Sat Nav capabilities without needing data connection?

Access

I found myself lost in the north up near bangor last weekend due to google maps on my galaxy S3...

as i am am on tesco mobile on O2 and they dont allow data roaming in the north or uk.

I usually use google maps navigation, but didnt realise it needs data connection to allow navigation - which there is none on tesco as they dont allow data roaming at all.

I have to go to the uk twice before the end of the year and am worried about not having navigation at all on my phone.

Is there any way around this or should i be looking at sat nav apps? - I dont mind if i have to download a huge map file for the uk and ireland... just as long as i can navigate without data connection.

What do people on here use for their navigation on their phones?

Thanks.

Grassey

Sygic.

Worth the price. Regularly have discount sales on the cost. Even googling should throw up a 25% off code.

I've used it across UK and mainland Europe with no issues.

Fluffy88

I have four offline maps apps on my phone.
CoPilot
Navfree
Navigator
OsmAnd

They all have completely offline maps and navigation built-in. There is problems with all of them that's why I have so many :-P

CoPilot is probably the best. Looks good, routes are accurate and it's fast. But I can't seem to make the route follow me correctly. The next turn on the route doesn't ever seem to update even though the map follows the car and I can see the next turn, the little box showing the distance and type of turn never updates.
CoPilot is a paid app, but it lets you download one map for free. UK & Ireland is all included in the one map so you'll get it for free :-)

After CoPilot Navfree is probably the best.

biko

I've used navfree in the past in US. It's not great (compared to Google Maps or pay apps) but it's free. As long as you don't stray too far from civilisation it'll be grand. Download the Irish/UK map bundle and use it around Ireland for a while.

Access

Thanks for all the replies...

The sygic app looks great... How much did you end up paying for the app? And once you pay for it... Does it cost to update or add different maps to it?

Navfree looks good too... Going to try that out this weekend. Any downsides to it in day to day use?

Might skip copilot though... Thanks for the info though.There looks like a good few galaxy s3 users found problems with updates on copilot during navigation like said previously.

Grassey

Paid 25ish for all European maps.

Maps get updated free every so often.

If I wanted to add say American or Australian maps that'd cost. But any of the euro ones I can download, delete, download again as needed.

Zillah

You can tell Google Maps to store map data offline and have that when there's no data. Navigation is weird, in that you have to have a connection to start the navigation but you can lose the data connection straight away and continue navigating no problem.

evolutionqy7

Zillah wrote: »

You can tell Google Maps to store map data offline and have that when there's no data. Navigation is weird, in that you have to have a connection to start the navigation but you can lose the data connection straight away and continue navigating no problem.

They removed the offline map caching in the latest version or they managed to hide it very well.

I use TomTom. Paid good 60 quid for it, but I have the whole of Europe offline on my phone. Good app and accurate roads, I've gotten pretty sick of Google maps as it has led me to weird places more times than I can count.

Only downside of tom tom you can't query Google's data for POIs

Grassey

evolutionqy7 wrote: »

They removed the offline map caching in the latest version or they managed to hide it very well

Type 'ok maps' into search and then enter. It caches the entire area on screen.

Not the best out of Google with this update... I they older method was much better.

C.O.Y.B.I.B

I used NavFree in Italy recently and found it great. Obviously not as good as Online , but very accurate all the same.

Access

Zillah wrote: »

You can tell Google Maps to store map data offline and have that when there's no data. Navigation is weird, in that you have to have a connection to start the navigation but you can lose the data connection straight away and continue navigating no problem.

Yep... That is exactly what happened to me... Left home to head up the north to Bangor so no probs with data connection at home... But as soon as i got into the car in Bangor to head home google maps couldnt get a data connection up north so no navigation.

I did see like you say about storing the maps offline in google maps, but i found that it would only hold the map data for a town area the size of Trim and any place bigger it would refuse to.

Ive been messing around with navfree for the past couple of hours but wont be able to road test it till tomorrow... And it looks good apart from the annoying ads but thats something i can put up with for now and besides there is an option to pay a couple of euro to remove them.

I do like the google search on it too for when data is available.

Access

Grassey wrote: »

Paid 25ish for all European maps.

Maps get updated free every so often.

If I wanted to add say American or Australian maps that'd cost. But any of the euro ones I can download, delete, download again as needed.

Thanks for the info... One more question though... What happens if you change your phone... Is the app linked to your google account or is it something like an email with a code in it that you enter into the app when you download the app to your new phone?

Grassey

Access wrote: »

Thanks for the info... One more question though... What happens if you change your phone... Is the app linked to your google account or is it something like an email with a code in it that you enter into the app when you download the app to your new phone?

Good question...

I don't know. I got an unlock code emailed after purchase and entered this into app. I would assume it's tied to email as you need to register on their website.

