FindMePro displays the geolocation data stream produced by your browser and lets you see the accuracy of that data as circles on a map. Click the 'About' button to read more.


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Home screen icon
The easiest way to start FindMePro is to add its icon to your home screen. You could also save a bookmark in your browser.

Modern browsers provide a way for web pages like this one to obtain your location in the form of:
    • Latitude longitude coordinates
    • Accuracy in meters
    • Timestamp

If a circle is drawn centered at a coordinate and with the accuracy value as the radius, then there is supposed to be 95% likelihood that the user is inside that circle.

Be cautious in using any app that displays your coordinates or location but does not also tell you the accuracy value for those coordinates. If the accuracy value is huge but not displayed, then what practical good are the coordinates?

Using the default settings, FindMePro will collect data for 30 seconds or until the accuracy value for the current (i.e. not cached) coordinates is 5 meters or less three times in a row. You can then display that data on a map.

Your browser determines your location based on a variety of factors that might include the GPS chip in your phone or tablet, cell towers, wi-fi hotspots, bluetooth and perhaps other technologies.

CAUTION! If you hold your phone so your hand covers the GPS antenna then your phone will not get any data from the GPS satellites. Hold your phone in portrait orientation with nothing blocking the upper half of the phone.

Using FindMePro you can find out if different combinations of settings on your phone affect the accuracy of the location coordinates your browser produces.

iOS users can try running this app with and without cell service, wi-fi and bluetooth turned on.

Android uses can vary the same settings as iOS users and also try changing the location method (or mode) among the three settings which are: High accuracy, Power saving and GPS (or Device) only. Choosing "GPS only" will likely produce the most accurate coordinates. Choosing "High accuracy" (with wi-fi, bluetooth and cell service 'on') might actually decrease the accuracy of the coordinates. Choosing "Power saving" will likely produce coordinates with very poor accuracy particularly in areas where there is limited cell coverage.

If you run FindMePro while you are someplace that you can identify on the Google aerial, then when you look at your results on the map you will be able to see how well the results show your true location. The last three locations returned are green circles on the map. Those three circles might be on top of each other and just look like one circle. The last location returned has a green paddle at the center of its circle. Look to see if the green circles include your location.

You can also compare the accuracy of the coordinates you get if you ask for just one coordinate or ask for a stream of coordinates.

Would you like to help?
One goal of FindMePro is to determine and publish the best and worst phone settings in terms of location accuracy. If you have used this browser app and have some results to share please tap the crowd source button for more information on sharing your results.

Disclaimer
By using this software you agree that you are doing so entirely at your own risk. You further agree that you will not file any lawsuit or make any kind of claim against the developer of this software.

Privacy policy
This software does not retain your location data and does not share your location data with anyone.



The settings you see below, including any changes you make, will be used by the data collection process.

Your location data will be displayed until the first of the following conditions is met. Either the time limit is reached or three locations in a row meet or exceed the target accuracy. Scroll down to change these settings.

Get just one coordinate or a stream of coordinates
If you ask for just one coordinate then your browser does *not* simply give you the first coordinate that it would return if you asked for a stream of coordinates. Instead, your browser decides when it has determined a coordinate for your location with sufficient accuracy.

Get one coordinate
Get a stream of coordinates

Time limit for collecting location data

0 minute 30 seconds
0 minute 45 seconds
1 minute
1 minute 15 seconds
1 minute 30 seconds
1 minute 45 seconds
2 minutes

Target accuracy

5 meters ~16 feet
10 meters ~33 feet
30 meters ~98 feet
100 meters ~328 feet
200 meters ~656 feet

Use GPS?
If the GPS in your phone or tablet is 'on', then the following setting determines whether or not your browser uses the GPS data to help determine your location.

High accuracy ON (use GPS)
High accuracy OFF (no GPS)

FindMePro uses two additional settings when it asks your browser to display your location. You cannot change these settings.

1. The program will wait 25 minutes for the browser to return the *first* location. In some circumstances your phone or tablet will need to download new GPS almanac data from the satellites and this takes about 20 minutes. You will see an informative message if this appears to be the case.

2. The program tells the browser to only return new locations and do not return any old (i.e. cached) locations. Alas, browsers ignore that instruction.

Once you tap the button to start collecting data there is no way to control how often the browser determines your location. It might be several times per second or several seconds might go by before the next location is displayed.

