Best iPhone Golf GPS App?

[jgreen85]

I've started using golfshot recently, and was wondering how accurate other golfshot users find the "how far" function?

[kurisu]

I've started using golfshot recently, and was wondering how accurate other golfshot users find the "how far" function?

You mean the "last shot" tracker? I found it to be accurate to about +/- 3 yards compared to a dedicated GPS. The only thing is that it's slow to update so even when you are over your ball, you have to wait a couple of second and see whether it will stay at the value, or suddenly update and increase/decrease 10 yards…

But that function is kind of useless if you ask me, since this is not recorded in the stats; so that means you can't track and establish how far each club goes. Would be neat.

[CassinoNorth]

You mean the "last shot" tracker? I found it to be accurate to about +/- 3 yards compared to a dedicated GPS. The only thing is that it's slow to update so even when you are over your ball, you have to wait a couple of second and see whether it will stay at the value, or suddenly update and increase/decrease 10 yards…

I'd assume its gotta be in the works. The developers seem to have a pretty nice handle on what golfers like out of their GPS. I find the app better than most dedicated GPS units. I just have to remember to turn the Screen Always On function before my round and I have absolutely no issue.

[abraxas]

I'd assume its gotta be in the works. The developers seem to have a pretty nice handle on what golfers like out of their GPS. I find the app better than most dedicated GPS units. I just have to remember to turn the Screen Always On function before my round and I have absolutely no issue.

"screen always on" function?

are you talking about the red lock button on the lower left of the screen? the only problem i have with golfshot is the delay between readings... so im not always 100% confident that the reading i get is accurate or if i should wait another min or two before it updates but for its price point its pretty awesome

[CassinoNorth]

"screen always on" function?

I have a droid so I'm not sure if that's an iPhone thing. I have to go into settings on my phone and do it.

[kurisu]

I'd assume its gotta be in the works. The developers seem to have a pretty nice handle on what golfers like out of their GPS. I find the app better than most dedicated GPS units. I just have to remember to turn the Screen Always On function before my round and I have absolutely no issue.

I have been in touch for a while with the devs because I helped them track down very annoying bugs in their contact management code (it was using semi-custom address book hooks and thus it was not working at all with non-alphabetical entries (in my case, Japanese). Took them 6 months and took me countless explanations, screenshots taking, before they even considered it a bug, even though I could crash the app at will with specific steps.

I asked them all the while about this shot distance tracker and a few other stats that would be awesome (they record the tee club, but you can't show the stats for tee accuracy per club, for instance) and they always said "we might consider it". Their issue is that they only have 2 devs working on Golfshot: GPS, Golfplan and GolfScape, and so they are spread pretty thin. The only thing I really can't stand about Golfshot is that you can't export your data and do your own analysis, short of typing it back from looking at the full scorecard online. But otherwise, yes, as abraxas said, for the pricepoint it's hard to beat the features of that app.

[CassinoNorth]

I have been in touch for a while with the devs because I helped them track down very annoying bugs in their contact management code (it was using semi-custom address book hooks and thus it was not working at all with non-alphabetical entries (in my case, Japanese). Took them 6 months and took me countless explanations, screenshots taking, before they even considered it a bug, even though I could crash the app at will with specific steps.

Interesting stuff there, never knew that.

Some of their features haven't even been released onto Android yet unfortunately. We always seem to get the raw end of the deal with updates.

[AnthonyGraziano]

I use golf shot as well for my iphone, not to sure how accurate it is at the moment got it about a week ago.

[JAckerman]

Well my partner and I each have a gps.. one is a Callaway and the other is Garmin.. they both agree on yardages and they are close to the markers on our course.. So far no I phone has been close except once in a great while. Not sure many of you have done this comparison so check you phone against a know yardage marker and see how close it really is
John

[blkjazz]

Look at your "Map" application then click the "My Location" symbol. You see your blue dot and a light shaded circle of blue around it. That shows how accurate the GPS thinks it is. At times this is not very good at all. Imagine being in a place like Bethpage where it has 5 courses and not near any cell towers to bounce off of. The result is some very accurate yardages. I guess this is a losing argument with you since you find it to be reliable. Just letting the possible purchasers know the negatives of having a smartphone based golf GPS.

