Sony a7Riii & PlayMemories/Location Information Linkage issues when phone screen is off

[John P_AU]

Hi,

I'm having in issue with the PlayMemories app not being able to connect to the camera and provide GPS information when my phone's screen is off. As soon as I turn the screen on (even without logging on by using my fingerprint or a PIN code), PlayMemories connects to my camera and sends the GPS coordinates.


Phone information:
OnePlus 5T
Android 8.1.0
PlayMemories v6.3.0

Troubleshooting steps:
When my phone's screen is off, bluetooth runs in the background and works perfectly. I am able to send files from my computer via bluetooth file transfer when the screen is off and the screen wakes up and I'm offered to accept or decline receiving the file. It's as if the PlayMemories app isn't running in the background properly.

For PlayMemories app:

1. Cleared cache, cleared data, uninstalled PlayMemories, restarted phone and reinstalled from the Play Store
2. Reset camera’s network settings
3. Set up wifi connection between my a7R3 and phone again.
4. Set up Location Information Linkage again
5. Bluetooth and Location information is passed from my phone to the camera successfully but same issue as before where if the phone’s screen is off, the camera cannot make a bluetooth connection with the phone and subsequently receive location/GPS information.
6. While the camera is attempting to connect as the phone’s screen is off, if I press the power button on the phone, the camera makes a bluetooth connection immediately.

Android troubleshooting:

1. I’ve set ‘Battery Optimisation’ to ’Not optimised’ for the PlayMemories app.
2. Granted ‘Modify system settings’ to Yes for the PlayMemories app.

Is anyone else having a similar issue with Android?

 

[am2am]

PlayMemories is a garbage not working as advertised. Search the net - multiple discussions on the topic. Long story short - you won't get reliable GPS tagging with it.

 

[John P_AU]

PlayMemories is a garbage not working as advertised. Search the net - multiple discussions on the topic. Long story short - you won't get reliable GPS tagging with it.

I'd agree it's a garbage app, however, I am getting pretty accurate geotagging when it links up. I just have to keep waking my phone when the camera goes to sleep in order for it to link up again which is rather annoying.

 

[Andy M]

Try setting the phone not too send the app to sleep. Then after a while of having the screen off it will still disconnect. At that point turn the Bluetooth off and on and it will reconnect.

 

[Macglide]

Hi,

I've got exactly the same problem with my new a7 III and a Xiaomi Mi 5 with Android 9. I'm thankful for every help

 

[John P_AU]

I took out an old Android phone LG G4 (Android 6.0) I had lying around and set up PlayMemories on it and geotagging/Location works perfectly and as designed. I'd suggest that this issue might be related to issues with later Android versions where the PM app doesn't have the requisite permissions to run in the background. I've taken a video of the issue here:

And I've emailed Sony Support in Australia with all the details and the video of the issue and I'm hoping that I get a response with a timeframe for resolution. Having geotagging was one of the driving factors for upgrading from my a7Rii to the a7Riii

 

[Macglide]

I took out an old Android phone LG G4 (Android 6.0) I had lying around and set up PlayMemories on it and geotagging/Location works perfectly and as designed. I'd suggest that this issue might be related to issues with later Android versions where the PM app doesn't have the requisite permissions to run in the background. I've taken a video of the issue here:

And I've emailed Sony Support in Australia with all the details and the video of the issue and I'm hoping that I get a response with a timeframe for resolution. Having geotagging was one of the driving factors for upgrading from my a7Rii to the a7Riii

 

[ERN812]

You’ll never get it to work reliably. Works fine when it’s linked up but doesn’t link up automatically and drops linkage frequently. Just get a separate geotagged app like geotag photos and run that as primary or as a failsafe.

 

[John P_AU]

You’ll never get it to work reliably. Works fine when it’s linked up but doesn’t link up automatically and drops linkage frequently. Just get a separate geotagged app like geotag photos and run that as primary or as a failsafe.

Previously my workflow was to export my google timeline as a kml, then run exiftool to encode the raw & jpg files.

Whilst playmemories isn't working properly, I'm not giving up in harassing Sony to fix it. This was one of my main reasons for upgrading.

