Favorite Android Apps (2 Viewers)

[Hanson]

It will cache all the maps for the trip if you follow the route all the way through to the end to force the program to load all the maps. Otherwise, it will only load maps for the next few miles. Also, it will only save the level of detail you've loaded -- if you zoom out during the trip while you're offline, those maps will not be there.

If you remap or do another search, it will dump out all your current data.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Originally Posted by Hanson Yoo
It will cache all the maps for the trip if you follow the route all the way through to the end to force the program to load all the maps.

Not sure I understand this. Do you mean using some sort of simulation mode to force this (which might take significant extra time to run)? OR does it do this as part of the normal trip calc/routing?

_Man_

 

[Hanson]

You know, I thought that part would be confusing.

If you use your finger to follow the route on the phone to the final destination, it will force the maps surrounding the route to load. Those will stay cached offline. If you don't do this, you will run out of maps a few miles into the trip.

I don't know how much clearer that is.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Originally Posted by Hanson Yoo
You know, I thought that part would be confusing.

If you use your finger to follow the route on the phone to the final destination, it will force the maps surrounding the route to load. Those will stay cached offline. If you don't do this, you will run out of maps a few miles into the trip.

I don't know how much clearer that is.

Hmmm... But you also mentioned earlier that it only saves "the level of detail you've loaded", so does that mean you'd have to trace the route (w/ finger) at street level nav mode? That doesn't seem feasible to do -- would be better if it just provided a fast simulation mode to do that for you (so you at least don't need to trace it w/ finger).

Otherwise, sounds pretty cool, especially after checking out some more details and the video here:

http://www.google.com/mobile/navigation/

Is it really still in beta or is the site just not up-to-date on that?

I guess the only other concern (vs using traditional, dedicated GPS w/ offline maps) might be the additional potential "big brother" issue (although just using GPS at all means you can be tracked anyway)...

Thanks.

_Man_

 

[Hanson]

It's a bit tedious, but it really only takes a few minutes to drag the map around from start to finish on the street level for a 50 mile trip. It is, of course, not an optimal solution, but then again, it's not how the software was intended to work, so a kludges go, I've dealt with worse. I mean, I had WinMo phones for three years!

All of the Google Nav info is up to date. I have used most of the bells and whistles listed at one time or another. One time, we were looking to pick up some cheese in upstate NY for a tailgate, so I hit the voice search and said, "supermarket". Nav told me there was a Food Emporium a half a mile away. Well, it might have been there sometime in the past, but we drove into a retirement community. I should have stuck with the A&P that was a mile away from the get go (which is where we ended up getting the cheese). It happens.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Hmmm... Maybe they should just add a function/option to download all map data for the entire (or variably larger portion of the) route so that potential lack of connectivity won't be a problem. If they don't add that, I wonder why not.

_Man_

 

[kaisera]

Android app is store has a number of best android application but my favourite is Angry Bird which is now available for both Android and iPhone

 

[Hanson]

Here you go Man:

http://techcrunch.com/2010/12/06/android-map-app-3d-compass-offline/

The next upgrade to the Maps program will feature 3D buildings, compass based map rotation (which is really great for those who exit a subway station disoriented), and... CACHED MAPS.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Sounds good, Hanson. Thanks. But would one be able to easily upgrade to that version of Google Maps/Nav on current smartphones? Near as I can tell, Verizon's Motorola Droid X now comes w/ Android 2.2 although I'm thinking I should probably wait some more to see what's coming (and when) for Verizon's 4G LTE network, etc. in the near future.

I don't suppose the iPhone can make use of this, correct? That could be one substantial differentiater, if Verizon does come out w/ an iPhone w/in the next month.

_Man_

 

[Hanson]

I'm not sure if there is a 2.2 requirement, but I believe that all the current Verizon Android phones are on 2.2 (the few that aren't will be EOL very soon).

 

[Hanson]

BTW, the new Google Maps update has arrived. I'll have to play around with it.

 

[DaveF]

Originally Posted by ManW_TheUncool
I don't suppose the iPhone can make use of this, correct? That could be one substantial differentiater, if Verizon does come out w/ an iPhone w/in the next month.

