Mobile GPS Field Logger (Pro)

Summary

The Logger turns your phone into a GPS track recorder. It does two things at once. It records GPS readings while you shoot, and it shows a live UTC clock (the world time standard) you can photograph. That one photo is how the desktop app finds your camera's clock error later, so every shot lines up with the right point on the track.

• Record where you went

  A field tracker that runs on the phone in your pocket. Pick Best detail, Balanced, or Power saver. Tap the map to save a spot worth remembering.

• Photograph the clock

  The Logger shows a live UTC clock (the world time standard GPS satellites use). Snap one photo of it with your camera. That photo is how you find your camera's clock error later.

• Send to desktop

  Two ways. Use a 6-character transfer code through the Field Logger window, or save a GPS file and move it over AirDrop, cloud, or email.

How the workflow fits together

• Before the shoot

  1. Open the Logger on your phone.
  2. Photograph the UTC clock with your camera. One frame is enough.
  3. Tap Start Tracking (always pinned at the bottom of the screen) and put the phone in your pocket.

• During the shoot

  Shoot as normal. The phone records GPS in the background while you work the camera. Jade GT saves the track as you go, so a reload or sleep does not lose your run.

• After the shoot

  1. Tap Stop, then Save Track.
  2. Send the track to your desktop.
  3. Find your camera's clock error from the UTC photo.
  4. On the Location tab, enter the offset and Run Match. Every photo gets a location.

Opening the Logger on your phone

You can get the Logger onto your phone two ways.

Direct From the desktop

Open Jade GT in a browser on your phone and tap the pin icon in the header. Jade GT detects you are on mobile and opens the Logger directly.

If you are already at your desk, click the pin icon in the desktop app's header. Jade GT opens the Field Logger window with a QR code, plus a 6-character transfer code (formatted ABC-DEF) for manual entry. Scan the QR with your phone's camera to load the Logger there.

The desktop Field Logger window. Use the QR code at the start (desktop opens the Logger on your phone). Use the transfer code below it at the end (phone sends the finished track back to the desktop).

The window is two-way. Scan the QR at the start of the shoot. Enter the transfer code at the end once your track is done.

The QR works even when the link looks off

Some phone browsers shorten URLs or drop the file part when they preview a QR. Jade GT handles that. Scanning the QR always lands you on the Logger, even if your browser drops you on the homepage first. No extra taps to clear away.

Pins waiting badge

Have photo pins from a Logger session waiting? The Phone Metadata button in the desktop header shows a small count badge. A "3" means three pins are waiting. Click the button to open Phone Metadata, where the pins sit ready to apply.

The pins live in the same device's browser storage. They survive closing and reopening Jade GT, so a Friday-afternoon shoot you forgot about still shows up Monday morning.

Day-of workflow

1. Grant location access when the browser asks. The Logger cannot record without it.

2. Photograph the UTC clock before you start the shoot. The Logger shows a precise UTC clock; tap Fullscreen for a large, glare-free frame. Point your camera at the phone screen and take one photo of the clock. That single photo is your reference (see Find your camera's clock error).

   

   The fullscreen UTC clock. A target for your camera to photograph; nothing detects it automatically later.

3. Start tracking. Pick a recording setting (see Recording settings), tap Start Tracking, and put the phone in your pocket. The Start Tracking button stays pinned at the bottom of the screen, so you never have to scroll to reach it. Keep the Logger tab open. Mobile browsers stop background tracking if the tab fully closes. You can pause, resume, or drop the track from the recording screen any time.

4. Stop and save. When you are done, tap Stop (it sits in the same pinned spot at the bottom while you record). The recording screen flips to a Track Summary card with five actions.

   

   • Save Track

     Save the track on the phone. You have to save before Transfer or Export will work.

   • Transfer

     Mint a 6-character transfer code and send the track to a desktop Jade GT session. Use the Import button in the desktop Field Logger window.

   • Export File

     Save the track as a GPS file on your phone. Move it with AirDrop, email, or a cloud drive, then drop it on the Location tab on your desktop.

