with a fresh install of Fire OS. This is no longer the case with my device, and I'm just trying to fix the location services. I can find instructions on rooting the device (which I don't want to do unless necessary) and I can find copies of the Fire OS images, but I've failed at finding instructions on how to install the stock FireOS image. My device is a Fire HD 8 (2017). If you can point me towards a thread with what I need, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

 

[adm1jtg]

So, if I understand correctly, we can follow the instructions without a rooted device?

Also, you indicated that we have to start with a fresh install of Fire OS. This is no longer the case with my device, and I'm just trying to fix the location services. I can find instructions on rooting the device (which I don't want to do unless necessary) and I can find copies of the Fire OS images, but I've failed at finding instructions on how to install the stock FireOS image. My device is a Fire HD 8 (2017). If you can point me towards a thread with what I need, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

I cannot help with location services but as far as I know you CANNOT root an hd8, its not possible with locked bootloader. Only hd10 can gain root, so perhaps the better question is to ask if this can be done on an hd8

 

[DragonFire1024]

So, if I understand correctly, we can follow the instructions without a rooted device?

Also, you indicated that we have to start with a fresh install of Fire OS. This is no longer the case with my device, and I'm just trying to fix the location services. I can find instructions on rooting the device (which I don't want to do unless necessary) and I can find copies of the Fire OS images, but I've failed at finding instructions on how to install the stock FireOS image. My device is a Fire HD 8 (2017). If you can point me towards a thread with what I need, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Factory reset for an HD 8 then follow this guide. This should work on all Amazon tablets. I have a Fire 7, HD 8 and 10. Works on all three, rooted or not.

 

[fclifton]

I have a new Fire HD 10 (2017). I installed Google Play Store before seeing this thread. I want to use YoutubeTV but when it launches it says it can't determine my location. Which is what brought me to this thread I have the latest HD 10 OS loaded (5.6.2.0?). If I do a factory reset, will I still have that version and will it work with the process you have? Thanks, Frank

 

[DragonFire1024]

I have a new Fire HD 10 (2017). I installed Google Play Store before seeing this thread. I want to use YoutubeTV but when it launches it says it can't determine my location. Which is what brought me to this thread I have the latest HD 10 OS loaded (5.6.2.0?). If I do a factory reset, will I still have that version and will it work with the process you have? Thanks, Frank

Yes you will still have 5.6.2.0. Before a reset, clear the data of and uninstall the 4 APKs then reset. Install the APKs from the guide linked in my OP. Install them as is and do not download the updated versions. Make sure location services are on before installation.

 

[fclifton]

Yes you will still have 5.6.2.0. Before a reset, clear the data of and uninstall the 4 APKs then reset. Install the APKs from the guide linked in my OP. Install them as is and do not download the updated versions. Make sure location services are on before installation.

So I tried to follow your instructions, but I was not able to get Google location services working. At least I don't think so. I never saw any pop ups asking me to agree to the use of Google Location services. It is probably operator error on my part. Here is what I did by the steps you have:

I first cleared data from and uninstalled the 4 APKs. Then I set the tablet back to factory default. I am attempting this without rooting.

1. The thread you linked to said that newer versions of Silk could be used to install the APKs, so I didn't download them to my PC. I used Silk in step 5.

2. I enabled developer options and enabled ADB. Did not move APKs because they are not on my PC as stated in step 1.

3. So here is the first place I wasn't sure exactly what to do. Your instructions are to go to Settings | Wireless | Connect to Wifi. However, since I reset my tablet back to Factory Defaults, the first screen is to set language and then the next is to setup Wifi. I had to connect to Wifi to proceed, so I did. The next screen says it found like 11 system updates. Wasn't sure what to do with them, so I let them be installed. The next screen wanted me to register, so I did that. The next screen has to do with restoring a backup which I skipped. The next screen has 4 options, one of which is Enable Location Services. I unchecked that (but checked it again later in Step 4). The next two screens had to do with suggested apps which I skipped. The one after that introduces Show Mode, a demo that I had to let run. After that is a Fire tutorial which I skipped. Next was an intro to Alexa hands free, which I was not able to skip.. I allowed Alexa hands free. Finally after all that I was at the home desktop screen! From there I launched the Appstore app and disabled automatic updates. Whew! And not exactly what was in your Step 3.

4. Did Settings | Wireless | Location based services and enabled it

5. Used Silk to download and install each APK in the order listed. (Downloaded one, installed, went to the next)

6. Launched Play Store, which did start ok, and after signing in turned off automatic updates. Could not tell if the 4 APKs updated.

7. Did Settings | Wireless | Location based services disabled it, counted to 20 and enabled it.
No pop up

8. From Home Screen launched Google Settings. One time I got the pop up. Another time I did not.

At this point I installed Youtube TV and it still said unable to determine location. Other apps like weather and maps did find my location so I assume some kind of location services is running. I disabled location services for weather, then launched weather again and got a dialog saying it needed location services. It did not look like the Google popup so I guess it was still the Amazon service.

So, my experience didn't quite match up with your instructions. I can see in a couple places where I could make it match more closely, but there were a lot of things in Step 3 that I wasn't clear about. Any ideas?