None of the cell phone based gps apps are anywhere close to dedicated gps units in terms of accuracy. None. If you don't mind not having accurate yardage I guess they are fine. As for me, they will have to pry my Skycaddie SGX out of my cold dead hands.

[blkjazz]

Well my partner and I each have a gps.. one is a Callaway and the other is Garmin.. they both agree on yardages and they are close to the markers on our course.. So far no I phone has been close except once in a great while. Not sure many of you have done this comparison so check you phone against a know yardage marker and see how close it really is

That was my experience as well. None of the cell phone gps apps are as accurate as dedicated golf gps units. On the other hand, I have never had any accuracy issues with my Skycaddie. The phone apps are cute but that is about it. Also, the folks at Golflogix are not the best folks in the world to deal with. They tried to charge my credit card when I did not renew the subscription. I have heard good things about Golfshot but accuracy is still an issue with them as well. You can find used dedicated gps units fairly cheap. What good is a golf gps if it is 10-15 yards off? I'm just saying.

[jgreen85]

Well my partner and I each have a gps.. one is a Callaway and the other is Garmin.. they both agree on yardages and they are close to the markers on our course.. So far no I phone has been close except once in a great while. Not sure many of you have done this comparison so check you phone against a know yardage marker and see how close it really is

I did this today and my phone was spot on. Try it before you bash it.

[JAckerman]

The Callaway GPS has a "mark" function.. Once you hit that you just hit your iron and start walking and it will tell you to the yard how far you just hit your last shot

[k14]

I did this today and my phone was spot on. Try it before you bash it.

Ditto. If I am near a distance marker I will regularly check to see how close it is. On most of them it is within 2 meters of the distance marker. At my course all distance markers are to the centre of the green, so the centre can be a bit of a moving target. The golfshot guys map it by aerial photos, so finding the exact centre can be difficult. They can't tell where the first cut ends and the green starts. They will just see a green area and estimate the centre. I am happy with 2-3 meters accuracy. I am not good enough to hit my irons that accurately! For $38 NZD it is a good buy and I always have my iphone on my so that makes things easy.

[wrx_junki]

I did this today and my phone was spot on. Try it before you bash it.

You compared your Golfshot with against which dedicated GPS? I've tried it so am I free to bash? Golfshot is inferior to dedicated GPS. I'm pretty sure I posted somewhere in this thread already about go the iPhone depends on aGPS which lacks accuracy.

The Callaway GPS has a "mark" function.. Once you hit that you just hit your iron and start walking and it will tell you to the yard how far you just hit your last shot

And the SGX has some gimmick that records what distances you hit with each club through a transmitter attached to the butt of the club. Not sure where your going with this.

This thread isn't about the accuracy of the iPhone GPS so let's leave it at that it does it's job somewhat. Just know that it's not very accurate and depends on what's nearby. Golfshot is the best in my opinion for the iPhone.

[jgreen85]

Originally Posted by JAckerman

Not sure many of you have done this comparison so check you phone against a know yardage marker and see how close it really is

John

I compared it to the known yardage marker. I have not compared it to a dedicated gps. Regardless, I don't really think it's a big deal. Golfshot works great for me. Yesterday, golfshot said I was 148 to the center of the green. I hit my 8 iron 140. I had about a 5 yard wind. When I got to the green I was in the middle of the green and my ball mark was about 2 yards in front of where I hit it. Good thing I can't spin my ball backwards :)

[Yukari]

Easy answer.  MyCaddie Pro.  Now it's free, has satellite view, you can mark your own course, keeps track of all stats, even has "ACTIVE SHOT" to measure the distance of your shots.  But you have to have iOS 4.

I use it with my iPhone 4 and it is great!  Only uses about 20% of the battery for the round.

[Yukari]

MyCaddie Pro.

It's free, has satellite view, you can mark the courses yourself (takes only about 10 minutes) using your computer, keeps track of all your stats, has "ACTIVE SHOT" feature to see how far you hit a club.

Only uses about 20% (often less) of your iPhone 4 battery per round.  You need iOS 4, which you probably do.  All those negative comments in the app store, I think, are due to not having iOS 4.

Trust me.  For free, you cannot go wrong with this program.  It is great!