GPS averaging app for Android?

[+J Grouchy]

Anyone have a recommendation for a good GPS averaging app for Android? I was using the app called (strangely enough) "GPS Averaging", but it started throwing up full page ads on my home screen even when the app was closed, so I uninstalled it and now I need another.

 

And please don't tell me to use a GPSr. This is a question specifically for Android apps...so you are off topic - not to mention unhelpful - if you make that suggestion.

[+kunarion]

I thought I had that feature on a Geocaching App, but over time, they've gone away.  I also had to purge a lot of "Free Apps" because they get more and more ads and stuff to pay for the "Free" part.

 

I just now tried "Precision GPS", and it seems OK!  It presents a lot of information on one screen, and defaults to the Geocaching.com format, to 4 decimals:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sciencewithandroid.precisiongpspro&hl=en_US

 

It hasn't been updated in 4 years, but is working on my HTC phone.  I ran a 10 minute test of "GPS averaging" by comparing my iPhone, my 'droid, and another device which I don't tell you.  Averaging is a science that of course requires more than just 10 minutes.  It needs more samples from more times of day, and seasons of a year, accounting even for weather.  But all three in my quick test were about 15 feet from each other.  Those results are reasonable!

 

 

Edited July 30, 2019 by kunarion

[+cerberus1]

5 hours ago, J Grouchy said:

And please don't tell me to use a GPSr. This is a question specifically for Android apps...so you are off topic

 

Actually, this is the GPS forums,  so your question specifically  for android apps is off-topic.   

We have a forum for android apps here...

[+cerberus1]

3 hours ago, kunarion said:

I thought I had that feature on a Geocaching App, but over time, they've gone away.  I also had to purge a lot of "Free Apps" because they get more and more ads and stuff to pay for the "Free" part.

 

I had similar experiences.   The other 2/3rds doesn't have that problem, sticking with iphone.   Blackberry back in the day didn't have it...

I just figured that whenever an update came along, they got zapped for not keeping up.  Some out weeks after added.

I simply don't use a phone for that anymore.  

[+The A-Team]

2 hours ago, cerberus1 said:

Actually, this is the GPS forums,  so your question specifically  for android apps is off-topic.   

We have a forum for android apps here...

To be fair, that forum is specifically for the Geocaching® Android App, not for Android apps in general. I think this forum is fine for such a question.

[robertlipe]

As a moderator, I agree. That app is the tech support for Groundspeak's own app. I don't want this forum to become "how do I put a call on hold" and other general phone topics, but this seems focused enough that others here could contribute useful information.

Gold star to the poster for picking a good subject line that makes it easy for those not interested to skip over it.

ASCII Meme: I'll allow it.

[+arisoft]

I used the "GPS Averaging" some years ago and throw it away for the same reason as the OP. I think that it is not the perfect solution for the problem because staying in one position is not the best way to get accurate coordinates at all. My own way to make coordinates more accurate is similar to the method explained here

 

Another method I use in very covered areas is a little bit different. I circulate the cache about constant distance (5-10 meters) and mark this circle storing multiple waypoints. The averaged cache position is the center of this visual "cloud" on the map. More turns around the cache means more accurate coordinates. It is quite simple to pick the right position from the map among all these stored waypoints without doing any calculations. Moving the GPS receiver is the key.

Edited July 31, 2019 by arisoft

[+J Grouchy]

15 hours ago, cerberus1 said:

 

Actually, this is the GPS forums,  so your question specifically  for android apps is off-topic.   

We have a forum for android apps here...

 

 

GPS covers a lot, not only GPSr devices.  Phones have GPS, as well as countless other electronic devices.  And as others stated,  this is not about the official Geocaching app,  so that is why I did not post in that section.  

 

Thanks to the others that offered useful input. 

[+J Grouchy]

5 hours ago, arisoft said:

I used the "GPS Averaging" some years ago and throw it away for the same reason as the OP. I think that it is not the perfect solution for the problem because staying in one position is not the best way to get accurate coordinates at all. My own way to make coordinates more accurate is similar to the method explained here

 

It's similar to how I was using the averaging app.  I would start at GZ, run the averaging for at least one to two minutes.  Then I'd walk about 100 feet away, back out of the app, restart the app and do it again.  I would repeat this at least one or two times.  Altogether about 5 to 10 minutes.

