GPSKits Adds Advanced GPS Functions to iPhone

[MacRumors]

Garafa's GPSKit [$9.99, App Store] for iPhone provides you with more advanced GPS functionality and tracking for your iPhone.

- Dashboard - see real time information
- Tracks - save your path, view in Google Earth or Maps
- Waypoints - Save points of interest

While GPSKit's solution is $9.99, there are other applications on the App Store that provide portions of similar functionality:

- GPS Tracker [Free] - real-time tracking service
- Speed [Free] - real time speedometer
- PathTracker [$0.99] - real time stats, save your path, also for runners/bikers
- Speedster GPS [$0.99] - speed and altitude in real time
- gpsCompass [$1.99] - real time stats
- Distance Meter [$2.99] - distance tracker
- iTrail [$2.99] - distance and path tracker for runners/bikers
- RunKeeper [$9.99] - track running/biking paths and stats

All of these applications require an iPhone 3G with GPS for best performance. The makers of GPSKit provided a video demo of their app.

Article Link

[bbplayer5]

Pretty much all the same information you can find on the dashboard of your car... Speed, traveled distance, etc... Pretty useless.

Only thing its good for it... maybe... altitude? Which I wouldnt use for anything...

[80s Fan]

Looks pretty cool to me. Not sure if I would agree with you, bbplayer5. I have a Garmin GPS and it looks to me like the GPSKits actually has some of the same features at the Garmin unit.

Question -- Once you've reached your minute mark and the iPhone automatically powers off, does the GPS stop tracking you and does it stop recording all the various data values shown in the video? Just curious.

[Chip NoVaMac]

Great list of GPS apps as well... giving me pause as to why I haven't upgraded my iPhone 1G yet...

I have a Garmin nuvi 770 for my car.... but like the idea of my iPhone being a GPS device in my city travels. As a photographer it would be great to have a map of the treks I have made with way points...

[dejo]

Originally Posted by bbplayer5

Pretty much all the same information you can find on the dashboard of your car... Speed, traveled distance, etc... Pretty useless.

Cuz you wouldn't need this information outside of a car?

[projectle]

I will so be using this application the next time my speedometer breaks, the clock on my radio dies, and the mountains disappear.

[crsd36]

There's a vid in another post of this in action and shows more features that are not shown in the screen cap, the most noticable being the fact that the dashboard is customizable. For example, you could change 2 of the widgets to show Lattiude and Longitude.

[kjs862]

I just downloaded the speedo. Cool for having on the boat.

[bbplayer5]

Originally Posted by dejo

Cuz you wouldn't need this information outside of a car?

I often times love to know how fast im walking and what direction im facing because using the unpredictable sun is sometimes disheartening.

[CADer]

I can see myself adding in Geo cache locations on this app and being able to navigate to the closest! - Very cool now all I need is the new iphone!

[Mr. Zorg]

Originally Posted by 80s Fan

Question -- Once you've reached your minute mark and the iPhone automatically powers off, does the GPS stop tracking you and does it stop recording all the various data values shown in the video? Just curious.

The iPhone doesn't automatically power off, it just locks the screen and shuts the screen off. The phone is still on, and as far as I've been able to tell, the running app is still running (accidentally drained the battery that way leaving a game running). But you *can* turn off the auto-lock if you're really concerned about it.

[sdtaco]

Originally Posted by bbplayer5

Pretty much all the same information you can find on the dashboard of your car... Speed, traveled distance, etc... Pretty useless.

Only thing its good for it... maybe... altitude? Which I wouldnt use for anything...

Again a pointless comment. Don't put junk like this on here.

How about for people who hike/camp, fly, and boat? This is a great app.

[E.Lizardo]

Originally Posted by bbplayer5

I often times love to know how fast im walking and what direction im facing because using the unpredictable sun is sometimes disheartening.

Yes I often use my astrolabe in geocaching.No batteries to worry about either.And when I'm in my car my speedometer tells me where I am what direction I'm going and the distances to/from multiple points at once.Definitely not worth ten bucks.

