DopeyLoser wrote:The OP (aldo_macb) was asking about a phone alternative due to problems with the phone in rain. I found that interesting because I also have problems using the phone to navigate in the rain, solely due to the touch sensitive screen being problematic when wet. The waterproofness of the phone is not an issue.
It's good to see some others are able to use their phones in the rain, but in my experience I have not found a way to do that without a lot of difficulty. To try to illustrate, here is my use case:
1. Bring phone out of pocket. It has a screen protector / shell. It is not in a waterproof case (yes I have tried that: bulky, and tactility is still not good through its cover, plus brightness suffers).
2. Phone is likely to be smeared with water. Maybe wipe it on something but since every stitch of clothing is wet, the screen will still be smeared with water. Lean over phone to try to stop rain from falling onto it.
3. Swipe to get unlock screen. Multiple attempts could be needed because screen and fingers are wet.
4. Drag pattern to enter unlock code. Multiple attempts could be needed. (Do I need to lock my phone, maybe not, but this would not be an issue if screen was dry.)
5. Now phone is unlocked. Swipe down to get to Location button to press it to switch Location on. (Do I need to have Location off? Maybe not but I figure constant GPS location fixes are a battery drain so I keep it off unless I need a fix.) This swiping down may or may not work first time due to screen and my fingers being wet.
6. Now you might be at your navigation app. My old phone's map would bounce around when rain drops fell on it, but my new phone is better. Still, using it is difficult.
I think you'll have the idea by now.
Compare to using GPS, here is the procedure:
1. Press the button to switch on the GPS. End of use case.
For a recent trip I did get a second hand Garmin 64st thinking maybe I'd use that instead of phone, since it would work well in rain, and could have maps, and battery life could be better. But in the end the convenience of the phone app and maps won out and instead of carrying the weight of the GPS I carried the weight of a small battery pack. Of course I would always have been carrying a phone in any case for phone calls, email etc.
My current working method is: keep a largish plastic bag handy so the phone can be kept dry inside it, and even operated inside it, while staying mostly dry. Not a great solution to be honest but works to some extent and costs nothing.
What might be interesting could be:
- voice control of phone without touching screen: could that work?
- buttons for phone e.g. see dimple.io: could that work? Might be worth spending a small amount of cash to try it.
On the other hand, if someone knows how to operate a touch screen for a phone while it is smeared with water, I'd be interested to find out how to do that.
Dare I say: don't go out when it's raining.
Seriously though, have you considered deactivating the unlock code before a walk? That would help remove a stage.
My understanding is that leaving the GPS on doesn't drain any extra battery (or very little extra), it only ever drains when an app is making use of it.
So unless you're recording a track with your phone it should be fine to leave your GPS on.
Ironically I've found that the use of a proper waterproof cover slightly reduces the sensitivity of my touchscreen so I can use it fairly easily with a few smears of water on the cover.