   • Resume Recording

     Keep recording where you left off. Useful when you hit Stop by mistake or take a long lunch break mid-shoot.

   • Discard Track

     Throw the whole track away. Asks you to confirm first.

5. Find your camera's clock error and run the match. Covered in Find your camera's clock error.

Your track saves on its own

Your phone stores the recording locally. If you reload the Logger tab by accident, or your phone goes to sleep, Jade GT restores the track when you come back. You won't lose your run.

Saved tracks

The Saved tracks button sits in the top right of the Logger. Tap it to open the list of tracks you have recorded on this phone. From there you can reopen a track, send it to your desktop, or save it to a folder. A small number on the button tells you how many tracks are waiting.

The Saved tracks panel. Each card shows the track name, when you recorded it, and the points, distance, and duration. Tap a card to reopen it.

Recording screen at a glance

The Logger fits on one screen. The Start Tracking button stays pinned at the bottom, and the Saved tracks button sits in the top right.

• Duration and Track Points

  Time elapsed and total GPS readings captured.

• Distance

  Running total along the track in kilometers or miles (you pick on the Settings tab).

• GPS Accuracy

  How accurate the current reading is, in meters. Lower is better.

• Drop Pin

  Save a noteworthy spot with a name and category. The pin ends up in the GPS file. Tap the Drop Pin tile to open the form.

• Live readings

  Speed, elevation, and bearing when your phone reports them.

• UTC clock

  The live UTC clock with a Fullscreen shortcut for taking the sync photo. It lives at the bottom so it is always one tap from your camera.

Photo-paired waypoints belong on Phone Metadata

Drop Pin records a plain waypoint (latitude, longitude, time, name). To send a waypoint with a photo, thumbnails, and caption fields to the desktop, use Phone Metadata instead. It's a separate phone screen built for that workflow.

Waypoint categories travel with the pin

The category you pick (Shot, Pin, View, Sunset, Trail, Camp, Park, Water, Danger) shows on the map as a colored icon, travels inside the GPS file, and rides into the desktop when you import the same file later. Other apps (Gaia, AllTrails, Garmin Connect, OsmAnd, Basecamp) see the right icon when they open the file.

Recording settings

Pick a setting on the Settings tab of the Mobile Shell (tap Settings in the bottom tab bar, then look for the LOGGER group). Each one trades battery life for how many GPS points the Logger records.

Setting	Reads GPS every	Use when
Best detail	1 second	Short, high-precision work (architecture, paparazzi)
Balanced	5 seconds	Default for most day-long shoots
Power saver	30 seconds	Multi-day hikes, wildlife, battery is the constraint

The LOGGER group also includes:

• Stationary Detection

  When the Logger sees no movement for 30 seconds, it slows GPS reads until you move again. Off by default for runs where you stay still on purpose (a hide, a long exposure).

• Live map preview

  Shows a small live map under the readings so you can watch your path as you move. Off by default to save battery and data.

• Auto-save when you finish

  Turn this on and the app saves a GPS file to the folder you chose the moment you finish a track. Handy when you keep tracks in a cloud-synced folder (iCloud Drive, Google Drive) so the desktop picks them up on its own.

• Units

  Metric (kilometers, meters) or Imperial (miles, feet). Sets the recording-screen distance tile and the Track Summary stats.

The Auto-save folder

The Auto-save folder row is where you tell Jade GT where to drop those GPS files. The status line right under it always tells you what will happen:

• You picked a folder and Auto-save is on: when you finish a track, the app saves a GPS file to that folder. Done.
• You have not picked a folder yet: finished tracks stay in the app. Open this row, choose a folder, and from then on every finished track lands there too. Until you do, nothing is lost. Your tracks wait for you in Saved tracks.
• The browser asks for permission again after a reload: browsers forget folder access when you reload or come back the next day. The status line tells you the folder needs permission again. Tap the row and pick the same folder once more to fix it.

No folder? You are still covered

You never have to pick a folder. Every track you save lives in the app under Saved tracks, and you can send it to your desktop with a transfer code or save it to a folder by hand at any time. The Auto-save folder is just a shortcut for people who want a hands-off copy in a cloud-synced folder.

