Has anybody tested GPS watches to improve accuracy and speed of using Gaia?

Tobias Schwoerer

September 03, 2019 22:03

Hi,

I am interested to learn which GPS watches improve speed and accuracy of using Gaia on your smartphone in places without cellular.

Thanks!

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  Paul Beaudet

  October 24, 2019 16:28

  I haven't, but you should understand that basically all spartphones have GPS that operate with or without cellular. For the most part that is what gaia is using I think. Depending on how your OS handles location services. Just put your phone in airplane mode, you'll still be able to record a track. GPS works via satellites and phone services works via ground towers. Its separate hardware in the phone.

  I'm sorry if you already understood that and I just over explained it. Wanted to make sure we were speaking the same language. It is true cellphone tower, wifi, and bluetooth triangulation are ways to get location. However, I've been under the impression those are less accurate than / just helps gps because gps is more power hungry given the transmission distance. I'm not an expert I could be wrong.

  The only time I've gotten, inaccurate tracks is when android throttled location services because the battery of the phone was too cold to deliver the appropriate amount of power. I don't think it was gaia's fault

  Still, to a similar spirit of the question. I'm also curious how easy it is to use something like a garmin in reach or fenix watch with gaia. More for battery life reasons. I would be into higher resolution for running, but so far the resolution of tracks gaia takes has been sufficient for hiking.

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  Erik Baily

  October 28, 2019 18:57

  Hi all,
  
  Some really good information here, thank you @paulbeaudet1. I just thought I'd add some links to further resources. 
  
  Yes, Gaia GPS uses the internal GPS receiver in your mobile device to find your location. In general, I recommend leaving your device location mode on Device/GPS Only while using the app, as other triangulation can lead to poor location reporting. Here is how to do that.
  
  You can absolutely use an external GPS receiver with Gaia GPS in order to provide greater accuracy and frequency than the built-in GPS on your device. I have not looked into GPS watches for this endeavor; however, you can find more information and some recommended devices at this link:

  • Using External GPS Devices With Gaia GPS for Android

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  Paul Beaudet

  October 31, 2019 01:38

  Its interesting in Android Pie the feature you need to turn off is called "improving location accuracy". Doesn't surprise me google has been doing a bunch of stuff to improve battery life and calling it other things.

  Wouldn't putting your phone into Airplain Mode effectively do the same thing?

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