Help GPS issues

[somanyapps]

I don't know that anyone would claim that a phone GPS would replace a standalone dedicated GPS device in the features generally available in those devices. However, in my short experience with the Infuse, and a couple navigated routes using the phone, it seems to work pretty well. One thing I have noticed is that it works best if you're actually moving. When stopped I noticed it would do some odd things. For eample, I stopped at a light and while stopped the GPS seem to think I was headed in the opposite direction (it turned me around), I guess because it couldn't tell which way I was going while stopped. It rerouted me, but as soon as I started again it rerouted back to the route I was on. At another light it moved my position to the side road that intersected with the one I was on, so it rerouted me based on that position until I started moving again. I have not typically seen that on my standalone GPS (not that it won't do strange things on occassion), so I'm wondering what might be happening and if there is any tweaking I can do. Is it simply a problem with the accuracy of the GPS in the phone, or a software issue? I also wonder if mounting on the dash or windshield with a better view of the sky would help, although I don't think it actually lost the satellite signal on those two test runs.

 

[sdrawkcab25]

a better view of the sky will definitely help, and also if you just have the phone laying in the car or are holding it, the accelerometer may be getting confused because of the slight motion of the car or of your hand, so a sturdy mount may help also.

 

[somanyapps]

Thanks sdrawkcab25. I was doing both, laying it down and holding it. I hadn't thought about that aspect of it when I asked about mounting it. The car wasn't moving but the phone probably was, even if just very small movements. The phone is new, so I didn't want to purchase the mount just yet, but maybe I can do some kind of temp mount and try it.

 

[dsjr2006]

I don't know that anyone would claim that a phone GPS would replace a standalone dedicated GPS device in the features generally available in those devices. However, in my short experience with the Infuse, and a couple navigated routes using the phone, it seems to work pretty well. One thing I have noticed is that it works best if you're actually moving. When stopped I noticed it would do some odd things. For eample, I stopped at a light and while stopped the GPS seem to think I was headed in the opposite direction (it turned me around), I guess because it couldn't tell which way I was going while stopped. It rerouted me, but as soon as I started again it rerouted back to the route I was on. At another light it moved my position to the side road that intersected with the one I was on, so it rerouted me based on that position until I started moving again. I have not typically seen that on my standalone GPS (not that it won't do strange things on occassion), so I'm wondering what might be happening and if there is any tweaking I can do. Is it simply a problem with the accuracy of the GPS in the phone, or a software issue? I also wonder if mounting on the dash or windshield with a better view of the sky would help, although I don't think it actually lost the satellite signal on those two test runs.

Try an iPhone with the TomTom, Navigon, Garmin, or Magellan apps and you might be surprised. Gets even better if you use one of the GPS docks, but I find those to be expensive and unnecessary unless you live in a city with lots of tall buildings to obscure the signal.

 

[somanyapps]

Thanks for the reply.

 

[somanyapps]

sdrawkcab25,
I got the car mount for the Infuse. On a short test run it seems the navigation did perform better. I did not see the problem with fixing my position when stopped. Will have to see how it does over time. I'm using Google maps navigation.