iPhone 3g

[+user13371]

Apart from the other thread(s) discussing a geocaching app, I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has already picked up an iPhone 3G and can tell how good (or bad) the GPS locator is on it?

[+popop]

Apart from the other thread(s) discussing a geocaching app, I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has already picked up an iPhone 3G and can tell how good (or bad) the GPS locator is on it?

 

Got one this morning - haven't tested it a great deal but in general while driving around town it seems very good (accurate and quick responding). While sitting in the livingroom and viewing the aerial photography the pulsing blue dot resided in the neighbors yard about 100 feet off. Hoping to run out tomorrow and hunt a geocache just using the phone.

[hittlets]

Lee,

 

Let us know how it turns out. I have the first generation iPhone and was thinking of using the 3G version to get me started with geocaching (never done it before). I don't want to waste my money on the phone if it would be better for me to go out and just get a GPS unit.

 

Thanks for being the first and giving us your opinion.

 

Tim

 

Apart from the other thread(s) discussing a geocaching app, I'm interested in hearing from anyone who has already picked up an iPhone 3G and can tell how good (or bad) the GPS locator is on it?

 

Got one this morning - haven't tested it a great deal but in general while driving around town it seems very good (accurate and quick responding). While sitting in the livingroom and viewing the aerial photography the pulsing blue dot resided in the neighbors yard about 100 feet off. Hoping to run out tomorrow and hunt a geocache just using the phone.

[TheDeadWalk]

I got mine yesterday!! Waited in line and everything. The GPS seems very accurate, have not been able to get out and test it yet.

[+24hiking]

I got mine yesterday!! Waited in line and everything. The GPS seems very accurate, have not been able to get out and test it yet.

I waited in line for one yesterday as well. I have not attempted to find any caches with it yet, but given that it primarily uses cellular and wi-fi for it's location services, I would bet that it would not be all that great for geocaching. What I would love to see would be an iPhone app that could give you all the relevant cache details and log your find.

[+slycrel]

I waited in line for one yesterday as well. I have not attempted to find any caches with it yet, but given that it primarily uses cellular and wi-fi for it's location services, I would bet that it would not be all that great for geocaching. What I would love to see would be an iPhone app that could give you all the relevant cache details and log your find.

 

The new iPhone has a GPS built into it. It uses A-GPS, meaning that the wifi and cell towers just seed it location information to start with -- it doesn't have to wait to figure out where the sattelites are, it already has a good idea. From there it uses the GPS just like any other GPS unit, it just has a headstart on what the time/date and general location are. For example it doesn't have to hunt around for the sattelites, it knows which ones should be in view.

[+oneeyesquare]

A teardown pic of the logic board from iFixit ( GPS chip is a Infineon Hammerhead™ II - PMB 2525)

 

The Infineon manufacturer's page

 

Wikipedia for aGPS

 

A nice thread at macrumours addressing an errant poster.

 

Real.GPS.

 

To address the OP: My local ATT store was sold out and I have no desire to wait in line at the Apple store. Maybe Monday. If I snag one Monday, Ill do a little mini review here and compare it to my Glofiish x500+. I wish there were some caching programs available.... (opens iTunes to check the Navigation section again)

Edited July 13, 2008 by oneeyesquare

[+ReadyOrNot]

Got mine today.. I'm in Portland, OR and for some reason, anytime I go to google maps, it pinpoints my location in Austin, Texas?!??!?!

 

Not sure at this point what's going on... Other than that, it works great. Can't wait for some geocaching apps to come out for it.

[TheDeadWalk]

Has worked very well for me in the car. Just picked it up yesterday and have not used it a lot. With a good geocaching app, I think it will work quite well, but as a noob, what do i know.

[+nicolo]

I picked up one on Friday ( managed to buy my way to 9th in line, whew ).

 

How are you folks using the GPSr for the 3G? I am trying to figure out how it's used, what apps use it ( I'm feeling like a simpleton! ).

[+Artsifrtsy]

I was the last one to get a phone Friday at my local AT&T store. It locates you with a circle like the original iPhone but the more info the phone can acquire the smaller the circle. I am on a business trip in Atlanta so I have been expermenting whenever the rain stops. In a building it gives a circle of about 4 blocks. Under open sky it is able to pinpoint me pretty closely. I plan to compare it to my hndheld when I get home.

[+JMoravetz]

I was the last one to get a phone Friday at my local AT&T store. It locates you with a circle like the original iPhone but the more info the phone can acquire the smaller the circle. I am on a business trip in Atlanta so I have been expermenting whenever the rain stops. In a building it gives a circle of about 4 blocks. Under open sky it is able to pinpoint me pretty closely. I plan to compare it to my hndheld when I get home.

