Just back from a visit to my brother in Bishop Stortford. Used Google maps as sat nav for the first time - very impressed.
At one stage the traffic slammed on the anchors ahead of me and came to a standstill. In less than a minute the route had gone from blue to red to indicate a holdup.
Coming back on A66, roadworks on the single carriageway stretch. Huge tailbacks but it had already picked me a route down some questionable lanes that ran parallel with the A66 and saved me the best part of half an hour I think!
On the 6 hour journey it used about 200MB data.
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>> On the 6 hour journey it used about 200MB data.
You can cache maps on Google. Includes directions etc these days. Maybe the area allowed would not cover your journey. It would reduce data.
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Google maps has saved my bacon a few times.
I recently entered a destination, and it told me the shop would still be closed when I got there, giving me the opening time.
I warns me if my journey to work is likely to be slower or faster than usual.
It uses data from other google map users. But has a clever algorithm which discounts data from delivery drivers, etc.
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I forgot another feature I use regularly.
If I search for somewhere on my home PC (on google maps), it appears at the top of the list when I fire up google maps on my phone - all ready to navigate there.
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>> I forgot another feature I use regularly.
>>
>> If I search for somewhere on my home PC (on google maps), it appears at
>> the top of the list when I fire up google maps on my phone -
>> all ready to navigate there.
Yes i am a recent convert to google maps. The traffic updates are quick and accurate. Use it most of the the time now over the TomTom. With the recent ability to download and cache an area or country (or world if your sd card is big enough) so negating the need for a network connection, might even leave it at home for this years Spain trip.
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I didn't cache as I assumed this meant you would be using offline and therefore not get the live traffic situation?
Assume it doesn't work that way?
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>> I didn't cache as I assumed this meant you would be using offline and therefore
>> not get the live traffic situation?
>> Assume it doesn't work that way?
If you cache you still get traffic if you have a data connection. However in Spain, roaming will be turned off for obvious reasons.
Last edited by: Zero on Tue 22 Mar 16 at 09:06
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Is there an easy way to save the maps other than doing the zoom/pinch area by area and reducing it accordingly till small enough to save?
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>> Is there an easy way to save the maps other than doing the zoom/pinch area
>> by area and reducing it accordingly till small enough to save?
The suitability of google maps is now only really limited by how good your phone is. As I bought a phone with a sd card slot, and I have a 32gb card, I dont have to be too picky about how I trim down the area.
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"The suitability of google maps is now only really limited by how good your phone is. As I bought a phone with a sd card slot, and I have a 32gb card, I dont have to be too picky about how I trim down the area."
That's very interesting. My phone seems to store the downloaded maps in its memory and the there is no provision to move the data to the installed SD card. Obviously am missing something. Can you point me in the right direction please?
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>> "The suitability of google maps is now only really limited by how good your phone
>> is. As I bought a phone with a sd card slot, and I have a
>> 32gb card, I dont have to be too picky about how I trim down the
>> area."
>>
>> That's very interesting. My phone seems to store the downloaded maps in its memory and
>> the there is no provision to move the data to the installed SD card. Obviously
>> am missing something. Can you point me in the right direction please?
android.stackexchange.com/questions/23525/force-google-maps-to-save-cached-maps-on-sd-card
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Well I read that and it doesn't really help. I am running the latest version of Google Maps and there is no provision to move data to the SD card. It is grayed out. Does your phone allow you to move the data?
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I have absolutely no idea what that means. I don't think I want to go there but a brief explanation would be appreciated.
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>> I have absolutely no idea what that means. I don't think I want to go
>> there but a brief explanation would be appreciated.
>>
Basically it means Google security is stripped away allowing functions - access to the root partition - that you don't normally get. One function is bypassing android telling you where you can stick stuff.
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I see. Something for those who understand these things. Best stick with the standard version I think.
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Normally phones have security on them which prevent you doing certain things. Rooting the phone bypasses the security. It is a Unix term and Android is essentially Unix.
Imagine a PC where you were a normal user, then the equivalent of "Rooting" would be to make yourself an Administrator.
Then you can change stuff.
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... the downside being it is sometimes risky to undertake, sometimes not reversible but always invalidates any warranty. I do some pretty sexy stuff with my phone but I've not rooted it. (I can save stuff to the SD card, and delete from it though).
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Some apps (rightly) don't work if you have a rooted Android device, e.g. Barclays Online banking.
