Loving GPS set-it-and -forget-it on Sony A9 + Smartphone

[LBJ2]

I've seen some complaints about lack of built-in GPS on modern cameras but not seen too many writing about the new GPS feature on the A9, A6500 and A99II + Smartphone. Called "location information linking function" in the Sony manual and of course you will need to load PlayMemories Mobile App on your Smartphone as well.

https://docs.sony.com/release//Manual_4692676112.pdf

In the A9 pdf manual, instructions start on page 196 for those interested and yes there is some back and fourth upon initial setup. One note of caution to pay attention to in the manual Page 197 Item #1:

"Do not perform the Bluetooth pairing operation on the smartphone

setting screen. In steps 2 to 7, the pairing operation is performed

using the camera and the application PlayMemories Mobile."

After I did the initial setup, between the A9 + iPhone, every time I turn on the camera, GPS turns itself on and bluetooth-connects with my iPhone and does it's thing. I don't notice any additional drag on my camera battery or iPhone and of course you can turn it off at any time as well. If you turn it off via the camera, then you will need to turn it on again if you want auto connect for future use.

Upon initial photos load into LR from SD card, LR prompts if you want to enable maps function and from there will automatically load GPS data with the photo file and maps location seen in the LR map tab. Easy to see little icon for each photo file in the catalog where I have maps data stored or not. Very cool, efficient process IMO.

 

[Stefan Bruckel]

Thank you for taking the time to elaborate on a procedure that has worked for you. I have fiddled with the GPS settings on various cameras - but not the A9 - and given up in frustration as being unworkable. Looks like it is a reasonable setup with the A9, so let me try that. Thanks for the encouragement.

 

[greynolds]

Several of us have posted about the GPS functionality with the A6500. With an iPhone, we have found that the connection between the camera and phone isn't entirely reliable - if the iPhone isn't fully awake (ie: screen on), the connection is often either delayed significantly or won't happen at all. However, with an Android the connection appears to be 100% reliable. I already owned an iPhone 6S, but ended up buying a Samsung Galaxy S8 primarily to use it to pair with my A6500 for GPS.

 

[MikeRan]

I agree. In principle it's a great idea. But the iPhone app is hit and miss. Generally but not always, once connected it stays connected. But it doesn't always connect. Force quit the app and relaunch it and it connects just about every time. (And yes, it was running all along.)

just took this camera on a 2 week vacation and I found myself leaving the camera on. I found turning it off and on and likely at some point after 1-3 power cycles the phone stops connecting.

its very frustrating.

Hope they can fix the iPhone app.

 

[nomnomnom]

I've seen some complaints about lack of built-in GPS on modern cameras but not seen too many writing about the new GPS feature on the A9, A6500 and A99II + Smartphone. Called "location information linking function" in the Sony manual and of course you will need to load PlayMemories Mobile App on your Smartphone as well.

https://docs.sony.com/release//Manual_4692676112.pdf

In the A9 pdf manual, instructions start on page 196 for those interested and yes there is some back and fourth upon initial setup. One note of caution to pay attention to in the manual Page 197 Item #1:

"Do not perform the Bluetooth pairing operation on the smartphone

setting screen. In steps 2 to 7, the pairing operation is performed

using the camera and the application PlayMemories Mobile."

After I did the initial setup, between the A9 + iPhone, every time I turn on the camera, GPS turns itself on and bluetooth-connects with my iPhone and does it's thing. I don't notice any additional drag on my camera battery or iPhone and of course you can turn it off at any time as well. If you turn it off via the camera, then you will need to turn it on again if you want auto connect for future use.

Upon initial photos load into LR from SD card, LR prompts if you want to enable maps function and from there will automatically load GPS data with the photo file and maps location seen in the LR map tab. Easy to see little icon for each photo file in the catalog where I have maps data stored or not. Very cool, efficient process IMO.

when it works, it's great. But 8/10 times it doesn't auto connect. Much prefer the built in gps, this is garbage at the moment.

