Bubbler GPS Android app - Initial Review

4054 Views 6 Replies 3 Participants Last post by kwthom, Jul 3, 2013

kwthom

Discussion Starter · Apr 5, 2013

Bubbler GPS

I learned a bit about this a couple of months ago from a mail list that I'm on.

The premise with this software is to make the collection of GPS points onto a Google Map provided by http://spotwalla.com (Thanks to +Jason Jonas) using my Android phone (currently, Motorola Droid Razr on the Verizon network) an easy proposition.

A very brief history; Jason created Spotwalla as away of saving SPOT tracking messages, as opposed to the very shallow memory that SPOT's own web pages fails to allocate to each user. Jason did a bit of magic, and has allowed (for a few years, now...) the ability to save an unlimited number of trips with SPOT, as well as with an Android phone, to do the same tasks.

The cell phone uses a combination of cell coverage (good in many areas; spotty in others) and GPS tracking (from the phone itself) to send messages that are similar in functionality to what SPOT provides. Yes, you need a cell phone, yes it needs to be a smart phone, yes you do need to pay for cell data service, not it's not as comprehensive as a true satellite transponder like SPOT, but for me and many others, it's close enough.

Now, I already use my phone for this purpose while on road trips, but from time to time you do run into those areas where there's no cell coverage. This is the premise of Bubbler GPS. It actually will save a number of tracking messages for when you do get back into a service area. For the free version, only five messages are saved; the paid version ($9.95) will save 1500 messages.

Installation was a wee bit of an issue for me. The software itself is flawless, the directions were all there, but it took a few emails with the developer, +Joel Tolbert, to get it all unscrambled in my head. Once that was done, it took only a couple of minutes to complete the configuration and it's all working perfectly.

I've used the free version only for a couple of days now, but it seems to do exactly what I'd like for it to do, which is collect those data points in those areas that don't have great cell coverage while on the road. Here in the vastness of the west, we have a LOT of those areas!

I'll give it a good workout in the next couple of weeks; further details when I get back home.
[HR][/HR]EDIT:

Another member here brought up a good point in a PM earlier. Thought I'd post the comment along with my reply here, because others may well ask the same (or similar) question.

Why wouldn't a person just use an app like Google Latitude to do this exact same thing?

Spotwalla gives the user the capability of creating a trip link that's time-managed.

Example: I give my family the link that shows a day ride from 0700 until 1600. I don't necessarily want my wife :shock:, or my kid :doorag:, or my girlfriend :joke: to know that at 1800, I went to the 'ballet' with the boys.

To my knowledge, there is no filter for those results with a Latitude link. After 1800, that Spotwalla page is frozen; nobody sees where I'm at, if only given that one link. All I ever handout is a single link for the exact trip I want someone to see.

So, there's the benefit to Spotwalla - control.

Bubbler simply takes those 'every 10/15 minute' GPS marks and spools up to 1500 of them; when you get back into cell (or Wi-Fi) range, it'll upload those to Spotwalla (via Google, naturally) to be displayed.

So, the killer feature of Bubbler - in conjunction with Spotwalla, is the archiving of data to be sent to Google servers (and Spotwalla...) when connectivity is reestablished.

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kwthom

Discussion Starter · #2 · Apr 19, 2013

Follow-Up

A couple of screen grabs of a small drive I did the last couple of weeks (...sadly) as part of work.

Spotwalla and the normal Latitude interface will send the green dots ("Ok") messages along the route. Now, it could be every 20 minutes or so; it could be longer than 20 minutes. Again, consider this from the perspective of what you're paying (nothing) for the service, in comparison to a real SPOT transmitter.

As you can see, with Bubbler running in the background, a few more locations (shown as the tan "Track" messages) popped up; indicating that the resolution increases while running the Bubbler program. Again, in an area like these two roads pictured here, at least with decent cell service, respectable tracking is available for the costs already being consumed with your Android phone & cell plan

Finally, another leg of my trip, this time, no Bubbler.

I'd expect that, like the east coast of Florida, I may have had a few more messages show up in the Spotwalla stream had Bubbler been active.

This is the free version; only saves five messages (fifteen minute minimum interval), so a bit over an hour of being out of cell service range and it will still collect the messages.

It works for me with the riding that I'm presently doing; worth the $9.95 for the Pro version?

I think so - more info here: http://bubblergps.com/index.html

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kwthom

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 23, 2013

The Killer Feature of Bubbler? Messages!

I really didn't get a chance to play with the killer feature until this weekend.

Instead of my description, I'll send you to the (brief) description, complete with screenshot, from the Bubbler GPS web page:

http://bubblergps.com/messages.html

Yes, this is an Android-only app at this time, the author is contemplating an iOS version.

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Richman2000

· #4 · Apr 23, 2013

When they come out with the IOS version, I'll give it a try.

Ride Safe,
Rich

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Basher052

· #5 · May 4, 2013

No Emergency

kwthom said:
A couple of screen grabs of a small drive I did the last couple of weeks (...sadly) as part of work.

Spotwalla and the normal Latitude interface will send the green dots ("Ok") messages along the route. Now, it could be every 20 minutes or so; it could be longer than 20 minutes. Again, consider this from the perspective of what you're paying (nothing) for the service, in comparison to a real SPOT transmitter.

As you can see, with Bubbler running in the background, a few more locations (shown as the tan "Track" messages) popped up; indicating that the resolution increases while running the Bubbler program. Again, in an area like these two roads pictured here, at least with decent cell service, respectable tracking is available for the costs already being consumed with your Android phone & cell plan

Finally, another leg of my trip, this time, no Bubbler.

I'd expect that, like the east coast of Florida, I may have had a few more messages show up in the Spotwalla stream had Bubbler been active.

This is the free version; only saves five messages (fifteen minute minimum interval), so a bit over an hour of being out of cell service range and it will still collect the messages.

It works for me with the riding that I'm presently doing; worth the $9.95 for the Pro version?

I think so - more info here: http://bubblergps.com/index.html

So the only thing missing I can see is the emergency button vs. my Spot. But hey, for $10 vs $100, im willing to try it. We have a Colorado trip coming up in June, see how it goes. Thanks for the heads up.

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kwthom

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jun 13, 2013

Basher052 said:
So the only thing missing I can see is the emergency button vs. my Spot. But hey, for $10 vs $100, I'm willing to try it. We have a Colorado trip coming up in June, see how it goes. Thanks for the heads up.

Yep.

So, it's not a replacement for SPOT or any other type of personal warning equipment you may wish to carry. This is simply a low-tech version, using hardware that is ubiquitous (both your personal cell phone as well as the towers used to track and communicate the data stream)

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kwthom

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jul 3, 2013

Graphically describe it?

Trying to graphically describe it to someone, I found and modified this:

(the SPOT in position 2 was replaced with a phone image - it needs to be a smart phone, however)

In the event there's no cell service, software like Bubbler GPS saves the location data until you're back in cell phone range.

THEN it sends the data to Google, then to Spotwalla, then it makes it to a map.

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