Is it possible to use tablet as trail GPS?

[daveherrmann]

Couldn’t you “hotspot” your phone and then run the tablet off your phone’s GPS?

if you are going through all of that why not just run off your phone?

the phone will not expose its gps to other connected devices. I am sure some phones can, but as a rule you cannot just connect to a phone and run gps on another device. if you for example had a cellular modem in the truck, and connected to that via wifi, then ran a serial cable to the tablet from the modem, in that case you could expose gps to the tablet. but that is a lot of work and expense

with that said, chances are you will not have a cell signal out in the woods, so with all of that, you still wont get a signal. cell is better than wifi (wifi is something like 300 feet), but you would need cell towers. I forget how far they will transmit, but that is all dependent on the frequency, tower height, antenna height, and most important the terrain (I did work at a place that did cell tower propagation)

built in nav would be great if it exposed the coordinates, I remember there was a hack in my 04 to show satilights, lat and lon along with accuracy. if that is still available you could enter the coordinates to a map and use that, but that would be a real pain in the ***

 

[Thai]

if you are going through all of that why not just run off your phone?

the phone will not expose its gps to other connected devices. I am sure some phones can, but as a rule you cannot just connect to a phone and run gps on another device. if you for example had a cellular modem in the truck, and connected to that via wifi, then ran a serial cable to the tablet from the modem, in that case you could expose gps to the tablet. but that is a lot of work and expense

with that said, chances are you will not have a cell signal out in the woods, so with all of that, you still wont get a signal. cell is better than wifi (wifi is something like 300 feet), but you would need cell towers. I forget how far they will transmit, but that is all dependent on the frequency, tower height, antenna height, and most important the terrain (I did work at a place that did cell tower propagation)

built in nav would be great if it exposed the coordinates, I remember there was a hack in my 04 to show satilights, lat and lon along with accuracy. if that is still available you could enter the coordinates to a map and use that, but that would be a real pain in the ***

Ahh ok. Need to check. On my last trip around CO, i connected my iPad (non-GPS, non-LTE) to my iPhone. I was able to see where i am at on the map and map out the route on my iPad. I prefer to use my iPad because of the bigger screen.

Even without cell towers, a smartphone can still track you via GPS signals. This is why i have a GARMIN app on my iPhone whenever i hit the mountains in CO, where cell signals are non-existent. My Apple (and Google) Map is useless but my Garmin app does great!

I have to check the next time i am in the mountains to see if i can link my iPad to my phone and still get GPS location on my iPad.

 

[daveherrmann]

Ahh ok. Need to check. On my last trip around CO, i connected my iPad (non-GPS, non-LTE) to my iPhone. I was able to see where i am at on the map and map out the route on my iPad. I prefer to use my iPad because of the bigger screen.

Even without cell towers, a smartphone can still track you via GPS signals. This is why i have a GARMIN app on my iPhone whenever i hit the mountains in CO, where cell signals are non-existent. My Apple (and Google) Map is useless but my Garmin app does great!

I have to check the next time i am in the mountains to see if i can link my iPad to my phone and still get GPS location on my iPad.

apple to apple may be different, I work and play in a ms environment

cell phones have agps, or assisted gps. it uses signals from measured locations, along with gps. it would make sense using one manufacturers devices that extra features are shared (in this case gps) to make you use their devices only

I would be interested in finding out if without a cell signal and no wifi, if a linked ipad to iPhone would share gps. it would make sense.

assuming apple plays nice with its own devices and shares gps, the only thing you would need to worry about is reflection and refraction, basically the gps signal bouncing off mountains, its a lot more common in cities, but you can see it in steep terrain.

also the thing you are referring to with google, they get a lot of their data from driving around, so, no roads no map data

 

[e60ral]

just to be clear, a stock tablet will work for GPS, it will triangulate off the wifi card. if you go off road, there is no wifi. without a local wifi to triangulate to (actually 3 or more), there will be no gps.

a gps chip should get you to within 10 meters, wifi triangulating in a remote area may as much as 65000 meters, but again that relies on a well known fixed wifi spot, the more its reported the better it gets

I would hate to see you going out with a wifi only tablet and get lost

Just get a tablet with GPS, you can buy an android tablet that works for <$150

Or if your tablet doesn't have GPS, you just need a BT or USB GPS receiver

 

[e60ral]

if you are going through all of that why not just run off your phone?

the phone will not expose its gps to other connected devices. I am sure some phones can, but as a rule you cannot just connect to a phone and run gps on another device. if you for example had a cellular modem in the truck, and connected to that via wifi, then ran a serial cable to the tablet from the modem, in that case you could expose gps to the tablet. but that is a lot of work and expense

with that said, chances are you will not have a cell signal out in the woods, so with all of that, you still wont get a signal. cell is better than wifi (wifi is something like 300 feet), but you would need cell towers. I forget how far they will transmit, but that is all dependent on the frequency, tower height, antenna height, and most important the terrain (I did work at a place that did cell tower propagation)

built in nav would be great if it exposed the coordinates, I remember there was a hack in my 04 to show satilights, lat and lon along with accuracy. if that is still available you could enter the coordinates to a map and use that, but that would be a real pain in the ***

You don't need a cell signal or wifi, stop being wrong

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

 

[Nixid]

Just FYI. I use a old iPad mini with Gaia maps. As stated above, I just download the map area before heading out. My iPad doesn’t have the cellular/GPS chip in it. I use a Bluetooth GPS from Amazon to fix that problem and it works great.
Dual Electronics XGPS150A Multipurpose Universal Bluetooth GPS Receiver with Wide Area Augmentation System and Portable Attachment https://www.amazon.com/dp/B006M49G80/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_TiBGAbC6MNNBY


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I was going to mention your set up too. No wifi, no cell service just direct GPS from the satellites, provides accuracte position, for whatever device you choose to tether with bluetooth.

