Install My GPS Coordinates

Purchase My GPS Coordinates Pro (one-time payment)

Easily share your gps location via email, text messaging, twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, etc. The recipient receives a link to either Apple Maps, Bing maps™, Google maps™, OpenStreetMap®, Yandex, or HERE (Nokia) with your position on it. Note that gps does not work well under a roof. For best results, use outdoors.

Benefits of the paid version:
- Save and share multiple locations.
- Add and edit locations on a map.
- Landscape support and iPad split screen support.
- Import .kml and .kmz files.
- Export .kml files via cloud or attach to email.
- No advertisements.
- Custom message header and footer.
- Relative Bearing To Point. (read more)
- Large font readout that displays latitude, longitude, speed, heading, and altitude.
- Message structure control. Define how properties for each location appear in a message.


September 2020 update

December 2019 update

March 2018 update

December 2017 update

October 2017 update

August 2017 update

July 2017 update

January 2017 update

September 2016 update

   Custom Map Links

User Guide

   Decimal places and precision

Frequently asked questions

Contact


Resources in other documents

How location is determined
Custom Map URLs
Custom Message Structure
How to enable crash reports
How to redeem a promo code
Privacy policy (free version)
Privacy policy (pro version)

Other GPS related apps

Distance and Area Measure (iOS and macOS)

Radius on Map (iOS and macOS)

GPS Odometer (iOS)


September 2020 update


December 2019 update

Free and Pro Versions:

Pro version:


March 2018 update


December 2017 update

Pro Version:



All Versions:


October 2017 update

Removed the GPS requirement to make the app available for all iPads. There has been a bug in the Apple App store for quite some time that allows a user to purchase the full version on an iPhone or cellular iPad and then install it on all devices with on same account including non-GPS iPads. However, when the user tries to update, they can't update the app on the devices that it never should have been installed on in the first place.

Note that these non-cellular iPads do not have a satellite GPS receiver, and their only method of determining location is by passing the list of nearby Wi-Fi networks and signal strengths to Apple's location database.
Note that this requires an internet connection and several visible Wi-Fi networks. In densely populated areas this works well enough, although less accurate, and will not work at all off-grid.

(read more about how location is determined)

August 2017 update

All Versions:

  • Important fix for a long term bug that was recently discovered. If you have used the DMS (Degrees, Minutes, Seconds) format to save a location, some error was introduced. There is a way to 'undo' this error in about 98% of cases. (read more)
  • Added a 'Message structure' setting. You can define how properties for each location appear in a message. (read more)
  • Added a 'Custom message header' in addition to the old 'Custom message footer'.
  • Fix to prevent rare crash when importing kml files. I suspect that this is a cloud service bug. For example, user selects file to import, but has no data connection. File is not on local device, file system can't find file, and passes a null string to this app which causes the crash.
  • On the map, prevented the long press 'how you add a new pin' from traveling through views in the foreground.
  • For example long pressing the edit button here: would be treated like adding a new pin. This was also applied to the 2 bars along the edges of the map page.

    July 2017 update


    Coordinate Format Options

    Now there are 3 setting options that configure how latitude and longitude are displayed in the app. In addition to the old 'Coordinate format' setting, there's now 'Coordinate precision' and 'Hemisphere indicator' settings.
    Coordinate precision has 3 options: High (default), Medium, Low. Medium and low each round to 1 decimal place less. For example:
    Degrees
    DD.xxxxxx (high) (0.16 meter max rounding error)
    DD.xxxxx (medium) (1.6 meters)
    DD.xxxx (low) (15.7 meters)

    Degrees, Minutes
    DD MM.xxxx (high) (0.26 meter max rounding error)
    DD MM.xxx (medium) (2.6 meters)
    DD MM.xx (low) (26.2 meters)

    Degrees, Minutes, Seconds
    DD MM SS.xx (high) (0.44 meter max rounding error)
    DD MM SS.x (medium) (4.4 meters)
    DD MM SS (low) (43.8 meters)


    Hemisphere indicator has 5 options:
    1) Cardinal Direction
    Each hemisphere is represented by appending an abbreviation such as N,S,E,W
    ex: 37.330278 N , 122.032625 W

    2) Negative only
    South and West are prefixed with a minus sign
    ex: 37.330278 , -122.032625

    3) Negative and positive
    South and West are prefixed with a minus sign
    North and East are prefixed with a positive sign
    ex: +37.330278 , -122.032625

