Turn off GPS, when the mobile is switched on

Question

When ever my mobile is switched on/restarted GPS is automatically enabled. Is there a way to turn it off till the time its explicitly enabled? Is this because of any of the third party apps?

Samsung Galaxy Note 2, Jellybean 4.1.2

Answer 1

One way to do that is using Tasker together with the Secure Settings addon. But this requires your device to be rooted since, um, ICS at least (Android no longer permits apps to switch GPS as it did with e.g. Froyo and before). You could configure a condition for "boot completed", with a task to disable GPS. So it would be disabled at startup, and not touched from then on.

You might even want to go a step further, and let Tasker automatically switch GPS back on as soon as you start selected apps (useful for e.g. Maps) -- so you would not even need to remember turning it back on when needed.

^{Tasker and the Secure Settings Addon (Source: Google Play; click images for larger variant)}

Apart from that, once you've got used to setting up profiles with Tasker, you'll find many more things you can automate with it. Sure, the app has its price (worth every cent of it), and takes a little time to get used to. To first try it out, you'll find a free trial on the homepage, working for 7 days. If that seems to short, here's what the dev himself recommends: Take care to export your configuration before the 7 days are up. Then, at the end of the test period, uninstall Tasker, re-install it, and import the saved backup -- you're ready for another 7 days then :)