 

I tried to cache today but geocaching.com has had pitiful service today. Without it, I was just walking in circles. The GPS is great on the iPhone 3G though. Can't wait for the site to come back.

[+nicolo]

I was the last one to get a phone Friday at my local AT&T store. It locates you with a circle like the original iPhone but the more info the phone can acquire the smaller the circle.

...

OK, I got it, thanks. I used to route me to an AMC this AM.

 

Is there an app that is showing coordinates? How are people trying to cache with it?

[Fear Itself]

I got one on Friday also, I hoping to use it for paperless caching, I'm just waiting for someone with more experience than me to post a how-to including any apps necessary.

 

David

[Grunderwear]

I was the last one to get a phone Friday at my local AT&T store. It locates you with a circle like the original iPhone but the more info the phone can acquire the smaller the circle.

...

OK, I got it, thanks. I used to route me to an AMC this AM.

 

Is there an app that is showing coordinates? How are people trying to cache with it?

 

I got mine on Friday as well and am happy with the accuracy but bummed by the lack of location data. It seems about the best the iPhone offers out of the box is the Google map blue pin, but no coordinates. If anyone knows how to get the coordinates displayed or how to enter a location on the iphone's google map as coordinates (instead of a street address), please post.

 

The quickest solution I've found is to download the little weather App call Nav Clock for $1.99. It displays your current coordinates. Seems to be pretty accurate, but it only updates every minute or so. So, today I used the Google map satellite view to get close to the cache, then the weather coordinates to get right to it. Not ideal, but while there is no point to point GPS app available (that I know of) it will have to do.

[PercyKittenz]

Google Maps already supports GPS coordinates. All you have to do is put them into the search. For example, in the input I typed "N 33 34.390, w 117 38.856" and it put a waypoint at the correct spot. Then I tell Google Maps to locate me and I can track my location moving toward the waypoint. It isn't going to give you the distance, so you won't really have any idea if you're 100ft or 10 ft from the cache, nor will you know if it's 5 miles or 20 miles, unless you know the area. If you try to do a search using the Directions search, where it tracks from your starting point to the endpoint, it'll estimate your coordinates to the nearest street, so that may not be preferable.

[+Photo_gal]

Google Maps already supports GPS coordinates. All you have to do is put them into the search. For example, in the input I typed "N 33 34.390, w 117 38.856" and it put a waypoint at the correct spot. Then I tell Google Maps to locate me and I can track my location moving toward the waypoint. ..

 

I appreciate the info! I just got my 3G iPhone on Friday (arrived at AT&T at 6:30 am - should have gotten there sooner). I just now input coords as you said and it worked great. I then saved the coords as a Contact - with the GC # and description. However, when I tried to get directions at that point, I found that iPhone automatically adds "United States of America" to the location, so then I get an error that it can't find the location. I can't figure out how to delete the country from within the contact card, but I can delete it within the Maps app. This certainly doesn't make for efficient geocaching, but it is fun to see the possibilities.

 

I tried to go out caching today with just the iPhone and my Garmin 60CSx - and found that Geocaching.com had web problems! I confirmed with my husband that the same problems existed on our laptops at home. Not a good first try!

 

FYI - I emailed Trimble about a Geocache Navigator for the iPhone - they said they haven't started to work on an app, but they hope too. I hope others have an app released soon!

[+Artsifrtsy]

A couple of months ago someone posted a link to an early app that let you input coordinates. It was one of the 1G simple apps that was a website. I'll see if I can find a link.

[+user13371]

[deleted]

Edited July 16, 2008 by lee_rimar

[Grunderwear]

Google Maps already supports GPS coordinates. All you have to do is put them into the search. For example, in the input I typed "N 33 34.390, w 117 38.856" and it put a waypoint at the correct spot. Then I tell Google Maps to locate me and I can track my location moving toward the waypoint. It isn't going to give you the distance, so you won't really have any idea if you're 100ft or 10 ft from the cache, nor will you know if it's 5 miles or 20 miles, unless you know the area. If you try to do a search using the Directions search, where it tracks from your starting point to the endpoint, it'll estimate your coordinates to the nearest street, so that may not be preferable.

 

Thanks for that tip, works like a charm. For what it's worth I've used the iPhone for 3 caches now along with my Magellen Platinum to check accuracy. Although I've seen people complaining about it's accuracy, the iphone GPS works fine for me and appears very accurate. Obviously it still needs a good geocaching app, but at least the hardware appears sufficient.