    4) None
    You probably know which hemispheres that you are in
    ex: 37.330278 , 122.032625

    5) Default (mixed)
    Degrees is 'Negative only' ex: 37.330278 , -122.032625
    DM and DMS are 'Cardinal Direction' ex: 37° 19.8167′ N , 122° 1.9575′ W


    Relative Bearing To Point

    This displays your relative bearing to a saved location. If heading directly towards the location, the arrow will point up. If heading away, it will point down.
    - If on the list page, the selected (highlighted) location will be used.
    - If on the map page, the selected map marker will be used.
    - Note that you must be moving in a relatively straight line for about 8 meters to somewhat accurately determine your current heading.
    At slow speeds, this can be tricky, as a location from say, 15 seconds ago might be used to calculate your heading.

    The bottom view displays your path with a yellow line, and an orange line shows how your heading was calculated. These should roughly overlap.
    Your current location is always the center and your old locations will trail off an edge. Up is North, down is South, right is East, etc. So for example, if the yellow line is trailing off the top left corner (NW), that means that you are traveling Southeast.

    Here's an example of a good heading calculation whilst walking at low speed:


    The yellow line isn't straight, but the orange line accurately represents the heading.


    Another 'good' example:


    A bad example:
    Walking in circles




    Large View

    To save space, only values are displayed.
    To see what the values represent, press -> . Also notice that two semi-transparent buttons temporarily appear.
    - The center button has been removed, as screen orientation is now determined by device orientation.
    - The other larger button cycles through 5 screen layout options: 1/5, 2/5 ... 5/5












    January 2017 update




    Populate autofill settings from contacts

    1) The application's settings page.


    2) Tap the add button (+)


    3) Click the contacts icon




    4) Select one of your contacts


    5) Select a field. Preferably an email address.


    6) The email address is imported and the contact's name is inserted into the 'notes field'


    7)



    Geocoding with imported contact information

    1) Click the contacts icon near top right.




    2) Select a contact


    3) Select a field. Preferably an address.


    4) Upon selecting a field, the search bar is populated and a search is executed.



    Create location from geocoding result

    Continuing from the image above.
    To create a new location populated with this information, click the '+' button.

    1) Note that latitude, longitude, name, and notes are automaticaly populated.



    Reverse geocoding (Find addresses near a point)

    1) In this example, the yellow dot near the center of the map is where we will click.
    Note that the '?' icon on the sidebar has been toggled and is shaded orange.


    2) After clicking on the point of interest, the map has zoomed out some to show some potential result markers.
    In this case, there are 3. They are labeled (0,1,2) and are ranked with the lowest number being the most probable result.
    A green map pin indicates where you clicked.


    3) By clicking the > arrow, you can advance to the next result.


    4) Clicking the > arrow again displays the last of the 3 results. Note that each result has a radius associated with it and is indicated with a yellow circle that becomes more pronounced when selected.


    To remove the results from the map, press the '?' button on the side bar.
    Press the '?' button one more time to toggle back to normal map mode. (so that clicking the map won't result in another reverse geocoding)

    September 2016 update

    Bugs
    Corrected in the Sep 6 update In degrees format, the negative sign is missing for the Western Hemisphere. For example, in the screenshot below, 74.044636 should be -74.044636 for New York City.
    Map links are not affected by this.
    Thanks to José from Mexico for pointing that out.

    Corrected in the Sep 6 update Menu is slightly too tall on phones.

    User interface changes
  • The 'save coordinates' button has been moved so that the user can see the expected precision before saving.
    Note that it usually takes several seconds for the satellite GPS receiver to warm up and provide accurate position data. During this time, it's possible to save an old location or an inaccurate location reported by cellular tower triangulation.



    This entire group of buttons

    now acts on the selected location (blue) in the list, and will hide when no location is selected.



    Better settings page
    Previously, several settings properties only allowed the user to enter a single value, which had to be deleted to use another value.
    Now several values can be saved and selected as needed without the need to re-enter the value each time. Example:


    Now we will delete Joe by selecting that row, and pressing the trash icon.