_Man_

Not immediately. Since the Google Maps app is an app provided with iOS, I would guess that if this update comes to iOS, it won't be seen until iOS 5. But I'm just speculating.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Originally Posted by DaveF
Not immediately. Since the Google Maps app is an app provided with iOS, I would guess that if this update comes to iOS, it won't be seen until iOS 5. But I'm just speculating.

Can the current iPhone do good turn-by-turn GPS nav, etc. using Google Maps/Nav (or something else)? We don't necessarily need fancy 3D renderings, but having the smartphone replace a dedicated GPS unit would make a substantial diff.

_Man_

 

[DaveF]

Google Maps doesn't do voice nav on the iPhone. It will give directions and track your progress; you can visually follow along. But no audible announcements to "TURN IN 500 FEET".

There are a number of free, cheap and full-priced apps that are complete GPS solutions. I recently bought the TomTom app and am using my iPhone as a dash-mounted GPS for driving. (You can read about it in the TomTom thread in the Mac forum).

 

[Hanson]

I usually turn on the Nav and turn off the screen. I can get around with just the turn by turn voice directions. And it does a great job of switching from the music player or podcast player to the Nav program and back.

A definite killer app. And the new features like compass and 3D buildings will be even more killer for urban areas -- the other week, I got out of the subway near the World Trade Center site, and due to a blocked bridge, the walking directions were useless. With my sense of direction, it was difficult to pinpoint where I was in relation to the buildings and such. The compass feature would have come in very handy. Anyone who uses subways to get around the city will find it indispensable. There's nothing more disorienting for me that coming out of a subway station I'm not used to. Takes me a while to find my bearings.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

My sense of direction (at least for travel-by-foot/subway in the city) is generally pretty good, but yeah, it's not easy finding your way around in unfamiliar territory.

My wife will be the guinea pig for this, and she can definitely use the nav help more than me (both for driving and walking). The GPS functionality certainly sounds like a killer app for smartphones -- and probably makes the cost of added data plan more justifiable.


Dave,

How much does TomTom charge for that iPhone GPS app? We've been using a few-yo Magellan Maestro GPS for driving nav. Works well enough, but the maps are getting too outdated (and too expensive to bother updating). I almost bought a new replacement GPS unit during BF week, but Magellan's recent problems w/ their switch to TeleAtlas maps gave me enough pause to start looking into other solutions, including this aspect of smartphones -- perfect timing it seems. TomTom seems to be doing better than Magellan for dedicated GPS devices lately, but they seem to be getting complaints about hardware reliability (on Amazon anyway) -- I guess that would not impact their app for the iPhone(?).


Thanks again, guys!

_Man_

 

[Hanson]

Getting around Manhattan is a cinch above 14th street, but once I get downtown, all bets are off. I would never even contemplate driving in downtown Manhattan.

 

[DaveF]

TomTom app is $50 +- depending on map set. And I ebayed my 2008 garmin kit for $50.
Even if I had voice nav in google maps, I'd buy a complete gps app. And the 3D featutre sounds like an awesome demo, but not somethin I'd use but once a year.
But my needs are the suburban driver opposite to Hanson's urban public transit.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

Does the TomTom app use the same TeleAtlas maps as their dedicated units? Are the maps/data loaded on-demand for JIT use during navigation (like Google Maps/Nav), preloaded per trip/route/recalc, or fully preloaded for completely offline access (like on dedicated units)?

Good to have 3rd party options though I'd think Android will get its own 3rd party options soon enough too, if it doesn't already. If a 3rd party app uses different maps (or is different enough), it might even make sense to have both for some situations as these GPS apps/devices aren't perfect -- and $50 isn't bad at all...

_Man_

 

[DaveF]

TomTom is a 1.5GB app with complete mapset. It also has a complete POI database. It has various routing options including TT's IQ system. It has full spoken directions with synthetic voices and generic directions with high quality recorded voices. I presume it's TomTom's full and complete system. It's everything and more than my dedicated Garmin did.
As I describe in the TomTom thread, I would not trust my vacation driving to a dynamically loaded map system.
But I hope the new google maps comes to iPhone. It's described as being more data efficient, which seems a big boon to people like me on a 200MB 3G plan. And the 3D stuff would be nice when I'm a tourist in a big city.