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Yes much faster to lock on and more accurate. Often works indoors where 3GS wouldn't. Big improvement.
 
I've found not to be the case. Yesterday I was on 16th th st n dropped a pin so I could find my car, it dropped it on 22nd. I tried a couple times. Friday I parked my car, dropped the pin, assumed it worked, went about my day, opened map to find my car with the dropped pin n it walked me to the wrong street. Half hour later I found my car. I was furious. I don't get why it happened 2 days in a row.

I'm actually concerned about my phone now. Maybe I got a bad chip. I'll have to test it more. Bring it back in a few weeks if it keeps doing this

Anyone know of a maps app other than the one provided that I could try?
 
Works great with my geocaching app

The accuracy used to never go below 56ft in my 3G. My wife's 3GS was NEVER accurate... The 4 goes to 33ft, sometimes 16ft? (something in the teens) and seems dead on!

Excellent!
 
Re: iPhone 4 with Improved GPS Accuracy and Speed over 3GS




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One of the hidden benefits of the 3G iPad was improved GPS accuracy and speed over the iPhone 3GS. The improvement was attributed to a newer GPS chip from Broadcom. iFixit's teardown revealed that the iPhone 4 shares the same Broadcom BCM4750 chip as the iPad.

At least one reader experience confirms the improved GPS accuracy and speed of the iPhone 4:



Article Link: iPhone 4 with Improved GPS Accuracy and Speed over 3GS

I owned a 3G 16 GB and a Magellan iPhone Car Kit. I have already sent the Magellan back once because the 3G kept loosing the GPS signal while using the Tom-Tom application. With the iPhone 4 and updated Tom-Tom application, the problem seems to have disappeared. Tom-Tom did add a feature in the software compensate for weak signals which I am sure helped, I have not seen a weak signal message on the iPhone 4.
 
So for those with the 4 does anyone think that the TomTom car kit is unnecessary now and a simple holder/charger will do the job?
 
Played a round of golf with Golfshot GPS.

Compared to my 3GS, much quicker to provide distance AND had a much greater battery percentage left after the round!

To me, the GPS improvements is a great reason to update your phone.
 
Ahhh, this is exactly what I wanted to know. Then I might consider it a little more.

My next concern is the Digital Compass. It simply doesn’t work on my iPhone 3GS! I even had another iPhone 3GS before November and it was the same. Not working. There’s always interference, this has to be the poorest component of the whole device, I swear.

Anybody, is the digital compass better than the iPhone 3GS? How so? Can somebody post videos or something about this whole Maps/GPS/Compass saga, as I’m really curious and this is pretty much the decisive point that will make me upgrade, or not.
 
I thought the GPS unit in my iPhone 4 had issues, because in the app that I was using (Inrix Traffic!) my location kept freezing on the map halfway home the first three days of owning the phone. Wasn't until last night that I thought to test it with Google Maps, and of course it was spot on.

From my experience, and that of a few others in here, it seems that whatever other changes Apple made with the GPS/iOS4 (like the API or something) they broke a lot of third party apps.
 
I noticed my iPhone 4 was fast using Navigon but using TomTom it sucks even on the TomTom car kit my iPhone 4 barely has a signal. I hope they fix this tomtom software soon I just paid 54.00 for it today!

I have the TomTom car dock, and it always greatly improved my iPhone 3G's GPS signal. The iPhone 4 seems to fit, but I was nervous about snapping it in.

I think the TomTom software sucks. Navigon much better, in my opinion.

If you're not happy with TomTom, report a problem in iTunes and ask for a refund. You'll get an email from Apple in a couple of days authorizing a refund of the app's purchase price. At least that's been my experience in the past.

Not to start an Android/Apple debate, but this is one feature of Android Market that Apple really should copy from Google: you have a 24 hours NO QUESTIONS ASKED return policy on all apps. The first 24 hours after downloading it, when you go to the app in the Market, you have a "refund" button. The app is uninstalled and you're refunded the price. You can even download it again in the future, but you can't refund again after the first time. Much easier than Apple, and makes you less leery of trying new software, especially if it's pricey.
 
I'm one of those people who if you hold it wrong, the signal drops.

I can only guess, for that same reason, when I held it a certain way, I kept loosing GPS.

