News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by neolog on Thursday April 15, 2021 @06:32PM (#26826998)
I don't know how to get my gps coords on my phone.
Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by MappingSupport on Friday April 16, 2021 @08:03AM (#26832813)
I am the developer of FindMeSAR (https://findmesar.com) which is mentioned here in the comments. The first time you open this web page your device must be online. The code is saved in a special part of your browser's memory. This web page (aka web app) will then work offline. This is done with service worker coding plus appcache coding as a fall back.

If you are a bit skeptical that a web page can work offline, just go ahead and try it.

There is an icon you can save on your screen and a 'Tips' button with more information.

Finally, it turns out that if you ever need to call for help with your cell phone there are some things you should know in order to have the best chance of reaching 911 or anyone else. After reading through a whole pile of documents on the FCC website I put my findings into 4 PDF reports. The end of each report has links to the other reports.

Open PDF: https://findmesar.com/p/pdf/smart_way_call_911_with_cell_pho...

Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by paxys on Thursday April 15, 2021 @06:57PM (#26827227)
Most messaging apps (iMessage, Whatsapp, maybe others) have a "send my current location" option.
Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by cbsks on Thursday April 15, 2021 @11:39PM (#26829168)
I have had this site bookmarked on my phone for years. Luckily I’ve never had to use it! When you allow the website to get your location, it shows your gps coordinates and accuracy.

https://findmesar.com/

It wouldn’t work in the case when you have cell service but no data.

Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by fletchowns on Friday April 16, 2021 @12:26AM (#26829442)
> It wouldn’t work in the case when you have cell service but no data.

Better to have an app to do it locally, I think the odds are high that when you would need something like this you probably won't have an internet connection.

Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by jonah on Friday April 16, 2021 @12:32AM (#26829487)
This one is pretty cool. It basically gathers your location (and battery level) and composes an SMS for you to send to 911 or your friend.

https://www.backcountrysos.com/

Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by cbsks on Friday April 16, 2021 @05:10PM (#26839117)
In my experience I have data when I have enough service to send a text or make a call. I’m sure there are edge cases however.
Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by jonah on Friday April 16, 2021 @12:55AM (#26829650)
Here's another one that works similarly helping you find your location and send it to someone, but it also allows a rescuer or anyone else to create an automated request for your location which you can provide in an easy way.

https://yourlo.ca/tion

Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by voisin on Thursday April 15, 2021 @06:35PM (#26827031)
Me neither. Should be found in General settings on iPhone, rather than via Google Maps (seems to be the only way, from what I can tell?)
Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by Jtsummers on Thursday April 15, 2021 @06:47PM (#26827157)
The compass app has your coordinates. You can also share your current location with other iMessage users (maybe SMS users, not sure) if you have location sharing enabled, it can be enabled to send your coordinates to other people (I think the options are permanent, 24 hours, and 1 hour).
Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by aarchi on Friday April 16, 2021 @01:39AM (#26829944)
The trouble with the Compass app is that it's infrequently used, so will usually be automatically offloaded and will need to be downloaded again when you're lost with limited internet access.
Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by hoseja on Friday April 16, 2021 @04:01AM (#26830931)
Huh? IPhone does that, just remove unused apps from the device?
Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by js2 on Friday April 16, 2021 @08:40AM (#26833135)
It's optional.
Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by 271828182846 on Friday April 16, 2021 @04:14AM (#26831037)
if that isn't some microoptimization. how much space can a compass app waste compared to your average bloated app?
Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by _Microft on Friday April 16, 2021 @07:12AM (#26832426)
As far as I remember this feature needs to be activated by the user. It also applies to other rarely used apps (the compass app is not treated differently) and only happens once the phone is low on storage.
Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by thaumaturgy on Thursday April 15, 2021 @08:00PM (#26827669)
I just opened the compass app on my iPhone and I don't see any coordinates there. I'm on 13.7; maybe this is a recent change to the app?
Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by jonah on Friday April 16, 2021 @01:00AM (#26829676)
The info I have in a non-sharable google doc is as follows:

iPhone GPS Location (4s and recent)

This document will give you a step by step procedure to retrieve the GPS location of a lost person using the “Compass” tool. In order to use this tool, the iPhone owner must enable some privacy settings which may be “on” by default. If you cannot get the GPS coordinates from Compass, go to the “Troubleshooting” section.

Asking for GPS Coordinates First ask the lost person to launch the compass application on their iPhone.

If the person does not know what it is, provide them the following instruction: Put a single finger in the middle of the phone’s screen and swipe down all in one move. This will bring out the “Spotlight Search” tool.