[+jbhodj & Drake]

Edited July 16, 2008 by jbhodj & Drake

[+avaloncourt]

I haven't been in the forums for ages. I had the first iPhone which was dismal for accurate locating in the maps app. I have the 3G and it's very accurate. Big thumbs up. I look forward to trying it for a cache.

 

As for the coordinate entry comments, since there is no cut and paste, you'll save yourself a huge amount of jumping around by entering decimal degrees. Just use the "other conversions" link next to the location.

 

This is a lot fewer key strokes and jumping between screens in 41.63757 -80.15465 than N 41° 38.254 W 080° 09.279

Edited July 16, 2008 by avaloncourt

[+SS Cachelot]

We waited in line for the new 3g on the 11th. The location finder is okay, although my Garmin GPSMap 60csx is better. What I'm wondering is, does anyone out there know of any good Geocaching applications for the IPhone 3g?

[PercyKittenz]

As for the coordinate entry comments, since there is no cut and paste, you'll save yourself a huge amount of jumping around by entering decimal degrees. Just use the "other conversions" link next to the location.

 

This is a lot fewer key strokes and jumping between screens in 41.63757 -80.15465 than N 41° 38.254 W 080° 09.279

 

Better yet, if you're browsing the cache page on your iPhone already, there's a link on the page to Google Maps between the description and the logs under "For online maps...". If you click it, it opens up the Google Maps app with the location marked for you, and then you're off and ready to go.

 

Then you can go back in Safari and add your log when you find it. Now all we need is an app that finds your coordinates and gives you a list of nearby caches and we've got an on-the-go paperless cache solution!

[+popop]

Google Maps already supports GPS coordinates. All you have to do is put them into the search. For example, in the input I typed "N 33 34.390, w 117 38.856" and it put a waypoint at the correct spot. Then I tell Google Maps to locate me and I can track my location moving toward the waypoint. It isn't going to give you the distance, so you won't really have any idea if you're 100ft or 10 ft from the cache, nor will you know if it's 5 miles or 20 miles, unless you know the area. If you try to do a search using the Directions search, where it tracks from your starting point to the endpoint, it'll estimate your coordinates to the nearest street, so that may not be preferable.

 

I've done it exactly as PercyKittenz describes above - see blog entry for details.

 

This process is slow enough that I'll probably only cache with the iPhone when I find myself with a little time to kill when I wasn't expecting to go caching. That is until someone develops a good caching app

[+slycrel]

 

I've done it exactly as PercyKittenz describes above - see blog entry for details.

 

This process is slow enough that I'll probably only cache with the iPhone when I find myself with a little time to kill when I wasn't expecting to go caching. That is until someone develops a good caching app

 

That is, assuming that apple will allow a geocaching app on their store. Look here for my fight to get something that is fairly basic through their submission process.

[+user13371]

...assuming that apple will allow a geocaching app on their store. Look here for my fight to get something that is fairly basic through their submission process.

Okay, I read it, and...

 

It doesn't sound like Apple has anything against geocaching apps per se, but they want developers to follow specific interface guidelines for ANY apps. Whether you (or any developer) likes that or not, it does sound to me they're telling you why it doesn't pass review and what they would rather have.

 

I have a little webapp I wrote (not geocaching, something else) that suits my needs. And even though I think other folks might find it useful, I haven't bothered to turn it into a "real" iPhone app or tried to get it on the App Store because...

 

- I don't want to pay the $99 for a developer certificate

- I don't want/need Apple to tell me the buttons are the wrong color, oddly placed, or confusing

 

But that's getting off-topic. How do you like your iPhone 3g?

Edited July 17, 2008 by lee_rimar

[TheDeadWalk]

Kinda an old thread but I would like to say as a beginning cacher, I use my iPhone 3G with great success. I just stick the coords into google maps and use the GPS. Accurate, quick, and no problems so far. As for apps, theres one called Geopher Lite, and theres another one coming to the market soon. Not sure when.

[+Photo_gal]

We waited in line for the new 3g on the 11th. The location finder is okay, although my Garmin GPSMap 60csx is better. What I'm wondering is, does anyone out there know of any good Geocaching applications for the IPhone 3g?

 

Check out iGeoacher in the Apple app store. I have downloaded it ($15) and am checking it out, but I haven't used it in the field yet. It just came out today. The developer is very responsive and maintains a yahoo group for discussions about the app. I will continue to load coords to my Garmin GPSMap 60csx also, but this will give me all the paperless cache info - without being connected to the web.