I suspect it's better for Android, but I have an iPhone.

 

[Stan Huntting]

when it works, it's great. But 8/10 times it doesn't auto connect. Much prefer the built in gps, this is garbage at the moment.

I suspect it's better for Android, but I have an iPhone.

The problem with gps built into any camera is the time to acquire a gps fix - which can be minutes - must be added to the camera startup time. I leave my phone (Android) on all the time and recording a gps track whenever I am out with my camera. But, with the a7R2 I have several added steps (if I remember) to search through the stored gps tracks - matching trackpoints to images by timestamp - to geotag the images. I would kill for the A9 gps linking feature, but I want it on my a7R2 or a future a7R3/a9R!

 

[MikeRan]

If I look at all my a77 images and compare to a9, many more of my a77 images are tagged.

so, yes, you're right. GPS needs to acquire a fix, but it doesn't take that long, especially if the camera was recently on.

the phone is much better about being able to get a location inside, though. That's a big benefit.

i would generally prefer the Bluetooth solution of the a9, however, it's got to be reliable or it's not so useful.

 

[an1uk]

I suspect Sony could introduce this quite easily on the older models, if they wanted to.

 

[LBJ2]

I've seen some complaints about lack of built-in GPS on modern cameras but not seen too many writing about the new GPS feature on the A9, A6500 and A99II + Smartphone. Called "location information linking function" in the Sony manual and of course you will need to load PlayMemories Mobile App on your Smartphone as well.

https://docs.sony.com/release//Manual_4692676112.pdf

In the A9 pdf manual, instructions start on page 196 for those interested and yes there is some back and fourth upon initial setup. One note of caution to pay attention to in the manual Page 197 Item #1:

"Do not perform the Bluetooth pairing operation on the smartphone

setting screen. In steps 2 to 7, the pairing operation is performed

using the camera and the application PlayMemories Mobile."

After I did the initial setup, between the A9 + iPhone, every time I turn on the camera, GPS turns itself on and bluetooth-connects with my iPhone and does it's thing. I don't notice any additional drag on my camera battery or iPhone and of course you can turn it off at any time as well. If you turn it off via the camera, then you will need to turn it on again if you want auto connect for future use.

Upon initial photos load into LR from SD card, LR prompts if you want to enable maps function and from there will automatically load GPS data with the photo file and maps location seen in the LR map tab. Easy to see little icon for each photo file in the catalog where I have maps data stored or not. Very cool, efficient process IMO.

when it works, it's great. But 8/10 times it doesn't auto connect. Much prefer the built in gps, this is garbage at the moment.

I suspect it's better for Android, but I have an iPhone.

I'm using with iPhone 7 ver 10.3.3. So far I haven't noticed any issues. I do keep my iPhone Bluetooth setting on all the time since I bluetooth with my car and other devices on a daily basis.

What iPhone are you using? Just curious are you using Bluetooth on your iPhone with other devices too? If so do you see your A9 ILCE-9 registered in your Bluetooth list on the iPhone?

 

[greynolds]

I'm using with iPhone 7 ver 10.3.3. So far I haven't noticed any issues. I do keep my iPhone Bluetooth setting on all the time since I bluetooth with my car and other devices on a daily basis.

What iPhone are you using? Just curious are you using Bluetooth on your iPhone with other devices too? If so do you see your A9 ILCE-9 registered in your Bluetooth list on the iPhone?

In my case, I have an iPhone 6S with iOS 10.3.3 and an A6500 (with the firmware update that adds support for the 100-400GM lens). I also keep Bluetooth on all the time to use the phone with my car. I've got the latest version of the Sony PlayMemories app installed, running in the background, and went through the process to pair it with my A6500. The iPhone is set to Auto-Lock after 1 minute and the camera is set to go into standby after 1 minute. The A6500 does show up in the Bluetooth list on my iPhone, along with my car and my Apple Watch.

