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Super Easy Smartphone FAQ 2016


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Short n sweet- This is a FAQ. If you ask in this thread, it gets included in the first post's FAQ.

 

1- Will my android/ios phone's gps work without cellular signal, ie can I cache with it OUTSIDE of cellular signal ?

YES, but just like a standalone, you need to have caches loaded prior to leaving home. And maps.

 

2- WIll my android/ios phone's gps work just as accurately as a standalone ?

YES, assuming you're actually using the GPS antenna as the only source of triangulation... do NOT use cellular + wifi + google services in your settings !

 

3- Can I plot a turn by turn navigation route for driving to the cache, without cellular data ?

YES, there are a LOT of applications that will do TBT routing while offline. Some people like HEREMaps, others prefer Locus/osmand/oruxmaps/whoever.

 

4- Are there any phones that are waterproof ?

YES, TONS of them. ebay, amazon, swappa, and other sites a full of waterproof phones.

 

5- Will my NON-waterproof phone likely experience and overheat, when placed in a waterproof case, in direct sunlight ?

YES, unless some large area of that device is exposed to flowing air, it WILL overheat in direct sunlight. The cases that allow for the screen to be exposed usually help, but will not eliminate thermal shutdowns on hot days, with full sunlight exposure. The waterproof devices fare MUCH better, as they have the proper airflow over the screen and battery door to prevent overheating.

 

get the idea ? ok, the FAQ is up to you... ask a question, get an answer. the shorter and more on point the question is, the better the answer is likely to be. paragraphs will likely be ignored. ;-)

Edited by ohgood
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4- Are there any phones that are waterproof ?

YES, TONS of them. ebay, amazon, swappa, and other sites a full of waterproof phones.

I've been told that my phone (iPhone 5) is not only not waterproof, it will get "hot" in a waterproof case. Is it unsafe to put it in a case? Is it just certain cases that are a problem?

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4- Are there any phones that are waterproof ?

YES, TONS of them. ebay, amazon, swappa, and other sites a full of waterproof phones.

I've been told that my phone (iPhone 5) is not only not waterproof, it will get "hot" in a waterproof case. Is it unsafe to put it in a case? Is it just certain cases that are a problem?

 

great question- added !

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Are Smartphone users actively managing their power usage, to conserve the battery? In a typical day while Geocaching (or in lulls between Geocaches), do you turn on & off some combination of wifi/GPS/Bluetooth/Voice/Data/whatever throughout the day? What is the plan or process?

 

Part of the question, I guess is, do you have Geocaching Apps running GPS "in the background"? Or do you set them to not do that? My selections for individual Apps seem to be "GPS Always" or "GPS Never". Which I think is the setting for whether or not an App is to be running in the background. And the Apps themselves have other settings for reducing GPS use for power saving.

 

I have an iPhone 5, but I'd suppose this would be somewhat similar for any phone, or roughly so. I've currently left all GPS settings as is, full capability. As a rule when GPS reception is active, do GPS power-saving modes make a big difference in battery drain? Or do they severely degrade an App's GPS capability while Geocaching?

Edited by kunarion
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4- Are there any phones that are waterproof ?

YES, TONS of them. ebay, amazon, swappa, and other sites a full of waterproof phones.

 

Please list some of the IPx8 phones that are available.

 

that list will change weekly as more arrive.

 

anyone can Google "ipx5/6/7/8" or whatever they are interested in.

 

I believe specifically ipx8 or ipx7 changed , or had some question about its validity at one point? maybe you wanted me to slip up and quote the wrong spec update? I would prefer to not spread bad info, so going straight to the CURRENT model and standard lists would be much better than static. :-)

Edited by ohgood
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Are Smartphone users actively managing their power usage, to conserve the battery? In a typical day while Geocaching (or in lulls between Geocaches), do you turn on & off some combination of wifi/GPS/Bluetooth/Voice/Data/whatever throughout the day? What is the plan or process?

