Offline Android GPS

[Spinal]

So while waiting for my new phone, I'm looking at the various apps... one I will definetly need is GPS.

That said, I travel quite a lot, so the google maps one wont work, as from what I understand, it needs a data connection to download the map as you go. Data + Roaming is a very, very expensive thing...

So, any advice as to which GPS suite I should get? I don't mind paying for it, as long as the price is reasonable...

The one thing that I would like is maps of Romania as that's my next trip... short of renting a GPS there, any recomendations?

M.

 

[st13phil]

The one thing that I would like is maps of Romania as that's my next trip... short of renting a GPS there, any recomendations?

Can't help on the App front, but digital cartography of Romania is all pretty incomplete in my experience. In fact, the paper maps available seemed pretty poor too

FWIW, NavTeq offered substantially broader (and deeper!) digital coverage of Romania than TeleAtlas when I was there a couple of years ago, so I would suggest that you should look at the Garmin / Nokia Maps offerings. That said, coverage will probably be limited to no more than the major routes outside the bigger cities and incomplete coverage even inside those.

 

[Sp!ke]

I'd stick to a standalone Garmin as they are pretty cheap and garmin has much better East Europe access. You can probably pick up one with the whole of Europe on for around the £100 mark and not worry about roaming data or having your phone in constant navigation use while travelling.

With Sat Nav, my experience is the smaller cheaper units are much more practical than the larger widescreen ones.

Garmin Coverage

 

[Spinal]

Thanks... but I'm not really keen on buying yet another GPS unit... I have 2x Windows mobile based phones with GPS, 1x Garmin unit (but with no turn-by-turn routing... so useless in a city. I use this outdoors), and soon an android phone... So I really don't want to buy yet another unit...

Plus, I will be cycling for the first half of the trip (ugh); so I want to keep weight down... so the less I can carry the better!

Does Garmin do something for Android platforms? I can't find it!

Seems like iGo specialises in eastern Europe... but I have no clue how to get their software... Is there a specific way of buying android apps (like iTunes); or can they be downloaded through a browser?

M.

 

[Sp!ke]

https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?t=9534

 

[Spinal]

Guess not... doh!

Ho humm.... do I go with my old michelin map and hope for the best?

What's life without some adventure... right?

I was thinking... does anyone know how hard getting a sim card in Romania is? Might be easier to just get a P&G sim card and just use the google app...

M

 

[agatward]

I have used the CoPilot Live v8 software for navigation and found it to be excellent.

CoPilot Live v8 for Android: ALK Technologies

The only parts that require a data connection are the Live services, navigation is standalone, and combined with the CoPilot central tool it is very easy to use.

 

[Stratman]

Something else to consider is battery life. 3G + GPS will run down your phone's battery in a matter of hours. Not important in a car with charging facilities but on a bicycle it could leave you in the lurch.

 

[Spinal]

Totally didn't think of that! Will order a couple of extra batteries today! 2 extras should do the trick (I'm just hoping the mountain refuges have electricity to recharge them!)

M.