Why iPhone to iPad bluetooth GPS isn’t available?
Yes, I know that Wi-Fi iPad can’t use GPS signal to system and the apps.
But, since the Apple Watch uses the iPhone GPS position, through bluetooth to feed the Watch OS, why it’s not allowed to enable the same for iOS?
The process is simple and does not require any big stuff to iOS change the feature.
I’ve sent this suggestion at Product Feedback, but still waiting for any sing of live there.
Any one else would like this? It’s fair to ask Apple to apply the feature?
iPad Air, iOS 8.4.1, Air 2 Wi-FI
Posted on Sep 6, 2015 11:35 AM
No, it won’t be money wasted. The Bad Elf is a far superior GPS device, is FAA certified and comes with excellent software. And the battery life is far superior.
Drigobarreto wrote:
Why it’s not allowed to enable the same for iOS?
Only Apple would know the answer to that, and we are not Apple.
Drigobarreto wrote:
It’s fair to ask Apple to apply the feature?
You can provide feedback to Apple about anything you like. The address is http://www.apple.com/feedback and then click on the appropriate subject.
What are you talking about?
The iPad can use the iPhone’s GPS, when Personal Hotspot is enabled on the iPhone, and the iPad is connected to it.
It only uses the internet connection to search the position through the wi-fi spots around.
ChrisJ4203 wrote:
Drigobarreto wrote:
It’s fair to ask Apple to apply the feature?
You can provide feedback to Apple about anything you like. The address is http://www.apple.com/feedback and then click on the appropriate subject.
As I said, the feedback was sent, and they never answered this suggestion/enhancement request.
Feedback to Apple is never answered.
The location acquired by the iPad will be based on Wifi networks around it, including the iPhone’s actual GPS position, since its serving as a wifi network for the iPad.
The internet connection is not used to establish location. Its used to download a map to show the location.
If you take a moment to look where you posted the feedback, they tell you they will not answer the posts there, but they read them all. You are not going to get a response.
ChrisJ4203 wrote:
If you take a moment to look where you posted the feedback, they tell you they will not answer the posts there, but they read them all. You are not going to get a response.
But anyway, should be polite to send an email, telling us that was a good idea/bad one/will never happen.
Phil0124 wrote:
Feedback to Apple is never answered.
The location acquired by the iPad will be based on Wifi networks around it, including the iPhone’s actual GPS position, since its serving as a wifi network for the iPad.
The internet connection is not used to establish location. Its used to download a map to show the location.
That’s a doubt on this point.
I’m a pilot and tried to use in this way in flight and while driving far away form any cell signal. Then, there wasn’t position at the iPad, but as usual, the iPhone keep tracking.
This allows you to export GPS data from iOS via a ‘live feed’. It also supports that feature via a hotspot or USB connection.
I’m not sure what you can do on the iPad to get the feed into location services for all apps to use, so you will need to find an app capable of reading the data. Sorry I don’t know of any that exist to do that but I haven’t looked 🙂
I have used the app with non-iOS devices and it does run down battery a lot. Frankly it is simpler to get a Bluetooth GPS receiver for pairing with iOS.
Drigobarreto wrote:
ChrisJ4203 wrote:
If you take a moment to look where you posted the feedback, they tell you they will not answer the posts there, but they read them all. You are not going to get a response.
But anyway, should be polite to send an email, telling us that was a good idea/bad one/will never happen.
You will figure out if they felt it was a good idea if the suggestion was implemented. Given the large amount of feedback they receive, they would not be able to respond individually to all feedback, that is why they say they won’t.
Drew Reece wrote:
This allows you to export GPS data from iOS via a ‘live feed’. It also supports that feature via a hotspot or USB connection.
http://www.capsicumdreams.com/iphone/gps2ip/
I’m not sure what you can do on the iPad to get the feed into location services for all apps to use, so you will need to find an app capable of reading the data. Sorry I don’t know of any that exist to do that but I haven’t looked 🙂
I have used the app with non-iOS devices and it does run down battery a lot. Frankly it is simpler to get a Bluetooth GPS receiver for pairing with iOS.
Yes, I’m willing to buy a Bad Elf. But, if the easily to turn on feature may be available, it is going to be a money waste anyway.
Will iPhone connect to an external Bluetooth GPS device ?
One concern is that the GPS receiver in the iPhone will have trouble getting a signal and keep dropping out.
Ive used TomTom on my past 2 mobile phones (imate SPV C500 and Nokia N73) for over 5 years and both of these needed an external bluetooth GPS device.
