Before the iPhone, I worked on a few games for what were called "feature phones"

Re:Before the iPhone, I worked on a few games for what were ... by excalibur on Thursday May 20, 2021 @05:50PM (#27227836)

True, but also your phone utilizes the same GPS signals. It's all about the maps. Your Garmin typically had maps for the whole country preloaded, your phone typically downloads them on the fly. So in the boonies your phone knows exactly where it is in terms of longitude and latitude, but hasn't a clue where anything else is.

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Re:Before the iPhone, I worked on a few games for what were ... by kccqzy on Thursday May 20, 2021 @11:22PM (#27230127)

It's not just about maps. Unlike a dedicated GPS device, your phone uses A-GPS for faster geolocation. Before A-GPS, you often need to wait a couple minutes before the device has any idea of its location or the time. Offline maps are available for both phones and non-phones, and aren't an issue at all.

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