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.
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.
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
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?
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
I tried the GPS-1000 on my new IPad 4 with Lightning adapter and it will not work!! Any tips?