Is the Iphone 4s the perfect GPS for the JMT now?

[Roleigh Martin]

The JMT (John Muir Trail) does not have cell service for about 98% of the 211 mile trail, common to any hikers doing hiking in remote mountains.

The Iphone is a great multi-purpose device but up to and including the Iphone 4, if you had GPS on, you also minimally had search-for-Edge cell service on (which drains the battery as there is no cell service, so the phone would keep on searching, draining…).

Anyone on the board have an Iphone 4s? I've hated the fact my Iphone 4 does not allow me to have the GPS on without at the same time having Edge search on (I could turn 3G search off but not Edge). This looks like I can turn off all cellular data services-only off and keep the GPS working. Does anyone on the board have a Iphone 4S and can they confirm? I love having the GPS feature on only for times when you want your photo to have the GPS location tags embedded in the photo, and when you're doing passes full of snow for miles. (Otherwise, I'd want the GPS search off.) I have complained to Apple numerous times, maybe they've listened. Anyone know for sure? Ps, do you know about the JMT Harrison map app for the Iphone?

See the article about this:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/15/iphone-4s-lacks-enable-3g-switch/
Link

[TJ Christopher]

I seem to recall with my girlfriend's iPhone4 that the GPS still works after turning "Cellular Data" off, it was just A) slow to make a GPS lock without the assistance of cell towers and B) unable to load maps in Google Maps. IIRC you can also use the GPS without any cellular connection by removing the sim card but both methods require a mapping app that stores maps on the phone itself instead of being downloaded from the internet.
Beyond that there was a thread recently about the 4S and the consensus seemed to be that it was heavier and had less battery life than the 4 and so wasn't that attractive.

[Gray Kinnier]

On the iPhone 4 you can lock the SIM card by setting a password. Go to Settings> Phone > SIM PIN. Set this to 'ON' and setup a password. Now when you next restart your phone it will prompt you to unlock the SIM card. Hit 'OK' [ to continue without unlocking] and all the other phone functions will work normally-BUT without the SIM card on- So no phone calls can be made and no searching for cell towers and no drain on the battery. If you need to make a call you will be prompted to unlock the SIM card- enter the password and it will unlock the card and start the call. Doing this in combination with turning of Data, and WiFi greatly extends battery life for a multi-day trip.

[Ceph Lotus]

I'd want any GPS I take hiking with me to be waterproof. Is there a waterproof case available for the iPhone? I know some of Garmin's GPS's are waterproof.

[drowning in spam]

I've seen waterproof cases for the iPhone, but they are big and heavy.

Every hiking Garmin is waterproof.

[BlackHatGuy]

FWIW, I have the 4 (not 4s), and have the same menu item to turn off cellular data. I'll try using my TomTom tomorrow with the cellular data off and let you know if it works.

[Ryan C]

Yes, there is. The SealLine iSeries cases are relatively light and are waterproof. My iPhone 4 fits perfectly in the small one and has worked great on several trips, including two weeks in wet Alaska. The case weighs 1.1oz on my scale but the new ones (slightly different design) are 1.6oz.

BTW: The Verizon iPhone 4 works fine with cellular data and WiFi off, it just burns up the battery looking for a CDMA signal at full power since the GPS does not work in Airplane mode due to being part of the cellular transceiver section.

[Amy Lauterbach]

Here's our article about using iPhone as Backpacking GPS/Mapping device with some critical information about maintaining battery life.

In particular, with the iPhone 4, your comment "if you had GPS on, you also minimally had search-for-Edge cell service on" is not true for the ATT version of the iPhone, but is true with the Verizon version. In the ATT version iPhone4 you can disable the phone while leaving the GPS enabled, and are thereby able to get background battery drain down to the range of 1% per day.

I haven't updated the article with info about the iPhone-4s yet, but will do so when I get 4s info about disabling the phone without disabling gps. If you know anything or learn anything about this, please let me know so I can update the article!

I am maintaining an annotated list of iphone gps apps with info about all the apps I've found. If you know of apps that I've missed, or know of important updates that make my comments inaccurate, please PM me with the info, or just reply to this thread.

Thanks, AmyL

[Larry De La Briandais]

As far as I know you can update the phone's OS and have the software features of the 4S. My son updated his (AT&T). Then you could check for yourself. If it works you don't need to buy a new phone.

[Jeremy and Angela]

Has anyone any experience with these:

http://www.lifeproof.com/lifeproof-store/apple-cases/iphone-4

(Dust, water, etc.-proof and claimed to be 28 grams.)

[Johnny Duke]

Lifeproof box. I've got a buddy with one. He likes to drop his under water all the time now, but he says it is sometimes hard to hear people when talking with it on the phone.
Of course if you're on trail then that doesn't matter .

There are videos on youtube where they are snorkeling with the phone while using it as a video camera. Pretty cool.

[Paul H]

I guess I'm confused. The GPS feature needs data service to use, since the maps need to be loaded. It doesn't make sense to have a blank screen with a blue dot. Maybe I'm missing something here…

[Amy Lauterbach]

Paul S – please read the article about using iPhone as Backpacking GPS/Mapping device– it will answer your question about using iPhone as a GPS device for backpacking.

