GPS over Bluetooth BLE

Hi Nigel,

Thanks for your question. Here's how Locus Map handles external GPS over Bluetooth Low Energy.

What Locus Map supports over BLE. There's no single standard for BLE GNSS devices, so Locus Map uses one simple approach. It reads raw NMEA data from the generic characteristic 0000fff1-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb and doesn't use any other BLE GNSS implementation. In practice:

• Nordic UART Service: only supported for QStarz receivers, so it won't work for a generic DIY device.
• Location and Navigation Service (LNS): not supported.
• Recommended setup for your logger: expose a characteristic with UUID 0000fff1-0000-1000-8000-00805f9b34fb with notifications enabled, and stream standard NMEA sentences (e.g. GGA, RMC) through it.

Then add the device in Locus Map under Menu > All features > Set up (Sensors manager): tap "+", choose GPS, and pick the Bluetooth 4 connection.

Alternative: Bluetooth Classic or USB. If your hardware supports Bluetooth Classic (for example an ESP32 or an HC-05 module), plain NMEA over SPP is often the simplest route. Add it with the Bluetooth 3 connection type. NMEA over USB serial works the same way with the USB option.

Other BLE protocols. If you'd like Locus Map to support a specific, reasonably standard BLE GNSS protocol, let us know which one. Our developers are open to adding it if there's demand.

Thanks. I'll work with the existing implementation and see what I can do.