Poor GPS Refresh Rate

[+-OZZ-]

Hi, I'm finding the blue GPS position dot a lot slower in the new app compared to the old app. Especially when in a car you (as a passenger) you can often pass the cache as the phone hasn't caught up.

 

Couple of vids of the issue.

 

Old app: Old app

 

New app: New app

 

Can some tweaks be made to make it the same as the old app? It was so much better.

 

Thanks

[+BlackRose67]

Possibly related to this issue (coordinates are all zero on the compass screen); http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=341552

[+pseudoprime]

Before I was having the latter problem, I was having the former. Samsung Galaxy S4, in case that matters.

[+bdp]

The refresh rate has degraded in recent updates dramatically. I've been using the "new" app pretty much for a year. The GPS refresh has gotten really annoying now in that you can be up to 500 ft past the cache before the update happens. This does not happen using any other GPS tracking app on the same phone and I'm sure that it wasn't this bad at tracking 6 months ago.

The Compass sitting at zero's and 1.2 miles is recent and showed up in recent updates.

[ohgood]

The refresh rate has degraded in recent updates dramatically. I've been using the "new" app pretty much for a year. The GPS refresh has gotten really annoying now in that you can be up to 500 ft past the cache before the update happens. This does not happen using any other GPS tracking app on the same phone and I'm sure that it wasn't this bad at tracking 6 months ago.

The Compass sitting at zero's and 1.2 miles is recent and showed up in recent updates.

 

have you tried clearing the cache for that application? if there are other applications requesting GPS info it can make one (or all) of them lag in reporting position.

[+bdp]

The refresh rate has degraded in recent updates dramatically. I've been using the "new" app pretty much for a year. The GPS refresh has gotten really annoying now in that you can be up to 500 ft past the cache before the update happens. This does not happen using any other GPS tracking app on the same phone and I'm sure that it wasn't this bad at tracking 6 months ago.

The Compass sitting at zero's and 1.2 miles is recent and showed up in recent updates.

 

have you tried clearing the cache for that application? if there are other applications requesting GPS info it can make one (or all) of them lag in reporting position.

The only app that has issues with GPS displaying is the new Geocaching app.

[ohgood]

The refresh rate has degraded in recent updates dramatically. I've been using the "new" app pretty much for a year. The GPS refresh has gotten really annoying now in that you can be up to 500 ft past the cache before the update happens. This does not happen using any other GPS tracking app on the same phone and I'm sure that it wasn't this bad at tracking 6 months ago.

The Compass sitting at zero's and 1.2 miles is recent and showed up in recent updates.

 

have you tried clearing the cache for that application? if there are other applications requesting GPS info it can make one (or all) of them lag in reporting position.

The only app that has issues with GPS displaying is the new Geocaching app.

 

well that stinks. have you posted a bug about it ? maybe that would help ?

[+rocketgarden]

Hi, I'm finding the blue GPS position dot a lot slower in the new app compared to the old app. Especially when in a car you (as a passenger) you can often pass the cache as the phone hasn't caught up.

 

Couple of vids of the issue.

 

Old app: Old app

 

New app: New app

 

Can some tweaks be made to make it the same as the old app? It was so much better.

 

Thanks

The refresh rate has degraded in recent updates dramatically. I've been using the "new" app pretty much for a year. The GPS refresh has gotten really annoying now in that you can be up to 500 ft past the cache before the update happens. This does not happen using any other GPS tracking app on the same phone and I'm sure that it wasn't this bad at tracking 6 months ago.

The Compass sitting at zero's and 1.2 miles is recent and showed up in recent updates.

 

We're aware of the compass zeroes issue and have put in a fix that should go out with the next release.

 

As for the GPS refresh rate: The app request updates from the system at a rate of every 5 seconds, or 15 meters of displacement. Looking at your video, it seems to be behaving as intended. However, if it's refreshing so slowly that you can walk several hundred feet between updates, that would indicate a problem, and we'd love to hear more.

 

[+bdp]

Hi, I'm finding the blue GPS position dot a lot slower in the new app compared to the old app. Especially when in a car you (as a passenger) you can often pass the cache as the phone hasn't caught up.

 

Couple of vids of the issue.

 

Old app: Old app

 

New app: New app

 

Can some tweaks be made to make it the same as the old app? It was so much better.

 

Thanks

The refresh rate has degraded in recent updates dramatically. I've been using the "new" app pretty much for a year. The GPS refresh has gotten really annoying now in that you can be up to 500 ft past the cache before the update happens. This does not happen using any other GPS tracking app on the same phone and I'm sure that it wasn't this bad at tracking 6 months ago.

The Compass sitting at zero's and 1.2 miles is recent and showed up in recent updates.

 

We're aware of the compass zeroes issue and have put in a fix that should go out with the next release.

 

As for the GPS refresh rate: The app request updates from the system at a rate of every 5 seconds, or 15 meters of displacement. Looking at your video, it seems to be behaving as intended. However, if it's refreshing so slowly that you can walk several hundred feet between updates, that would indicate a problem, and we'd love to hear more.

