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  1. #21
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tundracamper View Post
    Isn't the tracking a new feature? I've used the app many times on the trail, but have not used it for tracking. How well does it perform in a real use case?
    Hey Tundracamper. The tracking in the Guthook apps is new this season (and only on iPhone so far while we decide if it's something people use enough to warrant porting it). I've been using it for all my hikes over the winter while I was testing it, and it worked 99% of the time ;-) The other thing, which I thought was very interesting, was that if I didn't take pictures or use the phone for other things, the GPS tracking only ate about 2-4% battery per hour (on three year-old iPhone 5s).

  2. #22
    Registered User Venchka's Avatar
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    Tracking clarification:
    What I knew was last year's version of the App and the Location Sharing Feature. This feature will record your location and message and hold it until you have a cell signal. Then it sends the message without having to do anything.
    Apparently Tracking, like Argus and other exercise recording apps, is new. I need to check it out.
    Wayne


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  3. #23
    Registered User somers515's Avatar
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    Any updates on how Guthooks tracking feature is doing in 2018?

    Anyone use Strava for tracking their hikes? If so how do you handle a several days long backpacking trip without cell service? Leave it in pause while you are sleeping?

    Any other apps that people like for tracking their hikes/backpacking trips? Basically I'd love to be able to turn it on when I start hiking, turn it off when I stop, save the track when I get into town with cell service and be able to see how many miles and elevation gain/loss I did with a cool map of what I hiked as a bonus. All with being able to keep my phone in airplane mode while hiking and not having it use too much battery power. I know I'm greedy!
    AT Flip Flop (HF to ME, HF to GA) Thru Hike 2023; LT End-to-Ender 2017; NH 48/48 2015-2021; 21 of 159usForests.com

  4. #24
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    I'm using Backcountry Navigator for tracking hikes in areas where there is no cell service. Pre-hike, I'm downloading maps of the area.
    While the user interface of BN is a bit you-need-to-get-used-to, it works really grat finally.

  5. #25
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    Hi, which app you are using now?

  6. #26
    Registered User Tennessee Viking's Avatar
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    Avenza, Ramblr, Hiking Project, GaiaGPS, AllTrail, US Topo Maps
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  7. #27
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    Apps like AllTrails and FarOut recommend you download the trail for use "offline". I'm not sure what "offline" means. I always have access to the app's trail, as long as I have GPS. And I usually have GPS whenever my phone is on. Yes, there are RARE times when I don't have GPS, but then - even if I HAVE downloaded the trail - it's pretty much useless since I won't know my location.
    I know there's something I'm not getting about all this. Can you help me out? Thanks!

  8. #28

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    Quote Originally Posted by jefals View Post
    Apps like AllTrails and FarOut recommend you download the trail for use "offline". I'm not sure what "offline" means. I always have access to the app's trail, as long as I have GPS. And I usually have GPS whenever my phone is on. Yes, there are RARE times when I don't have GPS, but then - even if I HAVE downloaded the trail - it's pretty much useless since I won't know my location.
    I know there's something I'm not getting about all this. Can you help me out? Thanks!
    Mapping apps use GPS to determine your location, and GPS works even if you don’t have a cellular connection. To see the actual map, with your position plotted on it, you either need a cellular connection to access the map, or you need to have downloaded the map data previously while you did have a cellular connection.
    You will almost always have a GPS connection, unless you are in a deep canyon, or heavy tree cover, without a good view of the sky. A cellular connection can be blocked by many things, and are not nearly as reliable as a satellite connection for GPS.

  9. #29
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    Default Some tracking apps have disappeared. What do you like to use on your phone?

    I hike with the phone in airplane mode - which I think means no cell or wifi, and I have no problem seeing the trail. I THINK GPS tells me my location, even wo cell or wifi. Am I wrong about that?

  10. #30

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    Quote Originally Posted by jefals View Post
    I hike with the phone in airplane mode - which I think means no cell or wifi, and I have no problem seeing the trail. I THINK GPS tells me my location, even wo cell or wifi. Am I wrong about that?
    GPS will give you your location (latitude and longitude) as long as it can “see” the GPS satellites, even in airplane mode. It won’t plot your position on a map in airplane mode unless you downloaded the map while you had cellular service. if you can see your position on the trail when in airplane mode then you obviously downloaded the maps.

  11. #31
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    Quote Originally Posted by gpburdelljr View Post
    GPS will give you your location (latitude and longitude) as long as it can “see” the GPS satellites, even in airplane mode. It won’t plot your position on a map in airplane mode unless you downloaded the map while you had cellular service. if you can see your position on the trail when in airplane mode then you obviously downloaded the maps.
    hmm...Well, if this is true, I appreciate your input and this is becoming much clearer to me.
    It's been a long time since I hiked a trail where I needed to check my position - and memory (which is probably wrong) is that I WAS able to see my position in airplane mode. But maybe you're right and I had downloaded the trail. I would have been using FarOut, so I'll poke around in that app and see if I can find a downloaded map...

  12. #32
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    Quote Originally Posted by jefals View Post
    I hike with the phone in airplane mode - which I think means no cell or wifi, and I have no problem seeing the trail. I THINK GPS tells me my location, even wo cell or wifi. Am I wrong about that?
    Let me see if I can explain this. When you are on a wifi or cell connection and open a mapping application and see the map for the first time, the whole map does not reside on your phone. It resides in the ether. If you do not download the area you are in and you loose your connection, the map will not update much past what you see on your screen as you travel. If you download the map of the area you are hiking, it then resides on your phone and it will move with you. GPS is independent of wifi and cellular signals and uses the satellites to determine your location. If the map has been downloaded it is fine to put your phone on airplane mode with the GPS on and the map will track just fine.

  13. #33
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    To add to what has been said already (and to add more to the confusion maybe):
    If you did not download the map of the proposed hiking area, and you had a good look to the area in your app just before you start your hike, and you do NOT close the app and NOT switch off your phone completely, the map might still be available even if you leave the area of signal out into the backcountry, because the map data might still sit in the smartphone cache memory.
    This effect, while doing good at the moment, might lead you to false assumptions of having the whole data available. But no, the cached data will get lost either when closing the app, or at least when swithing off the phone.

  14. #34
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    Default Some tracking apps have disappeared. What do you like to use on your phone?

    Thanks Grubbster and Leo. This really clears it up even more and explains (at least I think it does) why I was thinking I could see the trail even without cell/wifi. (cause the part I was interested in was on my phone -- whether permanent or just in cache)....

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