GPS problems

[fantomv50]

HI

I had an email from Copilot about the problems with GPS signal in the iPhone.
see below.


Thank you for contacting CoPilot Technical Support.

The GPS receiver inside the iPhone isn't as good as many of the newer GPS Receivers on the market and does need to have a very good clear view of the sky and not be obstructed at all by UV coated windscreens. If you experience problems we would suggest you try to pull over, wait for the iPhone to get a fix and then continue driving. Please note this is not a problem with CoPilot but a problem with the iPhone's GPS Receiver.

A way to determine if you have a good GPS fix would be to check in Google Maps on your device. If you go into Google Maps and click the Crosshair button, and you do not see a pulsating radius around your current position (dot) then you do not have a good GPS fix. Once you start driving with CoPilot the "Determining Current Position" should disappear and you should see a chevron (arrow). If you see a red hockey puck whilst you are driving this also indicates you do not have a good GPS fix.

We are working at trying to mask some of the GPS quality issues from the iPhone and improve the performance quality. GPS Performance updates within CoPilot will be available in future updates that you will receive free of charge through the App Store.

If you have an athermic (UV) coated windscreen this will also degrade GPS signals inside the car and is nothing to do with CoPilot. There are various kinds of re-radiating GPS antenna's that can help with athermic/UV coated windscreens.

A few re-radiating antennas that might help are as follows. This is purely for informational purposes and we cannot guarantee the quality of these or whether they work with any specific device
http://www.pc-mobile.net/gpsant.htm
http://www.semsons.com/gpsreran.html
https://www.expansys.com/d.aspx?i=162731
http://www.parkingsensoronline.co.uk/radiating-antenna-c-68.html

If you have any further questions, or feel that this incident has not been resolved to your satisfaction, please do not hesitate to bring this to our attention.

Regards,

CoPilot Technical Support
http://support.alk.com

 

[fantomv50]

Update

1

 

[fhall1]

You know you can easily edit your original post...you didn't need to requote everything that was one post above your second one.

Also, Apple owns their moderated forums....if they don't like what you posted, they have every right to delete it.

 

[kdarling]

Also, Apple owns their moderated forums....if they don't like what you posted, they have every right to delete it.

Yes, they can delete anything they want. And they do.

Apple is infamous for removing any post that makes them look bad or mentions alternatives. They're the very epitome of 1984-ish thinking. Throw it down the memory hole and it doesn't exist!

(I actually agree with their policy of removing speculation, though. That's what places like this are for.)

Remember when original iPhone buyers rioted all over the web during the first big price drop? Apple literally deleted thousands of postings until even they finally had to give up (no doubt under orders from the top) and just ride the tsunami.

Some other manufacturers actually have rant sections. And hacking sections. Even Microsoft has lots of little software team blogs where you can ask questions or complain directly to the programmers, and get responses.

Apple's an information and discussion black hole, which some people interpret as being cool.

 

[alent1234]

once you start posting ridiculous accusations like taking apple to court for their choice of GPS chip they have every right to remove it. if you want super accurate GPS then steal one of the military ones or buy one of the professional level ones

the military ones are so good, they will tell you exactly where you're standing

 

[kdarling]

once you start posting ridiculous accusations like taking apple to court for their choice of GPS chip they have every right to remove it.

Where in his posting did he threaten court action? Ah never mind. I see it, you're talking about taking it "further", which might imply that.

That's another problem with Apple's "support" forum, which only has "support" from other customers. Because many of them are technically clueless, and there's little technical info available anyway, other customers get frustrated at not getting factual or working answers.

A real manufacturer support forum would get a reply from Apple tech staff, giving decent information to answer his accusations or questions.

 

[thelatinist]

You posted unfounded accusations that Apple was "crippling" gps so that is only worked with Maps. That is not only ridiculous, since Apple itself sells the third party turn-by-turn routing apps you want to use, but false. Why shouldn't they delete your posting?

 

[scubasteve03]

Shutup

Listen kid, go complain about your imaginary issues somewhere else. The crap you are spouting off is utterly ridiculous. Apple makes $30 off of every Tom-Tom application. Why would they cripple the GPS? I have has no troubles with Navigon or Tom-Tom. It is spot on as my Nuvi 760. Quit acting like an insolent child. I wish I could remove your post right now, no wonder Apple removed your posts. Get some data to backup what you are saying or revert to the title of this comment.