Thanks, Frank

 

[pc747]

I have a new Fire HD 10 (2017). I installed Google Play Store before seeing this thread. I want to use YoutubeTV but when it launches it says it can't determine my location. Which is what brought me to this thread I have the latest HD 10 OS loaded (5.6.2.0?). If I do a factory reset, will I still have that version and will it work with the process you have? Thanks, Frank

Were you able to have luck with this for Youtube TV?

I'm still unable to get past the location prompt.

Yes you will still have 5.6.2.0. Before a reset, clear the data of and uninstall the 4 APKs then reset. Install the APKs from the guide linked in my OP. Install them as is and do not download the updated versions. Make sure location services are on before installation.

Worked for getting my location on other apps. Thanks

 

[fclifton]

Were you able to have luck with this for Youtube TV?

I'm still unable to get past the location prompt.

Worked for getting my location on other apps. Thanks

No I don't have YouTube Tv working yet. I haven't given up on it yet.

I also got some other apps to work, but I think they were using Amazon location services, not Google.

 

[pc747]

Must be off and on

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

 

[pc747]

Youtube TV is working for now for me. But I am betting it is going to be inconsistent.

 

[DoughMucker]

I have a new Fire HD 10 (2017). I installed Google Play Store before seeing this thread. I want to use YoutubeTV but when it launches it says it can't determine my location. Which is what brought me to this thread I have the latest HD 10 OS loaded (5.6.2.0?). If I do a factory reset, will I still have that version and will it work with the process you have? Thanks, Frank

I also just got a Fire HD 10 and installed the 4 google apks before seeing this thread. I'm also not rooted. However, all I needed to do to get GPS to work was to turn the Fire OS Location Based Services toggle off. (Settings-Wireless-Location Based Services). Upon opening Google Maps it asked me to use GPS and it just worked.

 

[fclifton]

I also just got a Fire HD 10 and installed the 4 google apks before seeing this thread. I'm also not rooted. However, all I needed to do to get GPS to work was to turn the Fire OS Location Based Services toggle off. (Settings-Wireless-Location Based Services). Upon opening Google Maps it asked me to use GPS and it just worked.

Yes! Did the same and now it appears that Google location is being used. Thanks!

 

[MutantWizard]

1. Reset my Fire HD 10 (7th generation) 5.6.2.0 back to factory and rooted it without any issues following this offline root method.
   https://forum.xda-developers.com/hd8-hd10/general/hd-10-2017-offline-rooting-t3734860
2. Disabled OTA using commands from here.
   https://forum.xda-developers.com/hd...7-fire-os-5-6-uninstall-t3709437/post77437463
3. All the files downloaded and installed from internal storage.
4. 6, 7, 8(part 1) executed as per instructions.
5. 8(part 2) didnt get asked.

Everything went real smooth so no issues to report. My Fire HD 10 (7th generation) 5.6.2.0 fully compatible with all of it
How do I know OTA really disabled?
How do I know the 4 apk are updating and when they are done updating or it doesnt matter if I evoke an error trying to open Playstore?
@DragonFire1024 your work help and support is truly appreciated.

 

[DragonFire1024]

Reset my Fire HD 10 (7th generation) 5.6.2.0 back to factory and rooted it without any issues following this offline root method.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/hd8-hd10/general/hd-10-2017-offline-rooting-t3734860
Disabled OTA using commands from here.
https://forum.xda-developers.com/hd...7-fire-os-5-6-uninstall-t3709437/post77437463
All the files downloaded and installed from internal storage.
6, 7, 8(part 1) executed as per instructions.
8(part 2) didnt get asked.


Everything went real smooth so no issues to report. My Fire HD 10 (7th generation) 5.6.2.0 fully compatible with all of it
How do I know OTA really disabled?
How do I know the 4 apk are updating and when they are done updating or it doesnt matter if I evoke an error trying to open Playstore?

@DragonFire1024 your work help and support is truly appreciated.

You'll get an error or force close as the apks update. Check apk mirror for the latest versions. Play store is 11.6.18. I'll enable my OTA apk later and grab a screen shot for everyone to see. It's very fast and will start downloading the second it's activated and WiFi is on. It's the only apk responsible for downloading and installing system updates sent by Amazon only.

 

[DragonFire1024]

1. Reset my Fire HD 10 (7th generation) 5.6.2.0 back to factory and rooted it without any issues following this offline root method.
   https://forum.xda-developers.com/hd8-hd10/general/hd-10-2017-offline-rooting-t3734860
2. Disabled OTA using commands from here.
   https://forum.xda-developers.com/hd...7-fire-os-5-6-uninstall-t3709437/post77437463
3. All the files downloaded and installed from internal storage.
4. 6, 7, 8(part 1) executed as per instructions.
5. 8(part 2) didnt get asked.

Everything went real smooth so no issues to report. My Fire HD 10 (7th generation) 5.6.2.0 fully compatible with all of it
How do I know OTA really disabled?
How do I know the 4 apk are updating and when they are done updating or it doesnt matter if I evoke an error trying to open Playstore?

@DragonFire1024 your work help and support is truly appreciated.

Here you go. Luckily I was able to circumvent the update before anything could install.