If the iPhone is awake, the camera pairs with the iPhone nearly instantly (perhaps 1-2 seconds) when the camera is powered up with the on/off switch or taken out of standby mode. This seems to work something approaching 100% of the time.

If the iPhone is locked, the camera will sometimes pair with the iPhone when the camera is powered up with the on/off switch or taken out of standby mode, but more often will not pair with the iPhone without a combination of rebooting the camera and taking the iPhone out of the lock screen. When they do pair with the iPhone on the lock screen, it usually takes significantly longer (frequently 15-30 seconds or more).

I also have a Samsung Galaxy S8 that I bought for the purpose of getting something that would pair reliably with the camera (and to finally play around with an Android device) and paired the A6500 with it. In this case, it doesn't matter if the phone is awake or locked. The camera pairs pretty much instantly with the S8 nearly 100% of the time when the camera is powered up with the on/off switch or taken out of standby mode. I actually haven't seen it fail to pair yet, but hesitate to claim 100% success without qualifying it as "nearly" 100% given that I haven't had the S8 for very long and haven't taken the A6500 and S8 pair out on anything resembling a lengthy session yet. But what seems to be clear is that the pairing is a lot more reliable than with the iPhone.

One nice thing is that the A6500 can be setup to pair with both phones and will pair with whichever phone it finds first each time it powers up.

If this issue turns out to be isolated to just older iPhones, it gives me a more compelling reason to upgrade to either an iPhone 7 or the 8 when it comes out in a few months. After trying out the S8, I'm not ready to move away from iOS just yet as I prefer the iOS user interface. Of course to be fair, I've been using iOS for years (my first iPhone was a 4S and I had an iPad before that) and Android for just a few hours so far. I probably ought to get enough apps installed on the S8 so I won't feel like I'm missing anything important and swap the SIM card for a week to force myself to get more familiar with Android before I make a final decision.

 

[nomnomnom]

I'm using with iPhone 7 ver 10.3.3. So far I haven't noticed any issues. I do keep my iPhone Bluetooth setting on all the time since I bluetooth with my car and other devices on a daily basis.

What iPhone are you using? Just curious are you using Bluetooth on your iPhone with other devices too? If so do you see your A9 ILCE-9 registered in your Bluetooth list on the iPhone?

In my case, I have an iPhone 6S with iOS 10.3.3 and an A6500 (with the firmware update that adds support for the 100-400GM lens). I also keep Bluetooth on all the time to use the phone with my car. I've got the latest version of the Sony PlayMemories app installed, running in the background, and went through the process to pair it with my A6500. The iPhone is set to Auto-Lock after 1 minute and the camera is set to go into standby after 1 minute. The A6500 does show up in the Bluetooth list on my iPhone, along with my car and my Apple Watch.

If the iPhone is awake, the camera pairs with the iPhone nearly instantly (perhaps 1-2 seconds) when the camera is powered up with the on/off switch or taken out of standby mode. This seems to work something approaching 100% of the time.

If the iPhone is locked, the camera will sometimes pair with the iPhone when the camera is powered up with the on/off switch or taken out of standby mode, but more often will not pair with the iPhone without a combination of rebooting the camera and taking the iPhone out of the lock screen. When they do pair with the iPhone on the lock screen, it usually takes significantly longer (frequently 15-30 seconds or more).

I also have a Samsung Galaxy S8 that I bought for the purpose of getting something that would pair reliably with the camera (and to finally play around with an Android device) and paired the A6500 with it. In this case, it doesn't matter if the phone is awake or locked. The camera pairs pretty much instantly with the S8 nearly 100% of the time when the camera is powered up with the on/off switch or taken out of standby mode. I actually haven't seen it fail to pair yet, but hesitate to claim 100% success without qualifying it as "nearly" 100% given that I haven't had the S8 for very long and haven't taken the A6500 and S8 pair out on anything resembling a lengthy session yet. But what seems to be clear is that the pairing is a lot more reliable than with the iPhone.

