Real Dumb Questions

[golfortennis]

So I have a rangefinder, and I have a stats program that while good, I think leaves me wanting a little more information. I also have a cell phone contract coming to an end and a standard flip phone with a battery that keeps dying. My cell provider basically has only smartphones available, so despite my lack of use of the phone, I think I will be sent in a certain direction. If so, I figure I might as well be smart about it(no pun intended), and be prepared.

 

So I've been looking at smartphone apps, and reading a bit on here, but the questions I have I think are so basic that either they are obvious to most, or I just can't use enough search terms to narrow it down. So I have a few questions:

 

1)I'd be using primarily the app for stat tracking, not necessarily GPS. On a new course it may come in handy, but overall that is not a dealbreaker. Although the club distance tracking sounds interesting....

 

2)Using what features would I begin a process of using data from my plan, and how much data might I expect to use in 18 holes if I was fully using the features(GPS, distance tracking etc.)

 

Thanks guys.

[Wayneo]

Any decent app will probably use your data plan, but very minimally. Same for the GPS.

For the stat tracking, it all depends if the data is sent immediately or at your choosing (like via wifi when at home). Same for club distance. All that info can be cached on the phone till later.

For the GPS portion, there should/could be 1 hit when you first start the GPS, for ephemeris data (where the satellites are located, based on the current cell sites you're on), but from that point, and up to about the next 4 hours, there would be no need to ask the network where those satellites are. That first 'hit' is what gives you good TTFF Time to First fix.

[DoYouKnowTheMuffinMan]

Golfshot lite is a great stat tracking app. From what I have experienced, it uses minimal data and it doesnt kill my battery

[golfortennis]

[quote name='Wayneo' timestamp='1345487995' post='5504382']
Any decent app will probably use your data plan, but very minimally. Same for the GPS.

For the stat tracking, it all depends if the data is sent immediately or at your choosing (like via wifi when at home). Same for club distance. All that info can be cached on the phone till later.

For the GPS portion, there should/could be 1 hit when you first start the GPS, for ephemeris data (where the satellites are located, based on the current cell sites you're on), but from that point, and up to about the next 4 hours, there would be no need to ask the network where those satellites are. That first 'hit' is what gives you good TTFF Time to First fix.
[/quote]

So basically I would turn it on and have the phone locate me, and for the whole round I can do the GPS thing and it will be, say, 100 kb, from that first connection?

I know next to nothing about this whole thing...

[IC3BURGH]

Likely more than 100kb.

The GPS doesn't require data, but after your phone connects to a GPS signal, most apps will load aerials of the course. THIS is where your data plan will be used. Given that a high resolution image is 1.5-2mb, I would guess one round of golf would require somewhere north of 20mb.

UPDATE:

Just ran a test on my iPhone 4. I reset my data statistics, and started up GolfShot GPS. I went to through each hole, allowed for aerials to be downloaded. I used ~18.3mb for the 18 hole round. Hope this helps!

[golfortennis]

[quote name='tweakedmelon' timestamp='1345573389' post='5510638']
Likely more than 100kb.

The GPS doesn't require data, but after your phone connects to a GPS signal, most apps will load aerials of the course. THIS is where your data plan will be used. Given that a high resolution image is 1.5-2mb, I would guess one round of golf would require somewhere north of 20mb.
[/quote]

Thanks for that response. Is there a way around it of loading the course through wifi ahead of time, or are you pretty much screwed in that case?

the way some of the plans are here in Canada, 20MB for one round of gold will eat up a data plan quickly...

[Kadin 25]

[quote name='DoYouKnowTheMuffinMan' timestamp='1345495437' post='5505186']
Golfshot lite is a great stat tracking app. From what I have experienced, it uses minimal data and it doesnt kill my battery
[/quote]+1

[IC3BURGH]

[quote name='Bluefan75' timestamp='1345573745' post='5510678']
[quote name='tweakedmelon' timestamp='1345573389' post='5510638']
Likely more than 100kb.

The GPS doesn't require data, but after your phone connects to a GPS signal, most apps will load aerials of the course. THIS is where your data plan will be used. Given that a high resolution image is 1.5-2mb, I would guess one round of golf would require somewhere north of 20mb.
[/quote]

Thanks for that response. Is there a way around it of loading the course through wifi ahead of time, or are you pretty much screwed in that case?

the way some of the plans are here in Canada, 20MB for one round of gold will eat up a data plan quickly...
[/quote]

If you see above, I did a test and found GolfShot ate up 18.3mb.

Anyway, your second question I am unsure of, and would be best served by the app developers themselves b/c different apps will handle the imagery differently. The question I would ask is "does your app "cache" the aerial photos, or are they downloaded each time?"

[IC3BURGH]

Update to your question:

From Golfshot's FAQ page:


[quote]

Why do I need an Internet connection to view the aerial images?
Licensing restrictions put in place by our image providers prevent us from caching aerial images. Data coverage and internet or carrier connection (Edge, 3G or WiFi) is necessary to view aerial imagery during your round. The GPS Targets View, GPS functionality, Scorecard, and Statistics all work great without a connection.

[/quote]

[golfortennis]

Thanks a lot, that is very helpful. I take it then that GPS Targets view is a computer generated view? ie., I wouldn't need aerial view if I already knew the course I was playing?

[golfortennis]

What does golfshot do after you've compiled rounds. Does that all stay on the phone, or can you download it to a PC? I read through the user guide and didn't see anything about that.

[IC3BURGH]

[quote name='Bluefan75' timestamp='1345595862' post='5512718']
Thanks a lot, that is very helpful. I take it then that GPS Targets view is a computer generated view? ie., I wouldn't need aerial view if I already knew the course I was playing?
[/quote]

GolfShot doesn't do a computer generated view. I just went into GolfShot with my WiFi and Cell service turned off. No aerial views, but it gave me distances to green center, back edge, front edge, Bunkers, distance to 100, 125, 150 layups.

[quote name='Bluefan75' timestamp='1345662962' post='5517118']
What does golfshot do after you've compiled rounds. Does that all stay on the phone, or can you download it to a PC? I read through the user guide and didn't see anything about that.
[/quote]

It has you set up a GolfShot account, which then uploads your rounds to the internet following the completion. It will also show a pop-up screen at the conclusion of the round, which will allow you to email or tweet your round results. Not sure about what happens if you have no cell service, but I imagine it stores them on the phone until you have a data connection of some sort (cell or WiFi).

[golfortennis]

Ended up getting the iPhone 4s. We got a real good deal that was just not available on the Samsung. Is the only way to put Golfshot on my phone through the app store on the phone? Or can I download it to my desktop and sync it from there? Just trying to manage my data limits for a stretch until I get a handle on what causes what.

[ZenBeast]

I waited til I was on my home WiFi network and then downloaded Golfshot.

Any downloads over Wifi haave no affect on your data plan.

You can use any Wifi network to do the download, not just your home network.

The Golfshot app itself is always downloaded and stored on your phone.

Once you've downloaded it and set up your account, you can access your account data from your PC.