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GPS Photo Tagging Work Without SIM Card?

R

rhyzome

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 2, 2012
394
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On the cellular model of the iPad Pro, will photos be automatically (accurately) GPS tagged even when NOT using a SIM card?

I plan to use my iPad pro without any SIM card/data service but am be interested in buying the cellular model only because I want to be able to always accurately GPS tag the photos I take with it. Will the GPS tagging happen when I take photos without a SIM card in the iPad?

If not, are there other (easy to implement) ways for that data to automatically get tagged on the photos I take? (maybe through the Apple Watch or iPhone)?
 
Oh...that's disappointing. So, in order to get GPS tagged photos with an iPad Pro alone, I need to have the cellular model AND some kind of data plan? (or at least a wifi connection?)

I assume having a random SIM card but no plan/money or data actively loaded on it is also insufficient?

If that's all the case then maybe I'm better off just getting the wifi-only model...
 
rhyzome said:
Oh...that's disappointing. So, in order to get GPS tagged photos with an iPad Pro alone, I need to have the cellular model AND some kind of data plan? (or at least a wifi connection?)

I assume having a random SIM card but no plan/money or data actively loaded on it is also insufficient?

If that's all the case then maybe I'm better off just getting the wifi-only model...
Click to expand...
IF you own an iPhone 5 or higher,you can turn on internet sharing,and use the phone as a wifi router for the iPad. I done that many times,works fine.
 
You mean the personal hotspot feature, right?

Ah, yes I do that a lot with my MBP. I didnt know that the GPS data would also be shared automatically!

Sounds like a good solution since I can't think of too many scenarios when I will be carrying my ipad around without my phone handy.
 
rhyzome said:
You mean the personal hotspot feature, right?

Ah, yes I do that a lot with my MBP. I didnt know that the GPS data would also be shared automatically!

Sounds like a good solution since I can't think of too many scenarios when I will be carrying my ipad around without my phone handy.
Click to expand...
Yes,also location data is transferred. In fact,the phone is set to work as any wifi LTE router with this setting.
 
Newtons Apple said:
Not so sure about that.

Why would a cellular iPad need WiFi to tag the image with the GPS data?

I think it will work fine with no WiFi, like the OP wants
Click to expand...

Exactly. GPS has nothing to do with cellular data. GPS doesn't need any cellular connection to work.
 
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clukas said:
Exactly. GPS has nothing to do with cellular data. GPS doesn't need any cellular connection to work.
Click to expand...
People seem to tend to conflate GPS apps that require data such as Google Maps with GPS. The GPS receiver itself doesn't need data to determine position. However, a given app may require data for maps and other features.
 
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Its pretty straightforward for iPad. Cellular models have assisted GPS and GLONASS (the satellite system most people think of when they say GPS) Cellular does not need to be active for GLONASS to work.

WiFi iPads don't have this hardware but Location Services will attempt to use every trick to find approximate locations. If it's connected to an iPhone Hotspot with GPS it will use that. If it's in range of known wifi that it knows the location of (via iCloud) it will use that.
 
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