iPhone 5 and Satellite GPS

Nope. I have Motion X on the iPad Mini. It gives you a vague, endefined signal strength, not any actual sattelite data. Apple really does block access to almost all of the NMEA data, even to developers.

Location services does not give NMEA data, even to developers. No app on Apple can tell you which sattelites you are tracking like a regular GPS does. The data is there ont he chip, but Apple blcoks access to it for whatever reason.

Certainly very few users would have any use at all for that data. To most people "GPS" means the mapping and navigation software that uses position data fromt he actual GPS, not the actual GPS itself.

I'd love to ba able to access that data and be able to output it to other devices for projects, but on Apple stuff you can't. That's pretty much the onlyreason I still have an android phone when I have Apple tablets and a notebook.

Dear all,

Great post! But what is the sensitivity(acquisition, navigation and tracking) in dbm?

I am trying to reach this information to be able to compare to other GPS devices.

all the best,

Hi guys!

Several weeks ago I noticed issues with my iPhone 5 (iOS 7.0.4) using tracking app (like Runtastic, Strava, etc). It was a really poor situation to get a route. After all I had problems using car driving navigation app (like Yandex. Navigator). It was working definatly incorrect. It can't go by route (like it was early) to the point which I set - just a pulsing point moved through a map.

I have got the GPS Info app from the App Store. To test a GPS I turned wi-fi and cellular off . And... BOOM! The sad thing is the horizontal precision of the real GPS working. It was 1414 m. The app said the accuracy is POOR. OK, I reseted privacy settings and settings of connection (Settings > General > Reset). It is better now: the horizontal precision is 65 m ("the accuracy is good" shown). BUT my iPad 3 have only 5 m at the same settings and at the same place! iPad's accuracy is IDEAL here now!

What is the problem with my phone? How could I fix it? Maybe smb have time to get an app and test his iPhone 5 with GPS Info app? What is your result?

Thx in advance!

Hi there,

I joined this thread as a land owner wanting to make specific datapoints of fencelines, water points, water lines, roads etc. So, location accuracy within a few meters is important. I tried going a simple route, i.e. GaiaGPS which i know is a hiking app. I found the app crashed and location accuracy was a bit fuzzy. This led me to want to get a garmin, or perhaps an external GPS receiver. I guess my question is, does anyone have experience using these GPS add-on devices? It seems Bad Elf and DUAL both make them, and they seem to add WAAS capability.

http://gps.dualav.com/explore-by-product/xgps150a/

http://bad-elf.com/products/be-gps-1000

I'm not trying to promote, just understand, thank you in advance!

I used the GPS on my old iP3G for similar use and it worked quite well with the GPSRecorder and GPS Ally apps. I compared lat/long to an old handheld Garmin unit... they weren't identical but seemed to be within a few meters of each other.

So this is a conversation between myself and an Apple Care support rep. Please let me know where I am wrong in my thinking. I am totally confused now.

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It looks like you are having issues with your GPS not working right for you, is that correct?

ME: yes. My gps will no longer work. When connected to wifi or phone signal it seems to operate ok, but when none are available the gps is no longer able to function.

ME; i would like to make sure it is not working before I decide what to do

So sorry you are having this issue. I’ve ran into something similar before as well so I certainly understand what you’re going through. No worries though, you’re in great hands now and I’m sure we’ll figure this out together. I may need to ask some questions throughout our chat to help me understand how you are using , isolate the issue or come up with a resolution for you, will that be OK with you?

ME; great. Yeah I use the gps a lot.

I understand that! I do the something myself. If I don’t know where to go or I’ve never been there before, I GPS it. I also use it a lot for my backing weekends as well.

ME; same here

Where are you currently located at Brent as far as city and state?

ME; Sabinal, Tx

Awesome!

I’d like to have been down there all winter. It had to of been warmer than here.

ME; lol. yeah. It was 88 this weekend

Nice! So to make sure I understand you correctly, when you don’t have a cellular signal or Wi FI signal, your GPS doesn’t work. Does the sound right?

ME; when I dont have a phone signal, the iphone maps app will say "location cannot be determined".

ME; yes. that is correct

ME; i have re-booted, hard re-booted, calibrated compass, etc. I cant get it to come back and work

Sure thing! That actually sounds like it is working how it’s supposed to. Since there isn’t a signal of some sort coming or going from the phone, it has no way to find itself. It needs to have one of those connections in order to find itself in the world.

ME; it has worked in the past without a phone signal. I thought the iphone has a gps receiver

ME; i understand that the iphone will use cell towers to pinpoint its location faster, but can use gps alone to locate, etc

I wish it did but without a signal, it has no way to see what’s around you.