 

[Small White Car]

You posted unfounded accusations that Apple was "crippling" gps so that is only worked with Maps. That is not only ridiculous, since Apple itself sells the third party turn-by-turn routing apps you want to you, but false. Why shouldn't they delete your posting?

Exactly.

He wasn't trying to get a problem fixed, he was trying to spread false rumors about Apple. There's no reason in the world they should keep posts like that on their own site.

 

[za9ra22]

I have tried posting twice on Apples forum .... I had put in those posts that I think Apple might have crippled the GPS so it only works right with Google maps and not ture turn by turn apps like tomtom copilot etc. but they get removed.

So, you make entirely unsupported accusations on a user-to-user support forum, and complain when Apple removes them.

I guess you'd think it OK to visit someone's house and slag them off as long and loud as you fancied, and expect they'd be OK with that?

Apple's forums are Apple's house. They can make any rules they want, and reasonably expect anyone visiting to stick to those rules. When and if they don't stick to the rules, they have every right to take action.

And for those who nonsensically say that Apple try to stifle complaints or anything that makes them look bad, think about how much money in servers and bandwidth, in staffing and maintenance that it costs them to provide what is, in essence, a place where every user with a fault or failure, real or imagined, can post every little detail about it. Some way to actively discourage making them look bad.

 

[kkat69]

Nothing good to say here, here's my rabbit picture:

 

[fantomv50]

ok

Yes I might have got carried away about taking apple to court.

with regards to "you make entirely unsupported accusations"

I am not the only person having problems with the iphones GPS read the reviews on the app store for all of the sat nav app's its happening to just about all of them.

I have my iphone fully in my car's window and its not a heated one.

I have had many mobile phones with built in gps over the years and have never and i really mean never had a problem with gps signals.

One even could get a signal in the back of the someones car while it was in my hand. it was the Orange m700. and yes it was a solid roof.

And after going for a longer drive I also find problems with the built in maps program now. but it was fine before the 3.01 update.

I have the iPhone around 1/2 in from my windscreen and the screen is pointing up. i can only just see it and thats is where it gets the best signal.

When the likes of copilot have been making software etc for years. I think they might know a thing or two about the poor gps in the iphone.

And to scubasteve03 who says "listen kid."
I'm a 36 year old male with wife and two kids and I'm paying good money for this iphone i expect it to work. as they claim it should. if its got GPS it should work. its that simple.

 

[Pattycerts]

Listen kid, go complain about your imaginary issues somewhere else. The crap you are spouting off is utterly ridiculous. Apple makes $30 off of every Tom-Tom application. Why would they cripple the GPS? I have has no troubles with Navigon or Tom-Tom. It is spot on as my Nuvi 760. Quit acting like an insolent child. I wish I could remove your post right now, no wonder Apple removed your posts. Get some data to backup what you are saying or revert to the title of this comment.

The GPS unit inside the iPhone is horrible, TomTom loses signal often when I travel at expressway speeds. Much worse than my Touch Pro or Diamond were, and that's not even debatable.

Asking if we should 'take Apple to court' is where he messed up. But the meat of the topic is accurate, which should be obvious since tomtom is making a car kit with ENHANCED GPS RECEPTION. Why bother if the IPhone's GPS chip is good enough? Exactly....

 

[jmpage2]

Myself and many others have no problem using 3rd party GPS applications like Tom Tom, Navigon, etc, on the iPhone.

Did it ever occur to you that Google Maps doesn't require as accurate a reading to show your location on a map and that an actual turn by turn GPS application requires a better fix?

I've used GPS with my 3GS in multiple vehicles with 3rd party software and it has worked great in all of them.

Maybe how you are using the phone (interference, location in the car, etc) has more to do with this than your imaginary belief that Apple is out to get you.

 

[za9ra22]

...with regards to "you make entirely unsupported accusations"

I am not the only person having problems with the iphones GPS read the reviews on the app store for all of the sat nav app's its happening to just about all of them.

What you said was: I think Apple might have crippled the GPS so it only works right with Google maps and not ture turn by turn apps like tomtom copilot etc. Not just that there was a problem, but that Apple appear to have crippled GPS so it only works with the Maps app and nothing else.

That is, unless you have any inside knowledge of Apple policy, iPhone programming or hardware, or access to any documents referring to the issue, an unsupported accusation.

If you had said there was evidence the on-board GPS was deficient or too insensitive to be used as a fully fledged GPS in car, then you may well be right (though clearly not everyone would agree in that the poor performance is not universal, but there is nothing to support the supposition that Apple have done this deliberately to favour the Google maps app - or why they would have done so.