    Joe is gone,


    Now we will add another by pressing the '+' button


    New entry added





    Map Links aka Map URLs

    Apple maps link    Thanks to Michael from Texas for letting me know about this.
    For users with an Apple device (Mac, iPhone, iPad, etc), this opens the native Apple Maps application.
    Users with non-Apple devices are redirected to Google Maps. (Note that there is no web-based version of Apple Maps)

    Custom map URLs
    Many requests asking for more options when sharing a URL to a map provider have been received. Some users would like to specify zoom level, others would like to specify the map layer, etc. So rather than catering to each individual request, users can create custom URLs.
    Custom Map Links Tutorial and Help Page
    * More precisely, this doesn't necessarily need to be a URL. More like a simple API to build strings using a lat/lon coordinates.

    User Guide



    Home Page


    How the home page may appear:




    Tapping the email button prefills an email for you to send.




    Tapping the share button gives you more sharing options, but most people prefer email or text.




    Tapping the text message button prefills a text message for you to send. Note that we try to keep under the 160 character limit for a text message.




    List Page




    Save a .kml file to cloud storage. Note that only checked locations are included in the kml file and shown on the map. In this screenshot, Paris will not be included in the kml file or shown on the map.


    Dropbox selected. Note that you must have iCloud, Dropbox, or whatever cloud storage provider setup and enabled on your device. The file name is coords_1440787837.kml. The strange number is the time stamp.




    Import a .kml or .kmz file from cloud storage. Choose cloud provider as before.




    Share the checked locations. 'Include in body' means to list the human readable information and map link url in the body of the message. Note that there is a character limit as to how long a message body can be, so if you try to share 200 locations with 'include in body' checked, the app will most likely crash.




    Shows or hides 4 buttons. The first 3 check or uncheck cells in bulk. Note that only checked location are shown on the map and exported when you share via email or save a file.




    The Search function filters items in the list that contain a substring. Note that both the name and the notes fields are searched: Düsseldorf, Opera House




    Deletes the selected cell after showing a 'confirm delete' popup.




    Move the selected cell up or down. Long pressing will move the cell to the top or bottom of the list. For example, here we move London to the top.




    September, 2016. This button has been moved to another screen.
    Add a new location initialized with your current location




    Edit the selected location.




    Menu Popup


    This is not a tab like the 3 others. Rather it opens a popup menu.



    Copy Coordinates has a different function depending on which page you are on:
    Home Page: The coordinates of your current location are copied to the clipboard.
    List Page: The coordinates of the selected list location are copied to the clipboard.
    Map Page: The coordinates of the selected map location are copied to the clipboard.

    Copy map link has a different function depending on which page you are on:
    Home Page: The map link of your current location is copied to the clipboard.
    List Page: The map link of the selected list location is copied to the clipboard.
    Map Page: The map link of the selected map location is copied to the clipboard.

    Once something is copied to the clipboard, you can exit the app and paste it wherever you want.

    Settings


    Language
    This defaults to your device's language preference. If you are a non-native English speaker and you are reading this, you may want to set to English since the translations are probably are not the best.

    Theme
    Light or dark background.
    Dark is better for night use.

    Coordinate Format
    Three Options:
  • Degrees: 51.500780
  • Degrees, Minutes, Seconds: 51° 30′ 2.81″ N
  • Degrees, Minutes: 51° 30.0468′ N

    Small distance units
    Used for altitude and GPS precision. Three options:
  • meters
  • feet
  • yards

    Map Provider for sharing locations
    The map link url that is generated for a location.
    Six default options:
  • Apple with Google fallback http://maps.apple.com/?q=51.50078,-0.12467
  • Google http://maps.google.com/?q=51.50078,-0.12467
  • Bing http://bing.com/maps?cp=51.501~-0.125&sty=b&sp=point.51.50078_-0.12467_p&lvl=9
  • OpenStreetMap http://www.openstreetmap.org/?mlat=51.50078&mlon=-0.12467&zoom=12&layers=M
  • HERE (Nokia) https://wego.here.com/location/?map=51.50078,-0.12467,12,satellite
  • Yandex https://yandex.com/maps/?ll=-0.12467,51.50078&spn=0.1,0.1&l=map&pt=-0.12467,51.50078

    Default name for new location
    Instead of the default Location 1, Location 2, Location 3,
    you can replace 'Location' with whatever you like. Each new default name will start numbering at 1...
    My_2016_Fiji_Vacation 1, My_2016_Fiji_Vacation 2...
    or
    derelict coastal fortification 1, derelict coastal fortification 2...

    Email to auto fill
    pre-fill the TO: field when preparing an email. This saves a few clicks if you usually send to the same email address. For multiple addresses, separate them with a comma as usual.