One change I'd like to make on my Samsung Galaxy S6 is to change the XML file that would turn on WiFi calling which Vodafone now supports. Only way to do this is by rooting the phone. But this in turn will trip Samsung's security layer, Knox. That would break some things, e.g. I think the fingerprint sensor might stop working and for sure Samsung Pay (and probably Android Pay) won't work.
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So should be fine on my 64gb iPhone then? :)
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>> Is there an easy way to save the maps other than doing the zoom/pinch area
>> by area and reducing it accordingly till small enough to save?
You can download an area by searching for a city, county or country, for instance, and tapping ‘Download’ on the resulting place sheet, or by going to ‘Offline Areas’ in the Google Maps menu and tapping on the “+†button. Once downloaded, Google Maps will move into offline mode automatically when it recognizes you’re in a location with spotty service or no connectivity at all. When a connection is found, it will switch back online so you can easily access the full version of Maps, including live traffic conditions for your current route. By default, we’ll only download areas to your device when you are on a Wi-Fi connection to prevent large data fees.â€
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I've said before I've used it in a number of countries and it's pretty good everywhere so far.
I've not really managed to do the offline bit very well yet. it kind of worked but near the destination I took a dive off route for something and had trouble getting back in route - user error I expect.
I'm also using HERE which is similar but actually has a more informative display, and also knows the speed limit and warns you when exceeding it, plus it has free speed cameras (in the UK at least...). Not yet worked out how good it's traffic is but it seems to know what's going on.
Up till now for offline in another country I've always used NavMii (used to be called something else) but you have to download the entire map for the country which can be a fair bit of data. And it doesn't handle cross border routing well unless you get the paid version (not sure if that's the case with the others). They have added traffic info I believe but not used it yet because the others are so good... :-)
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>> If you cache you still get traffic if you have a data connection. However in
>> Spain, roaming will be turned off for obvious reasons.
>>
I use three. Used googlemaps extensively in Florida last year, for not much money.
www.three.co.uk/Discover/Phones/Feel_At_Home
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"With the recent ability to download and cache an area or country (or world if your sd card is big enough"
I think the limit is 120,000 square kilometres
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've used it a number of times, and am also impressed. Apart from the amount of data it uses if you use it live (rather than cached) is the availabilty of a data signal - not always there in the middle of the countryside! Works great in cities though.
Last edited by: Mike H on Tue 22 Mar 16 at 10:12
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I use following apps
Nokia Here Drive - when driving - you can download most countries' maps for offline use (as long as you got space in your mobile - the maps can be very large).
Maps.me - again you can download offline maps but I use this when I am walking/using public transport as its turn-by-turn navigation is not as good as Nokia Here Drive. It is excellent as tourist map as it is very detailed (for most countries in Europe).
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Here Drive+ seems good, and the maps as you say are stored on the phone. It does traffic (at least it warns of delays) but no idea where it gets it from.
I got a message when I opened it yesterday however, to the effect that it won't be available on Windows 10 after 30th June. My Lumia 1020 is still on 8.1x, I'm beginning to wonder of it will ever see Windows 10. Ditto the boss's Lumia 640.
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Last time I got held up on the M6 heading north, I tried firing up google maps on my iPhone 4. Although it worked, it was very slow and jerky.
Then I remembered another App that I had. Live Traffic Info (The App logo is Highways England). Told me straight away where the delay was, what the delay was, and how far I was away from it.
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>> it won't be available on Windows 10 after 30th June. My Lumia 1020 is still
>> on 8.1x, I'm beginning to wonder of it will ever see Windows 10. Ditto the
>> boss's Lumia 640.
>>
"HERE digital mapping and location services business have been sold to a consortium of car manufacturers including AUDI AG, BMW Group, and Daimler AG for €2.8 billion ($3 billion) after Uber and Microsoft dropped out of the bidding war."
I have been using Here maps & Here Drive too, downloading their maps for regions in the world as and when needed. Here's facility for offline GPS tracking has allowed navigation free of charge, without consuming any data.
It seems Microsoft is planning to replace them on Windows 10 with an in-house version using the base data sourced from Here maps.
www.windowscentral.com/microsoft-will-continue-use-here-maps-data
alternatives, but not entirely free:
www.windowscentral.com/great-alternatives-here-maps-windows-10-mobile
I think Here is available free on Android and iOS too.
Last edited by: BrianByPass on Wed 23 Mar 16 at 08:13
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I hope Here stays free on Android. I *think* they do make use of data from user devices to work out delays etc so I suspect their large user base is important to the product. They seem to be signing up manufacturers fairly successfully.
Last edited by: smokie on Wed 23 Mar 16 at 08:28
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Google maps for sat nav - rtj70