 

Part of the question, I guess is, do you have Geocaching Apps running GPS "in the background"? Or do you set them to not do that? My selections for individual Apps seem to be "GPS Always" or "GPS Never". Which I think is the setting for whether or not an App is to be running in the background. And the Apps themselves have other settings for reducing GPS use for power saving.

 

I have an iPhone 5, but I'd suppose this would be somewhat similar for any phone, or roughly so. I've currently left all GPS settings as is, full capability. As a rule when GPS reception is active, do GPS power-saving modes make a big difference in battery drain? Or do they severely degrade an App's GPS capability while Geocaching?

 

can you get it down to one or two very specific questions? I'll add those and more, but paragraphs kind of turn into "my opinion" column ;-)

 

thanks

Edited by ohgood
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2- WIll my android/ios phone's gps work just as accurately as a standalone ?

YES, assuming you're actually using the GPS antenna as the only source of triangulation... do NOT use cellular + wifi + google services in your settings !

I think it also depends on whether the standalone has GLONASS and whether the phone also has GLONASS. The Samsung Galaxy S7 has GLONASS and seems to identify its location well in areas without cell reception. Other phones that don't have GLONASS may not perform as well. Some standalone GPSr's have GLONASS, while some do not. A phone with GLONASS may be more accurate than a standalone without GLONASS, while a phone without GLONASS may not be as accurate as a standalone with GLONASS. Trying to say that all phones will be just as accurate as any standalone seems to be too broad of a generalization.

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If you ask in this thread, it gets included in the first post's FAQ.

FYI, your proposed workflow won't work. You can only edit a post for either 24 or 48 hours (I can't remember which). This forum isn't a good place for an FAQ. It would be better if you set it up externally and then posted a link to it here.

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If you ask in this thread, it gets included in the first post's FAQ.

FYI, your proposed workflow won't work. You can only edit a post for either 24 or 48 hours (I can't remember which). This forum isn't a good place for an FAQ. It would be better if you set it up externally and then posted a link to it here.

 

well, that's less than optimal. thank you for the heads up.

 

lock or delete the thread I guess, it won't do any good to try and put things together for folks to search.

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Are Smartphone users actively managing their power usage, to conserve the battery? In a typical day while Geocaching (or in lulls between Geocaches), do you turn on & off some combination of wifi/GPS/Bluetooth/Voice/Data/whatever throughout the day? What is the plan or process?

I would say yes - at least that is wiser to actively manage power usage to conserve battery.

It shouldn't be necessary to continually adjust what's being used. Depending on the operating system and settings at least.

 

Part of the question, I guess is, do you have Geocaching Apps running GPS "in the background"? Or do you set them to not do that? My selections for individual Apps seem to be "GPS Always" or "GPS Never". Which I think is the setting for whether or not an App is to be running in the background. And the Apps themselves have other settings for reducing GPS use for power saving.

iOS allows "While using the app". Those are typically for apps that have options to do things in the background. The only one I have set to do that is Google Maps, to keep updating TBT directions if I switch apps (not while driving of course :P). Other apps? When it comes to GPS, it's a matter of seconds for an app to re-initiate GPS reception and continue on if it's already been disabled. So I turn off the option for background use.

On iOS some apps also have a "background refresh" option, which is similar to GPS in the background, but is another form of battery drain, where a the app will occasionally run its own code to provide updates/notifications or keep its memory up to date, while it's not actively being used. Facebook may have this option, for example. Best to turn all of that off if you value battery life over a few extra seconds for an app to get 'caught up' as it were.

 

For GPS, in Geosphere we also have the ability to turn off GPS use within the app. I may use this feature for instances where I'm not navigating to a cache but just looking through data, or puzzle solving, or something like that where I really want to conserve battery. I'm not sure if other apps have built that ability as a feature (proud to say that was one of my suggestions to geosphere development =)

 

Some links:

Assisted GPS

List of devices with Assisted GPS

List of smartphones supporting GLONASS navigation

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