    Phone number to auto fill
    pre-fill the TO: field when preparing a text message. This saves a few clicks if you usually send to the same number.

    Map Layer Removed from the settings menu since it is has been on the map page side bar for some time in the form of this icon:
    Three options:
  • hybrid: satellite view and roads
  • satellite: satellite view only
  • standard: roads only (This will load faster)

    Show current location on map
    That's the blinking blue dot on the map.

    Preserving pin color when exporting to other applications

    'Icon for kml export' setting.

    To preserve the pin color in other applications, a white icon may need to be used. For example, Google Earth™ forces the default yellow pushpin, so the color that you define in this app is applied to the ugly yellow pin. Blue becomes cyan, white becomes yellow, and orange shifts towards magenta. Changing the icon in Google Earth™ destroys the pin color entirely.




    http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/kml/pushpin/wht-pushpin.png

    http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/kml/paddle/wht-blank.png

    http://maps.google.com/mapfiles/kml/paddle/wht-circle.png


    Decimal places and precision

    One may wonder how many decimal places are needed to represent a point at a desired level of accuracy for a given coordinate format.

    Let's do the math...
    The circumference of the Earth is about 40,030,000 meters

    Degrees
    Each degree of lat/lon represents about 111,119 meters (40,030,000/360) at the equator.
    So:
    1 decimal place ~= 11,119m
    2 decimal places ~= 1111.9m
    3 decimal places ~= 111.19m
    4 decimal places ~= 11.119m
    5 decimal places ~= 1.1119m
    6 decimal places ~= 0.11119m
    7 decimal places ~= 0.011119m
    8 decimal places ~= 0.0011119m
    9 decimal places ~= 0.00011119m    (a tectonic plate moves about this much in a day assuming a constant 5 cm/year movement)
    10 decimal places ~= 0.000011119m
    11 decimal places ~= 0.0000011119m
    12 decimal places ~= 0.00000011119m    (a tectonic plate moves about this much in a minute assuming a constant 5 cm/year movement)

    Minutes
    Each minute represents about 1852 meters at the equator. (111,119/60)
    So:
    1 decimal place ~= 185.2m
    2 decimal places ~= 18.52m
    3 decimal places ~= 1.852m
    4 decimal places ~= 0.1852m

    Seconds
    Each second represents about 31 meters at the equator. (1852/60)
    So:
    1 decimal place ~= 3.1m
    2 decimal places ~= 0.31m

    * This only considers error in one dimension, since we are considering error in two dimensions, potential error may be as much as error * sqrt(2) ~= 1.42

    Frequently asked questions

    Q I am looking to find the exact GPS coordinates of a place, but they change all the time even when not moving. Is this normal?
    A Yes, it is normal for the last 2 or 3 digits of latitude and/or longitude to change frequently. Low cost satellite GPS recieivers (like those found in phones) are usually off by several meters.
    When using the default settings, the last digit expresses accuracy to less than 1 meter.
    The second to last digit expresses accuracy to less than 10 meters.
    Please see Decimal places and precision for more.

    Q Which Datum is used?
    A WGS 84
    Q Is there any limit to the number of locations that can be stored?
    A There is no artificial limit, but scrolling the map will start to become slower with several hundred locations being displayed. Several thousand locations showing on the map is possible, but will be choppy.

    Q Why do you only show latitude/longitude precision to 5 or 6 decimal places while other applications show many more?
    A Because it is misleading. Consumer grade GPS receivers generally have several meters of error. In degrees format, 5 decimal places is accurate to about 1.5 meters. 6 decimal places is accurate to about 15 cm. The .kml export rounds lon/lat to 7 decimal places, so that's a max error of less than 2 cm or about an inch for the metrically impaired.

    Q When I copy coordinates, it says that it’s copied to the clipboard. I can’t find the clipboard in my iPhone.
    A The clipboard is the copy/paste buffer. Very similar to copy/paste on a PC. For example, after copy 'coordinates to clipboard', you should be able to long press on a text input form and paste them outside of the app.

    Q Why are there no options for satellite, count, GPS time, etc
    A The Apple location API does not provide any methods to retrieve this data. You will find some apps on the App store that claim to do this, but that's all they do.

    Q How to drag a map pin?
    1) Select a map pin so that its popup shows:



    2) Press and hold the pin until it lifts from under your finger:



    3) Drag and drop it:




    Contact

    Email: kevinwillett80@yahoo.com
    Please include 'My GPS Coordinates (Apple)' in the subject.