Ok so I lost my Garmin about 2 months ago. Rather than shell out £200+ for a new unit I thought I would try using my iphone. After all I use view ranger for backup navigation any way,I have a dynamo hub and sinewave to keep it charged and there are a number of apps for live cycling metrics.

Any way the problem I am finding is that if I leave the display running for navigation, my average speed isn't high enough to keep it charged from the dynamo. With a cache battery (5200 mah) in the system its fine for the day but I think I would struggle for a bike packing trip. I am fine if the display is turned of but that gives me the hassle of switching on the phone, entering passcode and waiting for app to update; not easy to do on rough terrain and I have gone wrong a frustrating number of times because of this.

Who uses a phone as a bike computer, what do you use for navigation, bike metrics and how do avoid the battery drain? Would a different cache battery with faster charging solve my issues (its 3-4 years old and takes ages to charge of wall plug) or do I just need to cycle faster

have you turned the screen brightness down. thats the biggest draw by far on a modern smartphone.

and turn wifi/bluetooth/gsm off.

I use an old, dedicated phone as a GPS, with ViewRanger. I use a spare battery and/or a powerbank. I can usually get a full days riding out of it (with my one good battery) with screen use kept to a minimum.

I don't have a lock on the screen for the reasons you mention, so it's just a case of hitting the power button to get the screen on.

It's a factory reset, with only ViewRanger on it, so that probably helps (no background tasks running). I would recommend closing/uninstalling apps that do stuff in the background. Things like Facebook, Whatsapp, etc. are bad for that.

As mentioned, turn off bluetooth, wifi, screen rotation, automatic brightness and anything else you don't need. Enable airplane mode.

If your phone battery is old, it may be worth replacing it with a quality new one, possibly even with larger capacity. Some phones you can get physically bigger batteries that replace the back of the phone and have much bigger capacity (not sure if this is the case any more).

Don't

jam bo wrote:have you turned the screen brightness down. thats the biggest draw by far on a modern smartphone.

and turn wifi/bluetooth/gsm off.

Yep, turn it as low as I can without loosing the ability to view the screen and usually run it in airplane mode.

thenorthwind wrote: I don't have a lock on the screen for the reasons you mention, so it's just a case of hitting the power button to get the screen on.

Its an iPhone, it aint that easy unfortunately

ScotRoutes wrote:Don't

I was trying to avoid that £200+ conclusion

Don't

Why not? I've done so for years and I'm quite happy with it as a solution. Given the number of threads about Garmins suddenly losing maps or otherwise malfunctioning, that doesn't seem a much better solution.

I actually got rid of my garmin and use an iPhone in preference. I use an iPhone 7 plus with a combination of ride with gps, os maps and various other apps. 10000mah bat fed from my dynamo keeps me going over 3 days. I copy GPX files to both aps and use the most appropriate for the situation. Mainly OS maps either following a route or for general exploration.

I find the screen size and detail on the iPhone much better than the garmin whose screen is terrible. On the WRT I took a garmin and iPhone and the phone was much better, 3 days and I had a fully charged phone and 3/4 battery left.
Despite the multitude of garmins we often used my OS maps at tricky junctions due to better detail. I've had two garmin, last one an 810. Until they make something approaching modern tech, not for me v

ScotRoutes wrote:Don't

Or do, if you want.

I've also recently lost my Garmin, although I think it's somewhere in the house

I used Viewranger on my phone for navigating for a few years before finally getting a Garmin and it's been a piece of cake to go back to it. For a multi-day ride the battery life might end up being an issue, but for a day or an overnighter there's no worries. It's nice having the 1:25000 OS maps instantly available for exploring purposes.

Battery saving tips : have your phone in flight mode; close all other apps down; no screen lock and just flick the screen on and off for a couple of seconds to check on progress.

Aren't phones prone to water ingress?

Ray Young wrote:Aren't phones prone to water ingress?

Lots including new iPhones are waterproof.

Ray Young wrote:Aren't phones prone to water ingress?

I use a £20 phone holder/mount from Decathlon that's completely waterproof and still lets you use the touchscreen and buttons.

BigdummySteve, it was you who inspired me to use phone after seeing you use it with success on the WRT lonely harts. I seem to remember you had it on most of the time too? What cache battery are you using, it just may be I need something bigger and faster charging

Ray Young wrote:Aren't phones prone to water ingress?