Forgot to mention though if you download the app from play store you get 30 days unlimited maps free to trial.

GIMP

Access wrote: »

I found myself lost in the north up near bangor last weekend due to google maps on my galaxy S3...

as i am am on tesco mobile on O2 and they dont allow data roaming in the north or uk.

I usually use google maps navigation, but didnt realise it needs data connection to allow navigation - which there is none on tesco as they dont allow data roaming at all.

I have to go to the uk twice before the end of the year and am worried about not having navigation at all on my phone.

Is there any way around this or should i be looking at sat nav apps? - I dont mind if i have to download a huge map file for the uk and ireland... just as long as i can navigate without data connection.

What do people on here use for their navigation on their phones?

Thanks.

Tesco mobile do allow data roaming in NI/UK, I use it flawlessly all the time up there and in south of England.

GIMP

Access wrote: »

I found myself lost in the north up near bangor last weekend due to google maps on my galaxy S3...

as i am am on tesco mobile on O2 and they dont allow data roaming in the north or uk.

I usually use google maps navigation, but didnt realise it needs data connection to allow navigation - which there is none on tesco as they dont allow data roaming at all.

I have to go to the uk twice before the end of the year and am worried about not having navigation at all on my phone.

Is there any way around this or should i be looking at sat nav apps? - I dont mind if i have to download a huge map file for the uk and ireland... just as long as i can navigate without data connection.

What do people on here use for their navigation on their phones?

Thanks.

Tesco mobile do allow data roaming in NI/UK, I use it flawlessly all the time up there and in south of England.

Access

GIMP wrote: »

Tesco mobile do allow data roaming in NI/UK, I use it flawlessly all the time up there and in south of England.

Ah fair enough... Just got a reply from tesco to confirm that they do allow data roaming... But at 30c per mb. 50c per mb outside ni/uk!

Still think the offline option is better... Would only switch on data if i couldnt track down a place.

Access

Just to give anyone a heads up on navfree...

I have used it a lot over the weekend and here is what i found...

It eats battery... This is a common enough problem as reported in the reviews on google play... But on a 45 min journey from Trim to Drogheda it brought a galaxy s3 with a recently newly purchased extended battery fitted from 90 to 23 percent!

The phone was very very hot to touch also which was a bit worrying.

This was the only app running on the phone too... I killed off all others before i ran navfree.

I have found some map errors and a few missing minor roads here around meath and it has tried to send me down a neighbours closed off farm yard road twice to cut across to a main road ... I thought it might be down to the navfree app being set on shortest route, but this wasnt the case.

It grand for a free app, it has a nice display and easy to use, but i dont think i would trust it over a proper satnav if im honest.

I am going to try out the other satnav apps in the next while.

biebiebie

Access wrote: »

I have found some map errors and a few missing minor roads here around meath and it has tried to send me down a neighbours closed off farm yard road twice to cut across to a main road ... I thought it might be down to the navfree app being set on shortest route, but this wasnt the case.

If you click on an incorrect road and then on the road name, one of the options is "Report map mistake". The more mistakes reported the more correct the maps will be.

I've used Navfree the odd time when data connection was too bad to be used for Google maps, or when abroad. It's a good free alternative and one I always keep installed and at hand.

ThisRegard

Grassey wrote: »

Type 'ok maps' into search and then enter. It caches the entire area on screen.

Not the best out of Google with this update... I they older method was much better.

I was trying to figure out how I cached my maps recently as I wasn't aware of the "OK maps" way and just figured out how, just tap the Search bar on top and scroll to the bottom of your search history and you'll see the Make this map area available offline option.

I've always used Google maps and navigation for sat nav without having a data connection and unless you go wildly off course it even will do some minor re-reouting.

Access wrote: »

I did see like you say about storing the maps offline in google maps, but i found that it would only hold the map data for a town area the size of Trim and any place bigger it would refuse to.

I have practically the entire east coast of the country cached, you have to play around with the size of the tiles but you can certainly mark a tile the size of a county and bigger for downloading.

homer911

I'm a big fan of Route 66. the maps are all free, you pay for the voice guided navigation. You can purchase a months license for about a fiver for western europe. Dont know the pricing for the uk.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.route66.maps5&hl=en

Access

homer911 wrote: »

I'm a big fan of Route 66. the maps are all free, you pay for the voice guided navigation. You can purchase a months license for about a fiver for western europe. Dont know the pricing for the uk.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.route66.maps5&hl=en

I did have route 66 on a proper sat nav before... But the reviews on the route 66 app from google playstore are brutal and very damning.

Dont think id touch it to be honest.

opus

I picked up copilot during a sale over a year ago and have used it around the UK, France & South Africa (after buying an extra licence) and have found it very good.