GPS Phone App Discussion

[Orikoru]

I know this comes up every now and then but I've tried several and can't quite make my mind up, just wondered what ones other people are using right now?



Feedback on the ones I have used:

Hole 19 seems to be the best/fastest at getting your location, but as the GPS aspect is open the whole time, it absolutely drains the battery and my knackered old phone can't take it anymore. It's touch and go whether it lasts the round now.

I also have VPAR on my phone - this is the one I tend to use now, as I like the fact that you have to actually open the GPS aspect of it when you want to use it, hence it isn't constantly running, and the battery lasts the round nicely. The down side is, I find it struggles more to pinpoint your location exactly. Sometimes I'll be looking at it and it fluctuates between 5 or 10 yards, and doesn't quite fix on a point, or it is quite obviously 20 or 30 yards out. Which is frustrating.

I downloaded Swing by Swing and tried it out yesterday, but in all honesty I didn't like the layout/visual interface, and the GPS seemed to be struggling just like VPAR so I killed it after about 2 holes.

I've now downloaded 18Birdies, which has a strong 4.7 rating on Play Store (android version of app store). The layout looks nice, it also looks like you don't need the GPS open all the time, which is encouraging. Obviously I need to test it on course and see what the GPS is like this weekend.

 

[Slime]

I've used Skydroid for many years and find it excellent.
It has yardages to front, middle and back and you can even map the courses yourself, which allows you to have yardages to bunkers, ditches, water and so on.
Absolutely superb.
On a fully charged phone I find that after the round my phone battery is still at at least 60%.
It'll happily cover 36 holes between charges.

 

[User2021]

Motocaddy free download, never let me down and when comparing with gps units of others always correct.

 

[Depreston]

Hijacking the thread ... any Apple Watch apps give distances to hazards or are they all just front middle and back

 

[PJ87]

I used the Gamegolf app was perfect but my watch battery decided to give up so I’ve gone to a gps watch

For £100 it’s the best investment

 

[FuzzyDuck]

Hijacking the thread ... any Apple Watch apps give distances to hazards or are they all just front middle and back

Fun Golf GPS has a reasonable representation of each hole and allows you to scroll the measurement point to anywhere. It shows bunkers and water.

 

[Orikoru]

I've used Skydroid for many years and find it excellent.
It has yardages to front, middle and back and you can even map the courses yourself, which allows you to have yardages to bunkers, ditches, water and so on.
Absolutely superb.
On a fully charged phone I find that after the round my phone battery is still at at least 60%.
It'll happily cover 36 holes between charges.

Skydroid looks decent but you have to pay £1.79. Got a few more free ones to try first! :lol:

Motocaddy free download, never let me down and when comparing with gps units of others always correct.

Motocaddy has a really low score on Play Store though, hence why I haven't tried it - 3.4 out of 5. The bad reviews mostly say that course info is out of date by several years. I guess if your course is correct on there then you won't have any problems.

 

[anotherdouble]

Skydroid looks decent but you have to pay £1.79. Got a few more free ones to try first! :lol:

Motocaddy has a really low score on Play Store though, hence why I haven't tried it - 3.4 out of 5. The bad reviews mostly say that course info is out of date by several years. I guess if your course is correct on there then you won't have any problems.

If it's a free app what difference does a review make. You try the suggestions which you asked for and if you like it all well and good and if you don't bin it and move on

 

[Orikoru]

If it's a free app what difference does a review make. You try the suggestions which you asked for and if you like it all well and good and if you don't bin it and move on

Well yeah, I'm sure I'll get there eventually if I don't like the others, but I tend to try the ones with good reviews first obviously. I was just saying why I hadn't tried that one yet.

 

[apj0524]

Motocaddy free download, never let me down and when comparing with gps units of others always correct.

100% above what is said above

 

[casuk]

18 birdies is a good app also a nice stat tracker on the free version

 

[Bunkermagnet]

Skydroid looks decent but you have to pay £1.79. Got a few more free ones to try .

Really?.
You spend more than that on 1 golf ball, that may or may not last no more than 1 tee shot

 

[Orikoru]

Really?.
You spend more than that on 1 golf ball, that may or may not last no more than 1 tee shot

That would be because the free golf balls (i.e. ones I've found) tend to be worse. It's not like I have the option of paying for DX2s or using a box of a free DX2s.

 

[glynntaylor]

The Grint is a very good app. Tracks your handicap and also has gps you can turn on and off. The courses are also a lot clearer than the hole 19! You can also take a photo of your score card and it auto inputs onto the app for you. Excellent app!

 

[Orikoru]

The Grint is a very good app. Tracks your handicap and also has gps you can turn on and off. The courses are also a lot clearer than the hole 19! You can also take a photo of your score card and it auto inputs onto the app for you. Excellent app!

I hadn't heard of that one before - looks good so I've downloaded it. The GPS image does look sharper than the others, as long as it stays like that out on the course it could be a winner. The only thing is you can't seem to put your handicap in because it wants to work out it's own handicap for you - unless I'm doing it wrong. That's not the most important thing though, if it works.

 

[glynntaylor]

It works the handicap automatically....I read somewhere every 15 days

However when playing you can input what handicap you are playing too... well I did anyway.

I’m really impressed with it at the moment.

 

[glynntaylor]

Just to confirm you can select your handicap for when playing.

 

[Orikoru]

Just to confirm you can select your handicap for when playing.

Ah ok, I couldn't find that. Will look properly when I try it on course.

 

[Mike79]

I’ve tried using Vpar app on iPhone but the GPS never shows the blue dot for where I am. I can move the marker points about but it doesn’t show my actual position. Have removed and reinstalled and have location on (when app open).

Also have the same issue with Motocaddy app so maybe something on my phone?

MyOnlineGolfClub (MOGC) works as it should though

Any ideas?

 

[RichA]

I'm another one for the free Motocaddy app.
I'm not interested in using it for scoring, just distances. Minimal faffing about. Thought about getting a Garmin watch but it's rendered one unnecessary and freed up the funds for other unnecessary toys.