My iPhone GPS failed in the middle of nowhere?

[Sean P]

@pedestrian

You will find that buck replied to me with a considered and deliberate reply as to why he required electronic navigation devices.

His explanation adequately described his unique requirements.

No need for you to poke your nose in with your self righteous tirade.

You could perhaps post instructions as  how many miles you are required to walk before posting here.

Just cancelled my subscription. Not out of spite or pettiness but i don’t do internet dick swinging.

I can read some of the excellent posts here without engaging.

[Joe S]

My iPhone 6 failed to get a GPS signal some time ago. It was approximately 2 years old. Google Maps, Apple Maps, Waze, Gaia, all failed to operate. I even did a full reset and was not able to get it working. Since the phone was out of warranty, I upgraded to a new phone.

I thought about getting the cheaper and lighter iPhone SE, but I chose the iPhone 8 since it supports a broader range of GPSs including GLONASS, Galileo, and QZSS. Also, the 8 and has a better camera than the SE. I don’t pack my Garmin GPSMAP 62s nor my Sony RX100 anymore.

[David Thomas]

“Sometimes, I will go forward enthusiastically, and forget to keep looking backwards.”

Jerry, Yeah, I learned that while caving.  We crawled through some tight spots than then popped into a big room, all excited about the formations, and started looking around.  Came time to go back and the path was VERY obscure – a small passage under a rock that took us a long time to find.

Ever since, I’ve made it a point to look back every so often (above and below ground) and imagine myself returning on that route.  It helps.

Like mountaineers leave wands to mark paths over glaciers and snowfields, cavers sometimes use popsicle sticks with a brightly painted end pointing out of the cave, picking them up as they exit.

[Matthew / BPL]

I’ve edited several posts in this thread. Lets keep the forum guidelines in mind here. Specifically:

1. Be considerate.
2. Honor each other as human beings. If you have a pattern of dishonoring or disrespecting people because of who they are and what they do, rather than honoring them in spite of who they are and what they do, then you may have a hard time here.
4. Don’t gossip, defame, lie, make unsubstantiated claims, engage in libel or slander, or question motives. Don’t speculate, troll, or suggest or propagate
6. Give people a break. Life is hard. Don’t make it harder. These are recreational forums, after all.
8. Do not conduct yourself in a way that intentionally causes distress, embarrassment, unwanted attention, or other discomforts to any other individual.

[Paul Magnanti]

I still think this is the best and most pragmatic view of GPS/Compass/Map use.

http://www.christownsendoutdoors.com/2012/09/controversy-1-smartphones-gps-in-hills.html

The takeaway? Each tool complements each other.

“To conclude: good navigational skills are of course essential in the hills and wild places. And the key one of these is being able to read a map, whether it’s on paper or on a screen. “

 

On a recent Canada trip, I found a combo of the new school (electronic maps) and the old school (taking a bearing with a compass) complemented each other well.  The electronic maps were quicker to read. But a simple compass bearing and following it was more efficient once I meshed up the terrain with my location

As always YMMV.

[Richie S]

In all honesty electronic devices make navigstion much much easier and less risky. I’m fairly fortunate in being a complete and utter map geek since a young age so can still use a map, mostly without the addition of a compass (though of course I still carry one), but I would still focus on having both a traditional backup and an electronic backup that can at least give you you grid location on a map.

but on to the op point. I have no idea, but I’ve had many many issues on Manhattan using and of the gps mapping apps, to the point of positioning me in the middle of the river while standing in the city.

[Rex Sanders]

Not an iPhone GPS failure, but …

Almost every day, my iPhone 6 puts my position anywhere from a few hundred yards to a few hundred miles away. Typically this occurs indoors without a good GPS signal. Right now it’s confident that I’m roughly 141 miles NNW of here. Often the spot is about 200 miles away.

But moving outside takes a while to relocate. Until then, the mapped position moves while I’m standing still, gradually approaching the correct spot, though sometimes moving farther away for a while.

Not only is this weird, but I worry that Apple’s recently announced sharing of “precise” location information during 911 calls could result in disaster.

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2018/06/apple-ios-12-securely-and-automatically-shares-emergency-location-with-911/

— Rex

[Pedestrian]

@rex:

Is it possible that your iPhone has the antenna failure described in an earlier post? Might be worth a few minutes with a “genius” at your neighborhood Apple Store. I personally stay very far from Apple products in general but my wife and kids do have iPhones and other Apple products so I’ve had to deal with a “genius” or two……always an interesting experience…..

[Buck Nelson]

Chris L and Joe, and Rex, based on our experience it seems like the iPhone 6 might have some specific issues. That said, the GPS in mine has always worked before this incident, and has worked since in and out of airplane mode.

Mags, the Townsend article is a good one.

Richie S. said: In all honesty electronic devices make navigation much much easier and less risky.

I agree.

[Buck Nelson]

A followup to this old post. I had this issue again on an iPhone XR. Again, it was after a long stretch in wilderness with no WIFI or cell service. About the 10th day the GPS stopped working for a few hours. I got a cell signal soon thereafter and the GPS started working.