ME:i had my brother's iphone out next to it, and his was able to tract and locate our position without a problem, while mine was not

It must have been connected to a WI FI connection or a cellular connection. It has to have one of the two in order to work.

ME: ok. so you are saying that iphone does not have a gps receiver chip inside of it?

ME: i dont understand, because in the past I have used my gps without any type of singal whatsoever

I’m saying it has to have a connection in order for it to work. It has GPS abilities but it has to have a signal for it to work.

ME: are you talking about gps signal, or tower signals?

That is technically impossible. Even third party GPS units still have a satellite connection.

ME: or example, it will say "no service" and my gps will still work.

Let me see if I can find you some information on it. That way, you can see what I’m talking about.

ME: ok. I am speaking of phone signals. Not gps sattelite signals

ME: this weekend, my brother and I were 20 miles from the nearest wifi signal. both of us had "no service" and could not make calls. His iphone was able to determine our location with the gps app. MIne was not. How is that possible?

It sounds like he had cellular data on his phone.

ME: so from what you are saying, my iphone's gps will not work unless I have a bar of signal?

Correct! It has to have some type of connection to the world. Every GPS unit, in every mobile device, has to have some type of connection.

ME: well i also have an older iphone 3G that doesnt not even have a sim card inside of it and I use the gps app . So even without the sim card it still works?

ME: ok. well what would you suggest I do? So youre saying the iphone is working fine?

ME: this is from apple's support forums. the iPhone does have a GPS receiver, and has since the iPhone 3G. And as Rudegar pointed out, the iPhone also has A-GPS capability, which lets the GPS receiver determine its current location much faster than normal. Without A-GPS, the GPS receiver has to wait -- sometimes multiple minutes -- before it can determine its location, because it doesn't know where the satellites are. A-GPS allows the phone to download satellite almanac data over the cellular network, so the GPS receiver can immediately know where all the satellites are. A-GPS is not necessary, however, for GPS operation -- even if you have no cellular service, you can still use the GPS receiver in the iPhone.

It sounds like it Brent. Her is an article about it that might explain it better. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3157214

ME: is that article wrong?

Let me get you in touch with a senior advisor. That way, you can get the most accurate information.

ME: ok. thanks

Getting them pulled up now for you Brent. One minute.

Is it OK if I let you speak with Matthew now?

sure. \

Great! Wish you the best and here is Matthew

You are now being connected to another Advisor. Please standby.

Now Chatting with Matthew

Thanks for contacting AppleCare chat support. My name is Matthew. Please give me a moment to look over your information.

Hello Brent. I understand that you are having some concerns about your iPhone and using Maps in conjunction with it.

I can see how that is a concern. I know I use Maps to get to a lot of unfamiliar places myself.

ME: the trouble I am having involves the iphone using its offlline gps. In the past, my iphone has worked without any cell tower service (no bars of service or wifi connected). The locations I have used it are 20 miles from the nearest wifi. It has no service whatsoever. However, this hasnt been a problem in the past. I have opened my gps app and was able to determine my location and track me. Now, it will not do that unless I have service (bars).

ME: my old 3GS iphone which does not have a sim card can still track me where there is no service, while my iphone4S cannot. There is something wrong with it. Like I stated earlier, I have been told my multiple other support people that Iphones have a GPS receiver in it, which can determine your location without the need of phone service. Today I have been told something completely different and that my past experiences have shown.

Okay. I do see how that is a difference.

The GPS is a software based feature and is not designed to work without a signal now.

ME: now? Has it changed?

It was not like that before, however if you say that it works, I am not going to say otherewise.

Even on our earlier models it should require a signal.

ME: when you say "signal", do you mean bars?

It may have used cell tower pinging to get an approximate location, but it would have not been true GPS

I mean a connection of some sort.

ME: well, this weekend my brother and I were camping. Neither of us had any "bars of service". His exact same model of iphone was able to quickly determine our location and track us. My iphone4S kept saying "cannot determine location".

ME: we both use the same carrier, etc

Okay. Well you can restore the device back to factory settings. Erasing all the information and putting on a new operating system to see if something with the OS is not allowing your phone to behave as your brothers, however in my opinion it is expected behavior.

ME: another example is that I was at a location where it was not able to determine my location. Two weeks ago my gps was able to pinpoint my location at that sepcific spot. Why has it been able to before, but not now?

ok. I will try restoring it.

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END OF CONVO

(Simple) Tim,

I am in the same situation as you. Have you found a working sollution?