UKC

Hi y'all,

I'm in the market for a new phone and I'm thinking it will run Android. Now I was wondering (I know very little about phones and the tech behind them) when GPS is running does it work via phone signal or actually locate the GPS satellites?

Also what app would you recommend? Is there an OS map app?

Cheers,

Matt

In reply to Herdwickmatt:

Both and android phones can also use wifi signals to locate you as well. The telephone signals normally locate you quicker than GPS but are less accurate. So you normally see a circle on the map to show you can be anywhere in this area. GPS is a lot more accurate but as well as taking longer it also uses more battery. With android phones you can choose which method your phone is using. So you have the option of saving battery or having an accurate location.

If you are using an android phone it really makes sense to pay for mobile internet. This means you can use google maps. It downloads the data when it is needed (although does cache it these days) but if you can't get a data connection such as in the mountains you may have problems seeing the maps.

There are other free maps you can download which sort all the data locally but I haven't had much experience in using them

iv got the htc desire and that runs on android
for sat nav you can use
google maps (good for searching locations close to you or your destination)
i prefer co pilot though easier to understand instructions

for os maps
iv used mm tracker only really used for checking im on the right path but seems to do the job

there is also view ranger but im yet to try that one

RMaps http://robertdeveloper.blogspot.com/

Awesome maps programme (not sat nav) for Android including OS maps, kml import (e.g. UKClimbing crag map) and a facility to download maps via your PC and store them on the SD card. I used that facility to find my way around north Czech without connecting to the Internet.

In terms of a data package, I'm pretty tempted by the Vodafone iPhone packages (you don't have to have an iPhone) that include BTOpenzone monthly bandwidth.

In reply to Herdwickmatt: beats my tom tom for uk use!

In reply to Herdwickmatt: Have a look at 'Navdroyd'. It's an off-line sat nav and so doesn't have to download any data whilst on the move, so ideal for using abroad. It seems to be the best free sat nav app, according to my limited research, but if anyone knows anything different, feel free to comment.

In reply to Herdwickmatt:

Hey Matty, if you want a phone that picks up a signal quickly you'll need to look for one with aGPS (Assisted GPS) - it uses your mobile signal to roughly triangulate your position, helping the phone to find the satellites much quicker. Beware though: using GPS and mapping software is a real battery drainer. My HTC Desire manages about 2 hours from constant use - not enough for most things I do. You could combine it with a solar charger, but it depends how much sunlight there is.

In reply to Herdwickmatt: I've got a Motorola Defy which is great. The battery life is the only draw back but then it would be with all smart phones. I turn mine off till I need it. As far as GPS goes - for constant use I'd say no, as it eats battery, but to check where you are in a whiteout etc it's ideal. I use View Ranger with 1:50000 maps which I got all the more popular mountain ranges for about 30 quid... you can also get 25000 so a good selection. In practice it's pretty straightforwards to use... I've not regreted getting it and I was an old school crap phone user before. It has toughened screen and is water and shock resistant... just the job.

In reply to KA:
It doesn't seem to be free though. £3.99 I think. Probably bargainous at that price.

Here is my list:

- general location: Google Maps/Google Latitude
- general track logging: Google My Tracks - http://mytracks.appspot.com/
- cycling: CycleStreets - http://www.cyclestreets.net/
- running/fitness: RunKeeper - http://runkeeper.com/home
- satnav: Sygic GPS Navigation - http://www.sygic.com/

In reply to Herdwickmatt:
have a look at alpinequest - you can download any maps you like including OS 1:25000 tiles for free using mobac - http://mobac.sourceforge.net/ although for some reason you will need version 1.8 to access the multimap os tiles (the latest revision doesnt support this)- see http://alpinequest.psyberia.net/english/help/maps_create. If it helps, you need to download levels 8 thru 15 for the 25k os maps and 8 thru 14 for the 1:50k
works fine for me - I have a motorola defy through work, an amazing phone which does seem waterproof/shockproof as claimed, has a similar sized screen to the iphone 4 but is a lot smaller (especially as you dont need any case)
And

In reply to mike kann: View ranger sounds useful can you also log in to print off hard copies eg to laminate and carry?

In reply to mloskot:

so with the sygic satnav, you can use overseas without downloading data, right? (I'm assumign that google navigation satnav app does exactly this and would work out quite expensive quite quickly)

In reply to d508934: Yes, it (both) is right.
Google Navigation is online-only system, though offline version has been announced planned

http://androidandme.com/2011/06/applications/google-navigation-to-get-true-...

In reply to Herdwickmatt:

I like Maverick Pro:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.codesector.maverick.full&hl=e...
Not free, but cheap