 

[TonyCh]

Hi,

I'm having in issue with the PlayMemories app not being able to connect to the camera and provide GPS information when my phone's screen is off.

I've never had problem with the phone's screen being off, but I always have problem with the PlayMemories app losing the connection with the camera when the camera is in sleep mode. For me too, geotagging is important. I agree that the PlayMemories app is a terrible app, it's not at all reliable to maintain the connection. So what I had to do from time to time is to unpair the camera on the phone's bluetooth setting, then re-pair through the PlayMemories app's Location Information Linkage (not through the phone).

 

[oxwald]

Same problem with Oneplus 5 with android 8 / 9.

I've tried a lot of things with no effect.

I'm REALLY into a solution for this, because it's not acceptable! :-(

 

[John P_AU]

Same problem with Oneplus 5 with android 8 / 9.

I've tried a lot of things with no effect.

I'm REALLY into a solution for this, because it's not acceptable! :-(

Your best bet for a fix is to contact Sony support and lodge a bug/fault report. The more people who do this, the better outcome we'll all get.

 

[oxwald]

Maybe it will be fixed with this new app ?

 

[John P_AU]

Maybe it will be fixed with this new app ?

One can only hope...

 

[oxwald]

The new app is up but I get the same problem with the geotagging!!!

OMG!!! Sony.... really???

 

[Idgsd]

I use my A7r3 mostly for travel and geotagging is very important for me. When the camera fails to record a location I would try my best to reshoot. It is fair to say that the inconsistencies of the Sony geotagging function caused me a lot of grief, but I managed to figure out how to deal with it’s idiosyncrasies. I was quite anxious to test the new Imaging Edge app on my iPhone XS (iOS 12.1.4 and iOS 12.2) and my initial experience has been favorable. With the app running in the background with the screen off and the camera about 2ft away, I could not get the location acquisition to fail even once out of more than 20 times of turning the camera off for periods of 30s to 5min and back on again. It is fair to say, I never experienced such performance in the past. The real test will be on my next travel outing (where the Imaging Edge is multitasked with navigation, web browsing, calls and texts).

 

[Idgsd]

This morning I had the hardest time reconnecting my A7r3 to the Image Edge app to obtain geolocation after leaving the app in the background overnight. After fumbling with the camera and the app for minutes, I was able to reconnect. Thereafter, the connection/disconnection following camera on/off cycle was solid. I guess, Sony has not mastered yet the iOS Bluetooth protocol.....

 

[TonyCh]

I updated to the new version on my Samsung Galaxy S8 and found that it behaves a lot better. Before the old Playmemories app disconnected whenever the camera went into sleep mode and I had to unpair the camera in the phone settings, and re-pair it through the app's Location Information Linkage, it was so annoying. now the Imaging Edge app seems to fix the problem - when the camera wakes up from the sleep mode, the location information icon shows unobtainable (no GPS) but immediately it changes to obtainable (GPS active). When the camera is turned off and turned back on later, if it's off briefly the GPS will still be active. If it has been off long, you will have to go into "Location Information Linkage" in the app - showing "Searching for the camera...", and tap that to go to the next screen where it shows the camera model (ILCE-7RM3), and tap the "Change the Camera", then it will re-establish the linkage. It's not perfect, but it's a lot better than before.

I shut off the camera and the app last night, and this morning I turned the camera on and open the app, and I could establish the location information linkage through the steps mentioned above.

 

[cerealsoup]

Try setting the phone not too send the app to sleep. Then after a while of having the screen off it will still disconnect. At that point turn the Bluetooth off and on and it will reconnect.

This. This is the culprit. Each OEM has their own flavor of per-app power savings and I think even Android itself may have it baked in but you can add apps to the ignore list.

On Samsung phones it's in the Battery Optimizer settings. You can force apps to not sleep but just know they'll sip a little power even when screen is off. You might want to make sure your location setting is also set to High Accuracy mode, which allows it to also stay awake and check location through any network interface.

 

[rainman730]

I have the same issue with A99 II. Still no solution. Samsung Galaxy S8+, Android 9.0.