People rightly complain that some flagshipsmartphonesare now as expensive as laptops, but there is some justification for it. Miniaturization doesn’t come cheap, and phones are now loaded with wireless technologies like5G, NFC, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. Two of them, GPS andultra-wideband(UWB), may even seem to overlap – they’re both heavily involved in location tracking.
You probably have a broad sense of the differences between GPS and UWB. As we’ll explain in a moment though, they actually have few things in common, even when it comes to location info.
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GPS vs UWB: Location tracking
GPS stands for Global Positioning System. It’s purely for navigation and tracking, and depends on satellites operated by the US Space Force. Indeed it was originally a US military-only platform, although it’s since become available to civilians in many countries. It’s one of several global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) active around the planet.
When GPS is running on your phone or any other device, it’s actually receiving broadcasts from multiple satellites at once, which help to triangulate your position and sync time. It won’t work if your device doesn’t have a clear line-of-sight – which is why you lose signal around skyscrapers and other tall objects – but the good news is that there are over two dozen satellites in orbit, so you can often pinpoint your location in places where cellular and Wi-Fi are non-existent.
UWB, by contrast, is a purely terrestrial technology. Not only that, it’s low-power and short-range. While it can hypothetically operate up to a distance of 656 feet (about 200 meters), a more realistic limit is 164 feet (approximately 50 meters). Sitting at home, you probably won’t be tracking anything beyond the limits of your front yard or parking space.
UWB is a short-range, purely terrestrial technology.
Within that range, however, UWB is easily superior to GPS. It has centimeter-level accuracy, whereas most smartphone GPS radios can only narrow things down to a few meters. UWB can tell whether yourAirTagis under a couch cushion, whereas GPS would only be able to figure out what house or apartment you’re in, at best.
By itself, UWB can’t position your phone or any other device on a map. Instead, one UWB-equipped item sends out regular pings, and another receives these broadcasts, using them to gauge a relative position. That’s why you only see an arrow and calculated distance when you use thePrecision Findingfeature on an iPhone.
UWB goes above and beyond
While GPS is massively important – it’s evidence for Einstein’s general relativity, in fact – UWB serves purposes beyond location tracking. It’s a major component ofAppleandAndroidcar keys, allowing some vehicles to unlock when you approach and start when you get in. Similarly, some smart door locks will soon support the technology, saving you a lot of trouble when you’re trying to drag a bike or groceries inside.
Less sexy but still vital is improved device-to-device file transfer. When it’s present, UWB can assist the precision of Apple’sAirDropand Google’sQuick Share. Apple also uses UWB in the HomePod and HomePod mini, making it possible to shift media to and from iPhones. Google will be adding a “Tap to Cast” feature for thePixel Tabletin the near future.
There are also applications for UWB in industrial settings and self-driving cars, but that’s getting past the scope of this guide. Suffice it to say that GPS isn’t an improvement over UWB, or vice versa – they’re separate wireless standards with different goals in mind.
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