Altimeter app anyone?

[Matlock]

I looked through Google Play for a free Altimeter app and it seems they are all mediocre or maybe just a misunderstood novelty.
Anyone have a favorite they can recommend?

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

A 'real' altimeter would require a pressure cell in the phone itself which some have to measure barometric pressure. Otherwise it is just referencing a database of altitude for GPS coordinates or triangulation from GPS satellites...... Unless I'm missing something.

Guy

My Kyocera Brigadier came from the factory with a barometer/altimeter app installed.  Barometric pressure changes from day to day even though the location hasn't changed.  So I guess it has some way of measuring the air pressure.

 

[MrNoodly]

A 'real' altimeter...

Unless you're flying, there's no essential or practical need for a real altimeter. I mean, someone might be a meticulous collector of precise-but-mostly-irrelevant data as some sort of hobby or compulsion, but actual life on the ground doesn't require anything more than a general idea of one's elevation. (Side note: "elevation" is about your height on the ground, "altitude" is about your height in the air.) So a smart phone app should serve anyone's ground-bound needs.

That said, I have an app named Altimeter (duh) on my iPhone. It also gives my coordinates (since it uses coordinates to give me my elevation). Right now, my phone is at 7,027 feet. Would it make any real life difference if I were actually a few feet higher or lower? Would that knowledge change my life or wellbeing any? The coordinates, when cross-referenced with Google maps satellite view, put me about 15 feet west of my actual location. If I were to give someone the coordinates, they could still find me.

 

[frater secessus]

The Kyocera could have been polling a weather db for baro data.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

The Kyocera could have been polling a weather db for baro data.

Suppose so.  Hadn't thought of that.  Guess I'd have to get WAY out in the boondocks to figure out which it is.

 

[Spaceman Spiff]

In my pre-GPS mountaineering days it was always a chore to know your elevation.  We would write down the altimeter reading at night and compare in the AM and recalibrate anytime we had a good fix on our elevation from topo maps; not critical but it was another piece of data that would help fix our position.  I find my current GPS (Garmin GPSmap 60CSx) is quite accurate on elevation when comparing with topo maps.

I haven't tried very hard, but it would be nice to find a GPS app with elevation for my iPhone.

 -- Spiff

 

[TrainChaser]

Maybe just buy a real, portable altimeter? Or, do you happen to have an aircraft salvage yard anywhere in your vicinity?

 

[Matlock]

MrNoodly, I have looked at the "Altimeter" app for droid. Free is good so I'll give it a try.

TrainChaser, I do have a real, portable altimeter. A Galaxy Alti-2. What I'm looking for is an app.

 

[highdesertranger]

real potable altimeters must be constantly recalibrated. like spaceman was alluding to. the more often you recalibrate the more accurate they are. highdesertranger

 

[SillyLilly]

I looked through Google Play for a free Altimeter app and it seems they are all mediocre or maybe just a misunderstood novelty.
Anyone have a favorite they can recommend?

Search for an app named GPS test from Chartcross Limited. It gets your current elevation from your Gps. It does other useful things too.

 

[RVTravel]

I use maprika for hiking and it will tell altitude based on gps data.