GPS MegaTape - Tape Measure
| Category | Price | Seller | Device |
|---|---|---|---|
| Utilities | $0.99 | Proctele AB | iPhone, iPad |
It measures distances larger than 100 ft / 30m with good accuracy and uses metric or imperial units.
When you use the odometer, you can hold it in your hand or chest pocket or back pocket. This is an advantage compared to a pedometer, whose accuracy depends much on where they are placed on the body. Pedometer sensitivity must also be set in order for it to work at all. GPS meters, like this one, only require a good GPS reception. This means that they work well outdoors, everywhere except in tunnels and caves.
MegaTape works on iPhones and iPads with GPS receivers. It supports both portrait and landscape screen modes on the iPad.
Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life.
Here is a list of use cases for this app.
Tape measure:
- You are out walking with your children and you want to see how fast they can run 100 meters. You start this app on your iPhone and measure 100 meters. Then you use the iPhone's stopwatch to time the runs.
- You want to measure the distance from where you stand, along a straight line to an object. The object may be obscured completely by a building.
- You want to measure the length of a boundary.
Odometer:
- You want to measure walking distance to school and how long it takes.
- You want to measure how far you've cycled and how long it took.
- You want to measure the exercise track's actual length.
This app together with the GPS receiver in your iPhone / iPad is ideal for these measurements.
Other use cases:
- You want to measure the width of a river or lake. Put MegaTape in tape measure mode and wait for good GPS reception. Start measuring and sit in the car. Drive over the bridge that is perhaps a kilometer away and drive to the other side of the river, and read the measuring tape.
- You want to measure the amount of fishing line on your reel. Put the reel in neutral, put the app in tape measure mode and wait for good GPS reception, grab the line and go.
- You want to measure your walkie-talkie's range in the area. Put the app in tape measure mode and wait for good GPS reception. Start measuring while holding contact with someone with the other walkie-talkie, until it disappears in the noise, and then read the tape measure.
There have been negative reviews we'd like to comment on. One review says it's "hopelessly inaccurate". This is not correct. Please remember that it's very important to wait for good GPS reception and THEN to start measuring. Do as follows:
1) Wait for good GPS reception. You'll see the indicator in the top right corner turn green when reception is good.
2) Press the Reset-button to zero the distance indicator.
Now you're ready to go and MegaTape will give you an accurate measurement. The built-in help-page also contains this information. Press the app's i-button to read the help-page.
Reviews
It works, but a little touchy
PScooter63
To be fair, the creators state the app is more accurate at distances longer than about 100 feet. But it wasn't encouraging to see myself rack up 5-20 feet while standing completely still. Be sure to read the info link on the main page before you start, to get the best results.
RG55
Rengarcia7
I've attempted to calibrate this as per instructions, however, I get conflicting measurements every time. I walk a preassigned distance, then backtrack the exact distance but get two different results each time. I measure only when "light" is green only. BTW, light only comes on when outdoors only.
Not accurate
Sjfkgntlgjehdf
I downloaded this to measure the perimeter of my property for an underground electric fence. Every time I measure I get something different, with huge swings either direction. Don't waste your 99c
Simple and Good
Joel Lieberman, PhD
I have a number of GPS-type apps that are complicated to use and offer a large range of functionality. However, in order to just make a quick approximate distance measurement in the ~100 - 200 foot range, GPS MegaTape does a good job with a simple single button start or reset. In order to improve absolute accuracy, I simply take a series of 2 or three measurements and then take a mean of the results. I found that I was consistently getting a mean of 195ft after 2 measurements for a known distance of 196ft. I am more than happy with a 1 ft calculated difference over this distance. A great app and well worth the 99 cents! Thanks to the developers. Joel L
Measuring Tape
ProfessorToday
Was trying to measure fence and I had green for good GPS and it gave me a different measurement every single time. Waste of my .99 cents
Contractor
Allen 1963
Accuracy can be +- 5'-0" Found it to be more accurate starting approximately 20 foot from zero reset 2 to 3 times walking in the same direction as measurement before starting, would not recommend for bidding purposes
This app deserves a much better rating.
Gt12fyi3
Part 2: So I used it out on the golf course. It was extremely easy to measure the distance of my shots. I kept my phone in my pocket, took it out to hit 'reset' after the shot, walked to the ball and looked at my phone - simple as that. I know that it was accurate to about +\- 5 yards based on the green indicator that said I had a good satellite signal. ( see part 1 below) I also tested it against the odometer in my Honda Accord for trip lengths of 1.00 3.00 and 5.00 miles. It was right on and I mean so close that I have no way of knowing which was more accurate. I'd bet the app was. I put my iPhone 5s on the dashboard to get the best signal. Part 1: So I was a scientist and know how to run experiments. I bought this app to measure the distance of my golf shots so I can better select clubs. It's hard to judge distance by eye and I'm a lousy golfer. I don't want to be messing with a laser rangefinder or a complicated/expensive golf mapping gps app. I've been tinkering with this app for a couple days and here's what I've found... It works very well subject to the limitations of the gps hardware/software in my cellphone. It can't make my iPhone GPS magically better, but it does a great job with what my iPhone and a sky full of GPS satellites give it to work with. Here's why I say that. I bought MegaTape and also bought another much more sophisticated diagnostic app (GPS Diagnostic) to get a detailed analysis of my iPhone 5s gps performance and satellite signal quality at locations where I'm standing or walking. I switched back and forth between the two apps while standing or walking to see if the MegaTape red/yellow/green indicator correlated well to the +\- accuracy value on the GPS Diagnostic app. Yes it did, very nicely. When the MegaTape app shows green for 'best GPS signal' the diagnostic app most always reads the best accuracy possible, a 17 foot radius. When Mega is yellow, Diagnostic shows about 33 feet accuracy. Red on Mega is for poor accuracy and the Diagnostic app typically showed accuracy at a hundred feet or more. Outside measurements are superior to inside where GPS signals lose strength. Both apps show that same result. So, MegaTape is doing the best it can with my iPhone hardware/software and the satellite signals my iPhone receives. Repeatability of results seems to be very good subject to the limitations I've mentioned. Therefore the accuracy and precision of this app are determined by the iphone, satellite positioning and obstructions, not the app itself. Not all phones with gps are created equal. The iPhone 5s GPS is supposed to be accurate to about 5 meters ~ 17' under ideal conditions and that's exactly what's revealed by both apps. I straight line walked my property about 20 times. Frontage is 155 feet (surveyed value). The MegaTape app with a green indicator is averaging 159 feet and is typically off by six to fifteen. My frontage has lots of trees and both apps show peaks and valleys in gps satellite signal quality. I spent a long time looking for an app like this one and couldn't find anything else that is as simple to use for the purpose of walking off distance measurements. Most all GPS apps are complicated to use, a lot more expensive and subject to exactly the same limitations of GPS on a cellphone. The laws of physics say they would not be any more accurate on my phone. Obviously, the 17 to 33 foot accuracy radius (green - yellow) isn't usable for distances below 50 yards, but for 50 - 250 yards and above it's great and the 5 meter accuracy limitation becomes increasingly less important with longer distances. It makes good sense to Google your phone to see what kind of GPS accuracy it's capable of before you commit to any GPS phone app.
