gpsGuide information and help

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Product Summary

gpsGuide shows you the way while others just tell you where you are. It is a directional navigator, compass, and handheld GPS all-in-one.

 

gpsGuide is COMPREHENSIVE Global Positioning satellite (GPS) utility for the any GPS ready iPhone or iPod touch. Packing as much information as possible on a iPhone/iPod touch screen, it acts as a compass, shows the direction to a destination and origin you select, and displays abundant useful information about your GPS. Navigate your way without having to always refer to a map!

  • NO GUESSING: Points the direction and distance of your target and origin locations.
  • COMPASS: shows you the direction you are headed.
  • ODOMETER: to know how far you travelled.
  • SAVED LOCATIONS: Remembers your locations you want to save for easy recall. Your saved locations are stored in your address book for integration with your desktop system.
  • STANDALONE: Does not require an Internet connection saving on connection charges and is fully functional in locations with limited or no reception.
  • ADVANCED LOCATION COMPUTATION algorithm to help compensate for imprecise readings.
  • MINIMIZES BATTERY USE: Highly configurable to minimize battery drain. The display is optimized to use as little power as possible.
  • METRIC AND ENGLISH measurements.
  • DIAGNOSTICS: acts as a diagnostic to show you the performance of your GPS.
  • DETAILED INFORMATION: And of course displays your current location, altitude, speed, and GPS accuracy.

Help

 

Accuracy

No civilian GPS is a precision instrument and gives only approximate locations. Since the iPhone and iPod touch has no compass, the compass function is simulated by computing the direction you are moving. Also, there is typically a lag of a number of seconds in the time it takes to compute your location.

For most applications, these limitations present not problem but the user should be aware of them.

 

The Display

The main screen shows your current location, the destination and origin you set, as well as details about your GPS. The latitudes and longitude are generally displayed in Degrees-Minutes-Seconds (DAMS) but you can use decimal degrees if you wish.

 

Current Location, Heading and "North"

The Current Location shows your current latitude and longitude.

The Heading shows the direction that you currently are moving both in degrees and as a cardinal direction (North, South, East, West). The "North arrow" points in the direction of true north. Note, you must be moving for these to be accurate.

When you change the direction you are heading, the cardinal direction will flash red until a new heading is computing.

 

Your Origin and Destination

By setting your origin and destination, gpsGuide displays the direction and distance to them. A key feature is that gpsGuide will point in the direction of your destination and origin. As you move and turn, the arrows will rotate as they keep themselves pointed in the proper directions.

The bearings display the absolute bearings between you and the destination and origin. Unlike the arrows which require you to move to be accurate, these do not require you to move.

 
Saving your origin and destination

While pressing the latitude and longitude fields will bring up the standard text entry dialog for entering coordinates, you will probably find it more convenient to save your locations. By pressing the "Save" button, you can give a name to your current location and this information is saved in your contacts address book. It is saved in the "notes" field of the address name. And when you sync with your desktop computer, these are automatically saved there as well.  Note, if there is already a contact in your address book with the name you give, it is not modified and a new one is created.

 

Editing locations on your desktop computer

 

You may also directly enter locations on your desktop computer for later use by gpsGuide. To do so, using your address book application of choice (i. e., ‘Address Book’ on a Macintosh), enter the location in the ‘Notes’ section of the contact name.  This may either be an existing contact that has regular address information or a new one just to be used by gpsGuide.  When you synchronize with your iPhone/iPod the next time, it will be ready to use by gpsGuide.

 

The format in the notes field is simply “LATITUDE=dmsformat and LONGITUDE=dmsformat.  All other information in the notes field is ignored and it is case insensitive.

 

For  example, an entry for Rio de Janerio is:

 

latitude=22 51 02S longitude=43 37 11W

 

Using your saved locations in gpsGuide.

 

To recall your locations, press the DEST or ORIGIN buttons. This will bring up your address book and permit you to select any name that has a location associated with it.  If you select a contact name that does not have a valid location, a error is displayed.

 

Switching your origin and destination can be done by pressing the vertical arrow arc button.

 

GPS Status

Near the bottom of the screen is the GPS accuracy, odometer, altitude, and speed.

 

Control buttons

  • Stop: stops and starts the GPS.
  • Save: Saves your current location to the address book for later reference.
  • Reset: sets the odometer to zero and your origin to the current location.
  • Help: display help text.
  • Config: displays the Configuration Panel

 

Configuration Panel

You may configure gpsGuide both for your personal preferences and to conserve battery power.

 
GPS display options:
  • Manual: allows you to manually enter your current location. This is primarily used for diagnostics and distance calculations.
  • Decimal: displays your current location in decimal format instead of DMS.
  • Average: enables location averaging. This helps compensate for the imprecision in GPS readings.
  • Metric: displays all measurements in Metric.
  • Update Radius: controls how often the display is updated. The number specified is the number of meters you have to move before the display updates. However, even when not displaying, gpsGuide still computes all of the information. The higher the number, the less battery used and the more stable the display will be. 3 to 5 meters is generally a good setting. Lower numbers will make the display more responsive but also you location will appear to jump around more.
  • Loc Pox: is the location label prefix. When you create a new location using the "Save" button, this is used in the "Last name" field if the address book. This allows for easy sorting.
  • Log: enables diagnostic logging. You normally would not be using this.
  • Auto: automatically starts the GPS when running gpsGuide.
 
Hardware Options:
  • Distance filter: controls how often the GPS sends updates to gpsGuide. When enabled, the higher the number, the less often and less precise gpsGuide will be while saving battery power. Unlike the Update Radius setting which only limits the display frequency, gpsGuide will receive fewer updates and have less data available to it.
  • Accuracy: controls how accurate your location will be. Less accuracy will conserve battery power.

 

Conserving Battery Power

This is always a concern to mobile device users and is especially true on the iPhone. By using the Hardware Options and display options, you can significantly extend your battery life. However, it will come at the expense of precision.