[hnriot]

People turn their phones off? We must know different people because everyone I know has their phone switched on all the time.

Not all travel has to be to wilderness, there's just as much enjoyment to be had in visiting regular places, not just middle if nowhere kind of places. They might be boring to you, but that's a very narrow kind of thinking to assume that of others.

And unless you're spelunking, there's a very good chance that GPS is available. It's designed for the military, so reliability and accessibility are important. There are very few places on the earth that cannot see enough satellites to get a decent fix.

Not all developed countries are boring! It's just as much of a jungle in NYC as it is in any South American rain forest.

[jasonkester]

Hi, I'm Jason. I don't generally even carry my phone around with me. It sits plugged into the wall most of the time (often switched off), unless I'm going out and know that I'll need to meet up with people.

Now you know me.

Incidentally, I spend an awful lot of my year traveling in places where my phone wouldn't get any signal, were I to switch it on. I think this app would work a lot better for somebody backpacking around Europe than banana boating down the Amazon.

[olliwang]

A dedicated GPS logger is what you need. You just need a device smaller than your hand and some room for the charger in your backpack. You can import them back to the app later.

[Wintamute]

You don't need an internet connection to get a GPS fix, so this app would work fine anywhere I think. You then need internet connectivity to sync your accumulated lat/long data back to your account.

[vhf]

Not only you don't need an internet connection to get a GPS fix, but also iPhones geolocation data don't rely on GPS only.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assisted_GPS

[pm90]

>I think this app would work a lot better for somebody backpacking around Europe than banana boating down the Amazon.

The former may be the exact people the makers are targeting. For instance, my parents usually go on 'package tours' where a travel company takes them around in a group; usually its to Europe, AU etc.

[corwinstephen]

I agree. Just because your definition of travel is apparently centered around outdoorsy activities that take you far away from civilization doesn't mean that there aren't other reasons to travel that are just as viable, but not nearly as desolate. I for example, prefer to spend my time in big cities. That just happens to be what I like. If I were to take a trip to Tokyo, I would want to spend a lot of my time eating at Japanese restaurants, meeting new people and hanging out at Japanese bars, and just experiencing what life is like for the average person who lives there. And honestly, for that sort of travel, this service could be really cool.

On another level, it's even useful for finding the parts of a city you've never seen before. I've lived in Los Angeles my whole life, and have begun to find it very boring, but perhaps if I were to unlock parts of the city that I didn't realize I'd never been to before, I could make some interesting new discoveries and keep myself entertained without even having to travel!