Sat Nav options for smart phone?
- Thread starter Ice Rich
- Start date
I have used Sygic and CoPilot as paid apps, CoPilot works better than Sygic, but Sygic is nicer to use IMHO.
As far as free versions go, I have tried a fair few, and my favourite at the moment is Waze, as it is snappy and pretty reliable, but the voice doesn't seem very loud or clear which is incredibly annoying.
Google Maps navigation is pretty good if you want barebones navigation, but you get none of the advanced options.
As far as free versions go, I have tried a fair few, and my favourite at the moment is Waze, as it is snappy and pretty reliable, but the voice doesn't seem very loud or clear which is incredibly annoying.
Google Maps navigation is pretty good if you want barebones navigation, but you get none of the advanced options.
I'm not sure, but I never encountered issues with loading times, speed of recalculation etc, it all seemed very quick.
I stopped using it because it was freezing on me, but don't worry about that, I'm 99% sure that it is because my phone has an unusual CPU (2GHz Atom) which causes a fair few compatibility issues - it is completely fine on my old phone, and my friends phone (dual core / quad core ARM)
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Google Navigation uses vector mapping so loading is fast and slick. It will cache the whole route and any potential off turns during initial calculation. You can even long press a map area and download it locally for offline use.
Yup.
Simply click on the displayed campsite icons after doing a search or swipe the bottom section left and right to cycle through them. Drag or swipe the same area up to load info on it and save a local copy of the map for it, see reviews and so on.
Also if you view them in the web based Google Maps on a PC you can save them:
And they will show up on your mobile Maps app as stars, click on it to get info/navigate etc.
Simply click on the displayed campsite icons after doing a search or swipe the bottom section left and right to cycle through them. Drag or swipe the same area up to load info on it and save a local copy of the map for it, see reviews and so on.
Also if you view them in the web based Google Maps on a PC you can save them:
And they will show up on your mobile Maps app as stars, click on it to get info/navigate etc.
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Yes when adding a contact on your phone make sure it's saved to your Google Contacts instead of the phone so it is synchronised with your Google account and reachable from any platform where you're logged into your Google account.
Google account sync is push based so only downloads data as and when it arrives. If you peer into the Accounts area of your settings screen under Google on the phone you will see all the components of your Google account that are synchronising this way and you can turn any of them off. I'd recommend leaving them on for obvious reasons
Google account sync is push based so only downloads data as and when it arrives. If you peer into the Accounts area of your settings screen under Google on the phone you will see all the components of your Google account that are synchronising this way and you can turn any of them off. I'd recommend leaving them on for obvious reasons
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Thank you,
Yes on this new phone I logged into Google but only part of my contacts were showing. So I re-synced on old phone (I never had auto-sync on) and now new phone is displaying correctly.
I think it will be sensible to leave Auto always on from now on (with new phone).
I think I disabled it some time back as I was told it saved the battery? Regarding other settings, are there any you would recommend to always have off (manual)?
Data-roaming and Wifi I think is best off (I get 3g for net)?
Yes on this new phone I logged into Google but only part of my contacts were showing. So I re-synced on old phone (I never had auto-sync on) and now new phone is displaying correctly.
I think it will be sensible to leave Auto always on from now on (with new phone).
I think I disabled it some time back as I was told it saved the battery? Regarding other settings, are there any you would recommend to always have off (manual)?
Data-roaming and Wifi I think is best off (I get 3g for net)?
Depending on your location and network signal strength you may find WiFi on gains your more battery life. Modern handsets are quite efficient here and even with WiFi on you will notice the battery info screen not listing WiFi in the rundown of apps that have used battery power.
The WiFi radio draws less power than the 3G radio so if you're in a weak network signal area then be sure to use WiFi as the data part of the 3G radio won't need to constantly struggle to keep the signal stable for data I guess.
Simply leaving WiFi on as a toggle though (even if you're not connected to a wireless network) won't make a huge difference. Newer versions of Android have the option to make use of WiFi info even when WiFi is turned off. this has a few good uses like location polling in Maps/Location history. Finding your phone with better accuracy if it gets lost via Android Device Manager or Cerberus, stuff like that.
However you may well find turning off Google Now saves you some battery as Google Now will regularly update itself with new cards based on your activity with the phone and generally around Google services everywhere to show relevant info such as travel info, stuff you've shopped for before or searched on web Google. It used to drain battery quite heavily in the past but newer versions are much better. Every little counts I guess!
Turn off Google Now in the Settings Screen from the "Google Search" app. if it's been turned on.
The WiFi radio draws less power than the 3G radio so if you're in a weak network signal area then be sure to use WiFi as the data part of the 3G radio won't need to constantly struggle to keep the signal stable for data I guess.
Simply leaving WiFi on as a toggle though (even if you're not connected to a wireless network) won't make a huge difference. Newer versions of Android have the option to make use of WiFi info even when WiFi is turned off. this has a few good uses like location polling in Maps/Location history. Finding your phone with better accuracy if it gets lost via Android Device Manager or Cerberus, stuff like that.
However you may well find turning off Google Now saves you some battery as Google Now will regularly update itself with new cards based on your activity with the phone and generally around Google services everywhere to show relevant info such as travel info, stuff you've shopped for before or searched on web Google. It used to drain battery quite heavily in the past but newer versions are much better. Every little counts I guess!