It worked really well, not perfect but still very useful to have a satnav on your phone.
I know you can get the car kit from TomTom which has an improved GPS receiver built in that connects over bluetooth.
This got me thinking, if the iPhone can connect via bluetooth to the GPS receiver built into the car kit, then surely the iPhone could connect to any bluetooth GPS receiver ?
I would prefer to do it this way, not only because the car kit is expensive at £100, but it means its more portable to carry around and move from one car to another.
The extenal bluetooth GPS receiver I have is only small, much easier than swapping the car kit from one car to another.
Does anyone know if this can be done or is there an app that can do it ?
Dell, Windows XP Pro, Inspiron 1520
Posted on Nov 24, 2009 4:27 AM
sky_rat wrote:
I know you can get the car kit from TomTom which has an improved GPS receiver built in that connects over bluetooth.
In addition to Bluetooth pairing for audio, the Tom Tom Car Kit mount has an integrated dock connector — used for charging, and I believe also for the GPS signal from the antenna in the mount. The iPhone only supports limited Bluetooth protocols (voice and music transmission only), so I doubt Tom Tom is using Bluetooth for the GPS receiver.
According to the following link, the iPhone connects to the GPS receiver in the car kit via bluetooth.
«Surprisingly, the car kit uses Bluetooth to connect the GPS receiver and the hands-free function to the iPhone, even though there’s a dock connector for charging. Bluetooth connectivity does have its advantages: according to TomTom it can work as a generic Bluetooth GPS receiver for any satellite navigation app — including Google Maps — on the iPhone, or any smartphones at all for that matter.»
Thats what got me thinking that it could connect to my external bluetooth GPS receiver.
Because thats exactly what the car kit does.
I would check with TomTom before you take that as gospel. If they are using BT to connect to the GPS receiver they would have to be using the PAN (Personal Area Network) protocol so first you would need to check with other Nav devices and see if their BT implements that protocol AND if they have included software in their device that interfaces with the firmware in the iPhone.
I think the answer at this time will be no, but things change.
I’ve got a Tomtom cradle and the GPS functionality doesn’t connect via Bluetooth. You can pair the iPhone to the cradle but this is purely for hands free calling.
In addition by using the cradle with my old iPhone 2g the cradle allows it to use the GPS chip.
The cradle is also compatible with other navigation systems such as the copilot which I use on both my 2g and 3g iPhones.
To connect to external GPS devices, while it is nice to have a SPP profile, it is not needed. Depending on the applications. The application has to be SPP aware and give a helping hand.
For example, I have a non-iphone phone with a BT stack. I do not need to pair it ever to use an external GPS device (standalone TomTom in this case).
Both TomTom and CoPilot (currently) applications initiate their own connections (over BT). This is done inside the Applications themselves. Once successful, I can use them to navigate. The BT GPS device itself never appears under my BT connections on the phone. Therefore, I can never use the phone for applications who rely on the device (phone) itself to setup the connections. But works perfect with TomTom and Copilot.
So the application has to have a lot of BT functionality to establish this.
Take for example, Copilot on my Iphone, this version has no GPS setup whatsoever and it relies on the internal GPS. However, on my windows mobile phone, it has its own specific BT connections and completely bypasses the built-in BT connections in my WM phone. just 0.02 cents.
TomTom tech support confirmed to me that their Car Kit does indeed share its built-in GPS receiver to the iPhone via Bluetooth not via the dock connector. They said that if you do not pair the Car Kit with the iPhone, then you do not get the benefit of the GPS assist from the Car Kit’s receiver. However you can still navigate using the iPhone’s built in GPS receiver and antenna.
They also told me that once paired, the Car Kit completely takes over bluetooth hands free calling for the iPhone. That means I would not be able to use my car’s superb built in bluetooth hands free calling capability. It is apparently impossible to use the Car Kit’s enhanced GPS receiver and use your car’s integrated hands free calling at the same time. They said the only way to use the car’s own bluetooth capabilities is to physically unplug the Car Kit from the car’s cigarette lighter/charging port. But then you lose the assisted GPS and everything else, being left with only a very expensive iPhone mount.
Does anyone know if there are simple external GPS receivers (e.g. GlobalSat) that could pair with and provide superior GPS reception to the iPhone, much as the one in the TomTom Car Kit does? Also, if those do exist, would they allow your car’s own bluetooth system to handle hands free phone calls even as they use Bluetooth to transmit GPS information to the iPhone. I’m not sure if the iPhone can handle two Bluetooth connections at once.