Updates on Lightning-based iOS device compatability
Happy New Year! We have a few quick updates...
Bad Elf GPS Pro (BE-GPS-2200)
We received word from Apple earlier today that the Bad Elf GPS Pro is officially compatible (over Bluetooth) with all of the new Lightning-based iOS devices released last fall. No firmware or hardware changes were necessary, so don't worry if you purchase a GPS Pro in the old packaging -- it will work out of the box.
The new official list of supported devices is:
- iPod touch (2nd, 3rd, 4th, & 5th generations)
- iPhone 5, iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, & iPhone 3G
- iPad mini, iPad 4, iPad (3rd generation), iPad 2, iPad
Basically, every iOS device on the market today that has Bluetooth support for external accessories.
Bad Elf GPS dongle (BE-GPS-1000)
Although the Bad Elf GPS dongle with the 30-pin dock connector is not directly or officially compatible with any of the new Lightning-based iOS devices, we're happy to report that it works with ALL of them using either of Apple's Lightning-to-30pin adapters.
We've done extensive testing and the only issues we've heard about (and resolved) with customers were actually related to the known iOS 6 bug affecting external GPS receivers. As far as we know this has been fixed in the upcoming iOS 6.1 release. Please see our troubleshooting page if you have any issues.
24 Responses
Brett
Edgar, please contact us via support@bad-elf.com and we’ll help to diagnose the issue. Thanks!
Edgar
Hi there !! I bought a 30 pin to lightning connector thinking my BE-GPS-1000 could be work on my Ipad mini with IOS 7.0.4 . Bad news !! My dongle is died…no work .. Could you help me ?? Thanks
Max Erlandsson
Hello,
I have an Ipad 2 Wifi and I’m interested in the Bad Elf GPS. However, in order to be futureproof I’d prefer buying the Bad Elf GPS for lightening Connector and then use an adaptor (female Lightening to male 30pin).Is this a combination that works? Guess it depends on the adaptor, it doesn’t exist an Apple one, but see for example: http://www.guuds.com/product/iP5-9020__Lightning-8-Pin-Female-to-30-Pin-Male-Adapter-for-iPhone-4S-iPad-3-iPod-Touch-4-Black.html
Paul Chance
Here’s a question I know you will love …
When will a Bad Elf GPS dongle with a lightning connector be available? :)
Chkm8
I have a 5c and an apple supplied adapter but 5c does not see Bad elf .. any suggestions
Paul
Yes, marlon, the Bad Elf works great down under!
marlon
will Bad Elf GPS both pro and dongle will work in australia?
Anthony
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=uky1ZYj-FIQ&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Duky1ZYj-FIQ
Anthony
Is there an ETA on when then lightning version will be released? I saw it on YouTube at a trade show and it said you guys were waiting on Apple approval in January… I want to buy one immediately please..
pters
I now have a genuine adapter, and it’s working. Hopefully one day these will be available at a reasonable price.
pters
I’d like to know if there was any resolution for this question. Was this Lightning adapter genuine Apple, or was it a 3rd party adapter?
Brett
Sorry for the delay in responding, the Bad Elf team is on the road this week. We’ve done extensive testing with Apple’s Lightning-to-30pin adapters, but it doesn’t surprise me that a 3rd party adapter doesn’t work. It’s doing some pretty complicated stuff and Apple hasn’t approved (AFAIK) any 3rd party developers to build similar products. If you can get access to a genuine Apple converter and run into any issues, please let us know!
Best regards,
Brett
Chris
I have flown twice with bad elf dongle (with 30pin to lightning adapter) on an iPad mini. The bad elf dongle works, and the bad elf app shows locking on to satellites, position, speed, heading, etc. However it will not provide a position or flight data for Foreflight. Very frustrated as I bought the iPad mini to use in the airplane with Foreflight.
Can anyone help? I am running ios6.1 and Foreflight 4.8.
Brett
Hi Chris,
You’re seeing a known bug in iOS that can affect external GPS receivers (not just ours). We thought this was fixed in 6.1 but apparently not. I’ve asked our support team to follow up with you via email for the workaround instructions. We’ll also follow up with Apple to see if this can be fixed once and for all.
Best regards,
Brett
pters
I bought a third party Lightning adapter for my iPad 4, and it doesn’t work with the GPS-1000. I can charge through it, download photos, sync iTunes, but Bad Elf doesn’t work. So for the time being at least, beware of third party adapters, no matter how well they seem to work with other things.
Brett
Hi John,
Both are correct ;-) But I can understand the confusion.
The Bad Elf GPS dongle has a 30-pin connector on it, so you can’t plug it directly into the Lightning port on the newer iOS devices. For this reason we’re not allowed to officially claim support for these devices (ie: put them in the list on our packaging, or say “Made for…”).
Apple does sell 2 versions of their “Lightning-to-30pin” converters that allow you to connect 30-pin accessories like the Bad Elf GPS to these newer iOS devices. But Apple does not officially support any 30-pin accessories with these iOS devices, so if they changed something in iOS that broke our accessory down the road, there’s nothing we (Bad Elf or our customers) could do about it.
For folks that already have the Bad Elf GPS dongle, the converter is an option that works well today, but no guaranteed support down the road. Our Bluetooth-based Bad Elf GPS Pro DOES officially support these newer iOS devices, so it’s the safest bet for someone looking to pick up a new GPS accessory.
Hope that helps!
-Brett
LMF
after hooking up the apple supplied lightning-30pin adapter and plugging in the bad elf gps dongle, its seems to work fine. captures satellites, gives me speed/heading (in the car) and altitude so it seems to work fine but have not tried this in the air yet. Will doing so soon.
Helge
I tried the GPS-1000 on my new IPad 4 with Lightning adapter and it will not work!! Any tips?
Brett
Hi Helge,
The BE-GPS-1000 is only directly compatible with 30-pin based iOS devices. It does work with Apple’s Lightning-to-30pin adapters, so that’s one solution for your iPad 4. You may also consider the Bad Elf GPS Pro (BE-GPS-2200) which uses Bluetooth and officially supports the iPad 4.
Hope that helps!
-Brett
John
Just above the responses you say, “Although the Bad Elf GPS dongle with the 30-pin dock connector is not directly or officially compatible with any of the new Lightning-based iOS devices, we’re happy to report that it works with ALL of them using either of Apple’s Lightning-to-30pin adapters.” Then in your responses you say, “The BE-GPS-1000 is only directly compatible with 30-pin based iOS devices. It does work with Apple’s Lightning-to-30pin adapters,” I’m confused. Which is correct?
Azzurri
When will the new Bad Elf GPS dongle with the LIGHTNING connector be available ?
Brett
Answer from Bad Elf Support Team: Good question! Haven’t announced any new products yet, stay tuned to the blog and email list.
Brett
Haven’t announced any new products yet, stay tuned to the blog and email list. Thanks.
e manus
Question for Bad Elf Support Team: Do you have a lightning plug dongle in the works?
Leave a comment
Comments will be approved before showing up.
Also in Blog
Affordable High-Accuracy GPS for Education
GPS receiver capabilities range from survey grade (centimeter level accuracy) to consumer grade (~5-meter level accuracy). Of course, this demands a cost-benefit tradeoff ranging from free to prohibitively expensive for most educational institutions. Between these two extremes lies mapping grade GPS, which delivers 1 meter accuracy.
brett
Author