Google location services problem after 4.4 update

[yegorka]

After upgrade to 4.4.2 (with factory reset, of course) Google location reporting is not working.

I can see myself at maps, checkin at Foursquare. But I see no more cards in Google Now and Strava bicycle tracking is not working.

When I go to Settings -> Location -> Google Location Reporting there are both Location Reporting and Location History are disabled: "Not available in Cyprus"

But this is absolutely incorrect: in 4.2 and 4.3 everything was working perfectly!

I upgraded all google apps to their latest versions, cleaned all applications cache - nothing changed.

Any ideas?

[chodense]

I have tried to fix the problem by resetting to factory settings - helped for some hours.

I then tried to repair the phone through Sony PC companion - that helped for some hours too.

The GPS loses connection after a couple of hours. Some times it helps to reboot the phone, but only for some time. It even loses gps location when using google navigation in the car, which is very frustrating.

[yegorka · Accepted solution]

I had found the solution finally.

In English: http://www.techniblogic.com/2014/05/how-to-enable-google-now-in-nepal-and.html

In Russian: http://vorchuchelo.com/text/privodim-v-chuvstvo-google-now-posle-obnovleniya-do-android-4-4-20140528...

But a new problem appeared - battery drain by Google Play Services 

For today I just keep my location services turned off, and I turn on them only for a short periods of time - just to make a check-in.

Looking for a new firmware or Google Play Services update...

[The_Thor]

This is still a problem on my SGS5/Android 4.4.2. It has either to do with the location itself (Iceland) or the OS (Samsung modified?)

[hkgseadog]

I was facing the same problem as you do. Location service breaks down in every app.

I have sent email to technical support and brought my phone to the service centre to repair it. However, they all can't fix the problem but suggested that the problem may be caused by the latest update of Google Play Service(GPS). The engineer was right becuase I tried to uninstall ALL updates of the GPS and everythings returned to normal likes 4.2 and 4.3. Before it has fixed the problem, I won't update the latest version again.

[AndrewHeard]

I have just bought a new Xperia Z1 (Android 4.4.4) and have this problem too. This is ridiculous that Sony don't have a solution.

Google Play times out on opening

Google Location Reporting > not available in this region

Google Now won't work until Google Location Reporting is available

My root/etc/hosts file just contained "127.0.0.1 localhost" which I assume is OK. I couldn't delete the file anyway.