Ask them to type “Compass”. This will bring up the “Compass” tool into view as seen below: Ask them to select the “Compass” application in order to launch it

Once launched, if the word “Calibrate” appears on the screen (as seen below), the user has to initialize the application. Let him know he needs to move and rotate the phone until calibration is done.

Once calibrated, the user should see the coordinates at the bottom of the screen. If the coordinates are not there, go to the troubleshooting section and restart this process from step 1.

Troubleshooting Be aware that only iPhone 4s and more recent are equipped with a GPS chipset. All older iPhone will not be able to provide you with GPS coordinates.

In order for the “Compass” application to provide the GPS coordinate, it needs to be authorized to communicate with the GPS component of the phone. To ensure this authorization is set, follow these steps:

Ask the person to launch their iPhone settings

From the main “Setting” page, have them select “Privacy”

From the “Privacy” section select “Location Services”.

Under the “Location Services” section, the “Location Services” setting should be “on” (or green) and the “Compass” entry should report “While Using”.

Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by Jtsummers on Thursday April 15, 2021 @08:11PM (#26827751)
A quick google search suggests that the feature has been around since at least iOS 11 (and I'm confident much earlier, but that was the version I got results for on the first page of my google search, I'm not digging deeper), but you need location services turned on. Check that, then disable again if you don't want location services on by default.
Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by Someone on Thursday April 15, 2021 @06:45PM (#26827136)
Open Maps, long click your location to drop a marker. The “marked location” panel shows your coordinates. Drag it towards the top of the screen to see it
Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by js2 on Thursday April 15, 2021 @06:47PM (#26827154)
Use the built-in Compass app.
Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by eseymour on Thursday April 15, 2021 @06:49PM (#26827171)
On iOS, you can scroll up on your photo when looking at it in Photos, and it should show you a location if it's available.
Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by dheera on Thursday April 15, 2021 @11:02PM (#26828924)
This. Most phones make simple tasks like reading your lat/lon a PITA. You have to download a spammy 25MB ad-filled app that wants you to subscribe to some casino newsletter before you can read out your coordinates.

Personally I would do it with Termux and Python, but non-coders would have trouble using that.

Hell on the latest version of Android I can't even read my battery percentage without typing in some code (the latest update removed the battery % from the status bar). Everything has gone downhill.

Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by jamesrr39 on Friday April 16, 2021 @03:32AM (#26830703)
> 25MB ad-filled app

I really started noticing this since starting to use F-Droid, for a lot of simple apps in the Google Play Store, you can get the same functionality, with zero ads and a much smaller bundle size in F-Droid.

For example this app from F-Droid, which shows your GPS location & coordinates, weighs in at _48KiB_! https://f-droid.org/en/packages/com.borneq.heregpslocation/ (disclaimer: I have not tried the app, it was just the first result that came up from a search).

It's pretty cool to see that yes, it's perfectly possible to build lightweight Android apps; and it's really a question of what you put in the bundle.

Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by userbinator on Thursday April 15, 2021 @11:35PM (#26829141)
You can find a few open-source Android "GPS test" apps on GitHub, and ditto for other "sensor test" apps.

(I've always thought the terminology was a little confusing/imprecise, since I wouldn't consider these apps to be "tests", but rather simply the UI of a GPS receiver. Then again, when I hear "GPS" I think of a receiver-only, i.e. a device that just tells you your current lat/lon/etc. position, whereas I guess what most people consider a "GPS app" would more precisely be termed a "GPS navigation/map".)

Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by WolfRazu on Friday April 16, 2021 @11:41AM (#26835246)
On almost every phone you can turn showing battery percentage back on if you want it. What OEM are you using?
Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by neolog on Thursday April 15, 2021 @11:25PM (#26829070)
How do you get that info in Python?
Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by dheera on Thursday April 15, 2021 @11:56PM (#26829274)
pip install termux-api and then

    import termux
    termux.API.location()
Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by dataflow on Friday April 16, 2021 @01:23AM (#26829836)
Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by userbinator on Friday April 16, 2021 @09:21AM (#26833533)
Note that the second one is open-source (https://github.com/barbeau/gpstest) while the first one is adware.
Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by ytpete on Thursday April 15, 2021 @11:50PM (#26829229)
Sending a screenshot of your location marker in a Maps app would work well too. But I guess taking screenshots is probably also a power-user feature that many people may not be familiar with...
Re:Missing hiker found after man using computer at home pinp... by carlivar on Friday April 16, 2021 @01:42AM (#26829965)
Telegram and other chat apps support sending your location to someone.