I was hiking yesterday and ended up climbing a large hill. I wish I had measured my altitude at the bottom of the hill, and then again at the top of the hill.
Is there an app that works in that kind of situation, preferably one that can also work even if you do not have an internet connection at the time?
I use an app called Map My Walk (it’s from Underarmor) which primarily tracks time, distance, and steps, but also tracks elevation gain. At the end of a session, it gives you a graph of elevation from the beginning of your session through to the end. I can’t testify as to how accurate it is, though, as it is pretty flat where I do my walking and I pretty much ignore that part of the report.
It uses GPS, so I don’t imagine it needs an internet connection to work.
Lots of apps track your movement, overlay them on maps, and generate an elevation profile. Alltrails, Gaia, Relive all do that. You may have to pay extra to download maps for off line use.
I use AlphaTools, which includes a barometer–your phone has to have the necessary hardware in order for the barometer to work. The barometer display altitude values, one of which is based on GPS and one based on ambient pressure. This value, of course, varies considerably with the weather.
GPS apps will tell you. Mine is telling me that I am 268 meters, and googling the elevation of one of the closest towns gives a height of 269.7 meters, so it seems pretty accurate.
H’m. I use an Android app called My Elevation, but it does require an internet connection. Seems pretty accurate, though, and you’d have to be way in the back of beyond not to have some kind of signal. (I’m assuming you’re in the States.) I know it worked at the top of Pike’s Peak, for example.
Your app, of course, may be doing the same thing; observing your location, and reading the elevation of that location from a data source.
surely this is easy to check. Just read your elevation at street level, and then take the elevator to the top of a tall building. A 15 storey building is about 50 meters high.
Probably not. Topo maps don’t typically have that fine a resolution. It’s easier to just use the GPS altitude or the built-in barometer if your phone has one. You don’t even need to take an elevator, just move your hands from your feet to above your head. Or walk upstairs.
Nope.
FWIW, this is the GPS app I was checking.
I use GPS Essentials, it’s a little confusing but it will give you access to almost all the location data your phone has. I use it to measure distances and record .KML tracks of my outdoor adventures. Those .KML files can be overlaid on Google Earth so you can see exactly where you were.
GPSTest is another free one that’s good- it gives you some information about the accuracy of your GPS data as well.
Strava will do what you ask. While recording it only uses GPS coordinates, when you return to internet access you can view maps, elevation charts, pace… and loads of other data.
You could use Strava privately, but its also a social media of sorts - you can follow your friends and see their activities and comment or give them kudos.
I use “GPS Status & Toolbox” by EclipSim.
It starts up fast and on its Status (default) page gives all sorts of useful information from the GPS, so it doesn’t need a data connection.
One bit of info on that page is the GPS-reported altiude.