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btstack - issue #95

RouteBuddy Atlas doesn'tt work with BTstack GPS


Posted on Nov 3, 2010 by Happy Monkey

What steps will reproduce the problem? 1. Run BTstack GPS 1.5 2. Connect to GPS receiver 3. Start RouteBuddy Atlas

What is the expected output? What do you see instead?

If you try to find your location or track on RouteBuddy it asks you to "Turn on Location Services". If you Cancel rather than go into Settings, RouteBuddy still locates the GPS fix - suggesting it is getting this from BTstack. However, if you try to turn on Tracking or Locate Position again, "Warning - Access to your current position was not allowed appears" and the tracking fails to start.

What version of the product are you using? On what operating system?

Latest version (registered) on iPhone 3G with iOS 3.1.3

Please provide any additional information below.

I realise that this is probably a design flaw in RouteBuddy but I wondered if it would be possible to have BTstack GPS 'fool' RouteBuddy (and other programs) into thinking Location Services are turned on?

Comment #1

Posted on Nov 4, 2010 by Swift Ox

thanks for reporting/spotting. It wouldn't be hard to fool an app into thinking location services would be on, but I don't see the point. I guess it would be better if BTstack GPS would not report any location when location services are turned off. If you want to record the location, why would you turn it off?

Comment #2

Posted on Nov 4, 2010 by Happy Monkey

My reasons for using an external GPS receiver are to avoid the high power drain of the internal GPS and get much better satellite sensitivity. The only way I know of turning off the internal GPS is to turn off location services.

I've just discovered that my RouteBuddy Solo App maps don't suffer the same problem as the stand alone Atlas App I tried, in that they still track with BTstack GPS with Location Services turned off. So please don't make BTstack GPS not report location when location services are turned off!

An option to have BTstack GPS report the true location accuracy rather than the constant 1m it does would be really nice. Claiming such accuracy makes for some pretty erratic tracks.

Comment #3

Posted on Nov 4, 2010 by Swift Ox

I fully understand the use of BTstack GPS to save battery. The build-in GPS takes quite some power. However, when using BTstack GPS, the Location Service is first started but then stopped when BTstack GPS receives valid GPS data from the receiver. So, even with Location Services turned on, the internal GPS "should" sleep. (it certainly gets the stop call from BTstack GPS).

In the last update, I've looked into reporting the actual accuracy. However, I didn't figure out how to calculate it, as it is not in the NMEA. If you know how to do that, I will gladly fix that. :)

Comment #4

Posted on Nov 4, 2010 by Happy Monkey

Thanks for your prompt response and helpful advice. I'll experiment with the GPS settings to see how the power situation works out. If it operates as you suggest, that'll be great.

I'll look into the accuracy calculation.

Many thanks again for your great work.

Status: WontFix

Labels:
Type-Defect Priority-Medium