[slycrel]

If you watch the video, the author has definitely done his homework and it looks to be a good set of features in one app that you can't get anywhere else on the iPhone. If you don't have a GPS already and want one, this is a good subset of basic GPS functionality and is worth $9.99.

As the author of Geopher Lite I am a bit disappointed that I didn't get a mention here. My application is geared towards geocaching, but it still has some GPS information regarding where you are and a target location.

Shameless link:
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/M...285258963&mt=8

[riverfreak]

Originally Posted by bbplayer5

I often times love to know how fast im walking and what direction im facing because using the unpredictable sun is sometimes disheartening.

Luddite. I'm impressed that you've been convinced of the utility of a computer.

Just like the microscope and telescope showed us different scales of our world, and the telecommunications mitigated the puny distance of our voices, so too is GPS having a huge effect on how we define ourselves and those around us. If you can't see that, then you must be dense. Location aware? Haven't you heard of that?

Back to the matter at hand: This looks like a great app. Kudos to the developer.

[150hp]

This app makes me really hope GPS is added to the next ipod touch.

[joseph2166]

Originally Posted by 150hp

This app makes me really hope GPS is added to the next ipod touch.

Can't imagine it would be - is it really useful enough to warren the extra cost when you don't have always-on internet?

[rworne]

Top review for the app is hilarious:

Omg (5 stars)
by Nutshanglow

This app is so great that I wanted to rub one out as it was installing

[80s Fan]

Originally Posted by Mr. Zorg

...and as far as I've been able to tell, the running app is still running

I'm not so sure of this and would be interested in knowing, especially from someone who has the app. It's my understanding that some other apps have you play music to force them to continue running. Pretty sure I've seen this, though maybe I was hallucinating again.

So I'm just curious if that's the case here. The reason I am curious is that if this things shuts off after a minute or so of inactivity, it's obviously not as useful, both in and out of the car.

Thanks.

[jmadlena]

Originally Posted by 80s Fan

I'm not so sure of this and would be interested in knowing, especially from someone who has the app. It's my understanding that some other apps have you play music to force them to continue running. Pretty sure I've seen this, though maybe I was hallucinating again.

So I'm just curious if that's the case here. The reason I am curious is that if this things shuts off after a minute or so of inactivity, it's obviously not as useful, both in and out of the car.

Thanks.

I know that Pandora continues to play music even after my iPhone locks, so it is definitely possible that the Location Services may continue to run.

Edit: Okay, I understand what you are saying. Nevermind my comment.

[Rocketman]

I want an app that saves "points of interest" with associated notes ala address or directions to the location.

Interesting recreational locations.

Business sales call locations

Residences

Recurring shopping points (handy to get to from random directions).

Rocketman

P.S. Heck, allow me to manually input a hard GPS LOCATION FROM ANOTHER SOURCE.

[whooleytoo]

Originally Posted by joseph2166

Can't imagine it would be - is it really useful enough to warren the extra cost when you don't have always-on internet?

Probably not - if you're within range of a Wifi hotspot you can't really be all that "lost"!

It could be useful to have a GPS on the iTouch if you had an app which had all the maps for the country/locale you're in available offline; but this app (GPSKits) would still be pretty useless.

[Lestat]

I fixed GPS problem with this app.

I can't use GPS on 3G.

but after using this app, GPS on 3G works great...

maybe my GPS is not initialised and this app did it...

[ImageWrangler]

Originally Posted by bbplayer5

Pretty much all the same information you can find on the dashboard of your car... Speed, traveled distance, etc... Pretty useless.

Only thing its good for it... maybe... altitude? Which I wouldnt use for anything...

Odd, I'm having a hard time taking my car when hiking, the park rangers keep yelling at me, that said, the body shop has appreciated all my business. Also while kayaking I've found it hard to put my car on top of my kayak and, the one time I did without it flipping over, for some reason the speedometer read "0" the whole way and the odometer never moved either. You, bbplayer, must have a pretty nifty car that you can take everywhere, how big is it? Must be small. And where can I buy one (for less than $199 please)?

[150hp]

Originally Posted by joseph2166

Can't imagine it would be - is it really useful enough to warren the extra cost when you don't have always-on internet?

Yes, because this app doesn't need the internet to run.