IPhone 5 to hide Cache?

[+thepartydj]

I just got an IPhone and have been Geocaching for 2 years now.

When I went to hide a cache today, I realized I cannot use the official Geocache app to deploy this hide.

Is this correct or am I missing something?

[+Lieblweb]

The Groundspeak App does not take coordinates..... It only allows you to find caches.

 

I would NOT recommend hiding a cache using the iphone (or any smart phone) without having the coordinates checked and/or verified for accuracy via other forms of GPS devices. That's just my own opinion.

 

There are plenty of other Apps that will take & average coordinates. A couple years ago, I used to use "Perfect Mark" - a free App. There might be more available to you at this point in time.

[+markcase]

Moving this discussion to GPS and Technology. More appropriate forum. Hope you can get some better tips.

 

Mark Case

Education Forum Moderator

[+coggins]

You can use the following app to mark a waypoint (and more):

Commander Compass Lite

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/commander-compass-lite/id340268949?mt=8

[RihhanaNZ]

I got it. Thanks Coggins for the input.

[+northernpenguin]

I like to use an app called Perfect Mark to average coordinates with my iPhone 5. Works great.

 

As long as you take your time, the phone can be pretty darn accurate. Use caution in challenging conditions (deep ravine, wet forest) and perhaps take a few readings at different times, as the iPhone's GPS antenna is not as good as a dedicated handheld GPS, typically. The iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5 are much better than the previous iPhones for accuracy, both also support GLONASS.

[+germanybert]

For the sake of the cachers in your area please don't use any smart phone.

[+Chief301]

For the sake of the cachers in your area please don't use any smart phone.

 

This is outdated thinking. GPS accuracy is much better these days than it used to be. I have both an iPhone 4 and a Garmin Oregon 550 and i see very little difference in accuracy between the two.

 

A few years ago, when smartphones used cell tower triangulation to determine location, coordinates were notoriously bad. The hardware is not the problem anymore. The problem as I see it is that smartphone hiders tend to be newbies at caching and don't understand the intricacies of obtaining good coordinates. They haven't yet educated themselves about how GPS actually works. They put their cache under a bush, fire up the Geocaching app, jot down the numbers under Current Location, and rush home to submit their cache listing. Doing the same thing with a dedicated GPSr would result is equally crappy coordinates.

 

With proper care and waypoint averaging, good coordinates can be obtained with a smartphone. It's more about proper technique than hardware.

 

I'm sure some will still disagree, but that's my take on it.

[+Lieblweb]

This is outdated thinking. GPS accuracy is much better these days than it used to be. I have both an iPhone 4 and a Garmin Oregon 550 and i see very little difference in accuracy between the two.

 

A few years ago, when smartphones used cell tower triangulation to determine location, coordinates were notoriously bad. The hardware is not the problem anymore. The problem as I see it is that smartphone hiders tend to be newbies at caching and don't understand the intricacies of obtaining good coordinates. They haven't yet educated themselves about how GPS actually works. They put their cache under a bush, fire up the Geocaching app, jot down the numbers under Current Location, and rush home to submit their cache listing. Doing the same thing with a dedicated GPSr would result is equally crappy coordinates.

 

With proper care and waypoint averaging, good coordinates can be obtained with a smartphone. It's more about proper technique than hardware.

 

I'm sure some will still disagree, but that's my take on it.

 

The only reason you can say that ....is because you have a handheld GPS to verify the phone coordinates. Otherwise - you probably would not hide a cache strictly using the phone without verifying. Just sayin....

 

Surely - hiding a cache with the phone is doable. However - I personally would not recommended it. A lot more 'care' & 'patience' needs to be involved when using only the phone. The phones take soooo long to settle and get a good read/lock on a position. MUCH longer than a handheld GPS. Needing that extra time to 'lock' in (per say) - is not Operator error, but technology error. And that is why its not nearly such a good idea using the phone vs a GPS.

[+Team-Facetious]

I successfully used an iPhone to hide a cache. It list your current coords on the home screen of the app. I let them settle and took a reading. Walked away and came back from another angle and took another reading. I done this a few times and averaged them quite successfully. It's right on in an over head map such as google maps and when checked with a GPSr it's good. Didn't I read somewhere that iPhone 4s and 5's have a rpetty decent GPS chip and utilize the GLONASS system?

