Android Smartphone GPS for golf

[mosesgolf]

Have any of you tried some of the free golf GPS apps on the Android system? I recently downloaded an app that got great reviews. I tried the FreeCaddie golf. This app is free but 9.95 for the upgrade. The free version will just give you front middle back yardages and the upgrades gives you distances to carry bunkers and hazards etc. Anyways, I wanted to see how accurate this app was as even the free version got some pretty good reviews. On about 10 holes, I guesstimated what my yardage to the pin would be using the Freecaddie app based on whether the pin was red, blue, or white. Then I shot the flag with my Bushnell Pro and to my surprise almost every single time, I was within 2-4 yds. This was every time. That was quite a pleasant surprise. My buddy had the Galaxy smart phone and happened to have the Golfshot GPS full version which had aerial, distance to carry hazards etc. Essentially it was the full version. This app costs $29.99. It essentially gave the same yardages to the pin as my free app. In any event, if some of you want to horse around with these free golf gps apps, you can do a search from "Market" and just type golf gps and you'll get a decent amount of choices to choose from. IMO, the Golfshot GPS app was just as good if not better than most of the golf gps devices sold from $300-$500. It would appear if you're in an area with good satellite coverage, the yardages are going to be pretty accurate.

 

Any of you use the iphone or Android gps apps to success?

[caseyc1]

i also use free caddie and found it to be accuracte within a couple yards which is great for a free app. Also found it didnt eat the battery like some others ive had.

[GNaroz]

Free Caddie has been a great addition. I trust it 100% and the yardage has always be spot on. I have compared it to friends GPS units and they are always right on

Will be upgrading to the paid version this season.

Excellent App.

[jdm_mboy]

Good to know! and the 2.3 gingerbread upgrade to the O/S makes it even snappier on performance!

[quote name='GNaroz' timestamp='1294015732' post='2871689']
Free Caddie has been a great addition. I trust it 100% and the yardage has always be spot on. I have compared it to friends GPS units and they are always right on

Will be upgrading to the paid version this season.

Excellent App.
[/quote]

[caseyc1]

[quote name='jdm_mboy' timestamp='1294017308' post='2871765']
Good to know! and the 2.3 gingerbread upgrade to the O/S makes it even snappier on performance!

[quote name='GNaroz' timestamp='1294015732' post='2871689']
Free Caddie has been a great addition. I trust it 100% and the yardage has always be spot on. I have compared it to friends GPS units and they are always right on

Will be upgrading to the paid version this season.

Excellent App.
[/quote]
[/quote]

Im running Ultimate Droid 2.5 on my droid and cant wait for the gingerbread update.

[One_Putt_Blunder]

I use the Skydroid app, for the most part its been very very good, I did run into one course that had a hole missing, but other than that the yardages have been pretty dang close to spot on the vast majority of the time. I did later purcahse the app for $1.99 so I can have additional features like distance tracking to know how far I hit a shot and distance to hazards like bunkers, water etc. By far the best 2 bucks I have spent. Very good on the battery life too, I bounced back and forth between the gps and watching the redzone chanel during my round today and I still have battery left.

[Preduck]

What kind of phones do you guys have? I have the incredible and I can't even make it a day with my phone on a single charge. I can't imagine it running for more than a couple hour on a full charge with the gps constantly on.

[sdrem]

Another vote for Freecaddie. The Pro version gives you more info and you can plot a course yourself if it is not in the database (most courses are mapped by users, and you can put in as many distances as you want if you uploaded the course yourself, uses goggle maps or Bing). Since I got an Android I have found that battery usage is minimal, as long as you don't keep the screen on for more than a minute at a time. Usually very accurate, but it depends on how accurately it was plotted.

[caseyc1]

[quote name='Preduck' timestamp='1294020815' post='2871930']
What kind of phones do you guys have? I have the incredible and I can't even make it a day with my phone on a single charge. I can't imagine it running for more than a couple hour on a full charge with the gps constantly on.
[/quote]

Droid 1 but im rooted so im running a custom rom and kernal. I get about 12-14 hrs with a full charge and longer if i dont use my phone much, the most ive gotten is 34 hrs

[cadman88]

Using my Droid X with paid GolfLogix... battery life is okay, but more importantly before I bought it I demo'ed it and my home course (a small 9 hole course that costs $9.00 to play..) was not on their list. So I emailed their support (right from the demo app in my phone) about it. Next day I received email notification for scorecard and address and name for the place .. I scanned one and emailed info back, within the week it was mapped! that to me is worth the $12 or $15 I paid.

