GPS Status

Navigation | Utilities

iOS

This is a very basic diagnostic tool to allow you to have a look and see what information the GPS on your iPhone/iPad is reporting.

With our CamerAlert application we received a lot of bad reviews from users who didnt fully understand how GPS works, and that it is almost impossible to get an accurate location when indoors or traveling at 125MPH in a train. The GPS needs time to work out where it is.

This is where GPS Status comes in handy. You do not just get a good/bad GPS Fix indicator, you get a full readout of all the GPS data including speed and co-ordinates. If you have a GPS connection you will also get an approximation of your current address.

Note that I have determined the following GPS Fix settings:
- Excellent Fix = less than 10M accuracy
- Good Fix = between 10 and 50M accuracy
- Poor Fix = between 50 and 500M accuracy
- Bad Fix = more than 50M accuracy
- No Fix = nothing being reported.

Most GPS issues can be resolved by getting a good GPS Fix before you start moving. This can be achieved best by having a clear view of the sky.

Remenber when the GPS fails you drop back to WiFi or Cell positioning which will be wildly inaccurate. This is not a fault of the GPS applications, but the signal that your iPhone is receiving.

Also you need to bear in mind that some applications may work perfectly well with a bad fix if all they need to do is find your general location to determine what is around you.