Of course, usually the GPS works fine with no cell service. It seems to be related to many days in a row with zero coverage.

[Murali C]

I have had my GPS on my Pixel 2 fail once in PCT-Washington area (other Android users on trail also had issues) – no Iphones had issues when this happened. And again with my Pixel 5 on the JMT while other folks were fine. After a day or so, it started working again. My Garmin Fenix 6 watch’s GPS/maps were working properly. Inreach also was working.  I wish Farout maps would work on my Garmin watch.

Having redundancy with GPS is always a good idea.

[jscott]

good Lord, expecting a tiny phone to reliably contact an orbiting satellite and deliver precision data is…well,  it’s a new world. I sometimes think the most scientific minded sometimes also indulge in the most magical thinking. the Maytag man isn’t going to come out to fix your phone and establish satellite contact when one is deep in a canyon or thirty miles into the Bob Marshall. the remarkable thing is  that gps works as well as it does! Does your computer ever fail? Do you ever lose phone service at home? Of course you do.

Bring a map and compass.

[edited – MK]

[Buck Nelson]

Having redundancy with GPS is always a good idea. Agreed. I had a backup.

[Buck Nelson]

I sometimes think the most scientific minded sometimes also indulge in the most magical thinking. the Maytag man isn’t going to come out to fix your phone and establish satellite contact when one is deep in a canyon or thirty miles into the Bob Marshall I didn’t expect the Maytag repairman, or anyone, to come out and repair my phone. I had everything I needed to navigate my way back to civilization, and I was a lot farther than 30 miles into the wilderness.

Does your computer ever fail? Yes. Does yours? Because it seems, based on your thinking. if you’re giving potentially life-saving advice it would be better to rely on paper mail rather than computers, no?

Bring a map and compass. I’ll bring what I want to bring and need to bring.

[Jerry Adams]

My phone GPS quit working

The position quit updating.  Just stuck in one place.

I reset a few things, no luck.

Hmmm… what’s that trail sign for a trail I’ve already passed???

Oh, never mind.  I got turned around somehow and was walking the wrong direction.

The gps is right more often than I, although neither is perfect.

[Murali C]

jscott – what happens if your map flies away (wind) or gets torn really badly and is no longer readable? or your compass breaks? Do you take two of each for such scenarios? It is so easy to have redundancy with electronics – Inreach which I always carry, watch, phone – so 3 waterproof, tear proof copies!

I trust technology much more than maps/compass. On the SHR (Sierra High Route – off trail) – we never used the maps/compass – GPS and caltopo routes. Sure we had map printouts – but never needed to rely on it. In fact I have read stories where people used compass/maps on SHR and got lost and had to finally use their phone GPS to get back on track and actually put themselves in dangerous situations – they were on the wrong peak and to get to the right peak – they hiked across dangerously because they did not want to come down and go back up the right peak.

[jscott]

Buck, when I used the term “you” I wasn’t  addressing YOU. I was addressing ‘anyone’. I thought the context made this clear. Sure it’s only my opinion to bring a map. To express my opinion  I have to use words. sometiimes those go awry or are  misinterpreted. I also can’t preface every point I make with an apology to those who may disagree. They don’t either! It’s  assumed  that folks  have different practices. In any case, several people on this  thread and  elsewhere have reported failures with their phone gps. Again, I’m amazed  it works as well as it does! As to  introducing unlikely scenarios (a  map blowing away) as a reason to bring gps…well, anything at all could fail on a hike–your bag, your tent, your shoes etc. Sometimes one just has to make one’s  decisions and go!! Murali brings an

” Inreach which I always carry, watch, phone – so 3 waterproof, tear proof copies!” Don’t forget the batteries and chargers required to run all that. That’s a lot of weight! More than I care  to carry. But we all  make our own decisions.

[Roger Caffin]

what happens if your map flies away (wind) or gets torn really badly and is no longer readable? or your compass breaks? Do you take two of each for such scenarios?

It’s a good question.

Maps: I don’t carry originals very often. Instead I carry A3 photocopies, folded in half into A4 and encased in fairly heavy largely waterproof A4 plastic sleeves. This keeps them (fairly) dry and prevents them from tearing or blowing away. That has worked fine under all sorts of conditions for the last 30+ years. Generally, the different A3 copies overlap a bit too, so there is some redundancy here.
Oh yes, I will add that on long trips most of the maps are in their own protective sleeve inside one of our packs. Sue carries the active map on the back of her pack, where I can get it immediately, while the rest are in my pack.

Compass: I have never had a compass fail in the field. I may (ahem) have lost one in very thick scrub once, backing out of the tangles. We carry very simple plate compasses such as the Brunton 7DNL https://backpackinglight.com/brunton_7dnl_compass_review/.
In addition, both my wife and I each carry our own compass, so I guess we do have some redundancy here as well.
Anyhow, it does not take much practice to be able to locate North from the time of day and the sun. A lot of the time we navigate mostly off the sun anyhow.

Cheers

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