GPS for Android-based Smartphones

I did a few searches and didn't find what I was looking for. It seems hard to believe that there isn't a mega-thread on this topic on advrider... So if there is, could someone please provide me a link? Otherwise...


I just dumped Apple for a Samsung Galaxy S3. On my iPhone I had been using Navigon. I know it is available for purchase for my GS3, but I was really unhappy with the app on my iPhone and am not in a hurry to give it a try on my new phone. What are you guys using for cell signal-free navigation? I ride on the street virtually always. I wander off onto some light trails occasionally, but it happens so infrequently and I'm usually close enough to a paved road that I don't need offroad navigation capability. I just want a good road navigation app.

So, what say ye advrider?

I have never heard anything good from any offline app, but I wanted to get in the conversation in case something has changed.

Have you tried google's program Navigation? You first can select maps, then from there, select the blue arrow icon and it will give you turn by turn.

navigation = googles own nav, built into google maps is the best in the world

offroad/offline = dualsportmaps (bad ui, ok offline, ok app), or oruxmaps, or whatever you find on the market.

for offline, I've given up on having a good reliable app. they jujst freeze, c rash, track wrong, or loose gps signal for no apparent reason. just today dualsportmaps had my phone shutting down while hiking. oruxmaps has the shittiest re-referencing and repositioning spontinaity ever.

ill be happy when they finally make offline maps effing WORK without all the extra bs settings, options, and stupid ui mistaks.

I think that Google maps app did have a good UI for downloading sections, areas of maps. I am not sure how well it works or if it works with navigation. I have t mobile and there are at times heading to NC from SC signal is not the best and have issues with the programs not creating a route. So, here's hoping you have good coverage even if you did download different maps.

The Google Navigation offline is nearly worthless. The allowable sections of map to be saved are too small. I'm looking for something with downloadable maps for an entire country/continent.

www.dualsportmaps.com. There's a thread in vendors, and an android app. Many many people swear by it. i've used it several times with great success.

+1 so far so good for me

That looks like a good app... Just not for what I'll be using it for.

you need to define more clearly then.

A road navigation device. Not an offroad navigation device. I want a turn-by-turn navigator.

What your looking for may be Motionx Drive (the road version of MotionX) but apparently it's an iPhone exclusive. Motionx rocks. http://news.motionx.com/category/motionx-gps-drive/

Then you did not do it right. Or what is "worthless" to you is gold to most. I have the entire west coast on my phone and it works. If I had no more memory and needed the entire country, a clever person would just download more when they do have a signal.

I have mentioned this several times with little reaction. Google Maps gives you exactly what the OP asks for. And it is free. That may be the problem, people seem to demand something they need to pay for. I would not want to be in the GPS or map selling business right now.

How did you load it into you phone? Is there an app for that to make it easy?

I've been using offline maps for a long time on my phone, and using my phone clipped to the handlebars.

I'm currently using CoPilot Live. This does almost everything I need. You can just have the maps on 2D or 3D ( I hate 3D). You can route using different rules for quickest or more scenic, etc. But it does not have tracks that are practical to export.

I also use OSMand+. Cheap. The maps are free. It does tracks well and has a pretty good feature set. Routing is a bit weak, but that isn't the reason I use it.It has a neat feature where you set the destination, and it gives you a simple map, with an arrow pointing towards the destination. You select the path you want to take by looking at the map or just randomly driving. You glance at the arrow occasionally to see if you are headed in the right general direction. Neat way to explore, yet still get to a destination.

Then there is Trapster and Waze. both are online maps with police and traffic camera warnings.

And of course Google maps, which are great for planning and searching, but limited on routing types.

I've tried Orux maps and a few others, but I just can't get used to them.

When I go to select an area on the phone, it only allows me to select about 75 mb worth of data. This gives me roughly a 60x60 mile section. I guess I could do this hundreds to thousands of times to get the entire US and Canada, but I'm just not willing to spend my time doing that. I then also have to hope that I didn't miss areas and worry about if overlapping areas will work seamlessly.

Is there a better way to do this? Is there an app for it?

Free is better. But, I'm willing to buy an app if it is superior to a free one.

Just use Google maps and click 'download'. It is built in.

Take a look at Locus... You can cache various maps including Google, Bing, USGS Topo, and can connect to your Google Maps saved maps.

There is a free version and a pay for use version.

If you want the entire country all available all the time then a Zuni is going to be your solution. There is no total solution on the android that I'm aware of.

As I said, CoPilot is one of many solutions. I have the entire US and Canada on my Android.