 

Clearly 5 seconds is tooooooo long. This is a huge issue and usability problem. Every other GPS enabled app seems to be able to do a continuous update and not this INTENTIONAL?????????

5 second delay. That is way way way to long .... or 15 meters of displacement???? Really????? On an app where we are looking for things within FEET????? 15 Meters and 5 seconds is

absolutely HUGE!!!!!

 

Please fix this.

[+niraD]

or 15 meters of displacement???? Really????? On an app where we are looking for things within FEET?????

Under ideal conditions, a consumer GPS-based device will be accurate to about 3m (10ft). So when you're standing still, your device's reading can vary by 3m. And that's under ideal conditions. Under less than ideal conditions, the variation can be significantly higher.

 

It may be that 5 seconds and 15m is too long, and the app should be tuned to improve its performance. But these values aren't as wildly inappropriate as your post seems to imply.

[ohgood]

Hi, I'm finding the blue GPS position dot a lot slower in the new app compared to the old app. Especially when in a car you (as a passenger) you can often pass the cache as the phone hasn't caught up.

 

Couple of vids of the issue.

 

Old app: Old app

 

New app: New app

 

Can some tweaks be made to make it the same as the old app? It was so much better.

 

Thanks

The refresh rate has degraded in recent updates dramatically. I've been using the "new" app pretty much for a year. The GPS refresh has gotten really annoying now in that you can be up to 500 ft past the cache before the update happens. This does not happen using any other GPS tracking app on the same phone and I'm sure that it wasn't this bad at tracking 6 months ago.

The Compass sitting at zero's and 1.2 miles is recent and showed up in recent updates.

 

We're aware of the compass zeroes issue and have put in a fix that should go out with the next release.

 

As for the GPS refresh rate: The app request updates from the system at a rate of every 5 seconds, or 15 meters of displacement. Looking at your video, it seems to be behaving as intended. However, if it's refreshing so slowly that you can walk several hundred feet between updates, that would indicate a problem, and we'd love to hear more.

 

Clearly 5 seconds is tooooooo long. This is a huge issue and usability problem. Every other GPS enabled app seems to be able to do a continuous update and not this INTENTIONAL?????????

5 second delay. That is way way way to long .... or 15 meters of displacement???? Really????? On an app where we are looking for things within FEET????? 15 Meters and 5 seconds is

absolutely HUGE!!!!!

 

Please fix this.

 

Five seconds is fine for navigation to the area, but once in the area (300 feet or so) it (that application) could switch to two seconds for reporting position. Most of the devices can report every second, so two should be acceptable, unless there is a reason for not using those as a frequency?

[+bdp]

Hi, I'm finding the blue GPS position dot a lot slower in the new app compared to the old app. Especially when in a car you (as a passenger) you can often pass the cache as the phone hasn't caught up.

 

Couple of vids of the issue.

 

Old app: Old app

 

New app: New app

 

Can some tweaks be made to make it the same as the old app? It was so much better.

 

Thanks

The refresh rate has degraded in recent updates dramatically. I've been using the "new" app pretty much for a year. The GPS refresh has gotten really annoying now in that you can be up to 500 ft past the cache before the update happens. This does not happen using any other GPS tracking app on the same phone and I'm sure that it wasn't this bad at tracking 6 months ago.

The Compass sitting at zero's and 1.2 miles is recent and showed up in recent updates.

 

We're aware of the compass zeroes issue and have put in a fix that should go out with the next release.

 

As for the GPS refresh rate: The app request updates from the system at a rate of every 5 seconds, or 15 meters of displacement. Looking at your video, it seems to be behaving as intended. However, if it's refreshing so slowly that you can walk several hundred feet between updates, that would indicate a problem, and we'd love to hear more.

 

Clearly 5 seconds is tooooooo long. This is a huge issue and usability problem. Every other GPS enabled app seems to be able to do a continuous update and not this INTENTIONAL?????????

5 second delay. That is way way way to long .... or 15 meters of displacement???? Really????? On an app where we are looking for things within FEET????? 15 Meters and 5 seconds is

absolutely HUGE!!!!!

 

Please fix this.

 

Five seconds is fine for navigation to the area, but once in the area (300 feet or so) it (that application) could switch to two seconds for reporting position. Most of the devices can report every second, so two should be acceptable, unless there is a reason for not using those as a frequency?

I understand the offset accuracy but 5 seconds traveling in a car when you are at 300 feet and then next update you are at 300 feet past the cache is not good.

This app didn't used to have this issue. This is a recent development.

15 meters displacement again is just bad.

We are trying to locate items within much smaller areas then 15 meters which by the way is 49.2 Feet -- if you are in the woods, it takes a while to move 49.2 feet.

Not good.

 

I happen to like this app and use it as my primary -- however, these are the things that other cachers are constantly complaining about and why they don't want to switch

from the Classic app -- which doesn't appear to have this issue, nor does c:geo, nor does Cachly.

