Smartphone or GPS?

Your smartphone has Google Maps, and you can also get navigation apps for your phone that work without cellular signal. So why would you need a GPS device?

- Cyril Klopper

When we recently took delivery of a test vehicle and attached a GPS device to the windshield, the fleet manager expressed surprise, saying he hadn’t seen such a device in a long time. This led to the question of why a smartphone with a navigation app isn’t sufficient, prompting this article.

Those of us who travel to remote locations where cellphone signal is poor or unavailable can still benefit from dedicated GPS devices that connect more reliably and more frequently to the satellite network than a smartphone.

New smartphones indeed have a built-in GPS chip that can receive satellite signals, and there are even phones like the latest iPhone 14 that can send emergency messages via the satellite network, although this service is currently not available in South Africa.

So why would you consider a GPS device when your smartphone can do the same?

How does it work?

GPS satellites are not placed in orbit around the Earth simply for your enjoyment and convenience. They belong to the military, originally used solely by the US armed forces for their own purposes. It was only when Ronald Reagan granted public access to the satellite network in the 1980s that it became clear how much it could help economies.

Nowadays, everyone from ship captains to airplane pilots benefits from free access to the satellite network. However, the Americans can withdraw the service whenever they want, as happened in 1999 during the Kargil conflict. Other nations have subsequently established their own satellite networks.