Using a Griffin case which is waterproof, dustproof and drop proof. Only slight concern is i have to unplug a gromit to fit the lightning cable, meaning phone no longer sealed in. Had it out in 2-3 hours rain no problems, think I would only have concern though on real server all day downpours. In which case it would have to go in a pocket and pull out when needed.

I never want to compromise the separate functions of navigation and communication by relying on one device to do both, primarily as most modern smartphones have barely enough battery capacity to perform either task for longer than a few hours. There is no doubt about the ability of phones, combined with the best apps, to deliver an excellent nav device, but i want to know that my communication device has a sufficient energy to communicate, in areas where the signal is weak, requiring more power. Touchscreens can also be a bit crap in rain.

Garmin's certainly have their flaws, particularly the sports devices (aviators and mariners would not tolerate such shabby functionality), however the Etrex are OK if used with the right mapping - I find OSM works better than OS. Without going back round the Dynamo argument that fills much of the archives on this forum, I much prefer the simplicity and reliability of disposable lithium batteries. As I will always have my phone with me, that becomes my back-up nav system.

But if you don't want to invest in a dedicated GPS, I'm sure you can get away with using your phone, on short rides. Until you need to make a call, and find there isn't much power left.

Aren't phones prone to water ingress?

I use a £1.50 TrekMates soft case I bought years ago around mine.

I never want to compromise the separate functions of navigation and communication by relying on one device to do both

I agree. I never use my "GPS device" (phone with ViewRanger) as a phone. It doesn't even have a SIM card in it. I always have another phone with me (except on very local, short rides) when I sometimes use ViewRanger on my "main" phone.

So as a bonus, my GPS device is a backup phone. If my phone doesn't work for some reason, you can swap the SIM into the "GPS" or in a real emergency, make a 999 call without doing that. You can't do that with a Garmin

I'm with you on this Craig. Although you can use a smartphone as a bike computer, it's not the best tool for the job and it's a pretty fragile device to be hanging off the front of your bike regardless of protective cases.

If you're worried about the phone dying, most people have an old dumbphone lying around in a drawer somewhere. Put a PAYG sim with some credit in it and leave it switched off in your bag in case of emergency. Nothing can kill a Nokia 3310!

ZeroDarkBivi wrote: But if you don't want to invest in a dedicated GPS, I'm sure you can get away with using your phone, on short rides. Until you need to make a call, and find there isn't much power left.

Or you can just carry an old/cheapo text/call phone that has a battery that last forever if you're worried about being able to make a call.

My android phone does me proud for navigation on airplane mode and only turning screen on when I need to to check route. I have a battery pack too, but I certainly lasts a couple of days of sensible use without recharging.

Other than in built up areas or close spaced forestry junctions I don't generally need to have the screen on all the time. After all we're generally following tracks of some sort that often have limited junctions that mean you can ride for a good period of time with the screen off.

it's not the best tool for the job

Perhaps not as a bike computer in the traditional sense (speedometer, etc.), but as a navigation tool, I find it better than all but the newest (and most expensive) Garmin-type devices, since I like to be able to look at a proper OS map on a big screen.

I wouldn't say it's fragile, though it depends on the device. I use an old (~5-6 years) basic Huawei (not know for the best build quality) smartphone and it's been strapped to my bars for thousands of miles on and off road, including plenty of technical bits (trail centre blacks, etc.).

Talking of bike computers, I also usually use the most basic of wired bike computers for simple mile-counting, time (since I don't wear a watch) and speedometer. The batteries last years, and they're not so much of a target for thieves if you leave it on the bike.

I'm not trying to say everyone should throw away their Garmins and use a smartphone for navigation BTW, just that a lot of people seem to see drawbacks which aren't there or are easily circumvented, and not the advantages. Each to their own and all that.

Brothersmith wrote:BigdummySteve, it was you who inspired me to use phone after seeing you use it with success on the WRT lonely harts. I seem to remember you had it on most of the time too? What cache battery are you using, it just may be I need something bigger and faster charging

I have 2 both 10000mah a ravpower and a portapow, the portapow was used with a solar panel as well, believe it or not some batteries will discharge themselves into a panel on dull days. The important thing is ability to take a trickle charge and pass through charging. Also the phone is on airplane mode and brightness turned down.

i use back country navigator app as the pro one has all os maps of britan and can down load sections for off line , and its less than a £10er .... android only atm.
works well but use it as a back up for when really lost andf my black and white garmin isnt telling me enough