Instructions: Using an iPhone4 as a Backpacking GPS/Mapping Device

Thanks for the useful info and sharing your experiences. The chart comparing the iPhone GPS apps is awesome!

Unfortunately, I get the impression you had a GSM AT&T iPhone 4 with removable SIM card. This makes the cellular radio inactive thus saving significant battery life. I am experimenting with the CDMA Verizon iPhone 4 (which does not have a SIM card) and cannot disable the cellular like the AT&T version. Maybe someone has a workaround for this.

Well done, Amy. Thank you. I'm hoping for an Apple update for the CDMA phone so that I can do something similar to the sim lock feature. Even with cellular data turned off, my phone still chews through the battery when using GPS.

There’s a fair bit of new news since the last time I posted about iPhone as GPS/Mapping tool.

Gaia GPS has added three things that I’m really excited about. These are really big changes that add a lot of value for backpackers, but they aren’t easy to find within the app.

1. New in Dec2011. You can now view (and download for offline use) Satellite images: from within the app, hit Settings->Help->Add Topo Map Sources->ESRI World Imagery. That will add the new map type to your list. Google Satellite is available without the extra effort, but you can’t download it for offline use.

2. New in Nov2011. Downloading all maps for a track is a FANTASTIC addition for long-distance walkers, but it’s not easy to find unless you know where to look. Go to the Details screen for any Track, and select “Download Maps for Track.” This feature will save me hours of fussing when preparing for a long walk, I just import a gpx/kml file, then in one tap I get all the maps needed for that track.

3. New in Dec2011: you can get New Zealand LINZ maps by following the instructions in this forum post: http://groups.google.com/group/gaia-gps/browse_thread/thread/3e5ce821ab9aac25 — Copy the link from the post, remove the spaces embedded in the link, mail it to yourself, and open it from the Mail App on your iPhone. Kind of obscure, but well worth it if you’re hiking in New Zealand.

GPS Kit. Since I last posted, I spent six weeks hiking in Australia. I used both Gaia GPS and GPS Kit. Each has some advantages over the other, so I used whichever one met my immediate need. They both worked well, and I was happy. Since we had access to power nearly every day or two, I wasn’t very frugal about my iPhone usage. I regularly used GPS Kit, Gaia GPS, Pano, Birds of Australia, and Maplets, and my battery drain was 15-30% per day. On prior trips I have been more cautious (not using Pano and rarely using the bird guides, for example) and on those trips my drain was 7-20% per day.

I updated the list of all the apps with the new information.

P.S. If you haven’t already done so, you ought to read the Instructions for using iPhone as Backpacking GPS/Mapping device.

Angry Birds of Australia?

I've picked up a number of auxillary batteries (1200 to 1500 mAh) for the iStuff and on a family trip, everyone gets one or two extra charges (like on a 15-hour flight). On a solo trip, that gives my lots of charges without too much weight.

Would a screen capture of particular maps sections save any juice? I realize you wouldn't have the features of the app.

Also, I use the camera on my iPhone to take a lot of photos of things like:

Tide tables, sunrise sunset times, bus schedules, train systems, city maps, airline itineraries, car rental reservations, hotel data, etc. Sometimes I take photos of paper maps, sometimes of the computer sreen, or it could be a big signboard in a bus schedule. Or rather than check a book out of the library, just photo the 2 to 10 pages you really want. If you've got the iPhone anyway, that's a ton of paper you don't need to bring and/or a back-up for that data.

"Would a screen capture of particular maps sections save any juice? I realize you wouldn't have the features of the app."
— no, that wouldn't save battery. If you don't care about seeing your location on the map, then you'd put the phone in airplane mode to disable the GPS. Then, it's the same drain no matter what app you're using to look at map data – whether it's the photo album or a rich app like Topo Maps or Maplets or Gaia GPS. And by using a mapping app like Gaia GPS or GPS Kit you get different map resolutions at different zoom levels. There's really no comparison.

"Also, I use the camera on my iPhone to take a lot of photos of things like: Tide tables, sunrise sunset times, bus schedules, train systems, city maps, airline itineraries, car rental reservations, hotel data, etc. Sometimes I take photos of paper maps, sometimes of the computer sreen, or it could be a big signboard in a bus schedule. Or rather than check a book out of the library, just photo the 2 to 10 pages you really want. If you've got the iPhone anyway, that's a ton of paper you don't need to bring and/or a back-up for that data."
Tide Tables – if you don't already have Shralp Tide (free) you might give it a try instead of taking snapshots of tide tables.
Sunrise/Sunset – my favorite, by a long shot, for this (as well as moonrise/moonset and planet-rise/planet-set) is Emerald Chronometer. Cost a couple dollars, but easily worth it. It's one of my five most favorite apps. Gaia GPS also has sunrise/sunset info.
City maps, Train Systems – Maplets is fantastic. I can no longer imagine traveling without it.

In addition to taking photos of reservation confirmations like you do, I also like to use ReadItLater to save wiki pages for offline reference.

>"ReadItLater to save wiki pages for offline reference."

Thanks, Amy! That solves an issue I've long had – that it would be lovely to have wikipedia pages for off-line reference / recreational reading.

In very foreign countries (i.e. I don't speak the langauge and can't read the alphabet like in China last month), I take photos of the hotel, the street signs, the hotel business card, etc. Then I can show it to a taxi or bus driver, wave some money at them and get back.

But a good off-line map app would have really helped and avoided the roaming charges. So thanks again for your recommendations.

iPhones are very desireable in China. And the easiest way to get one is to take one off a tourist. Keep that in mind if you're the tourist. We never got pickpocketed, but I stupidly left it behind once, and staff didn't return / admit it. Undertandable, as it was a few months wages to them.

-David

Note on battery life: There are lightweight AA battery to usb chargers. I can get about 50% of an iphone charge out of two AA eneloops. I use a nice shiny silver charger than weights only a few tens of a gram.

Not UL but if you have a system (headlamp, GPS, UV purifier) that only uses AAs, this could be a very efficient way to keep up the charge.