Problem with R6 and Camera Connect (iPhone) GPS Tagging

I literally had the same problem last week on an Alaskan cruise. Highly disappointed - and I used the app reliably before on cruises.

Interested to know if you had also updated to iOS 15.6.1? For me, this occurred for the first time after updating my iPhone a couple of weeks ago.

For me, I have always seen this “coordinate freezing” behavior with Camera Connect and my R and R5. It was pointed out on a forum post (I don’t remember when or by whom) that this occurs if you turn off the camera and turn it back on without restarting the app. As a rule, this has solved my problem: if I’m only moving a short distance I leave the camera on, and if I turn the camera off, I’ll shut down the app and restart it once the camera is powered. Not the smoothest operation but it has worked.

The last time I used the app with this technique was about 2 weeks ago and it did record the proper coordinates as I moved along a river. I don’t really remember when I updated iOS versus used the app.

DavidLLLLLLLLL wrote:

I've been using Camera Connect on my iPhone to provide GPS tagging for my R6 and it was working well. But recently I've started having problems with it. The GPS symbol on the camera shows that it's connected, but the GPS coordinates seem to get stuck at some point. So, I start off on a walk, GPS information is correct, but at some point on my walk it gets stuck, keeps adding GPS location, but the same and incorrect location for all pictures. I have no firm evidence to support this, but it was working without problems before the iOS 15.6.1 update and appears to have started happening after that update. I've tried disconnecting, reconnecting, deleting and reinstalling the Camera Connect app, but can't get it to work reliably any more. I'm wondering and interested to know if anyone else has seen this same behaviour?

I just started using this functionality on my R/RP and have found it quite useful.  I haven't done any detailed check if it is updating location correctly.

I'm curious if you turn your camera off and then back on does it at least update to the new 'starting' location?

I leave the Camera Connect App on at the phone all the times and it always appears to connect automatically when I turn the camera on.  I'll have to do some checks and see if it updates as I move.  Usually I'll not move over great distances with the camera on so it might not have a huge practical effect but this isn't good news.

I'll try some quick checks and see what kind of behavior I see.

I normally just turn the camera on in the morning and open the app on my iPhone and from time to time check that the GPS is white and not flashing in the viewfinder. I don't turn off the camera, although it will go into auto power saving mode from time to time and up till last weekend it has worked well for me. Last weekend I did the same, GPS was visible in the viewfinder, white and not flashing, but when I downloaded the pictures to my computer I got quite a shock, as all but the first ten or so have the exact same GPS coordinates. Thought it might be a one off, so I tried again today and same thing, after a number of pictures it freezes on one set of GPS coordinates. I was watching today for it to reoccur and when I saw that it had, I turned off the camera, closed and reopened the app and it worked again for a while, but then froze again. The camera and app do reconnect automatically every time, I have no problem with that, just that the coordinates freeze. If I turn off the camera and/or close the app, it does seem to give the correct coordinates for a while, before freezing on one set of coordinates, but I'd prefer not to have to do that.

I'm confused. Why don't you want to turn the camera off every once in a while if it allows the GPS to resynch? Plus you save the battery a bit.

I haven't had the need to do that in the past and I would have to keep checking the GPS coordinates all the time, to see when it has frozen, which I really don't want to do. Also, when I turn it off/on again, I still don't know how long it's going to keep working for. I wish the R6 had GPS built in, but as I said, it used to work reliably.

As others seem to have found, geotagging using the Canon Connect App is often not accurate in that images in a sequence often all have the same location as the first one even though the later images were taken at different locations. I have a new R7, have updated the firmware, and have also updated the App. My iPhone 11 has the latest software (iOS 16.0.2). Has anyone solved this problem? Any suggestions gratefully received.

L_David wrote:

I've been using Camera Connect on my iPhone to provide GPS tagging for my R6 and it was working well. ….can't get it to work reliably any more. I'm wondering and interested to know if anyone else has seen this same behaviour?

I just had the same problem starting 4 weeks ago on a 2 week vacation.  Most of my geotagged photos are in one of several ‘stuck’ locations.   Over the last year I had gained confidence in the canon app, but this unexpected behavior shatters that.  I’m going back to Geotag Photos Pro app ( you have to remember to sync time between phone and camera, but it never failed to keep a track log).  Heck, even my coarse grained Google timeline has better data than my photos.

Thanks for the suggestions. I also taxed Canon with the problem and it now seems to be solved. They said to set the Location access info in the iPhone to 'Always'. I had been setting it to 'While using the app' which seemed logical but does not work after the first shot. 'Always' apparently uses up the battery quickly so when I am not using the camera, I switch it to Never or to When using the app. (On the iPhone, go to Settings - Privacy & Security - Location Services - Camera Connect - Always.)

Hope this helps others. And that it continues to work as it should!

DPN wrote:

Thanks for the suggestions. I also taxed Canon with the problem and it now seems to be solved. They said to set the Location access info in the iPhone to 'Always'.

I just checked and my app was also set to while using, which is standard for me.  If this is the permanent fix fromCanon, they should put a warning in very big letters when you start the app, heck they should not allow the app to run if this is not set correctly otherwise anyone not reading this thread and using the app is in for a nasty surprise.

I was wondering if having the app set to “Always” actually works reliably for you? I have it set to “Always” with iOS 16.1 and the new version of the Camera Connect app, 3.0.1 on my iPhone 11 Pro, but the only way I get correct GPS co-ordinates when I’m hiking is to keep turning my R6 off and on all the time, otherwise it just reports the first GPS co-ordinates after I turned on the camera for all pictures. I think if it goes into auto power off, it also gives the correct co-ordinates when it wakes up and I take the first picture.

When set to 'Always' it seems to work pretty reliably for me. Even moving a few yards between shots or leaving it some time before the next shot, I find the GPS is accurate and shows the different locations.

Hello all, I am having the same frustrating issue.

I believe the issue started with the Camera Connect app update from version 2 to version 3. I was hoping someone had a fix or a workaround. I've raised the issue with Canon.

The new Canon Camera Connect app, version 3, on iOS no longer has an option in System Settings to allow for Background App Refresh. This means that the app times out when the screen on the iPhone is locked so it stops recording my GPS location. This leads to all of my pictures from the day taken on my Canon camera to all have the same GPS location from the point at which the app timed out.

In order to get around this I have to unlock my phone and launch the Canon Camera Connect app every single time I take a picture. This allows the app on the phone to be active and update its current location.

With Canon Camera Connect app version 2 I could leave the app running and my phone locked in my pocket for the entire day and it would continuously update my location, without the need to take my phone out of my pocket and unlock it.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

As mentioned here I might give Geotag Photos Pro 2 a try, though it's a bit annoying that I should have to do that, especially since the Canon Camera Connect app was working perfectly for me with version 2.

Thank you

Ryan