One nice thing is that the A6500 can be setup to pair with both phones and will pair with whichever phone it finds first each time it powers up.

I was going to write a long description of my problems. But basically this.

I'm using iPhone 7 plus, with latest iOS. BT always on. And the camera is registered on the list. But success to pair "automatically" in the background is around 10%.

Absolute hate this feature.

 

[greynolds]

I was going to write a long description of my problems. But basically this.

I'm using iPhone 7 plus, with latest iOS. BT always on. And the camera is registered on the list. But success to pair "automatically" in the background is around 10%.

Absolute hate this feature.

I love the feature, I just wish it worked something a lot closer to 100% of the time.

 

[nomnomnom]

I was going to write a long description of my problems. But basically this.

I'm using iPhone 7 plus, with latest iOS. BT always on. And the camera is registered on the list. But success to pair "automatically" in the background is around 10%.

Absolute hate this feature.

I love the feature, I just wish it worked something a lot closer to 100% of the time.

actually I have found that turning the phone on doesn't help all that much either, let alone in the background.

I don't think Sony will ever fix this.

I'm beginning to think that maybe I'm better off just buying a BT device that has a gps chip? Does this thing exists?

 

[greynolds]

I was going to write a long description of my problems. But basically this.

I'm using iPhone 7 plus, with latest iOS. BT always on. And the camera is registered on the list. But success to pair "automatically" in the background is around 10%.

Absolute hate this feature.

I love the feature, I just wish it worked something a lot closer to 100% of the time.

actually I have found that turning the phone on doesn't help all that much either, let alone in the background.

I don't think Sony will ever fix this.

I'm beginning to think that maybe I'm better off just buying a BT device that has a gps chip? Does this thing exists?

The pairing has to be done between the camera and the PlayMemories app rather than directly to the Bluetooth device, so you need an iPhone (or iPad with the cellular data option) or an Android device with GPS capability.

It would have been really nice if Sony had an option to get the GPS data from other devices, such as the Bad Elf, rather than requiring the pairing go through the PlayMemories app exclusively. I wonder if it's possible for a Playmemories app running on the camera to accomplish this...

 

[walnorth]

I was going to write a long description of my problems. But basically this.

I'm using iPhone 7 plus, with latest iOS. BT always on. And the camera is registered on the list. But success to pair "automatically" in the background is around 10%.

Absolute hate this feature.

I love the feature, I just wish it worked something a lot closer to 100% of the time.

actually I have found that turning the phone on doesn't help all that much either, let alone in the background.

I don't think Sony will ever fix this.

I'm beginning to think that maybe I'm better off just buying a BT device that has a gps chip? Does this thing exists?

How can Sony fix an Apple problem? Works with Android. IPhones lose the BT connection on their end.

 

[nomnomnom]

I was going to write a long description of my problems. But basically this.

I'm using iPhone 7 plus, with latest iOS. BT always on. And the camera is registered on the list. But success to pair "automatically" in the background is around 10%.

Absolute hate this feature.

I love the feature, I just wish it worked something a lot closer to 100% of the time.

actually I have found that turning the phone on doesn't help all that much either, let alone in the background.

I don't think Sony will ever fix this.

I'm beginning to think that maybe I'm better off just buying a BT device that has a gps chip? Does this thing exists?

How can Sony fix an Apple problem? Works with Android. IPhones lose the BT connection on their end.

Every other BT app works, they can fix it by learning how to code.

 

[greynolds]

How can Sony fix an Apple problem? Works with Android. IPhones lose the BT connection on their end.

That's the thing though - it's not clear if it's an issue with the iOS version of the PlayMemories app, a camera firmware issue, or an iOS issue that Apple would need to fix. Given that every other BT device (granted it's a small list) I use with the iPhone re-pairs just fine every time and that the camera pairs fine with Android devices, my hunch is that it's an issue with the iOS PlayMemories app.