Again - 5 seconds and 15 meters are arbitrary numbers which are detrimental to the usability of the app on the whole.

Add to this the recent bug of starting off at 1.2 Miles really makes it bad.

I've gotten out of the car with 3 other cachers (running the other apps) -- and I have to stand around for 30-60 seconds before I can even figure out where to go - meanwhile

the others have located the cache.

[+rocketgarden]

We picked 5 seconds as a compromise between performance and battery life. GPS is only accurate to within 10-15 meters, and at an average walking speed a human will only move 5-10 meters every five seconds anyways. If you're close enough that 15 meters makes a difference, I suggest putting the phone down and looking with your eyes

 

That said, I will bring up the possibility of reducing the interval with the rest of the dev team, but I can't make any promises

 

EDIT: I was wrong, our minimum displacement is only 1 meter .

Edited October 19, 2016 by rocketgarden

[ohgood]

Hi, I'm finding the blue GPS position dot a lot slower in the new app compared to the old app. Especially when in a car you (as a passenger) you can often pass the cache as the phone hasn't caught up.

 

Couple of vids of the issue.

 

Old app: Old app

 

New app: New app

 

Can some tweaks be made to make it the same as the old app? It was so much better.

 

Thanks

The refresh rate has degraded in recent updates dramatically. I've been using the "new" app pretty much for a year. The GPS refresh has gotten really annoying now in that you can be up to 500 ft past the cache before the update happens. This does not happen using any other GPS tracking app on the same phone and I'm sure that it wasn't this bad at tracking 6 months ago.

The Compass sitting at zero's and 1.2 miles is recent and showed up in recent updates.

 

We're aware of the compass zeroes issue and have put in a fix that should go out with the next release.

 

As for the GPS refresh rate: The app request updates from the system at a rate of every 5 seconds, or 15 meters of displacement. Looking at your video, it seems to be behaving as intended. However, if it's refreshing so slowly that you can walk several hundred feet between updates, that would indicate a problem, and we'd love to hear more.

 

Clearly 5 seconds is tooooooo long. This is a huge issue and usability problem. Every other GPS enabled app seems to be able to do a continuous update and not this INTENTIONAL?????????

5 second delay. That is way way way to long .... or 15 meters of displacement???? Really????? On an app where we are looking for things within FEET????? 15 Meters and 5 seconds is

absolutely HUGE!!!!!

 

Please fix this.

 

Five seconds is fine for navigation to the area, but once in the area (300 feet or so) it (that application) could switch to two seconds for reporting position. Most of the devices can report every second, so two should be acceptable, unless there is a reason for not using those as a frequency?

I understand the offset accuracy but 5 seconds traveling in a car when you are at 300 feet and then next update you are at 300 feet past the cache is not good.

This app didn't used to have this issue. This is a recent development.

15 meters displacement again is just bad.

We are trying to locate items within much smaller areas then 15 meters which by the way is 49.2 Feet -- if you are in the woods, it takes a while to move 49.2 feet.

Not good.

 

I happen to like this app and use it as my primary -- however, these are the things that other cachers are constantly complaining about and why they don't want to switch

from the Classic app -- which doesn't appear to have this issue, nor does c:geo, nor does Cachly.

Again - 5 seconds and 15 meters are arbitrary numbers which are detrimental to the usability of the app on the whole.

Add to this the recent bug of starting off at 1.2 Miles really makes it bad.

I've gotten out of the car with 3 other cachers (running the other apps) -- and I have to stand around for 30-60 seconds before I can even figure out where to go - meanwhile

the others have located the cache.

 

sorry, i wasn't making excuses for the long refresh times or big distances.... i was hoping to point out that the app could be smart enough to CHANGE from 5 seconds (or whatever amount) to a shorter frequency once you're x feet from the cache area.

 

i reallllly like using proximity alerts for this kind of thing. i'll turn on proximity alerts for a folder of waypoints (or caches, or whatever we're calling them) so that I'll get a beep/buzz when i get within 1000 feet of one. then, after making sure it's not A) near a guardrail or a micro i'll turn on guidance alerts that increase with frequency as the distances decreases..... and i can usually walk right up to the cache.

 

now, i know, if you're in a car, it's going to be more difficult to do this unless you're familiar with the area. i'm usually on a motorcycle, so dropping off the road and into a safe place to check the gps isn't a big deal. changing directions/etc to get on top of the cache is pretty easy. usually.

 

i wonder if anyone is interested in a smarter smartphone app that can change the gps update rate ? i bet that would make people really happy.

[+-OZZ-]

What was the interval rate for the Geocaching Classic app? My videos clearly demonstrate that the classic app is far superior in this respect to the new app.

 

When walking the classic app blue dot would smoothly glide to movement but the new app is jerky and not as accurate.

 

For reference Google Maps behaves as smooth as the Geocaching Classic app so it's not a phone problem.