 

[WanderlostOverland]

We're finally getting on board with running maps on a tablet. There's a lot of great information in this thread.
Thanks.

 

[mcox522]

****

 

[mcox522]

Just get a tablet with GPS, you can buy an android tablet that works for <$150

Or if your tablet doesn't have GPS, you just need a BT or USB GPS receiver

It really is as simple as this, I've been doing it for years.

1) tablet with gps chip
2) app you can download offline maps
3) enjoy your drive

Sent from my ONEPLUS A3000 using Tapatalk

 

[daveherrmann]

You don't need a cell signal or wifi, stop being wrong

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

actually I am not wrong, in a ms environment, where I do all of my work I am quite correct. as I stated, I am not well versed in apple and also android. I did mention it makes sense that a mfr would expose services between its devices

and what I was referring to is if you are using your wifi card to triangulate just as you can with the cell signal, most modern devices do not have a gps chip and rely on the wifi or cellular for gps. many phones do, but you could not use an iPhone with an android tablet and expose gps between the devices.

so, I wont stop being right

 

[e60ral]

actually I am not wrong, in a ms environment, where I do all of my work I am quite correct. as I stated, I am not well versed in apple and also android. I did mention it makes sense that a mfr would expose services between its devices

who tf buys a MS tablet?

but yes you are still wrong because you would just need to buy a BT or USB GPS receiver, you should be able to get a USB GPS receiver for <$30. The main difficulty with using a windows tablet is software, there are fewer options and some of them are expensive. Before tablets were ubiquitous it was common to use laptops with GPS receivers for navigation (I think you could even get MS Streets and Trips bundled with a GPS receiver)

tl;dr
yes, you can absolutely use a tablet as a trail GPS. Lots of people use tablets as GPS, probably more than use dedicated GPS devices at this point. Just make sure you get a tablet with GPS built in or you get a BT or USB GPS receiver that will work with your tablet.

 

[Thai]

So, if my iPhone has GPS, then i can link my iPad (wifi only) to the iPhone via Hotspot and still able to navigate on my iPad, right?

 

[e60ral]

So, if my iPhone has GPS, then i can link my iPad (wifi only) to the iPhone via Hotspot and still able to navigate on my iPad, right?

you will need a GPS receiver for your tablet if it doesn't have GPS

 

[daveherrmann]

who tf buys a MS tablet?

but yes you are still wrong because you would just need to buy a BT or USB GPS receiver, you should be able to get a USB GPS receiver for <$30. The main difficulty with using a windows tablet is software, there are fewer options and some of them are expensive. Before tablets were ubiquitous it was common to use laptops with GPS receivers for navigation (I think you could even get MS Streets and Trips bundled with a GPS receiver)

tl;dr
yes, you can absolutely use a tablet as a trail GPS. Lots of people use tablets as GPS, probably more than use dedicated GPS devices at this point. Just make sure you get a tablet with GPS built in or you get a BT or USB GPS receiver that will work with your tablet.

you are talking about adding a device, stock tablets generally do not have a gps chip, out in the woods you cannot rely on wifi, simply put I am still correct

 

[daveherrmann]

So, if my iPhone has GPS, then i can link my iPad (wifi only) to the iPhone via Hotspot and still able to navigate on my iPad, right?

you should be able to by linking the phone to the tablet since they are from the same mfr they should expose the service

 

[daveherrmann]

you will need a GPS receiver for your tablet if it doesn't have GPS

thank you for proving my point, a stock tablet cannot generally use gps, it can use the wifi card in populated areas, but since there will be no wifi, he cannot rely on the triangulation

 

[Baystate4Runner]

So, if my iPhone has GPS, then i can link my iPad (wifi only) to the iPhone via Hotspot and still able to navigate on my iPad, right?

The iPhone will provide internet access via hotspot for your iPad but for GPS you would need a bluetooth or wifi GPS receiver that connects to your iPad.

A separate GPS receiver is more precise than a tablet with build in GPS so this would be a better setup anyways.

 

[daveherrmann]

The iPhone will provide internet access via hotspot for your iPad but for GPS you would need a bluetooth or wifi GPS receiver that connects to your iPad.

A separate GPS receiver is more precise than a tablet with build in GPS so this would be a better setup anyways.

check this out, you do not need a gps receiver, there are hundred of articles like this and apps that share location info between the devices
https://www.wired.com/2011/03/does-tethered-iphone-send-gps-to-wi-fi-ipad/

 

[e60ral]

check this out, you do not need a gps receiver, there are hundred of articles like this and apps that share location info between the devices
https://www.wired.com/2011/03/does-tethered-iphone-send-gps-to-wi-fi-ipad/

that stopped working in the ios 8 days, that link is 7 years old

 

[Thai]

On the last trip, i could swear that my iPad PRO (wifi-only) was showing me where i am on Apple Maps when connected to my iPhone.