GPS metadata in Field Maps with iPhone

[JohnLowry3]

Hello!

I'm finding that GPS metadata fields (PDOP, VDOP, Satellites, etc.) are not populated when the mobile device is an iPhone.  Is there something  that can be done to change this?  I presume it's a setting on the iPhone, but am not sure what.  

Any help is much appreciated!

John

[CodyPatterson]

Hey @JohnLowry3 

Have you checked out this here? https://support.esri.com/en-us/knowledge-base/problem-the-gps-metadata-fields-are-empty-when-creatin...

I also found this here: https://support.esri.com/en-us/knowledge-base/the-gnss-metadata-fields-are-not-populating-informatio...

I've also seen you may need an external receiver as this poster mentions: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/59496531/how-to-get-hdop-pdop-satellite-availability-while-fetch...

Cody

[JohnLowry3]

Hi Cody,

Thank you very much for this!  The last link about requiring the external receiver seems to address the problem.   I'm a university instructor and am having my students use Field Maps with the aim of using GPS metadata fields to give students experience working with some of these basic concepts.  What I find is my students with android phones see the GPS metadata but my students with iOS don't and that means often more than half the class miss out.  Unfortunately, having my iOS students get an external antennae isn't feasible...

Thanks again for your help!

John 

[CodyPatterson]

Hey @JohnLowry3 

As ColinLawrence had mentioned, it ties into the OS of the iPhones that they unfortunately do not release this information. There is an alternative, maybe not as attractive, that I thought of last night, and it's to possibly utilize school funding to purchase a set of either cellular enabled android tables with this functionality, or WiFi enabled tables, with a hotspot being carried around while in the field. My college had done the former when we were first experimenting with GIS and we would travel the city utilizing these tables to record and take down information. Unfortunately this costs additional money, but the other option are the GNSS receivers, which could have very large upfront cost, and may result in it being more efficient to buy the tablets unless students are grouped together.

Cody

[DougBrowning]

It tends to default to WiFi location.  

Have you tried

Go to Settings > Privacy & Security > Location Services and make sure it's toggled on.
For each app you want to be more accurate, tap its name in the list and select "While Using the App" or "Always".
Make sure "Precise Location" is toggled on for that app

[ColinLawrence]

@JohnLowry3 most Android devices can receive and output nmea through the location manager which an app like Field Maps can consume. For some reason iOS standards do not support this which is the reason you will see limited metadata in Field Maps. To get additional GPS metadata on iOS device you would need to use an external device as another has pointed out. OS level location settings will not make a difference.