Does Farming GPS GIS III need wifi or cell service?

“Will this app allow me to plot a lines in my field and then allow me to follow them with a sprayer manually? Does It work without wifi or does it need cell service?”

Farming GPS GIS III provides the functionality for you to digitize Points, Lines and Areas over a displayed map. It also provides the Line Stakeout function to help you stay on the line while spraying.

Our apps do not need cell service.

The Apple Map that the Farming GPS GIS III uses needs wifi to load. You can load it at the office then use it in the field where there is no wifi as long as you do not close the map in the app.

Farming GPS GIS III will let you load a geotiff map (*.tif) to use in the background. Such off-line maps do not need wifi.

The accuracy of your work will depend on the GPS used. Many users get an external GPS receiver to use with their iPad devices. GIS grade GPS receivers claim 2-5 meter accuracy. High-precision GPS receivers are quite costly, but they can get down to sub-meter or cm-level accuracy.

Problem with wi-fi on iPad with retina display

After upgrading to iOS 8.3 on our iPad with retina display, we found that the Pick tool on the Locate a Point by Address screen in some of our apps stopped working. After activating the Pick tool, when you tap on a house displayed on the Map, the app is supposed to display the corresponding address information. Instead, it goes into an infinite wait. Then we discovered that that iPad did not connect to the Internet.

The culprit turned out to be an issue with the wi-fi connection, although the iPad Settings screen showed that wi-fi connection was turned on, and Location Service was turned on under Privacy. Resetting the iPad did not help resolve the issue, but the following steps did.

1. Select Wi-Fi under Settings.
2. Select your network.
3. Tap on “Forget this Network” then reconnect to the Network.

Is WiFi required for iPad GPS to work?

When purchasing an iPad, besides considering which model to get (iPad, iPad mini or iPad Air), you will also need to think about whether you would like it to provide GPS capability. If you will be using a compatible external GPS receiver with your iPad, then you could just get the less expensive WiFi-only iPad device.

A WiFi-only iPad device does not provide GPS capability. However, it will provide Location Service when WiFi signals are available. This means that, if you turn on Location Service when WiFi is available, you will be able to sporadically get an approximate location using the GPS function in our GPS/GIS apps. When there are no WiFi MODEMs in the vicinity of your work area, then there will be no Location Service available.

A WiFi/Cellular iPad provides GPS capability. Many users wonder if they will need to purchase a data plan for the GPS to work. The answer is No. The GPS in such devices will work independent of WiFi availability and cellular data plan. (Same for the built-in GPS of an iPhone.)

Like a WiFi-only iPad, the iPod touch does not come with GPS capability, but you could use it with a compatible external GPS receiver to run our apps. External GPS devices will work independent of WiFi availability and cellular data plan.

Can iCMTGIS II work without Internet access?

The GPS/GIS data collection functions in  iCMTGIS II and iGPSGIS II do not need Internet access to work on your iPhone or your iPad with built-in GPS (or with Bluetooth connection to an external GPS).

You can use iTunes to preload Shapefiles onto  iCMTGIS II and iGPSGIS II to use as background reference.

If you have PC-GIS PRO, you can use it to prepare raster images to load onto iCMTGIS II and iGPSGIS II and serve as background map.

If you want to use the built-in Map as the background, to email a job file, to send out files via ftp,  or to make use of Cloud storage, then you will need Wi-Fi network access.