Turn off Google Now in the Settings Screen from the "Google Search" app. if it's been turned on.
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Currently use waze but also have Navigator and nav free installed
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Navigon is what i use, offline and gives you 3 routes to choose from, even has speed camera locations.
If you're interested in traffic avoidance, the best data comes from Tomtom. It's theoretically capable of detecting congestion on over 99% of roads and I've seen enough to confirm that this works the majortiy of the time. Every other traffic service I've used has been a case of hit and miss. Tomtom is way out in front for both traffic and routing.
Route 66 Navigate use the Tomtom map and traffic data and have a free trial for 30 days. The routing is usually very sensible. I would highly recommend giving it a look. If you do decide to buy, it's cheaper than Tomtom's own app. If you set the traffic avoidance to automatic, redirection is obvious but entirely hands free. On the occasions when the traffic data doesn't pick up incidents it also has a feature to manually block certain roads.
Google Navigation is continually improving but Tomtom still picks up traffic on roads where Google never detects it. Google's advantage is up-to-date mapping (Route 66 updates are twice a year) and far better search plus OS integration.
As well as those two, I've used Waze, Navigon, Navfree, Sygic, Tomtom, Copilot, M8 and others. Route 66 and Google Navigation really are top of the pile but they both have their advantages and disadvantages.
I short, if I could have a satnav app that did everything well, I'd probably go for:
- OS integration, search function and map update frequency from Google
- Voice directions and TTS traffic reports from Navigon (if you wanted entirely audio driven directions it's brilliant)
- Live Traffic data from Tomtom (and Route 66 Navigate - it's the same)
- Routing from Route 66 Navigate
- Graphics from Sygic
- Route planning and modifications system from copilot
Edit: Tomtom do have their own android app, which is just not as slick as Route 66 Navigate and is more expensive. They will also be launching a new app, Tomtom Go, soon. This will be based on a freemium model - so you get about 70km a month navigation and traffic etc free a month. Over that you need to pay. Tomtom Go is currently only available in Italy but should launch worldwide soon.
Route 66 Navigate use the Tomtom map and traffic data and have a free trial for 30 days. The routing is usually very sensible. I would highly recommend giving it a look. If you do decide to buy, it's cheaper than Tomtom's own app. If you set the traffic avoidance to automatic, redirection is obvious but entirely hands free. On the occasions when the traffic data doesn't pick up incidents it also has a feature to manually block certain roads.
Google Navigation is continually improving but Tomtom still picks up traffic on roads where Google never detects it. Google's advantage is up-to-date mapping (Route 66 updates are twice a year) and far better search plus OS integration.
As well as those two, I've used Waze, Navigon, Navfree, Sygic, Tomtom, Copilot, M8 and others. Route 66 and Google Navigation really are top of the pile but they both have their advantages and disadvantages.
I short, if I could have a satnav app that did everything well, I'd probably go for:
- OS integration, search function and map update frequency from Google
- Voice directions and TTS traffic reports from Navigon (if you wanted entirely audio driven directions it's brilliant)
- Live Traffic data from Tomtom (and Route 66 Navigate - it's the same)
- Routing from Route 66 Navigate
- Graphics from Sygic
- Route planning and modifications system from copilot
Edit: Tomtom do have their own android app, which is just not as slick as Route 66 Navigate and is more expensive. They will also be launching a new app, Tomtom Go, soon. This will be based on a freemium model - so you get about 70km a month navigation and traffic etc free a month. Over that you need to pay. Tomtom Go is currently only available in Italy but should launch worldwide soon.
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Slightly off topic.... but why on earth would you want to holiday in King's Lynn... and seriously Google can't even spell it right, there's an apostrophe in King's lolYup.
AS to the topic - google maps is good but I've also got nav free (it's not the prettiest app ever) installed too for those far too common no data areas out this way (near King's Lynn
)Many thanks for all help guys, most appreciated.
Cheers mrk, will do as suggested, thanks for reply.
Whilst on topic of wifi access, am I being paranoid or should I take any caution when connecting to open public wifi (i.e in a shop) - should I be using any kind of firewall on the phone?
Thanks,
Cheers mrk, will do as suggested, thanks for reply.
Whilst on topic of wifi access, am I being paranoid or should I take any caution when connecting to open public wifi (i.e in a shop) - should I be using any kind of firewall on the phone?
Thanks,
The public wifi point should be isolated anyway if it's an authorised network like BT Openzone/The Cloud etc etc. if it's some Joe's own router then they may not have WiFi isolation enabled so others on the same network could see your phone connected and sniff out packets.
In most cases you should be fine and firewalls and things will just tax resources on your phone.
In most cases you should be fine and firewalls and things will just tax resources on your phone.
I like Waze because the routes are decent and you can choose a zoom level and disable auto zoom, which I really hate. Trouble is it destroys battery life. You literally lose about 1% every 2 or 3 minutes. Granted a car charger will fix that, but the way everything combined heats up the phone (charging, GPS, data connection, screen constantly on etc.) can be quite worrying. As someone mentioned earlier, it is a bit quiet too.