Bubbler and Spotwalla issues, probably ID10T error

[MidTNJasonF]

I decided to do the Veteran's Day Gold ride yesterday on a whim since I had the day off.
It was my first ride done with Bubbler and Spotwalla besides a couple quick tests done previously. It did not go that well. I found it to be glitchy and frankly at gold pace I did not feel like I really could afford to sit there and sort it out on the road.

Take a look here if you will. https://new.spotwalla.com/trip/8ea6-8142a7e-9718/view

Issue number one was no tracking points showing up on my trip other than logged points where I manually tried to send a message. My track on the trip did not follow closely to the roads/routes I was taking. I had my bubbler settings for frequency updates at the minimum (5 minutes) and the suggested 30 second gps wait time. Communicate only over wifi was not checked so it should have been fine using cell signal. I do not see any settings that I could easily change to allow for tracking updates. What did I miss?

Issue number two was frequent lost photo messages. I would select my message time (Fuel, Food, Bonus), type my description if needed, Tap the photo button, take a photo, hit the accept button and then select New Custom or New OK. I would get a message qued for upload but about 50% of the time I would have no photo in wither my bubbler messages or Spotwalla Trip when viewed on the Spotwalla website. Obviously I can add a photo after the fact by clicking the message in Spotwalla and dropping one in. This however does not work easily from a phone interface so it is easier done once home and on a computer negating some of the usefulness of the app.
I have no clue as to why I was missing 50% of my pictures, again I see no setting that likely would have changed this. Any ideas?

Also is there no way to remove Bubbler messages? There appears to be no way to remove a duplicate or message uploaded to Spotwalla in error. I see a column for delete when the lock icon is clicked under Coordinates which is the Secure Zones tab but there is not check box available for that delete column.

It also seems odd that there is no way to add or remove a tracking or message in a Spotwalla trip. Is there no way to delete or not include a duplicate or message sent in error in a Trip? Seems odd that you can only utilize time to trim or modify a trip.

Overall I am really disappointed in my first experience with Bubbler and Spotwalla. I am hoping it is all just user error but it really seems to be glitchy and not user friendly.

 

[Shawn K]

Issue number one was no tracking points showing up on my trip other than logged points where I manually tried to send a message. My track on the trip did not follow closely to the roads/routes I was taking.

It may be that your fill density on your map was set to the lowest amount (I believe it defaults to showing only 10% of your points). Go into your trip manager and set the fill density to 100% and see if that changes anything.

 

[Shawn K]

As for Bubbler, I don't use it so I can't advise you on it. I use a Spot X so that I never have to rely on cell service, and then I upload pictures later through the web interface. I've never had any problems.

 

[MidTNJasonF]

I think it is in Bubbler not Spotwalla honestly. I had changed the data to display as you showed (100 -All) with no effect on the Trip. I even tried creating a new trip with those setting just in case it was something with how I set up the initial trip and it had the same result. I think Spotwalla has no additional data from Bubbler to display.

I have no need for a Spot and really do not want to get into additional electronics and subscription fees just to track the occasional ride.

 

[Hairymcsweary]

Bubbler requires any power saving options on your android phone turned off, otherwise it will only broadcast when you send a message. Ensure it has access to your location set to always as well.

 

[MidTNJasonF]

Power saving was turned off in Android settings.

I suspect it was something with location services like you said. I had them turned on but there was a setting within that allowed application for bubbler while in use but not all the time. My guess is that it was not allowing gps access when bubbler was running in the background and not open or being actively used.

Thanks for the lead, I will have to test again when I get out tomorrow.

 

[Stephen!]

Extend your "Maximum Time to Wait" to 45 seconds minimum.

Make sure your device has an absolutely clear view of the sky when you are riding.

Pictures will not upload if your device cannot get a GPS lock within the time allowed by the max time setting. For example, if you are in a cave and try to send a picture, there is a very good chance that picture will never be sent. Bubbler does not search for location until after you hit the button to send the picture.

Unlike google maps or other mapping products that continuously calculate your position, Bubbler only accesses your location when it is prompted to, be it scheduled fix or to send a photo or custom message. It does this to prevent draining your battery. A side effect of that is that every calculation is done relatively "cold" without full regard to previous fixes. It takes longer to get the fix, but over a 24 hour period it will end up using a lot less battery.

 

[Stephen!]

There are seven track points in the trip you linked above. Mostly around places you were stopped. Zoom way in on a couple of those places and look for orange dots or black arrow heads.

 

[MidTNJasonF]

The phone is mounted out in the open, dash or bar mount, on a RAM mount. It should have had a clear and easy view at all times as it was also being used as my primary GPS navigation device.

I wish there was an option to have it in a more active role and continuously calculating as you described. Not including that seems like an oversight in programing. If you are not concerned with battery life, i.e. plugged in continuously as I was, it could be active/continuous. If you are concerned with battery usage you can scale back those settings to limit use, resolution, and consumption.

Since the tracking points that do exist are all near stop points that is further sign that Bubbler was not updating or obtaining GPS fixes while running in the background. Not much of a GPS tracker if you can't have it running in the background while using Maps, Waze, Rever, Gai, or some other navigation application.

 

[Stephen!]

Since the tracking points that do exist are all near stop points that is further sign that Bubbler was not updating or obtaining GPS fixes while running in the background.

Which all goes to prove you have your system settings set incorrectly.

Not much of a GPS tracker if you can't have it running in the background while using Maps, Waze, Rever, Gai, or some other navigation application.

This statement is complete BS. Here is how a Spotwalla/Bubbler track looks while running Bubbler 24/7 on a properly configured device. (Including four rides on commercial airliners at 36-42k feet.)

It even works perfectly well crossing the Pacific, on a proprtly configured device.

 

[MidTNJasonF]

I think you misunderstood my comments or at least the intent. I was looking for a solution which I believe has been found per previous posts in exchange with Hairymcsweary and Shawn K. I had the settings in Bubbler set exactly as the IBA description stated. I also had Spotwalla set up exactly as instructed. In addition power saving controls were turned off on the phone and the Bubbler app was white listed or had Location permissions in the settings.
As I stated if you dig down one more level in the android menu there are further divisions of location services permissions one of which was "while in use" or "allowed all the time" specific to each individual application. The default for most applications seems to be "while in use". I believe changing this to "allowed all the time" will be the answer I was looking for and will test again shortly the next time I am moving. In short it is not enough to simply have location services turned on and power saving turned off. I did not find this information on any of the IBA pages regarding Spotwalla usage/setup, possibly because it is more phone or android version dependent.

 

[JAVGuzzi]

The phone is mounted out in the open, dash or bar mount, on a RAM mount. It should have had a clear and easy view at all times as it was also being used as my primary GPS navigation device.

I wish there was an option to have it in a more active role and continuously calculating as you described. Not including that seems like an oversight in programing. If you are not concerned with battery life, i.e. plugged in continuously as I was, it could be active/continuous. If you are concerned with battery usage you can scale back those settings to limit use, resolution, and consumption.

Since the tracking points that do exist are all near stop points that is further sign that Bubbler was not updating or obtaining GPS fixes while running in the background. Not much of a GPS tracker if you can't have it running in the background while using Maps, Waze, Rever, Gai, or some other navigation application.

Do you have access to another phone you can try ??