Location Logging

Locations can be logged to the local database, a remote host or both.

The following data is sent to the remote host. The values are those provided by iOS.

  • time—UTC
  • latitude/longitude—location using the WGS84 geodetic reference system.
  • hdop—Horizontal Dilution of Precision—estimated horizontal accuracy in metres.
  • altitude—metres.
  • speed—metres-per-second.
  • bearing— degrees.
  • battery—most recently recorded battery percentage.
  • note—optional text entered by the user for the location.

To convert the speed to kilometres-per-hour, multiply by 3.6. To convert the speed in metres-per-second to approximate miles-per-hour, multiply by 2.24. For an exact conversion to miles-per-hour, multiply by 3,600 then divide by 1,609.344.

Start recording locations from the Summary page by tapping on the Start button on the toolbar at the bottom of the page. The text of the button will change to Stop.

To stop logging, tap the Stop button in the toolbar. Similarly the text of the button will change to Start.

If remote logging is enabled, when logging is stopped, the application continues to attempt to transmit any locations that have already been captured but not successfully received by the remote logging server. The app will abandon sending them after about a minute.

If remote logging is enabled, pressing the Single button on the toolbar sends a single location, whether or not active logging is on or off. When this option is chosen, the Single button is disabled until a location is achieved or the operation exceeds the minimum HDOP seek time setting. The GPS is turned on by the app temporarily setting the desired accuracy to Best until a fix is achieved matching the minimum HDOP setting. The minimum period and distance settings are also temporarily ignored. After the send location operation finishes, the settings are reverted to the most recently user configured settings.

When the Single button is re-enabled, whether the operation succeeded or failed will be apparent from the count of successes and failures, or by viewing the last successful transmission time and date displayed in the activity log.

In TripLogger Remote versions 1.1.0 onwards, a note can also be appended to a location and sent to the remote server. This is only relevant when remote logging is enabled. Selecting the Note option from the toolbar displays a page where you can enter the note to be sent. Press the action button to send the note. If logging is currently stopped, it is started until a location has been established. The note is then associated with that location and sent. Multiple notes are queued and sent as soon as a new location is established meeting the configured minimum HDOP requirements.

Notes

Having typed a note in the input area, it can be added to the list by pressing the add button (plus icon). In case of unintentionally adding an item, they can be deleted by left-swiping the row. Re-ordering the list or amending items can only be done from the Settings page.

TripLogger Remote Version 1.2.0 introduces creating a notification after sending a note or single location succeeds or fails, advising of the result accordingly. These notifications are primarily intended for use with an Apple Watch, especially in situations where it may be inconvenient to access the iPhone, such as when being carried in a backpack.

Notifications

Please note that notification messages, sounds and haptics are not triggered in some circumstances, such as when the TripLogger app is in the foreground and the iPhone or iPad is unlocked, or when the TripLogger app is in the foreground on the Apple Watch and the watch is awake.

Notifications can be individually controlled from the app’s settings or enabled and disabled via the device’s notification settings. See the Settings section for more information.

Notifications can also be enabled for the situation where the iPhone or iPad battery level is lower or higher than configurable values whilst discharging or charging respectively. Battery level notifications are only sent whilst logging is enabled and running.

If you are using the Apple Watch, the last successful transmission time is displayed above the buttons in the Apple Watch application whilst remote logging is actively running. Note that the last successful time and date may be initially hidden. It will be displayed after the next successful transmission of a location to the remote server.

A note can only be sent with a location. In versions prior to version 1.3.0, if for some reason sending a note fails, it is not automatically retried and needs to be manually resent. Check the Activity Log to confirm whether sending the note succeeded or failed.

In version 1.3.0 onwards, only when logging is actively running, the app will retry sending locations where transmission to the remote server failed, i.e. where there is an unsuccessful connection. However, if the server responds with an error code, e.g. an authentication failure, sending of the note or location is abandoned.

On the next occasion that a new location is successfully sent, any queued notes and locations are retried.

When notifications are enabled and sending fails, a notification is created indicating that sending the note will be retried. The location and timestamp for the note will be that first established after the note was created, so once you receive the retry notification, moving to another location will not affect the location and time associated with the note.

Notes tip

The above described behaviour is particularly useful if you want to record a note about a specific location but have no access to the Internet. This may also act as a way of being notified that you have Internet access again, which can be useful in remote areas with intermittent Internet access.

In this situation, you can create the note and wait until you receive the notification that sending the note has failed. At this stage the notification is associated with the location and will be retried each time the app attempts to send another scheduled location update. You will be notified once the note has been successfully sent. Just be sure to leave logging running until it has been successfully sent.

Sending notes

If logging is stopped before one or more notes are associated with a location, they are cancelled. This is to avoid stale notes unintentionally being associated with a potentially irrelevant location next time logging is started.

Where notes have been associated with an established location, they are only kept until the app is terminated. A limited number of location reports that have failed are also kept until the app is terminated. The app will usually be terminated by the operating system after a period of idleness. The app should not be terminated under normal conditions whilst location logging is actively running. The next time location logging is started, the app will attempt to send all the outstanding locations and notes. This is triggered when another location is established and successfully sent.

If it is sufficiently important that you do not lose these details in the situation of the app being terminated, consider taking a screenshot of the Activity Log entry that shows the failed message including the decimal latitude and longitude coordinates or otherwise write the details down. Note that the Activity Log is also cleared in various siuations such as low memory and app termination, so the details must be captured immediately to avoid loss.