using an old (non activated) android phone for gps maps in car. possible?

[WeeTallDidTiming]

recently i got a new phone and my htc evo just sits around and collects dust
i was thinking about using it as a permanent gps unit in my car for tun by turn.
i always used google nav and simply hate the fact iphone has no support for it.

my questions
can turn by turn gps still be used without a data connection?
gps function still works and i can connect to wifi for updates.

any way to pull map data and store it on the sd card instead of running from the app?

any other gps apps to suggest where map data is stored on sd card?

[Jesse]

Google maps will pre-cache the map around your route, so you could queue it up with wifi connection, then take it to the car and be on your way.

Additionally, Google Maps allows you to download map areas for offline use, however, it will only download a 10 mile radius around a specific locations, so you'd have to download many individual locations independently to create a larger map. You cannot download the entire state, or US map at once. I don't know if there is a limit to the number of locations you can download the surrounding map for.. I currently have 4 cached to cover all of central CT.

to enable this functionality:

Google Maps -> settings -> labs -> enable pre-cache map area -> return to maps -> long press on a location -> touch the address bubble that appears -> select pre-cache map area.

To remove cached locations. Google maps -> settings -> cache settings -> Clear map tile cache (delete all) OR pre-cached map areas -> delete individually

There are apps available that allow for downloading of maps.

Mapquest is free, but I don't know if it supports map dl
https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...e=related_apps

Other paid apps certainly do though, like CoPilot live

[robbyb413]

any other gps apps to suggest where map data is stored on sd card?

Same as it's ever been... Garmin.

[bora.the.explora]

Same as it's ever been... Garmin.

I use navigon (owned by garmin) on my iOS device. it's been my favorite GPS app and I've tried plenty.

[Deezy]

I use navigon (owned by garmin) on my iOS device. it's been my favorite GPS app and I've tried plenty.

Navigon owns.

sent with no responsibility from my solar powered Xbox 720.

[JimmyD]

I use navigon (owned by garmin) on my iOS device. it's been my favorite GPS app and I've tried plenty.

Navigon owns.

sent with no responsibility from my solar powered Xbox 720.

Do you guys have any experience with Navigon on an Android device? This thread is regarding Android apps. If the Navigon app works great for you guys, it may not be the same experience for Android users.

The reviews in the Android market are very mixed about the Navigon app for Android with almost as many 1 star reviews as 5 star reviews. While I'm very interested in the Navigon Android app, there's no way I'm paying $40 for an app with the reviews it's currently getting.

[Jesse]

Reviews of Android Navigon do seemed to be a fixed bag.. from working flawlessly, to not being able to install maps or even run the app. Alot of negative reviews are about the price though, and the added cost to get life traffic..

I'd investigate how it runs on your particular phone and decide based on that.

[WeeTallDidTiming]

i do actually have an ios (4s) phone too so we dont have to keep discussion limited to android only.

but im avoiding using my iphone for nav because i want to use my evo as a permanent in dash solution. i plan on wiring an extra hidden cig lighter port and using my old car charger.
in my subaru i have a triple center gauge pod that is empty with gauges and my evo fits in the pod perfect. with a little bit of tinkering it will actually look oem.

last night i found a free gps app for android called navfree us. i haven't messed with it much but so far it seems to work pretty well for being free. its also a dedicated app that doesn't need data connection and thats exactly what i wanted.

[bora.the.explora]

the reviews for navigon on iOS app store kinda suck, too. I like it though. I remember that it was slow to load on my previous iPhone 3G. it's quick and reliable on anything iphone4 and newer, though.

[bora.the.explora]

reviews are pretty good for navfree. I downloaded it a while back but haven't really used it.

[emmkaytwo]

dunno if it works well when not on a network but Waze is my go to GPS.

[Deezy]

Do you guys have any experience with Navigon on an Android device? This thread is regarding Android apps. If the Navigon app works great for you guys, it may not be the same experience for Android users.

The reviews in the Android market are very mixed about the Navigon app for Android with almost as many 1 star reviews as 5 star reviews. While I'm very interested in the Navigon Android app, there's no way I'm paying $40 for an app with the reviews it's currently getting.

Works like a champ on my Android.

sent with no responsibility from my solar powered Xbox 720.

[Vision33r]

Since there are hundreds of different Android devices all with variation of GPS quality and processing power. Good hardware will do well and poor hardware will do really bad regardless how great the software is.

When I paired my Samsung Galaxy Note LTE with Google NAV. It is probably the best NAVI combo I can think of. 5.3" 720p Super AMOLED screen. LTE 4G speed gave me almost instant street view. The only annoyance is the amount of email notifications that kept interrupting the NAVI voice directions. One glaring Android problem that exist today is that notification audible alerts do not mix with other audio streams.

A year ago I've used Google NAV on the Samsung Galaxy S and it was really darn bad because of an existing GPS signal problem. I was better off driving without it.