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NickYanakiev

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 12, 2016
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Happy to report that my new Series 6 Cellular has far better GPS accuracy vs my Series 5 Cellular.
Strava link below:

 
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Yes, I think so too. This photo was from yesterday. Near the top, the red dot was where I began my cool down after a track workout (I’d just paused the workout and walked to my car and resumed) and the red start point is the exact parking spot I was in. I was happy with the track map - I ran in lane 1 and for the most part it’s pretty dead on. The top curve of the track has always been, for some reason, a problem spot for any GPS watch I’ve ever owned. So I am not worried about that. The maps had seemed better with easy runs and it was nice to see that’s still the case with a fast paced workout, especially on a track, which can be difficult for GPS.

I did notice something - while I’ve been using the stock Workout app, I started WorkOutDoors to see how the GPS signal strength was and each time it’s already at full strength when I open the program. In the past I would have to wait a few seconds for it to pick up all the way - so to me it definitely seems like something has changed and that makes me very happy.
 

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Happy to report that my new Series 6 Cellular has far better GPS accuracy vs my Series 5 Cellular.
Strava link below:


FYI, I used Stryd's app, rather than the native Apple workout app. Very pleased with the performance so far- having cellular enabled is no longer causing issues!
 
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Cross post from other accuracy thread:


I’ll cross-post in the other thread too, but I had noticed since getting the S6 that on the HealthFit app, there is now a section for each activity that is “GPS accuracy.” I emailed the HealthFit creator and s/he wrote back:


Thanks for reaching out.

The Apple Watch is reporting the GPS accuracy for each GPS location. This information is stored in Apple Health and this is how HealthFit gets the GPS accuracy. I don’t know exactly how the Apple Watch estimates the accuracy.

The graph shows an histogram. The percentage (Y axis) means the percentage of the population (GPS points). The X axis is the accuracy. (Meter or Foot).”

I’m wondering if there was indeed a change, since Apple now specifically records data on it. Either way...I’m happy with my performance on the S6. Routes definitely seem to appear more precise.
 
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