THAT is why your posts were pulled from Apple's forum. Try posting there again with factual statements, no rhetoric and asking for assistance since your iPhone+GPS app is not behaving as desired. Perhaps that will garner more success.

 

[fantomv50]

Apple says no to turn by turn sat nav

I remember reading that Apple did not want people to have turn by turn sat nav on an iPhone and MMS. but look what happened. it came with OS 3.0 update

I only have a iPhone 3G as I only got my iPhone this Feb here in the UK, and my contract is going until August 2010. as some people on here say they have a iPhone 3GS.

The iphone is placed really close in the windscreen, if it got any closer to the windscreen it would be in the windscreen glass or outside my car.
I pushed it that close the other day it got turned off.

I have changed the angle of the iPhone a number of times and i have found the best place for it so i can still see the screen ( just )

Also people claim why would Apple cripple the GPS

I'm sure they crippled the bluetooth in the 2nd gen ipod touch yes that much so it was not even there.

Also the iPhone 3g bluetooth was crippled as you could not use all of the features like A2DP anyone.

So yes it might be Crippled.

I have not looked at the location of the iPhone 3GS gps maybe Apple moved it so it can get a better signal. than what is in the iPhone 3G

I have also stated after doing a longer trip with the Maps app. that too now has problems and it will track me on the right road for a while, then goto a bigger picture that covers more of the local area. and a blue flashing circle that has a rough idea where I am, and after a while it will relock to my real place.


Also I am on my third iPhone 3G since feb this year due to Real problems with the phone. so yes things do go wrong with them.

 

[thelatinist]

What you describe is the iPhone losing GPS lock. That is not a sign of a secret plot by Apple to cripple your iPhone, it's a sign that the iPhone's GPS reception just isn't all that good. It's a function of the small antenna in the unit, which sometimes just isn't adequate to maintain a signal lock, especially indoors or in a car.

Your insistance on making this into something it's not is why your comments were deleted on the apple forums and why you are not getting much sympathy here. You complain about being thought a child, but who can blame scubasteve03 for the mistake when you persist in this puerile nonsense. I confess, I assumed you were about 13, too.

If you are really interested in help, please stop trying to convince us that Apple is out to get you and ask a relevant question.

 

[yamanx]

Same Problem Here buddy you are not alone

I'm having the same iphone gps issues firstly i had a iphone 3G got fed up with the gps signal and got the 3GS guess what it only worked perfectly for one week with navigon then boom having the same gps signal issues restored the iphone 3gs worked that same day then again it become very sluggish. What my point is there must be a fix around this if anybody has any solutions please share them with us suffering with gps signal issues.

Thanks everyone

 

[newportpaco]

I think the point is that I have had 2 3g's and by no fault of my own ( kid broke one and on a cruise got wet) 3 3gs's. I have almost never got an accurate dot on where I am in San Diego. I really wanted the gps to work and I don't have Tom Tom or navigon but my gps sucks and I would be afraid to spend the money to get subpar service. I just checked and I am two blocks from the outdoor bar with nothing to obstruct the sats. I don't think I'm alone, gps in my view sucks on this phone.

 

[fantomv50]

I'm having the same iphone gps issues firstly i had a iphone 3G got fed up with the gps signal and got the 3GS guess what it only worked perfectly for one week with navigon then boom having the same gps signal issues restored the iphone 3gs worked that same day then again it become very sluggish. What my point is there must be a fix around this if anybody has any solutions please share them with us suffering with gps signal issues.

Thanks everyone

Hi

As i was told my copilot makers you need one of the following

A few re-radiating antennas that might help are as follows. This is purely for informational purposes and we cannot guarantee the quality of these or whether they work with any specific device
http://www.pc-mobile.net/gpsant.htm
http://www.semsons.com/gpsreran.html
https://www.expansys.com/d.aspx?i=162731
http://www.parkingsensoronline.co.uk...enna-c-68.html

I have reason to think that this is all tomtom is doing plus any extra speaker they might pop in etc.

For me in the UK its an extra £44.99 plus shipping to hopefully sort this problem out...

Which to me after paying at least £340 and a total of £810 9 ( i know O2 get most of it ) for the iphone due to contract price's etc its a bit steep.

I could have got a basic sat nav for £44.99 in fact i did its a Medion and it gets a signal in my car..