Smartphone as GPS-two major problems (now resolved)

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bikes4two
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Smartphone as GPS-two major problems (now resolved)

Post by bikes4two »

> I have for the last few weeks been investing much time and effort in 'learning' to use OSMand and LocusMaps on an Android smartphone (Doogee DG700) bought specifically to use solely as a bike GPS device on my cycle camping trips.
> I love the screen quality, screen size and the general ubiquity of the two apps in particular and the smartphone in general but yesterday I encountered two major issues which I share with you to see if others have similar issues and/or fixes

ISSUE ONE - the smartphone screen being capacitive touch sensitive (rather than resistive touch sensitive as found on Garmin devices) was adversely affected during a down-pouring of rain (screen kept changing as though you were pressing it). I can see that if navigating in unfamiliar territory and wanting to see the map, this would be a real nuisance.

ISSUE TWO - The smartfone became dislodged from its mounting (my fault - I was brushing the water off the screen :D ) - anyway, the phone is a rugged beast and it bounced merrily along the road with barely a mark on the case, but the bouncing did cause it to re-boot - and this was the problem in that I was running LocusMaps at the time and the offline maps and tracks stored on the SD card were lost! (lost as in the SD card could be read by the file manager and the missing file names seen, but their file size showed 0 Kb). If I'd been on my tour with all my maps and tracks pre-loaded for the journey, I'd have been a bit annoyed (but I will ALWAYS take paper maps anyway :) )

I can think of several strategies for overcoming ISSUE TWO but I'd be really interested to hear the views of Smartphone GPS users on both issues.

And finally, so the thread can have a chance of remaining a useful reference, can the luddites, naysayers and other anti-smartphone users please keep their chuckling and negative views to themselves please (fat chance I know, but I have to ask don't I :? )
Last edited by bikes4two on 4 Mar 2016, 8:09pm, edited 1 time in total.
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al_yrpal
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Re: Smartphone as GPS-two major problems

Post by al_yrpal »

Cling film and a secure mounting like this.

ImageIMG_20151129_152301 by Al, on Flickr

Al
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bikes4two
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Re: Smartphone as GPS-two major problems

Post by bikes4two »

> Thanks Al - I remember your clingfilm trick and mounting arrangement from your review of the Moto E (2nd gen).
> I will try the clingfilm trick too but my initial thoughts are that it won't stop the effect I experienced - but I'll certainly give it a try in the next downpour and update this thread.
> with the clingfilm in place, can you operate the touch screen in the normal way? If you can then surely rain droplets are going to affect the screen too?
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Mark1978
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Re: Smartphone as GPS-two major problems

Post by Mark1978 »

What about the quad lock rain cover? Works well for me when I've used it.
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Re: Smartphone as GPS-two major problems

Post by DevonDamo »

You'll just have to live with the fact that capacitive touch-screens don't work well in the wet. I found I could use it well enough to do what I needed with the sat nav, but typing a text message is a frustrating experience... Not sure what Al's doing with the clingfilm - is that to keep the water out of the phone or so you can lift it up and use the dry touch-screen underneath?

My phone has a pair of tiny holes which you can use to thread a camera wrist-strap through. I loop that round my headset and attach with a micro-carabiner, so that the phone will never hit the deck if it falls out of the mounting. I made the mounting myself - it's just a single loop of elastic. It goes under the headset and loops round the left and right sides of the phone, which holds it in the same position as Al's above. It's quick to mount, and so long as you back it up with the wrist-strap, you'll never drop your phone. You got away lightly by the way - the last time I dropped my very expensive phone, I cracked the screen - a costly mistake, even though I did the repair myself.
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Re: Smartphone as GPS-two major problems

Post by AaronR »

Never used my iPhone (other smartphones are available) for navigation, but used to have it in a pouch like this one http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ROSWHEEL-CYCL ... SwNphWbpz2 and used it to play music back in the days of my 17 mile commute - the vinyl of the case was thick enough that rain didn't affect operation while remaining thin enough that phone could still be used through it
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Re: Smartphone as GPS-two major problems

Post by al_yrpal »

The cling film just waterproofs the phone against light rain. Touch still works on my Moto E. Havent had the screen go crazy when wet yet? I do have a bar bag with a transparent map pocket that it could go into if it really chucked it down. But in that weather you would probably find me in tbe pub anyway :D

4G Moto E second generation is now down to £76 on Amazon. With its massive battery life of several days its a very good inexpensive phone to bash about and not have to worry about on a touring bike. Cheaper than a decent Garmin too. Put a 'never runs out' Three 321 simm in it (no extra charge for 4G!) Get Osmand + (a fiver for unlimited maps) on it and leave your expensive iPhone or Galaxy S6 at home!

Al
Last edited by al_yrpal on 21 Feb 2016, 12:08am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Smartphone as GPS-two major problems

Post by cycleruk »

Regarding losing the map can you carry a spare sd(micro?) card with the relevant maps /routes on it?
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Re: Smartphone as GPS-two major problems

Post by al_yrpal »

cycleruk wrote:Regarding losing the map can you carry a spare sd(micro?) card with the relevant maps /routes on it?


