UKC

Modern phones might be very handy on the hill, but it's vital to know their limits. Crispin Cooper examines the many ways smartphones can fail, and how to get around the issues

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In reply to UKC/UKH Articles:

I'm delighted that other people also use the nose swipe! Interestingly, I find I only need to do it in the morning, as by the time I've climbed a pitch or two my gloves are normally damp enough to be mistaken for fingers.

I recently tried to add my noseprint to my iPhone's TouchID catalogue so I could use my nose to unlock my phone. Didn't work though. If you're listening, Apple...

In reply to alexm198:

Could that be because noses don't have noseprints? Maybe you need to mutilate the end of your nose to generate some scars that will pass as a print?

 

In reply to UKC/UKH Articles:

 

I have found some phones better than others for coping with cold. I-phones seem particularly poor in the cold and shut down at a certain temperature regardless of battery charge level (might be the manufacturers way of protecting the battery) so going out with a full charge might mean jack all if it’s really cold.

It struck me as a real issue as if you really need the phone then the last thing you'd be worried about is reducing the life of a battery.

I imagine this will apply to other manufacturers to, it would be interesting to hear if anyone else has had this problem?

 

In reply to Toerag:

Maybe they could just have something that can analyse your snot and ID you from that? 

FWIW, my phone (Nexus 5X) if on airplane mode with GPS on and screen off left in a pocket or top of sack will generally only use 5-10% battery on a winter hill day. It's been out all day in about -16C in the Alps and no issues.

At the start of a hill day I normally remove the screen lock, turn airplane mode on, GPS on, start memory map and get position then hit the power to turn the screen off and chuck phone in bag/pocket. It lives in an aquapac bag on the hills. If I want to check my position I just press the power button and it opens up with the map and my new position shown, a quick glance and screen off etc. I don't use it for micro navigation (I have map + compass) but will occasionally check I'm on the correct summit (as a Munro Top bagger this is import) or whatever. 

I also carry a fully charged old school non smart phone as backup just in case but in 3 years I've only once had any battery issues and that was user error due to leaving the google app and torch running all night resulting in a pancake flat battery.