From that article – "The method for using the iPhone for backpacking is to use apps that let you preload the appropriate maps and data files over WiFi. When you are out on the trail without cell service, you can use the preloaded maps along with the iPhone’s GPS."

[Ryley Breiddal]

I used an AT&T iPhone 3GS on the CDT this summer. I jailbroke it so that I could have access to a "Turn Phone off" button, which leaves the GPS on but keeps it set to "No Service" without wasting battery. I was easily able to go a week without charging, as long as kept it to only a few GPS checks a day.

I just used a LokSac baggie to keep it waterproof.

Honestly though, I think the perfect GPS for the JMT is your brain, a compass, and some maps. I found the parts of the JMT I've walked (the PCT) to be generally well marked. I doubt you could get lost enough to justify the weight of a GPS.

[Joseph Lynn III]

I know this may seem insane, but my experience has proven that the newer iPhones from 4 on up are extremely resilient, even waterproof. You'll never hear Apple claim this but I've seen demonstrations where people submerge them (iPhone 4) completely in water for about 30 seconds. With that being said, I've been using a Ballistic case since I had purchased my iPhone 4. It's bombproof and withstands anything you can dish out, water and all. SO if you want a good case, you can find these online for about $35+. I've never deliberately submerged and timed it, but I've dropped and quickly retrieved from a toilet, a sink, suffered rain & sweat, fallen a dozen times from my lap, stairs, balcony, top level of a distillation tower…jk. But then I arrived at this point that I wanted to minimize its girth, because these indestructible cases are all rather bulky. It felt risky at first, but I became acclimated to the nakedness. After all, I've seen several people use an iPhone with no case at all and didn't seem overly worn or abused. I ended up using a cheap silicone case with an Invisible Shield screen protector and I have yet to have any issues. Lifeproof cases, from what I've seen are even BIGGER and MORE EXPENSIVE than the Ballistic case I own (Hard Core Series). All this to say, as long as you aren't extremely careless you can get away with minimal protection for your iPhone 4.

[Piney]

A couple of years ago my younger brother jumped into a creek on the JMT to keep a thru hiker from washing downstream and killed his iphone 4 dead in the process. There are definitely limits to their water resistance.

[Loki Cuthbert]

Android phones have always had the option to go into airplane mode and have working GPS. They commonly also have removable batteries that you can carry a spare if you need too.

I am a little jealous of the lifeproof cases made for iphones though.

I have been using my android phone as my GPS for quite a while and am quite pleased. I don't really see any point in carrying a second device for GPS when I can get 7 days of light gps use out of my phone.

[Ian]

I really wish that I could replace the battery in my iPhone 4s. With that being said, I just keep the phone in airplane mode until I need to plot my coordinate and then return to airplane mode when I'm done. Trying to track a hike would kill the battery pretty quick so I've never tried it. I don't bother to turn my phone off at night and I've used it for three days this way without a recharge.

I've found the Gaia GPS ap to be very accurate. The altimeter function does not work all that well and you can not trust what it claims as a margin of error.

[Hiking Malto]

"I know this may seem insane, but my experience has proven that the newer iPhones from 4 on up are extremely resilient, even waterproof. You'll never hear Apple claim this but I've seen demonstrations where people submerge them (iPhone 4) completely in water for about 30 seconds."

I can tell you from personl experience two weeks ago this is NOT true. Even a bit of water has the potential to kill the iPhone. Luckily I was was able to bring it back to life after drying it out.

As to the original question….. The suitability of an iPhone for the JMT is going to depend on the season you hike it. In nomal summer season, little snow, there is no real need to carry a GPS so an iPhone would work wonderful. Absolutely way way I would have used it early season of 2011 when there was solid snow cover and dozens of raging streams. In this case my garmin GPSmap 60 was the perfect tool for the job because of its ruggedness battery life and optimization for the single task it was designed to do.

[Buck Nelson]

An AT&T iPhone 4s was a key item on my gear list for the Desert Trail (a trail of which I'm trying to raise awareness.) The GPS worked very well and I used it as a star map, GPS, camera, to update my trail journal, to order resupplies, etc, etc. As a GPS it used more battery than a standard GPS. On that long hike it made sense to pack a solar charger which took care of the battery issue. The screen was much bigger than my Garmin GPS which was very nice. I don't trust an iPhone for waterproofness, but that issue can be overcome. I agree with Malto that there are certain times when navigation can be challenging on the JMT, specifically when there is still lots of snow.

[Peter S]

If you're on the market for a new smartphone, and you want to use it for backpacking, consider an Android for the following reasons:

-Cheap models that gets the job, less worrying
-You can change the battery on most androids, get 1 or 2 extra
-Very easy to control what's turned on or what's turned off (data, network…)

I have used the same cheap Aloksak smartphone zip lock bag for 2 years, and it's still 100 percent waterproof.

[TJ W]

Didn't see Amy L's posts on this before and it is really a great read. Will really help me in the future.

One thing- Some of the excellent functionality you describe is a little hard to grasp even after going through my phone… a video posted on YouTube that looks over your shoulder (tightly) as you add and utilize pre-loaded maps would be a great way to really understand everything you are mentioning. Great read and you are changing the way I will approach a section of the Sierras in a week!

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