External GPS
Quote from DrRick on 01.10.2024, 10:33Please upgrade the SCENIC APP to take signal from an External GPS unit..eg....Dual XGPS 160, and the like. These external units com with Iphone via blue tooth, but I have yet to find a navigation app that is able to use the information. As you know, the iphone uses, the not so great gps mechanism, that uses cell based technology and does not work in nowhere land. Yes preload offline maps helps, but if the app could use the data, one could go just about anywhere and see maps in real time.
Best,
RickP
Please upgrade the SCENIC APP to take signal from an External GPS unit..eg....Dual XGPS 160, and the like. These external units com with Iphone via blue tooth, but I have yet to find a navigation app that is able to use the information. As you know, the iphone uses, the not so great gps mechanism, that uses cell based technology and does not work in nowhere land. Yes preload offline maps helps, but if the app could use the data, one could go just about anywhere and see maps in real time.
Best,
RickP
Quote from Guido on 01.10.2024, 10:53Scenic get GPS data from iOS. As far as I know, if an external GPS is connected, this data is provided to all apps that take location data.
Scenic get GPS data from iOS. As far as I know, if an external GPS is connected, this data is provided to all apps that take location data.
Quote from DrRick on 01.10.2024, 11:41Guido,
Thanks for the quick response. The answer that I got from RWGPS was no, the app does not use information provided by the Dual unit.
RP.
Guido,
Thanks for the quick response. The answer that I got from RWGPS was no, the app does not use information provided by the Dual unit.
RP.
Quote from Guido on 01.10.2024, 11:52For what it's worth... from this source: https://www.justanswer.com/computer/nth83-use-external-gps-ipad-pro-cellular.html#:~:text=Many%20external%20GPS%20devices%20connect,your%20iPad%20Pro%20via%20Bluetooth.
External GPS Priority: When you connect an external GPS device to your iPad Pro via Bluetooth, iOS automatically prioritizes the external GPS signal over the internal one. The internal GPS isn't exactly disabled, but the device will primarily use the data from the external GPS as long as it's connected and active.
Cellular iPad GPS Functionality: External GPS devices should work well with both Wi-Fi only and cellular-equipped iPad models. The key point is the external device's ability to provide a more stable and reliable GPS signal compared to the internal GPS, especially in environments where the internal GPS might be less effective.
No Manual Switching Required: iOS is designed to manage these inputs seamlessly. There is no manual setting required from the user's end to switch between the internal and external GPS. Simply connect the external device, and it should take over.
For what it's worth... from this source: https://www.justanswer.com/computer/nth83-use-external-gps-ipad-pro-cellular.html#:~:text=Many%20external%20GPS%20devices%20connect,your%20iPad%20Pro%20via%20Bluetooth.
External GPS Priority: When you connect an external GPS device to your iPad Pro via Bluetooth, iOS automatically prioritizes the external GPS signal over the internal one. The internal GPS isn't exactly disabled, but the device will primarily use the data from the external GPS as long as it's connected and active.
Cellular iPad GPS Functionality: External GPS devices should work well with both Wi-Fi only and cellular-equipped iPad models. The key point is the external device's ability to provide a more stable and reliable GPS signal compared to the internal GPS, especially in environments where the internal GPS might be less effective.
No Manual Switching Required: iOS is designed to manage these inputs seamlessly. There is no manual setting required from the user's end to switch between the internal and external GPS. Simply connect the external device, and it should take over.
Quote from sdk on 06.07.2025, 23:26I know this is an old thread, but I'm looking into the same and was about to purchase a Garmin GLO 2. But then I read that this won't help...
It looks like the iOS location service api restricts the update rate to 1Hz, even if the device is capable of more.
It seems possible to get faster refresh rates, but then the device needs to be accessed natively and not using the iOS location service API (the app must support this specific device using their sdk, for example https://bad-elf.com/pages/sdk . I've not found an SDK for the Garmin GLO yet).
I got a android device with a 5Hz GPS update rate and it's really nice! Much smoother route following and a lot less drift. It's just sad that on android there's no app which is even close to scenic.
I know this is an old thread, but I'm looking into the same and was about to purchase a Garmin GLO 2. But then I read that this won't help...
It looks like the iOS location service api restricts the update rate to 1Hz, even if the device is capable of more.
It seems possible to get faster refresh rates, but then the device needs to be accessed natively and not using the iOS location service API (the app must support this specific device using their sdk, for example https://bad-elf.com/pages/sdk . I've not found an SDK for the Garmin GLO yet).
I got a android device with a 5Hz GPS update rate and it's really nice! Much smoother route following and a lot less drift. It's just sad that on android there's no app which is even close to scenic.
Quote from Guido on 07.07.2025, 04:07Scenic uses only the native iOS CoreLocation framework. To be honest, I'm not planning on integrating other SDK's like the one from bad-elf. For 99% of Scenic use cases a frequency of 1Hz is sufficient. I agree there can be some drift especially in tighter corners and bends, but for most this is acceptable.
Increasing frequency would also have consequences for other things:
- Recording 5x more coordinates during navigation would significantly decrease performance and increase battery consumption. (There is quite a bit of code executed with every coordinate that's received. )
- It would significantly increase storage size of recorded rides
- Data traffic would increase as the now larger (in data-size) recorded rides sync to the the server
- Displaying recorded rides on the map would take up significantly more working memory and performance (as now 5x more coordinates need to be connected with lines and drawn on the map).
There are indeed quite some users that use an external GPS receiver, but they use it for different reasons as far as I know:
- Better GPS accuracy (newer iPhone can have an accuracy of about 5-10 meters, while external receivers are typically 2-4 meters (depending on the model of course)
- Having an iPad without GPS receiver
- Being able to position the GPS receiver at a different location on bike with better reception (for those storing iPhone in cubby / top box, etc.)Hope this explains.
Best regards,
Guido
Scenic uses only the native iOS CoreLocation framework. To be honest, I'm not planning on integrating other SDK's like the one from bad-elf. For 99% of Scenic use cases a frequency of 1Hz is sufficient. I agree there can be some drift especially in tighter corners and bends, but for most this is acceptable.
Increasing frequency would also have consequences for other things:
- Recording 5x more coordinates during navigation would significantly decrease performance and increase battery consumption. (There is quite a bit of code executed with every coordinate that's received. )
- It would significantly increase storage size of recorded rides
- Data traffic would increase as the now larger (in data-size) recorded rides sync to the the server
- Displaying recorded rides on the map would take up significantly more working memory and performance (as now 5x more coordinates need to be connected with lines and drawn on the map).
There are indeed quite some users that use an external GPS receiver, but they use it for different reasons as far as I know:
- Better GPS accuracy (newer iPhone can have an accuracy of about 5-10 meters, while external receivers are typically 2-4 meters (depending on the model of course)
- Having an iPad without GPS receiver
- Being able to position the GPS receiver at a different location on bike with better reception (for those storing iPhone in cubby / top box, etc.)
Hope this explains.
Best regards,
Guido
