I have a bike attachment for my iPhone 4 that connects with a cadance sensor and uses GPS to track my speed and distance. would all of this still work if i didnt have service anymore? Thinking of getting the new iPhone 5, but it wont fit in the holder.
I have heard that the iPhone has a GPS chip in it, so it should work, but when outside of cell range, my GPS quits while my friend with a seperate GPS still works.
thanks
iPhone 4, iOS 5.1.1
You have answered your own question. It uses the cell phone towers and wifi connections to triangulate your position. Global Positioning isn't really a direct connect to satelite like most of your hiking / camping / fishing GPS systems.
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Check this out for more info.
http://www.macworld.com/article/1159528/how_iphone_location_works.html
Satelite tracking can occur but it is very slow and depends on you previous know location to track the satelites in orbit. The result is a device looking an calculating for over 12 minutes to finalize location. If you have moved, rotated, change elevation it will need at least another 12 minutes to recalculate. It is truly "Assisted GPS" which is dependent on other factors. Camping, Biking GPS is direct with satelite and tracks multiple satelites constantly. My Magellan tracks 14 satelites simultaneously to give you a comparison to the one at a time situation.
Does GPS work without phone service
