[RESOLVED] Geolocation issues with mapping services on Firefox Snap

[comodoropet4]

Hello, everyone! Hope you're all having a nice day today.

I'm looking for help with geolocation issues on mapping services with the Snap version of Firefox Browser version 112.0.2 on Kubuntu 23.04, though this problem has long persisted within past installs I had of this operating system and its version of the browser.

Whether I use Google Maps, Bing Maps, OpenStreetMap or any other mapping service, Firefox Snap never gives me my pinpoint accurate location when I click on their respective buttons to find my location, instead just zooming out to the whole city I'm from. I've tried the same thing with Microsoft Edge (whose .deb package I've downloaded from its official website and installed with Discover), and it doesn't give me that problem at all.

Is there anything I can do to fix this? Preferably without having to ditch the Snap version of Firefox for the .deb version?

Thanks in advance for reading.

[jlittle]

What kind of computer, and how is it connected?

It sounds like your computer is falling back to IP geolocation, which depends where your ISP connects to the internet. (At my work sometimes we appear 1 000 km away.)

Most computers don't have GPS, so the only way such computers can work out where they are is through the wifi (or rarely phone) networks they can see, assuming a device with GPS has connected to that wifi, and has reported back to some service your geolocation service has access to (for example, I imagine that an iphone that has not signed into a Google account doesn't tell Google where it is).

I suggest checking out the privacy settings, in firefox and in any phones that connect to the same wifi. Maybe your computer has to connect to a service related to one on a phone on the same wifi, but I'm speculating.

[Schwarzer Kater]

Does the Flatpak version of Firefox do the same?

https://www.kubuntuforums.net/forum/...atpak-in-23-04

[kc1di]

You can download FF right from mozilla here: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/linux/ and unzip the file and try running it from there see if it still does the same thing. If it works then the problem is with the snap. Also if you have any VPN installed and running it will change the loction settings.

[Schwarzer Kater]

[…]
Is there anything I can do to fix this? Preferably without having to ditch the Snap version of Firefox for the .deb version? […]

That's why I suggested the Flatpak version to have a somewhat quick and limited test if Snap is the culprit without going too much into details.

Otherwise he could use the install traditional Firefox script or use Firefox from Mozilla.org / the Mozilla team PPA manually to have another comparison, of course.

[kc1di]

I suspect the reason the snap version will not work with geolocation is that it is semi sandboxed in Kubuntu/Ubuntu. If you use a direct .deb or download you'll not have that problem.
https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2022/04/...t-ubuntu-22-04 though it is written for 22.04 it should still work for 23.04. Good luck

[comodoropet4]

Apologies for the long while without responding. I suddenly got a long unrelated Nextcloud issue so I couldn't check my mail for replies, but I'm here, now.

---

What kind of computer, and how is it connected?

It sounds like your computer is falling back to IP geolocation, which depends where your ISP connects to the internet. (At my work sometimes we appear 1 000 km away.)

Most computers don't have GPS, so the only way such computers can work out where they are is through the wifi (or rarely phone) networks they can see, assuming a device with GPS has connected to that wifi, and has reported back to some service your geolocation service has access to (for example, I imagine that an iphone that has not signed into a Google account doesn't tell Google where it is).

I suggest checking out the privacy settings, in firefox and in any phones that connect to the same wifi. Maybe your computer has to connect to a service related to one on a phone on the same wifi, but I'm speculating.

Indeed, Wi-Fi triangulation is at play for detemining my location, but I didn't see any privacy settings that could help matters, at least not at a first glance.

Does the Flatpak version of Firefox do the same?

Welp, I can confirm that the Flatpak version of Firefox does indeed solve this issue for me.

Now, is there any disadvantage to using the Flatpak version over just the .deb per the suggestion? I've read the article that kc1di linked in the last post, but it states at the end that the Mozilla Team PPA was initially designed for ESR releases (which I'm not interested in).

[Schwarzer Kater]

[…]
Welp, I can confirm that the Flatpak version of Firefox does indeed solve this issue for me.

Now, is there any disadvantage to using the Flatpak version over just the .deb per the suggestion? I've read the article that kc1di linked in the last post, but it states at the end that the Mozilla Team PPA was initially designed for ESR releases (which I'm not interested in).

The Flatpak version and the Snap version both use up more space of your storage medium.
Due to the "sandboxing" something like your issue with geolocation can occur with both of them. Other common "problems" can be for example: plugins not working properly or GUI theming not working properly.
With Flatpaks you can at least solve these "problems" by using something like the Flatseal Flatpak or from 23.04 onwards the System Settings module kde-config-flatpak.
With Snaps this is not as easy or simply not possible.


If you want to use the "traditional" Firefox, I would recommend the one from Mozilla.org instead of the Mozilla Team PPA (also see the "Important" section of "Installation and usage of this script" at the top for more information):
https://www.kubuntuforums.net/forum/...551#post669551
Personally I use Mozilla.org for all *Ubuntu installations - privately and professionally.
The option to install Firefox from the Mozilla Team PPA is there "by popular demand" (and because every other web site gave this "tip" when Canonical replaced Firefox with the Snap version - it has been tested properly and works nonetheless, of course, with all its disadvantages).

[kc1di]

if it were me I would just download the Mozilla file un zip it and set it up as my primary in the menu manually. Good luck with what ever you choose.

[comodoropet4]

The Flatpak version and the Snap version both use up more space of your storage medium.
Due to the "sandboxing" something like your issue with geolocation can occur with both of them. Other common "problems" can be for example: plugins not working properly or GUI theming not working properly.
With Flatpaks you can at least solve these "problems" by using something like the Flatseal Flatpak or from 23.04 onwards the System Settings module kde-config-flatpak.
With Snaps this is not as easy or simply not possible.


If you want to use the "traditional" Firefox, I would recommend the one from Mozilla.org instead of the Mozilla Team PPA (also see the "Important" section of "Installation and usage of this script" at the top for more information):
https://www.kubuntuforums.net/forum/...551#post669551
Personally I use Mozilla.org for all *Ubuntu installations - privately and professionally.
The option to install Firefox from the Mozilla Team PPA is there "by popular demand" (and because every other web site gave this "tip" when Canonical replaced Firefox with the Snap version - it has been tested properly and works nonetheless, of course, with all its disadvantages).

I think I'm definitely giving Mozilla's Flatpak a shot for now.

Thanks for the help, everyone! You're all awesome!