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The 'GPS' of the 3GS borders on useless.

S

ss957916

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 17, 2009
861
0
I had the 1st gen iPhone and didn't really expect too much from it - if it did anything well then that was a bonus! But I upgraded to the 3GS because of its boasting about "accuracy of GPS" and the compass and the rumoured TomTom app.

But it's rubbish! When I'm at home it consistently thinks I'm 0.6 miles away and using the iPhone to follow in the car is utterly pointless.

I also bought (for 59p admittedly) an app called "Find My Car". Brilliant in a big car park - or so I thought. Cos of the inaccuracy of the "GPS" it's completely pointless.
 
Mine is pretty spot on even when sitting in my house. Sounds like you need a new phone?
 
My GPS for the 3Gs is the same way. Its so silly.

"Yes iPhone, I am going off-roading right next to the road that is clearly displayed."

The blue dot travelled about 5 millimeters off the road when driving. Admittedly, it was cloudy, and the "circle" was correct, I was somewhere in that circle, but that circle was about a 4th of the entire screen. Put enough monkeys in a room...
 
ss957916 said:
What's the sky got to do with anything?!
Click to expand...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System

It uses radio signals from satellites to find your position, so if you're indoors or the phone's under something that blocks radio signals or scatters them (car roof, trees etc.) then it won't get as precise a fix as it can't see the satellites.

p.s. it can also use positioning via cell tower triangulation, but that's obviously not as accurate as the GPS. Maybe that's where you're getting confused?
 
ss957916 said:
What's the sky got to do with anything?!
Click to expand...

Really?

You can't use your iPhone's GPS to try and locate you in the basement of your house...

My 3GS GPS works great. Especially now with the compass, Maps reorients itself as I drive. Haven't had a problem yet.
 
ss957916 said:
What's the sky got to do with anything?!
Click to expand...
I think his point was that if you were in an underground car park, for example, it's not going to work very well, so if you look up and can't see sky (because you're inside under a roof) it isn't going to be as accurate as if you were outside.
 
Could be the maps

ss957916 said:
I had the 1st gen iPhone and didn't really expect too much from it - if it did anything well then that was a bonus! But I upgraded to the 3GS because of its boasting about "accuracy of GPS" and the compass and the rumoured TomTom app.

But it's rubbish! When I'm at home it consistently thinks I'm 0.6 miles away and using the iPhone to follow in the car is utterly pointless.

I also bought (for 59p admittedly) an app called "Find My Car". Brilliant in a big car park - or so I thought. Cos of the inaccuracy of the "GPS" it's completely pointless.
Click to expand...

Could be the maps too. I had purchased a GPS once and the Coordinates were correct but the maps on the device were off bigtime. It showed me driving in a river instead of the road. I called the company and they said they new about the problem and did not know when it would be fixed.
 
ss957916 said:
True. Except the iPhone doesn't use satellites.
Click to expand...


Want proof?

Take your SIM card out of your iPhone, then go to Maps, hit the little circle on the bottom left, it'll still find you- Granted, for you it might not be exact.

So, if your SIM card is out, and it doesn't use Satellites, then how exactly does it find your position?
 
ss957916 said:
True. Except the iPhone doesn't use satellites.
Click to expand...

what do you think GPS is?

All consumer GPS' work in the same way. They only work when they have a clear line of sight to the sky. What makes you think the iPhone GPS doesn't use satellites? How else would it pin point your location?

By the way, the GPS on my 3G S works perfectly....when it can see the sky of course.


get your phone replaced and stop whining
 
Having Wi-Fi on helps. In my friend's basement, GMaps located me and it was about few hundred yards off. When I turned Wi-Fi, on, damn near perfect.
 
fireshot91 said:
Want proof?

Take your SIM card out of your iPhone, then go to Maps, hit the little circle on the bottom left, it'll still find you- Granted, for you it might not be exact.

So, if your SIM card is out, and it doesn't use Satellites, then how exactly does it find your position?
Click to expand...

Magic. Descended from Zeus' mighty hands.
This thread DELIEVERS.
 
timotheezz said:
Having Wi-Fi on helps. In my friend's basement, GMaps located me and it was about few hundred yards off. When I turned Wi-Fi, on, damn near perfect.
Click to expand...

In the first case it would be cell tower triangulating, in the second it would be looking up your friend's (and any other within range) WiFi SSID in a database to see where you are.
 
Ah, yes. Wi-Fi does help.

With Wi-Fi, I went to the Maps app, and zoomed in all the way.

I hit the home button, took off my wi-fi, and then went to the maps app.

It showed me (Without wi-fi) that I was in the back of my house, when I was in the front.

Oh my god, that's a whole 20 feet!!!
 
ss957916 said:
I had the 1st gen iPhone and didn't really expect too much from it - if it did anything well then that was a bonus! But I upgraded to the 3GS because of its boasting about "accuracy of GPS" and the compass and the rumoured TomTom app.
Click to expand...

It's not a rumor and, upon release, I think we will find that the iPhone is as good as (or better than) any TomTom device on the market today.
 
LOL

Right now it has me out in the parking lot about 100 yards away. I'm in the middle of the building and can't see daylight. I assume that's where the phone thinks I am based off of cell tower and Wi-fi registry.

If I walk outside into the courtyard, it's spot on with satellite view. I can walk around the building and it matches as best as I can tell right where I am. Try looking at google maps in your basement or wherever with WiFi turned off. I get only a city view. If I turn wifi on it find me within 100 yards. You don't even have to be connected to a wi-fi, just detect it and it will get you closer.
 
Fizzoid said:
Quote:
Originally Posted by ss957916
True. Except the iPhone doesn't use satellites

Hehehe, yeah. Satellite Navigation, you'd think there was a clue there somewhere ;)
Click to expand...

I think the OP needs a refresher course in technology.
He'd probably have an easier time just yelling at the top of his lungs
"WHERE THE F___ AM I?"
 
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