The location accuracy values produced by browsers are always in meters. Accuracy values with many decimal places likely do *not* include any data from the GPS chip in your phone.

The timestamp produced by browsers is in millseconds. For display purpose the timestamp is stated to the nearest second. Therefore you might see several locations with the same time.







Crowd Sourced Results

3/11/2016 - Cached location data - Bad timestamp

There seems to be a bug in how some popular mobile browsers implement the location API. FindMePro sends the location API a parameter (maximumAge: 0) that is supposed to prevent the API from sending back any cached locations. However, when the location datastream starts it is not unusual to see the data start with one or a few cached locations. These cached locations could be miles away from the user's present location. Fortunately these cached locations are easy to detect with software by comparing the cached timestamp to the timestamp for when you ask the location datastream to start.

Inside/outside: Inside close to a window
Device and OS: iPhone 4S, iOS 9.2.1
Browser: Safari
Settings: wifi on, bluetooth off
Phone service: Yes
======================

3/11/2016 - Cached location data - Good timestamp

A location was observed in the datastream that had a small accuracy value but was over 3 miles from the true location. This was the second location returned in the datastream and only appeared once. Software could likely avoid this type of bad data by (1) ignoring the first 5 locations that are returned by the API and/or (2) watching the location datastream until three locations in a row all have an accuracy value that meets a threshold.

To try and replicate this bad data, first run FindMePro. Then drive a few miles, run it again and then look at the map. A somewhat smaller yellow circle at your original location is an example of this type of bad data.

Inside/outside: Outside for both tests
Device and OS: iPhone 4S, iOS 9.2.1
Browser: Safari
Settings: wifi on, bluetooth off
Phone service: Yes
======================


About Crowd Sourced Results

Have you wondered which combinations of settings on your phone or tablet produce the most accurate location data? FindMePro lets you collect location data and see the results on the Google aerial. The final three locations are green circles and it should be obvious whether or not your true position is inside the green circles.

If you use FindMePro to test different settings on your phone or tablet and get results that would help us all understand how the device settings influence the reported location, then please tap the "About" button and email me your results. I will collate the information and post the results in this app. Below are some test suggestions.

It is best to test outside so the GPS antenna in your device has a decent view of the sky. If you are in a vehicle you could hold your phone/tablet under the windshield.

Remember: Getting a small accuracy value is good but it is also important to note whether the green circles (last three locations reported) on the Google aerial includes your actual location.

** Android users **
If you go to the screen where you can turn your GPS on/off (Apps ==> Settings ==> Location) then there should be a button you can tap that will let you set the location method. There are three choices:
·  High accuracy (GPS + wifi + cell tower + etc)
·  Power (or Battery) saving (No GPS, wifi + cell tower + etc)
·  GPS (or Device) only (Just GPS)

We already know the Android "Power saving" setting will produce locations with a large amount of error (big circles on the map) since the GPS in the phone/tablet is not used.

But we do not know whether there is any practical difference on Android devices between the "High accuracy" or "GPS only" setting. Comparing these two settings in urban areas might produce surprising results.

** All users **
Does having the following things 'on' help or hurt location accuracy?
·  Wi-fi
·  Bluetooth
·  Cell data service

Do the settings on your phone/tablet affect location accuracy differently in an urban area versus a rural area?

Do you get a different result depending if you hold your phone/tablet in portrait or landscape orientation? Note that if you hold your device so that your hand covers the GPS antenna, then you will not get any GPS data.

If you have more than one browser on your phone/tablet does one provide more accurate location data than the other?

** How to report results **
Tap the "About" button and email me your results. For your results to be the most useful for others, please copy this list and send the following information.
·  Short description of what you learned:
·  Did you test inside/outside:
·  Device make, model and OS:
·  Browser:
·  Cell data on/off:
·  Wi-fi on/off:
·  Bluetooth on/off:
·  Phone service yes/no:
·  Please send a copy of the map link if it will help people understand your report.

·  Android location method (High accuracy, Power saving or GPS only):

·  Do the green circles on the map include your actual location? Yes/no:
·  Radius in meters of the last location:


Known Bugs

If you find a program bug or have a suggestion for an improvement you can tap the 'About' button and send me an email.

3/10/2016 There are no known bugs at this time.


FindMePro Update Log

5-11-2016 Version2.0.
Conversion completed from http to https.

3-19-2016 Version 1.0 was launched.