I recently bought an iPad mini. This is the cheaper version, no GPS included. I'm wondering how can these mobile devices get my exact location. I made some research on my PC like checking IP to GeoLocation, but none of them were precise. They only found my city, not my current address. So I'm really curious about what other functions are in my iPad (and in other mobile devices) to get the current position without any GPS or Sim card in it.
2 Answers
Using GPS is just one of the ways to determine your location. Using a WiFi point is another.
If you get an Android tablet or phone, you'll get a notification that it can use GPS based on wifi rather than actual sattelite communication. The benefit of using Wifi over GPS is that the battery will work much longer. The downside is that there isn't wifi everywhere. This form of communication/determine your location was not meant to use in conjunction with car navigation software, but rather with apps that use your location to do things like find the nearest restaurant, and give other information that only needs your location once every x minutes.
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Thanks for the answer! That means my iPad only uses the IP address to locate itself. But how can it be that exact? I mean every tool I found online only show my city, they cant locate my street address. Jun 13, 2014 at 16:39
Skyhook wireless is a company that works towards precise location.
Each router has a MAC address, which has to be unique against every other device in the world. These people drive around and map out where each MAC address of a router is.
Your phone can then query this service (give the service that MAC address to lookup), and tell it the devices location.
I don't know if this same system is in place now, as this was several years ago, but this was at least an earlier form of location services.
Also, using this method, you could download the locations of routers near you, in your city, so that if you went out driving, your phone has those stored, and could still determine your location while not connected to wifi
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Wow this is really interesting. I will look around for this company. Thanks! Jun 13, 2014 at 16:51
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iPad Mini
exactly? Geolocation dosn't require a GPS it can be done with just WiFi access points.