Topic

My iPhone GPS failed in the middle of nowhere?


Forum Posting

A Membership is required to post in the forums. Login or become a member to post in the member forums!

Home Forums Gear Forums Gear (General) My iPhone GPS failed in the middle of nowhere?

Viewing 9 posts - 26 through 34 (of 34 total)
  • Author
    Posts
  • #3553826
    Sean P
    BPL Member

    @wily_quixote

    Locale: S.E. Australia

    @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.

    #3554699
    Finnegan McBrisket
    Spectator

    @joephish-2

    Locale: SF Bay Area

    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.

    #3554830
    David Thomas
    BPL Member

    @davidinkenai

    Locale: North Woods. Far North.

    “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.

    #3554883
    Matthew / BPL
    Moderator

    @matthewkphx

    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.

    #3554949
    Paul Magnanti
    BPL Member

    @paulmags

    Locale: Colorado Plateau

    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.

    #3554990
    Richie S
    BPL Member

    @landrover

    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.

    #3555010
    Rex Sanders
    BPL Member

    @rex

    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

    #3555111
    Pedestrian
    BPL Member

    @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…..

    #3555119
    Buck Nelson
    BPL Member

    @colter

    Locale: Alaska

    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.

Viewing 9 posts - 26 through 34 (of 34 total)
  • You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
Forum Posting

A Membership is required to post in the forums. Login or become a member to post in the member forums!

Get the Newsletter

Get our free Handbook and Receive our weekly newsletter to see what's new at Backpacking Light!

Gear Research & Discovery Tools


Loading...