I suppose the obvious question is what's the best way to bring this issue to Sony's attention? They should be better equipped to work with Apple (if that's even necessary) to resolve the issue as just talking about it here isn't going to get it resolved.

 

[LBJ2]

I'm using with iPhone 7 ver 10.3.3. So far I haven't noticed any issues. I do keep my iPhone Bluetooth setting on all the time since I bluetooth with my car and other devices on a daily basis.

What iPhone are you using? Just curious are you using Bluetooth on your iPhone with other devices too? If so do you see your A9 ILCE-9 registered in your Bluetooth list on the iPhone?

In my case, I have an iPhone 6S with iOS 10.3.3 and an A6500 (with the firmware update that adds support for the 100-400GM lens). I also keep Bluetooth on all the time to use the phone with my car. I've got the latest version of the Sony PlayMemories app installed, running in the background, and went through the process to pair it with my A6500. The iPhone is set to Auto-Lock after 1 minute and the camera is set to go into standby after 1 minute. The A6500 does show up in the Bluetooth list on my iPhone, along with my car and my Apple Watch.

If the iPhone is awake, the camera pairs with the iPhone nearly instantly (perhaps 1-2 seconds) when the camera is powered up with the on/off switch or taken out of standby mode. This seems to work something approaching 100% of the time.

If the iPhone is locked, the camera will sometimes pair with the iPhone when the camera is powered up with the on/off switch or taken out of standby mode, but more often will not pair with the iPhone without a combination of rebooting the camera and taking the iPhone out of the lock screen. When they do pair with the iPhone on the lock screen, it usually takes significantly longer (frequently 15-30 seconds or more).

I also have a Samsung Galaxy S8 that I bought for the purpose of getting something that would pair reliably with the camera (and to finally play around with an Android device) and paired the A6500 with it. In this case, it doesn't matter if the phone is awake or locked. The camera pairs pretty much instantly with the S8 nearly 100% of the time when the camera is powered up with the on/off switch or taken out of standby mode. I actually haven't seen it fail to pair yet, but hesitate to claim 100% success without qualifying it as "nearly" 100% given that I haven't had the S8 for very long and haven't taken the A6500 and S8 pair out on anything resembling a lengthy session yet. But what seems to be clear is that the pairing is a lot more reliable than with the iPhone.

One nice thing is that the A6500 can be setup to pair with both phones and will pair with whichever phone it finds first each time it powers up.

If this issue turns out to be isolated to just older iPhones, it gives me a more compelling reason to upgrade to either an iPhone 7 or the 8 when it comes out in a few months. After trying out the S8, I'm not ready to move away from iOS just yet as I prefer the iOS user interface. Of course to be fair, I've been using iOS for years (my first iPhone was a 4S and I had an iPad before that) and Android for just a few hours so far. I probably ought to get enough apps installed on the S8 so I won't feel like I'm missing anything important and swap the SIM card for a week to force myself to get more familiar with Android before I make a final decision.

Hello. Given the details you provided here, I decided I better take a closer look. I performed 14 turn on /turn off scenarois with the A9 + iPhone 7. Results = 14 out of 14 PlayMemories Mobile/Location information Linkage successful connects.

* Tested below with Sony A9 camera Ver 1.01, iPhone 7 Ver 10.3.3 and latest version of PlayMemories Mobile App.

1. Turned on A9, Bluetooth synced with the iPhone 7 and "Location information Linkage" auto turned on in about 2-4 seconds. I see a connected notification msg on the iPhone from PlayMemories Mobile app when the phone/A9 sync occurs.

2. Bluetooth turned off almost immediately when I turned off the camera. I see a disconnected msg confirmation on the iPhone too.

3. There was no ill effect when the iPhone was in lock screen mode. PlayMemories app connected and disconnect as expected regardless of iPhone lock-screen status or not.