Logger settings live on the Settings tab

Tap Settings in the bottom tab bar of the Mobile Shell (Photos / Logger / Tools / Settings) and find the LOGGER group. Changes apply to the Logger right away, even if you switched away from the Logger tab first.

Light, Dark, or Auto

The same Settings tab has an Appearance row at the top. Pick Light, Dark, or Auto (Auto follows your device). Your choice covers the whole app, including the Logger and your Saved tracks, so the phone screen matches the light you are shooting in.

The Appearance row sits at the top of the Settings tab. Pick Light, Dark, or Auto to match the light you are shooting in.

Two filters are always on, no matter the setting:

• 2-meter minimum spacing. Jade GT drops two points closer than 2 m so a stationary phone doesn't make a noise cluster.
• 30-second stationary check (when the toggle is on). If you stop moving, GPS reads slow down until movement returns. Saves battery.

Accuracy and battery

GPS accuracy depends on your phone's hardware. Typical outdoor accuracy is 5 to 10 m. A few hours of recording will drain your battery a fair bit. Power saver mode plus a top-up before long shoots is the safe combination.

Find your camera's clock error

This is where the UTC photo earns its keep. Do not skip it. A 30-second clock error puts every photo at the previous track point instead of where you actually pressed the shutter.

The idea in one sentence

The camera's EXIF time and the pixels of the UTC clock photo disagree by your camera's clock error, and every other shot from the day carries the same error.

Three numbers to line up:

• What the camera thought the time was

  Visible in the EXIF Info tab as Date Taken when you open the UTC photo in the desktop app.

• What the time actually was

  Visible as pixels in the UTC photo itself: the big UTC readout you photographed.

• The offset

  The gap between the two, dialed into the Time Offset slider on the Location tab's GPX panel.

Worked example

The Logger reads 21:02:43 UTC when you press the shutter.

Back at your desk, the photo's EXIF says Date Taken: 14:02:17. Your camera is set to local time (UTC-7 for this shoot), so the right EXIF would be 14:02:43.

Your camera clock is 26 seconds slow. Dial +26 s into the Time Offset slider. Click Run Match, and every photo in the shoot snaps to the closest track point inside the match window.

If Match Preview says \"camera clock may be off\"

That warning fires when most photos fall outside the match window, which almost always means the Time Offset is wrong. Click Fix Clock in the preview. It jumps you right back to this workflow.

Troubleshooting

The browser said no to location access

Without permission, the Logger can't record. Grant access again from your browser's site settings (the lock icon next to the URL). On iOS Safari, the new permission sometimes needs a full app restart before it kicks in.

Track stops when I switch apps

Mobile browsers slow down or stop background tracking when the tab fully closes or the screen stays off for long stretches. Keep the Logger tab visible. iOS Low Power Mode also pauses background work hard. Turn it off for long shoots.

Transfer code is rejected on the desktop

Transfer codes expire after 15 minutes. If yours timed out, tap Transfer again on the phone to mint a new one, then paste it into the desktop Field Logger window's Import field.

Match Preview shows zero matches

Almost always a camera-clock problem. Walk through the GPX troubleshooting list on the Location guide and dial in a Time Offset, or use EXIF Info → Shift Time to apply the offset to every photo at once.

I forgot to take the UTC photo

If you have a GPS-tagged shot from the same session (a phone snap, a friend's tagged photo, anything with timed GPS), widen the Match Window slider on the Location tab's GPX panel. Match accuracy drops, but the shoot is rescuable.

Related guides

• Location tab

  Where the imported track lives and the Match Preview runs.

• Phone Metadata

  The phone screen for sending photo-paired waypoints (with thumbnails and caption fields) to the desktop. A different workflow from a plain Drop Pin.

• EXIF Info → Shift Time

  Apply the camera offset to every photo's Date Taken in one pass, so the matcher does not need a Time Offset slider.

• Review & Commit

  Where the matched GPS coordinates get written into each photo on disk.