iPad and external GPS warning

[sitara]

Hi all,
If you use an external GPS dongle on your iPad be very cautious before upgrading to iOS8.30. I fitted a Bad Elf GPS to my non-GPS ipad and have used it this season as a backup navigation plotter with the iSailor app and to monitor anchoring with Anchor Watch app and have been very happy with the results. Until I upgraded to the latest iOS from Apple when everything fell in a heap. Apparently iOS8.3 does not pass data from the external GPS to the applications needing position data.

[iancymru]

Hi I found this out to my cost as have isailor on my iPad and iPod, I have the iPod in a waterproof case and use it at the helm both fed by a Bad Elf bluetooth GPS. Its worked really well for the last few years but since I upgraded the latest update to iOS 8.3 on the iPod I cannot get a position. I have contacted both isailor and bad elf who have said they know of the issue and are dealing with Apple who admit there is a bug there and trying to fix and produce a new update to remove bug.
Bad Elf stated their latest model GPS are unaffected so may require a fix from them also.
They did offer to sell me the latest GPS at 40% reduction and there is advice on here how to reset back to iOS 8.2 (Apple did not recommend though)

bad-elf.com/blogs/bad-elf/18013536-alert-compatibility-issue-with-apple-ios-8-3-and-external-gps-receivers

This apparently affects a lot of 3rd party GPS devices so hopefully they get it sorted soon.
Just when I was getting confidence in it.......

[abgreenbank]

Just for info win 8.1 doesnt support bluetooth mice very well, my Dual Gps150 works great with my old win XP laptop but not with win 8.1 laptop. It works ok with my ipad but the ios is old so I wont be updating.

rgrds

Alistair

[abgreenbank]

Hi all from the dual FAQ's on the XGPS 150, however even after the edit of reg edit i cant get it to work.



'I just updated to iOS 8.3 and my XGPS device stopped working. Why?

There is a bug in iOS 8.3 which blocks position information coming from Bluetooth GPS devices. The symptom is that your GPS looks like it is working, but your apps do not show your location. (Not all apps are affected, but most are.) The problem affects the XGPS150, XGPS160 and XGPS170 as well as Bluetooth GPS devices from other manufacturers. We have contacted Apple it, and they are aware of the issue. We do not have an ETA from them for a fix, but they are treating it as a priority. In the meantime, some (but not all) users are getting around the bug by turning off Location Services, rebooting the iOS device, and turning Location Services back on.

NOTE for WingX users: you can get around the bug by going to Settings->Privacy->Location Services and selecting “Never” next to WingX Pro7.

How do I make the GPS Receiver work with my Android tablet?
Does the XGPS150 work with Surface Tablets or Windows 8?
Yes. To pair: open the Charms menu (swipe left from the right edge of the screen), then select Settings->Change PC Settings->PC and devices->Bluetooth. Turn on the XGPS150A and wait for it to appear in the list of devices. (Make sure the mode switch on the XGPS150A is in the “other” position!) Tap the XGPS150A when it appears in the list, and Windows will pair with the GPS. NOTE: the blue Bluetooth light on the GPS will continue to flash, even after pairing is complete. This is normal. The Bluetooth light will glow solidly as soon as a GPS-enabled program starts requesting GPS data.
Once pairing is complete, it is a good idea to see which COM port Windows assigned to the GPS because your GPS program will probably ask you for this. To find the COM port number, go back to the Charms menu and select Settings->Change PC Settings->Control Panel. Under the Hardware and Sound section, select View devices and printers. Scroll down to the bottom of the window and find the XGPS150A. Right click on the device icon and select Properties. Select the Hardware tab. In the Name column will be an item named Standard Serial over Bluetook link, followed by a COM number. Make note of this COM number for future reference.
Important note for Windows 8.1 users: Windows 8.1 has a bug which prevents it from properly communicating with many Bluetooth devices, including the XGPS150A. There is a workaround, but you must have administrator privileges on your Windows machine. Follow these instructions to make your XGPS150A work with Windows 8.1:
1) Open the Registry Editor. (Press the Win + R keys and type “regedit”, or open a command prompt and type “regedit”.)
2) Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SOFTWARE/Microsoft/Windows NT/CurrentVersion.
3) In the right pane of the window, double-click on CurrentVersion and change the value from 6.3 to 6.2
4) Restart your machine.
The registry value will actually change itself back to 6.3 after the reboot, but the XGPS150A will now work properly.'

[sailbleu]

I bought a third party convertor ipad to hdmi some time ago , and guess what happened after the ios upgrade ?
Yes ,..... Stopped working.
This is the so maniest apple scam to hold their monopoly position and have their ipads only work with very expensive apple accessories. The upgrade has a built in safety that refuses third party gadgets.
They claim it has been done because of an incident (fire) using non-apple devices on the ipad.
It is an outrage , and I feel we should all stop buying apple

The solution is to use a wifi gps receiver , sofar they haven't been able to ban those things , but I wouldn't be supprised if they are working on it.

Regards

[Don Reaves]

I had a bad experience with Apple upgrades a while back. My iPhone 3G got slower with each upgrade to the point where it took 30 seconds to enter the first letter in a text message or Email. At that point, I vowed not to be a slave to Apple upgrades.

So now my iPhone 5 and my iPad Air are both running iOs 7.1.2. I'm very happy with it. The performance is great and all my apps work fine. I'm sure that there will come a time when I will no longer be able to get new apps. But I'm willing to live with that. At least all my devices won't stop working.

Perhaps if more folks took my approach, Apple would have to rethink its strategies.