Sky map incorrectly reports that I have no internet

[AntiSol]

Summary

Hello, thanks for Sky Map, I've been using it for a long time. But I haven't used it much on my current device, so I'm not sure whether the issues I'm having are related to a new version of sky map, different device/OS, or what.

The new features to find a location by name are cool, but I can't use them - it says I have no internet, but I definitely do.

I think maybe it hasn't requested the network access permission?

Note that in the diagnostics screen it says "Connected (Cell)" - I'll include a screenshot of that below.

This could be something to do with my setup - I'm using a de-googled android 10 device, and I have google play services disabled. I'll be filing another bug shortly about the inability to use GPS location.

Please do ask for any other info you think might be relevant or any tests that you want me to do.

Steps to Reproduce

1. Disable google play services
2. turn off your gps
3. open the app
4. go to "your location"
5. Choose manual location
6. Enter "Perth"
7. Press "Resolve"
8. Observe "no internet" message.

Expected Behavior

My phone definitely has internet - I'm listening to internet radio while doing this.

It should look up the city name and populate the coordinates

Observed Behavior

"No Internet - enter coordinates directly"

I also see "Map Unavailable" on the main location screen, presumably due to "no internet"

Device

Unihertz Titan

Android Version

Android 10, de-googled

Sky Map Version

1.15.5 Saturn (1678)

Screenshots

(note the "19.1K/s" in the status bar - currently streaming internet radio and acting as a wifi hotspot - I definitely have internet)

[jaydeetay]

Hi Dale,
Thanks so much for the detailed bug report. This is really useful. I'll take a closer luck when I get back but my guess is that your hunch is correct and it's related to the lack of Google Play Services. FWIW, there is a Google-free version of Sky Map available on F-Droid, but I'd still like to get to the bottom of this.

[jaydeetay]

@claude can you take an initial look at this and find the cause?

[claude]

Claude finished @jaydeetay's task in 1m 33s —— View job

---

Investigating "no internet" false negative in location search

• Gather context (issue body, screenshots, related code)
• Find where location lookup checks for internet connectivity
• Determine root cause
• Report findings

Root cause found

The "No internet" message is not actually checking for internet connectivity at all — it's checking for the presence of an on-device geocoding backend, and that check is being misinterpreted/mislabeled.

In ManualLocationEntryDialogFragment.kt:

private fun resolvePlace(view: View) {
    val name = placeNameEdit.text.toString().trim()
    if (name.isEmpty()) return
    placeErrorText.visibility = View.GONE

    if (!Geocoder.isPresent()) {
        showPlaceError(getString(R.string.location_geocoder_offline))
        return
    }
    ...

Geocoder.isPresent() does not report network/internet status — it reports whether the device has a system geocoding backend service installed. On stock Android that backend is normally provided by Google Play Services. On a de-Googled device (like the reporter's Unihertz Titan with Play Services disabled), Geocoder.isPresent() reliably returns false regardless of network connectivity, so the app short-circuits and shows the "no internet" message (location_geocoder_offline) before ever attempting a lookup or checking real connectivity. That matches the report exactly — the diagnostic screen correctly shows "Connected (Cell)" because the device does have internet, but the geocoder gate fails independently of that.

The string resource name (location_geocoder_offline) and its translation description ("shown when geocoding fails because there is no internet connection") reveal the same conflation existed in the design — Geocoder.isPresent() == false was assumed to mean "offline," which isn't accurate on devices lacking Play Services.

Secondary, likely related observation: the "Map Unavailable" placeholder on the main location screen (GeoapifyMapsAdapter.kt) is a separate code path (a Geoapify static-map HTTP fetch via Coil, unrelated to Geocoder.isPresent()), so it's less likely to share this exact root cause. It could fail for other reasons (e.g. missing geoapify.api.key in a given build, or an actual network error reported by Coil) — worth checking the Logcat tag GeoapifyMapsAdapter on the device to see the real errorCode if this needs a follow-up investigation.

Suggested direction for a fix (not yet implemented)

Since this was a "find the cause" request, I haven't made code changes. A fix would likely mean:

• Not treating Geocoder.isPresent() == false as "no internet" — either drop the message/wording, or use a real connectivity check (ConnectivityManager) instead of conflating it with geocoder-backend absence.
• Since Android's built-in Geocoder fundamentally can't work on devices without a geocoding backend (independent of internet access), a robust fix for de-Googled/GMS-less devices would need a network-based geocoding fallback (e.g. calling the Geoapify/Nominatim geocoding API directly over HTTP, similar to how GeoapifyMapsAdapter already fetches map tiles over plain HTTP) rather than relying on android.location.Geocoder.

Happy to implement either the message fix or the network-based geocoding fallback if you'd like — just let me know which direction you'd prefer.

[AntiSol]

@jaydeetay Thanks for your quick response! I probably should have thought to mention that the version I installed is indeed the version from f-droid 🙂

[jaydeetay]

Oh that's good to know. I admit that the Fdroid version is somewhat under tested... It was someone else's passion project and beyond making sure that fdroid can build it I've neglected it.

…

On Mon, Jul 13, 2026, 11:36 AM Dale Magee ***@***.***> wrote: *AntiSol* left a comment (sky-map-team/stardroid#937) <#937 (comment)> @jaydeetay <https://github.com/jaydeetay> Thanks for your quick response! I probably should have thought to mention that the version I installed is from f-droid 🙂 — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#937?email_source=notifications&email_token=AD5LWC2UNAMQ4UEEM4I4Y2T5ET6ZHA5CNFSNUABFM5UWIORPF5TWS5BNNB2WEL2JONZXKZKDN5WW2ZLOOQXTIOJVHE3TCNZYGQY2M4TFMFZW63VHNVSW45DJN5XKKZLWMVXHJLDGN5XXIZLSL5RWY2LDNM#issuecomment-4959717841>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AD5LWCZRXAQFU342A5QOJQD5ET6ZHAVCNFSNUABEKJSXA33TNF2G64TZHMZTOMJVGEYDAMB3JFZXG5LFHM2DQNZRGYZTCMJQHGQXMAQ> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[AntiSol]

Well it looks like I've been your tester - I've been using Sky Map from f-droid on and off for about 10 years and it's always worked great! But I haven't used it very much lately - I got a new phone about a year ago and haven't used it very much at all since then. I went to use it the other night and had issues. See also #938, which is probably a bigger problem really.

[jaydeetay]

OK, for now I'm just going to make the error message less wrong. So geocoding still won't work without Google Place Services. This isn't great...but V2 of Sky Map is right around the corner (and I'd love to have you as a beta tester if I can think of a way to do that via FDroid). It looks like the service I use for the map also offers geocoding - I wouldn't want to switch to it entirely because it probably doesn't have that much free quota. Since the map isn't working either right now I'll fix them both at the same time.

[jaydeetay]

I'll leave this open though so we don't miss it for v2.