[+northernpenguin]

Didn't I read somewhere that iPhone 4s and 5's have a rpetty decent GPS chip and utilize the GLONASS system?

 

Yup. About four posts up

 

I am in the camp that "don't use smartphones" is outdated. Don't use old smartphones. Don't rush the process. The main advantage the dedicated GPS has over your phone is that you probably turned on the GPS back at the car so it's had a lock for quite some time vs you probably just pulled your phone out of your pocket, and it needs a couple minutes for the location to settle down. I regularly go trail running with my iPhone 4. Not my iPhone 5(employer's), my iPhone 4. I have also taken a GPS with me from time to time. Most of the time my Runkeeper track recorded on the iPhone is almost identical to the one recorded on my Garmin Colorado 400t or my Garmin eTrex 30. This is running on trails, in valleys and forests not open sky pavement.

 

If you have a modern smartphone, that is mid to premium price point (no $50 phones here), and you take your time recording the location it can quite nicely replace a discrete GPSr unit.

 

[+Team-Facetious]

Didn't I read somewhere that iPhone 4s and 5's have a pretty decent GPS chip and utilize the GLONASS system?

 

Yup. About four posts up

Hah, oops, but it was actually on another site. Yes, I'm guilty of not reading the above post. I have used my iPhone 4 up until a few days ago when I received my Oregon 600. I like using MapMyRun or MapMyRide. I've used Gaia GPS in the woods a few times with pre saved topo maps or OSM when I lost cell service to navigate around pretty easily.

[+crunchewy]

Never mind!

Edited May 17, 2013 by crunchewy

[+crunchewy]

I like to use an app called Perfect Mark to average coordinates with my iPhone 5. Works great.

 

As long as you take your time, the phone can be pretty darn accurate. Use caution in challenging conditions (deep ravine, wet forest) and perhaps take a few readings at different times, as the iPhone's GPS antenna is not as good as a dedicated handheld GPS, typically. The iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5 are much better than the previous iPhones for accuracy, both also support GLONASS.

 

Does the Perfect Mark app allow you to enter GPS coordinates (that you read from a GPS device) and do an averaging of that info, or is strictly for using the GPS of the iPhone? If not is there an app that does that for iOS?

[+Chief301]

I like to use an app called Perfect Mark to average coordinates with my iPhone 5. Works great.

 

As long as you take your time, the phone can be pretty darn accurate. Use caution in challenging conditions (deep ravine, wet forest) and perhaps take a few readings at different times, as the iPhone's GPS antenna is not as good as a dedicated handheld GPS, typically. The iPhone 4S and the iPhone 5 are much better than the previous iPhones for accuracy, both also support GLONASS.

 

Does the Perfect Mark app allow you to enter GPS coordinates (that you read from a GPS device) and do an averaging of that info, or is strictly for using the GPS of the iPhone? If not is there an app that does that for iOS?

 

Yes. It's called a calculator.

 

 

 

 

 

(Sorry, couldn't resist...... )

[+CindySknits]

Just wanted to say this has been very helpful. I'm afraid I did exactly what the "what not to do" post said above. But I purchased the Perfect Mark app (evidently it's no longer free...99 cents) and will go back to my cache location and do some averaging. Fortunately my cache is still under review so maybe I can avoid frustrating fellow geocachers.

[RihhanaNZ]

Apple replaced Google maps with its own version. Read more at http://www.advancedcomputers.co.nz/computer-tips/7-common-iphone-5-faults-and-their-fixes/

[+Les roux]

I regularly use my iPhone4 to take the coordinates of my new hides and never have issues. I even ofter get comments that my coordinates are very good. I think it is more about the technique used to take the coordinates. I try to take 5-6 readings coming from different directions and with the accuracy at +-5 (+-10 at worst). I take a snapshot of each reading and then do the easy math at home to find the average coordinates.

 

In few words: no problem using an iPhone (or other smartphone), just take your time!