Help! Calling GPS Experts - My Tracks Is Logging Wrong...!

[clunkercar01]

I have used a free program called TrekBuddy on various phones for years and it has always been accurate, but I have been using My Tracks for weeks now quite happily until today!

My mates iPhone correctly said we have walked 3.52 miles but when I checked my Android LG GT540 Optimus, My Tracks (which was started at the same time) told me we had walked 3.98 miles.

We all agreed that the extra half mile was wrong and so I have come home to investigate and found the following.

* my tracks logged and uploaded my stats saying 3.98 miles.
*i exported the gpx which when uploaded to utrack.crempa.net gave a report saying total flat distance of 3.5 miles (which ties in with my mates iPhone).
* imported the gpx file into sporttracks software which said distance is 3.56 miles (which again ties into my mates iPhone logs).

So....

Why the heck is My Tracks reading out that the distance is half a mile more than it actually is? why is it showing the stats with half a mile extra too when it outputs a GPX file with the correct readings.

To throw more confusion into the mix - why does that same GPX file say 3.30 miles when imported into Google Earth?

The odd things is we drove back home and me and my mate clocked the milage in the car and after around 3 miles - both my tracks and his iPhone had identical readings.

Why does my tracks decide to give wrong readings sometimes but not others. I have just checked my last 3 my tracks walks and they ALL seem to have the wrong distances, plus the average speed is wrong too?

Is anyone else seeing all these major problems with this app please?

Any advice appreciated.

Cheers.

 

[clunkercar01]

60 views of the thread which means 60 people who very probably use My Tracks... you all trust it?

My question to you is - do you blindly trust it or have you tested it because I installed TrekBuddy (which is amazing) and also now SportsTracker and both seem to give me accurate results.

The main inaccurate app seems to be My Tracks.

Benchmark or test your My Tracks folks! ;-)

 

[AndroidRunner]

Another alternative, for those that simply want to see where they went without average speed statistics, etc. is an app called Dude Where Was I?

It's very accurate and very stable, but simply records where you go every few minutes. It's more useful for tracking long trips like vacations, road trips, etc. You can really even keep it on at all times to have a record of everywhere you go.

It will work anywhere on earth. You could even go to Antarctica for several months, come back, and all of your position data will be uploaded so you can view it on a website.

Different monster for sure, but may be interesting for some

https://market.android.com/details?id=com.rapidstracker.mobile.dudewherewasi&feature=search_result