[+kunarion]

8 hours ago, robertlipe said:

As a moderator, I agree. That app is the tech support for Groundspeak's own app. I don't want this forum to become "how do I put a call on hold" and other general phone topics, but this seems focused enough that others here could contribute useful information.

Gold star to the poster for picking a good subject line that makes it easy for those not interested to skip over it.

ASCII Meme: I'll allow it.

 

I might also agree unless there's a restriction in such an OP to NOT mention GPS except for Android GPS. It limits the discussion so much, I had a hard time replying. And I had a helpful idea for a reply.

[+Atlas Cached]

I might also add, regardless of which GPSr you are using, there are better times and worse times for each day to try to average or otherwise ascertain accurate location information based on the number of available satellites. For those days when you are endeavoring to obtain the best possible coordinates for a specific location, one may wish to make use of a Satellite Availability Prediction Service to choose the best time for a given location and date to do so.

[+kunarion]

1 hour ago, Atlas Cached said:

I might also add, regardless of which GPSr you are using, there are better times and worse times for each day to try to average or otherwise ascertain accurate location information based on the number of available satellites. For those days when you are endeavoring to obtain the best possible coordinates for a specific location, one may wish to make use of a Satellite Availability Prediction Service to choose the best time for a given location and date to do so.

 

For 70 Geocaches plus waypoints, all I've ever done is visit the intended spot multiple times (to set it all up, etc.), and see which of a bunch of previous waypoint snapshots seems consistently closest.  I don't have the patience to do "averaging", and for Geocaching, almost 110% of the time I could have set the GPS on a log and waited for one set of coords, and that would have been fine, and even an improvement over the "average".  But I sometimes recommend "averaging" because it causes potential COs to sit and wait a few minutes for the GPS (an Android GPS, of course) to settle out at its spot. 

 

My intent with "Averaging" is to maybe find some elusive cache someday in a place where the coords never seem to settle.  Other than that, I use "GPS averaging" only to see what "GPS averaging" is like.  My coords are great by just choosing a waypoint from the list.

 

 

Edited July 31, 2019 by kunarion

[+J Grouchy]

3 hours ago, Atlas Cached said:

I might also add, regardless of which GPSr you are using, there are better times and worse times for each day to try to average or otherwise ascertain accurate location information based on the number of available satellites. For those days when you are endeavoring to obtain the best possible coordinates for a specific location, one may wish to make use of a Satellite Availability Prediction Service to choose the best time for a given location and date to do so.

 

 

The app I used (and deleted because of the issue I mentioned) would list the number of satellites available.  It would generally be about 20 - give or take a few - and that was pretty consistent.  Occasionally it would only be a handful and in those cases it was usually trickier to get a reliable reading.

 

4 hours ago, kunarion said:

 

I might also agree unless there's a restriction in such an OP to NOT mention GPS except for Android GPS. It limits the discussion so much, I had a hard time replying. And I had a helpful idea for a reply.

1 hour ago, kunarion said:

 

For 70 Geocaches plus waypoints, all I've ever done is visit the intended spot multiple times (to set it all up, etc.), and see which of a bunch of previous waypoint snapshots seems consistently closest.  I don't have the patience to do "averaging", and for Geocaching, almost 110% of the time I could have set the GPS on a log and waited for one set of coords, and that would have been fine, and even an improvement over the "average".  But I sometimes recommend "averaging" because it causes potential COs to sit and wait a few minutes for the GPS (an Android GPS, of course) to settle out at its spot. 

 

My intent with "Averaging" is to maybe find some elusive cache someday in a place where the coords never seem to settle.  Other than that, I use "GPS averaging" only to see what "GPS averaging" is like.  My coords are great by just choosing a waypoint from the list.

 

 

 

I'm not really sure what all this is about.  I was merely asking about apps available for the mobile platform I happen to use...an app that calculates the averages automatically.  Hit a button and the work is done for you within seconds.  The longer you wait, the more it dials down the coordinates.  Do it two to four more times and you can get a pretty good sense of how reliable the original numbers were.  I'd say coordinates I pull from my phone are, 99 times out of 100, accurate enough that either people say they were "spot on" or not off enough to be worth mentioning.  This speaks to the improved accuracy of phone GPS from even just a few years ago.  

[+Scarlet Corundum]

Bump...

 

... and just wondering: did you ever find an averaging app that passed the bar for you?

If so... care to share? ?