4. I moved the iPhone about 12' away from the camera. Turned on the camera and again PlayMemories mobile app connected in about 3-4 seconds. Disconnected as expected too.

5. I left the synced/connected A9 + iPhone onand waited for the iPhone to go into lock screen mode. During the iPhone lock-screen "Location Information Linkage" continued to be applied to the test photos.

6. For each scenario I took a couple of test images to confirm GPS displayed at the bottom of the image as viewed through the LCD screen on the back of the camera.

7. I repeated the above several times sometimes waiting 10-15 minutes in between each scenario.

Perhaps the iPhone 7 Bluetooth works better with the PlayMemories than the 6S ? Or maybe the A9 works better with the iPhone 7 than the A6500? Not sure. Would be great if someone else could confirm my results with the iPhone 7 and the A9 as well as the A6500 as that is the camera you are using.

Note: There is one little setting on the iPhone that might interfer with the above performance if not set as directed in setup instructions. Its easy to overlook this step in the setup process and perhaps good to confirm. The PlayMemories Mobile app must be set to "Always" in the iPhone Allow Location Access menu as opposed to "While Using the"

Settings/Privacy/Location Services/PlayMemories Mobile/Always

P.S. When I turn off the camera, the PlayMemories Mobile app turns off locations services on the iPhone even though it is set to "Always"

 

[greynolds]

5. I left the synced/connected A9 + iPhone onand waited for the iPhone to go into lock screen mode. During the iPhone lock-screen "Location Information Linkage" continued to be applied to the test photos.

Yeah, this has never been a problem - if the camera gets a connection, the connection sticks as long as the camera stays on.

Perhaps the iPhone 7 Bluetooth works better with the PlayMemories than the 6S ? Or maybe the A9 works better with the iPhone 7 than the A6500? Not sure. Would be great if someone else could confirm my results with the iPhone 7 and the A9 as well as the A6500 as that is the camera you are using.

@nomnomnom posted above that he has an iPhone 7, but I can't figure out if he has an A9 or A6500.

Note: There is one little setting on the iPhone that might interfer with the above performance if not set as directed in setup instructions. Its easy to overlook this step in the setup process and perhaps good to confirm. The PlayMemories Mobile app must be set to "Always" in the iPhone Allow Location Access menu as opposed to "While Using the"

Settings/Privacy/Location Services/PlayMemories Mobile/Always

I just checked on my iPhone, and I have Settings/Privacy/Location Services/PlayMemories Mobile set to Always.

 

[nomnomnom]

I'm using with iPhone 7 ver 10.3.3. So far I haven't noticed any issues. I do keep my iPhone Bluetooth setting on all the time since I bluetooth with my car and other devices on a daily basis.

What iPhone are you using? Just curious are you using Bluetooth on your iPhone with other devices too? If so do you see your A9 ILCE-9 registered in your Bluetooth list on the iPhone?

In my case, I have an iPhone 6S with iOS 10.3.3 and an A6500 (with the firmware update that adds support for the 100-400GM lens). I also keep Bluetooth on all the time to use the phone with my car. I've got the latest version of the Sony PlayMemories app installed, running in the background, and went through the process to pair it with my A6500. The iPhone is set to Auto-Lock after 1 minute and the camera is set to go into standby after 1 minute. The A6500 does show up in the Bluetooth list on my iPhone, along with my car and my Apple Watch.

If the iPhone is awake, the camera pairs with the iPhone nearly instantly (perhaps 1-2 seconds) when the camera is powered up with the on/off switch or taken out of standby mode. This seems to work something approaching 100% of the time.

If the iPhone is locked, the camera will sometimes pair with the iPhone when the camera is powered up with the on/off switch or taken out of standby mode, but more often will not pair with the iPhone without a combination of rebooting the camera and taking the iPhone out of the lock screen. When they do pair with the iPhone on the lock screen, it usually takes significantly longer (frequently 15-30 seconds or more).