Why not? With a file editor on board you can copy maps back and forth. If you run out of memory or are going into a different map region you can also swap maps I guess.

Al
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Re: Smartphone as GPS-two major problems

Post by andymiller »

RAM Mounts do very secure mounts.

Protective case? I use a Griffin Defender on my iPod Touch. Doesn't solve the water on the screen issue, but at least it provides some protection against water and shock.

A lanyard is always a good idea.
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Re: Smartphone as GPS-two major problems

Post by freeflow »

There is a lock screen facility in Locus maps. Look at the bottom right hand corner. This sets the screen to ignore all input except the unlock swipe. As for your phone falling off you need a different holder. In the last 18months the only time my phone has come off is when I've crashed and even then it was in the cradle which had detached from the handle bar holder.
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Re: Smartphone as GPS-two major problems

Post by al_yrpal »

Tried a lot of water on my clingfilmed phone and it did start opening random apps. In my bar bags transparent map pocket which is made of thicker plastic, you can operate the screen ok and lots of water doesnt affect it
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Re: Smartphone as GPS-two major problems

Post by bikes4two »

Thanks for all of your responses - some comments on them:
1. Several folks mentioned rain covers and the like - I bought the Doogee DG700 because it is IP67 rated (dust and waterproof to most things likely encountered on bike handlebars) so I'd not likely gain much from such things apart from maybe the screen not doing its own thing when wet?

2. I tried Al's clingfilm dodge (which was mainly to do with keeping the phone dry) - for my phone it didn't aleviate the problem, not even a little bit. Maybe this is down to individual screen sensitivity? Has anyone else found that clingfilm prevents screen madness in the rain? As the most critical time of use is when I'm touring and I tour with a bar bag, the option to tuck the phone inside the map case remains one alternative if all else fails.
PS - hi Al - just seen your latest posting on your clingfilm experiment - obviously an issue for you too :D

3. I think that wet capacitive touch screens are going to be the downside of using smartphones as GPS. As someone pointed out, LocusMap does have a screen lock option, but after experimenting with this in the kitchen just now, the presence of water on the screen in the 'screen locked' mode does give some improvement but notifications in the notifications bar do seem to still be 'active' and thus subject to erroneous selection by water droplets (so I'll look to NOT have any notifications present, i.e. WiFi off and airplane mode).

4. Someone mentioned the fitting of a wrist strap - a good idea - I've got a spare one from my Garmin but at the moment there are no fixing/threading points on the phone so I'll be finding the best place to put some very smal holes in the DG700 casing!

And my thoughts on data loss - one or some of the following are options
> Everything of importance duplicated on a spare SD card (already mentioned above)
> Key files copied to 'the cloud' (e.g. Google Drive) for downloading when on WiFi
> And of course the GPS device is in this case a smartphone, but my 'everyday' smartphone is a separte item which will be tucked safely away in a bag, will have everything duplicated on it 'just in case'.
> And paper maps and other info too of course, albeit 'car atlas' pages.
> In terms of Locus Maps, it might be prudent to only 'load up' those tracks and maps being used at the time and keep the other tracks and maps in separate folders on the SD card. I say this as it seems that the 'phone crash' only corrupted those map/track items running in Locus Map at the time of impact (if I'm making myself clear - a bit like the file corruption that can happen if you pull out the USB pendrive on your PC whilst the files are being read)
Last edited by bikes4two on 23 Feb 2016, 9:33pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Smartphone as GPS-two major problems

Post by mjr »

AaronR wrote:the vinyl of the case was thick enough that rain didn't affect operation while remaining thin enough that phone could still be used through it

Yes, I've a Birzman bike phone case that's like that, but these days I usually just keep the phone in a pocket (inside pocket if raining) and use the voice navigation with occasionally getting the phone out to look at if needed.
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Re: Smartphone as GPS-two major problems

Post by bikes4two »

freeflow wrote:There is a lock screen facility in Locus maps. Look at the bottom right hand corner. This sets the screen to ignore all input except the unlock swipe............


I've now tested the Locus Map 'lock screen' facility (watering can and rose spout in hand) - only that part of the screen dedicated to Locus Map is locked - the very top part of the phone's screen dedicated to notifications, signal strength, time, battery level etc., is still active, so rain drops on this part of the screen still bring undesired effects :( However, the Locus Map screen lock function brings a marked improvement, so thanks for bringing it to my attention (Does OSMand+ have a similar function?).

AaronR wrote:..........the vinyl of the case was thick enough that rain didn't affect operation while remaining thin enough that phone could still be used through it


I've been exploring the 'thick vinyl/plastic/perspex' route and there's no doubt that the thickness of some materials whilst still offering good visibility of the screen, can still allow touch control but at a reduced sensitivity that prevents water droplets creating mayhem! There is definitely merit in pursuing this idea further - thanks to those who have mentioned this phenomenon :)
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