Not surprising at all to me. There's only two antennas on the thing for the 5 radios…if the way you hold it shorts out the antenna for the WiFi and the GSM service, it's surely shorting it out for the other radios as well.

iphone-4-iphone4-steel-frame-antenna.jpg



Yeah, it does seem to be more accurate - it knows what house I'm in on my street. I'm used to dealing with decimeter (10cm) accurate GPS at work so its not accurate enough for me. :)

10 cm only? Are you kidding?

I get sub-cm all the time. In fact, if !(SEP < 100mm @ 99.999% HAL), it is not good enough.

What do you guys do for a living? LOL
 
I tried watching Google Maps while my friend was driving today, and the icon actually stayed on the road. My 3GS was typically about 20-30 feet off the road.
This has to depend on what road you are on. As a cartographer I can tell you that maps themselves have errors. Often these errors on roads are 20 feet or more. Dedicated automobile GPS systems have software that "snaps" to the nearest road, they assume you would likely be driving on a road. You can see that effect when you take an off ramp and for a while the GPS shows you still on the freeway for a few seconds. It then snaps to the exit road. Older GPS systems took less samples and longer to process data and that was part of the lag of course. Newer GPS like the iPhone 4 have much faster chips and more frequent GPS signal reading.The Maps app does not snap to roads due that at this time so at times it will seem to show you are off the road. Assisted GPS systems have the ability to be within about 3 meters 95% of the time with an open view of the sky. Pretty darn good, good enough for golfers to use for distances.
 
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I know with my iPhone 4, I can be standing in the middle of my two story house on the ground floor and the gps points quickly and accurately exactly where I'm located. With my girlfriend 3Gs, it was sometimes hard to get a lock on location even outdoors with no obstruction.
 
I can definitely tell a difference in the GPS in the new iPhone. It seems to lock my location instantly! It's great!
 
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It it definitely much improved. It helped my family find our way when we got lost on our roadtrip this week. It was so fast and accurate! I love this phone!
 
I left the UK this morning, arrived in Poland this afternoon and fired up Navigon on my iP4 and it got an accurate fix within seconds. Absolutely awesome. What an amazing device.
 
using TomTom app on iPhone 4 I saw a definite speed difference versus 3Gs (locking in signal after starting app) and MUCH improved accuracy. More testing is needed, but I don't think I'll need the TomTom Car kit for the iPhone 4.
 
With my 3g Runkeeper would take so long to get a lock on the GPS that by the time my activity was done is when I got locked on. With i4 I get a lock 2-3 seconds after launching the app.
 
So for those with the 4 does anyone think that the TomTom car kit is unnecessary now and a simple holder/charger will do the job?
I'm after the same question. Anyone has tested the iPhone 4 with and without GPS carkit (Tomtom, Magellan car kits? Thanks.
 
I'm after the same question. Anyone has tested the iPhone 4 with and without GPS carkit (Tomtom, Magellan car kits? Thanks.

I've used the 3GS with and without the car kit. It's a huge boost to signal there (there's a lot of hiccups with GPS apps without it).

On the iPhone 4... it seems that while the car kit gets equal or slightly better performance, it simply isn't worth the extra price for me. I've yet to take it into places that the car kit usually has issues with to compare there. I'm basically expecting the performance to be spotty in areas where the car kit is spotty.
 
GPS Accuracy

I have noticed that the maps app puts my phone exactly where I am. Extremely accurate. I only had a 3g before and it was sometimes off by blocks, tens of feet, or occasionally within a few feet. But the new iphone is right on. Good job on this feature.
 
On the iPad, I can lock-on to a satellite signal inside my house, whereas with the 3GS, I need two minutes of clear sky, but once it locks-on, seem to hold the signal.

I think I'd better order my iPhone4
 
Wee...I really love how fast the lock is..the iphone 4 is beyond a "smart phone" :D
 
I've used the 3GS with and without the car kit. It's a huge boost to signal there (there's a lot of hiccups with GPS apps without it).

On the iPhone 4... it seems that while the car kit gets equal or slightly better performance, it simply isn't worth the extra price for me. I've yet to take it into places that the car kit usually has issues with to compare there. I'm basically expecting the performance to be spotty in areas where the car kit is spotty.
Interesting! I plan to order the Magellan car kit along with the iPhone 4 but now consider put it on hold and give the iPhone 4 with a 'generic' holder first before pulling my (second) trigger. Thanks.
 
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