I also have a Samsung Galaxy S8 that I bought for the purpose of getting something that would pair reliably with the camera (and to finally play around with an Android device) and paired the A6500 with it. In this case, it doesn't matter if the phone is awake or locked. The camera pairs pretty much instantly with the S8 nearly 100% of the time when the camera is powered up with the on/off switch or taken out of standby mode. I actually haven't seen it fail to pair yet, but hesitate to claim 100% success without qualifying it as "nearly" 100% given that I haven't had the S8 for very long and haven't taken the A6500 and S8 pair out on anything resembling a lengthy session yet. But what seems to be clear is that the pairing is a lot more reliable than with the iPhone.

One nice thing is that the A6500 can be setup to pair with both phones and will pair with whichever phone it finds first each time it powers up.

If this issue turns out to be isolated to just older iPhones, it gives me a more compelling reason to upgrade to either an iPhone 7 or the 8 when it comes out in a few months. After trying out the S8, I'm not ready to move away from iOS just yet as I prefer the iOS user interface. Of course to be fair, I've been using iOS for years (my first iPhone was a 4S and I had an iPad before that) and Android for just a few hours so far. I probably ought to get enough apps installed on the S8 so I won't feel like I'm missing anything important and swap the SIM card for a week to force myself to get more familiar with Android before I make a final decision.

Hello. Given the details you provided here, I decided I better take a closer look. I performed 14 turn on /turn off scenarois with the A9 + iPhone 7. Results = 14 out of 14 PlayMemories Mobile/Location information Linkage successful connects.

* Tested below with Sony A9 camera Ver 1.01, iPhone 7 Ver 10.3.3 and latest version of PlayMemories Mobile App.

1. Turned on A9, Bluetooth synced with the iPhone 7 and "Location information Linkage" auto turned on in about 2-4 seconds. I see a connected notification msg on the iPhone from PlayMemories Mobile app when the phone/A9 sync occurs.

2. Bluetooth turned off almost immediately when I turned off the camera. I see a disconnected msg confirmation on the iPhone too.

3. There was no ill effect when the iPhone was in lock screen mode. PlayMemories app connected and disconnect as expected regardless of iPhone lock-screen status or not.

4. I moved the iPhone about 12' away from the camera. Turned on the camera and again PlayMemories mobile app connected in about 3-4 seconds. Disconnected as expected too.

5. I left the synced/connected A9 + iPhone onand waited for the iPhone to go into lock screen mode. During the iPhone lock-screen "Location Information Linkage" continued to be applied to the test photos.

6. For each scenario I took a couple of test images to confirm GPS displayed at the bottom of the image as viewed through the LCD screen on the back of the camera.

7. I repeated the above several times sometimes waiting 10-15 minutes in between each scenario.

Perhaps the iPhone 7 Bluetooth works better with the PlayMemories than the 6S ? Or maybe the A9 works better with the iPhone 7 than the A6500? Not sure. Would be great if someone else could confirm my results with the iPhone 7 and the A9 as well as the A6500 as that is the camera you are using.

Note: There is one little setting on the iPhone that might interfer with the above performance if not set as directed in setup instructions. Its easy to overlook this step in the setup process and perhaps good to confirm. The PlayMemories Mobile app must be set to "Always" in the iPhone Allow Location Access menu as opposed to "While Using the"

Settings/Privacy/Location Services/PlayMemories Mobile/Always

P.S. When I turn off the camera, the PlayMemories Mobile app turns off locations services on the iPhone even though it is set to "Always"

I have the a9.

I have the iphone 7.

Setting set to always.

Your test isn't going to show the problem here. I can turn on and off the camera 20 times and it'll work 20 times as well. The problem is when you the camera can't find the phone. Then it will never find it again. Bring it really far, turn on the camera. Then turn off the camera and bring the phone back, now it won't find it.

Simply put, just use the camera for a while (2-3 weeks). Don't launch the app. I bet you less than half the time your photos will be tagged.