Phone positioning

Use phone positioning to propose a location, then review it before saving the observation. This walkthrough captures one streetlight point; line and polygon capture add vertices to a drawing instead.

Before you start

Enable location services and grant Mapplex location permission. Select the correct project and a Point layer. For this exercise, turn off Quick Capture so you can review the normal form before saving.

Choose a safe place with a clear sky view. Nearby walls, vehicles, and trees can affect readings. Download required basemaps before offline fieldwork; downloaded tiles provide map context, not improved position accuracy.

Choose a capture method

Method	Use and limit
Ordinary phone capture	Obtains a phone position for review; inspect the pin and GPS accuracy before confirming
Enhanced Phone Capture	Collects multiple readings and checks their uncertainty and stability before offering a position; optional and off by default
External RTK workflow	Requires a supported and validated receiver setup; follow RTK setup & requirements

Both phone methods use consumer-device positioning. An accepted reading is not a survey certification.

1. Capture with ordinary phone positioning

1. Open Map and confirm that Streetlights is the active point layer.
2. Tap the GPS Pin control and wait for the position.
3. Inspect the temporary pin and the popup's GPS accuracy.
4. If appropriate for the task, drag the pin to the intended asset location. A manual adjustment is your placement decision; the phone's accuracy estimate does not validate the adjusted point.
5. Choose Confirm Location.
6. Complete the normal capture form and save.
7. Reopen the saved feature and check its location, Asset ID, and evidence.

The temporary pin is not yet a saved observation. Closing its popup discards that location draft. Finish or close it before starting another GPS pin.

If Quick Capture is on, confirmation follows that workflow instead of the normal form sequence. If a line or polygon layer is active, the popup offers Add Vertex: add the necessary vertices, finish the drawing, and complete its save workflow.

2. Capture with Enhanced Phone Capture

1. In Settings, enable Enhanced Phone Capture.
2. Choose the maximum phone position uncertainty: 5 m, 10 m, or 15 m. The default is 10 m.
3. Return to the correct layer in Map, stand still, and tap GPS Pin.
4. Watch accepted samples, elapsed time, and uncertainty. The standard profile collects for at least about 10 seconds and can wait up to about 30 seconds; acceptance also depends on enough suitable readings and stability.
5. When the temporary pin appears, review its position and accuracy information.
6. Choose Confirm Location, complete the form, save, and reopen the observation.

Use Cancel while sampling if you need to move or abandon the attempt. If Position did not stabilize appears, that attempt did not produce a point to confirm. Move to a clearer position and retry.

What does a 10 m limit mean?

It is an acceptance setting for the estimated uncertainty produced by the capture. It does not promise that the true location is within 10 m. Consistently displaced readings near a building can look stable.

For example, if the capture does not satisfy the 10 m limit, changing to 15 m relaxes the acceptance requirement; it does not improve the phone's measurement. Choose the limit from the project's collection requirements before work. If 5 m repeatedly fails, improve the capture conditions or use the positioning method required by the project.

3. Review the observation before handover

Check that the point is in the intended layer and at a plausible location, the required attributes are complete, and the photo or other evidence opens. Enhanced capture retains available capture-quality evidence with the observation, but the on-map review and project acceptance criteria still matter.

For a hosted project, inspect the save message and sync result. Location confirmation, saving the form, and delivery to Geova Cloud are separate steps.

If something does not work

What you see	What to do
No position or permission error	Enable location services and grant the required precise-location permission
Position did not stabilize	Stay still, move away from obstructions, and retry; do not assume a feature was saved
Finish or close the active location pin first	Confirm the existing draft or close its popup before another capture
The active layer changed	Return to the original layer or close the pin and start again on the intended layer
Pin disagrees with the known asset location	Check the environment and capture source before accepting or adjusting it
Enhanced setting is absent	Check the supplied build and device support with your administrator

Completion check: The feature reopens at the reviewed location, its form is complete, and its local or hosted save state is understood. See Map & collection tools for other capture methods and Slope Profiler for station profiles.