Also, I currently have a Skycaddie SG5 and a Garmin G5, and have had a few rangefinders in the past.. the Garmin G5 and the Droid X apps are the top two...

All the best..

[SnowPlow]

GolfLogix just reduced their subscription to $19.95, their free version also gives you green center yardages...pretty sweet, that's all some people will want. I received their update yesterday.

[goatbarn]

I'm using oobgolf's android app. Amazing. Keeps all my stats during the round and also has a great google maps aerial view of each hole with gps that can be moved around to see exact yardages to pin locations, bunkers, whatever you want. Amazing on battery life. Blows all the other apps out of the water. Catch is that you need to be an oobgolf member for $12 a year to get the GPS side of the app. Little fee in my mind since you also get a lot of other stuff with it. Check it out.

[sodak77]

[quote name='One_Putt_Blunder' timestamp='1294018041' post='2871805']
I use the Skydroid app, for the most part its been very very good, I did run into one course that had a hole missing, but other than that the yardages have been pretty dang close to spot on the vast majority of the time. I did later purcahse the app for $1.99 so I can have additional features like distance tracking to know how far I hit a shot and distance to hazards like bunkers, water etc. By far the best 2 bucks I have spent. Very good on the battery life too, I bounced back and forth between the gps and watching the redzone chanel during my round today and I still have battery left.
[/quote]

+1. Plus if you can't find a course on Skydroid you can easily map it yourself on Skydroid's website. I have done this a few times and it is super easy to use. The best $2 I have spent.

[The Big Pinch]

take a look at golfshot

[goatbarn]

[quote name='sodak77' timestamp='1295037064' post='2896974']
[quote name='One_Putt_Blunder' timestamp='1294018041' post='2871805']
I use the Skydroid app, for the most part its been very very good, I did run into one course that had a hole missing, but other than that the yardages have been pretty dang close to spot on the vast majority of the time. I did later purcahse the app for $1.99 so I can have additional features like distance tracking to know how far I hit a shot and distance to hazards like bunkers, water etc. By far the best 2 bucks I have spent. Very good on the battery life too, I bounced back and forth between the gps and watching the redzone chanel during my round today and I still have battery left.
[/quote]

+1. Plus if you can't find a course on Skydroid you can easily map it yourself on Skydroid's website. I have done this a few times and it is super easy to use. The best $2 I have spent.
[/quote]

I feel they could use a gui revamp as I find their app not very aesthetically pleasing and I find it hard to see the distances you tap on in the aerial map. Just my opinion I guess.

[Darek]

After years of using Intelligolf I'm going to get an Android phone and use one of Android applications -> probably Golfshot. My question is what resolution you have in your phones ? 320x480 or better/worse ? How does it look in that resolution, especially those aerial views...

[RRFireblade]

Most current smart phones out there today are at least twice that resolution.

[dawgfan03]

Eats the battery.

[CassinoNorth]

[quote name='dawgfan03' timestamp='1297302907' post='2964608']
Eats the battery.
[/quote]

I've yet to leave the course with less than 50% battery after using Golfshot GPS on my Incredible (which is notorious for being terrible on battery) so that's bogus.

[Macklessdaddy]

speaking of golfshot,for anybody using the android version,does the auto handicap feature work because mine doesn't

[mystik10]

I tried FreeCaddie and it was good. I switched over to iGolf (free version) because it had more of the courses I play already on it. It has a pro version that gives you a upro like overview with layup distances.

[drew4008]

[quote name='RRFireblade' timestamp='1297048004' post='2956907']
Most current smart phones out there today are at least twice that resolution.
[/quote]
Not all of them actually. I've been in the market for a new phone and even some of the new ones coming out are comparable or a little bit better than that. Plus I think GPS accuracy is a lot more important in these apps than the resolution of the phone you're using.