How can I get the GPS coordinates of a given location?

The following is for use with Apple Maps on iOS.

1. Drop pin for the location you are seeking GPS coordinates.
2. Select that saves (pined) location. At this point you will be able to view the coordinates on screen.
3. Click the share button
4. Select Email
5. Double click the GPS coordinates to select them by double tapping them within the URL link (they are towards the end, just before "&t=r" or something like that.
6. Tap copy
7. Past them into the required program (an example would be SpyGlass).

Latitude and Longitude of a point. Enter an address, or click on a map location.

The navigation apps for the iPhone support GPS coordinates but I don't think the OS X Maps app does this.

I need these data in order to insert them in an external device (Garmin GPS Automotive).

It is a bit involved, but you can extract the GPS by sharing your location. Drop the pin on the location on the map you want, then press the "Share" button with the curved arrow and share the location to your Contacts.

In the Contacts.app search for "Dropped Pin". The card will show a URL. The GPS is part of the URL:

Click the URL. The GPS will show in the search field of the map and you can copy and paste it from there:

Probably there is an easier way, but I have yet to discover it.

😁

Added: If you need the GPS frequently, it might be easier for the time being to extract them from Google maps on your Mac: https://maps.google.de

Ctrl-Click on any location on a Google map, use the command "What is here" from the contextual menu, and the gps will show in the search field.

You may wish to send feedback to Apple with a feature request. It is absurd, to have to use complicated work-arounds for the most basic task, to get the precise position of a location. You cannot even measure it on the map, because there is no longitude-latitude grid.

http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html

Thanks for that tip. I was wondering about this too. I've been using the excellent shareware app eMaps since it was quick and was easy to copy coordinates out from any dropped pin. I just learned today why my eMaps had stopped working this past week. According to the developer, "Google has turned down Maps API services used by eMaps to display contents." :-(

I had expected that the Mavericks Maps app would at least do this and was suprised when it couldn't. It's of little use to me without it. Léonie's clever workaround is far too complicated to do many times a day.

I'd given up on Google Earth which is slow and buggy when all I want to do is quickly launch a map to find a coordinate (and then I had to copy the latitude and longitude separately). Léonie's control-click "What is here?" in maps.google.com looks like that best way for now. Thanks for that.

Before returning to Google, I'm sending a feature request to Apple.

Good idea. Unfortunately Apple do not have a good record when it comes to Maps. They have confessed that themselves. I followed the Apple maps and am currently somewhere between Dubai and Atlantis. I was only going to the newsagency down the road. 😝

Cheers

Pete

I was only going to the newsagency down the road. 😝

Have you been hijacked?

léonie wrote:

I was only going to the newsagency down the road. 😝

Have you been hijacked?

I don't think so. I was just following the map. Still don't know how I found that road across the Ocean! 🙂

Pete

Second that! Will send feedback. Can't believe they left that out.

This (from Leonie) doesn't work at all for Mavericks - sharing a dropped pin to an email (outlook) doesn't work at all but just generates an email that says "map .". Adding the dropped pin to contacts no longer provides a URL containing coordinates, and even asking for directions to a pin merely drops another pin on a (sort of) nearby location at the nearest street address. What exactly is the point of this application?

Was Wi-Fi turned on or off? Apple Maps accuracy depends on your access to points it uses to triangulate (cell towers & Wi-Fi signals from nearby routers). The more urban the area the greater accuracy, the more rural the area, the more your milage will vary.

Yes, this may be a basic task, but let's not lose our perspective here... exporting GPS coordinates is not a common basic task the most users need or will ever do. I am a big fan of GPS, as exuser of a Garmin GPS device and GPS software on laptop as a traveling salesmen back in the mid 90's. But I have found that I don't even use GPS coordinates that much anymore. Apple is about simplyfing the most common used tasks. If I was Apple, this would be FAR down my on my customer service task list...as I am sure the request for it are.

...also, keep in mind there are websites dedicated to finding longitude and latitude..and making them available for copy and paste. Just Google "Get longitude latitude." These sites are for mapping enthusiasts (geeks), which I don't believe Apple is trying to appease or compete with.