Best Android Sat Nav App

bluesnake

robj4y wrote: »

can you use these on an android tablet with usb OTG [on the go] host , ie navfree etc ?

position location is done by GPS (preferable), or cell tower triangulation, so you must have a gps receiver in your tablet, or a sim card.

Secondly is screen resolution - may inhibit the use, as many devices still use a set screen size on phones and they are all often odd layouts, not like the PC standards.

Think the rest should work, but you do not really know until you try it on your hardware, but it should be able to google it.

I also prefer waze, but it has guided me down wrong roads, wrong way up one way streets, and down dead end roads that are separated by bollards and footpath leading to a main carriage way. Value for money it is great, but would not buy it.

Another problem is flyovers, as the gps know your position, but not on which road you are on, especially if you lose signal for a brief moment.

Syman

bluesnake wrote: »

I also prefer waze, but it has guided me down wrong roads, wrong way up one way streets, and down dead end roads that are separated by bollards and footpath leading to a main carriage way. Value for money it is great, but would not buy it.

I have had one or two similar incidents with waze. But you can go to the website and edit maps to (hopefully) correct these problems.

ballyblack

Roughly how much data would the mobile use to have Google Maps (3G), operational for an hour in UK??



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Gloomendoom

That would depend on how fast you are moving.

ballyblack

Ok. Say around a city suburb 20-30 mph

Fellwalker

I have in the past used TomTom, but they stopped supporting Windows Mobile. I tried Copilot but its routing was bad - took me through town or city when the proper route should have been bypass - nearly missed a flight on one, and was late for an appointment on the other. Google is great for its Street view and routing at home for an idea, but data costs, and poor reception in the North East mean it is no good for daily use. I tried others, and finally settled on Sygic for my Android phone.

Sygic licence gives lifetime use, with 3 ish map updates a year (TomTom maps and POIs). Ultimately that is its downfall, as TomTom can be quite slow at updating maps, and in turn TomTom provides Sygic with Google's POIs, which are RUBBISH:mad:. Too many are in the wrong place - I was running to get on the tee for a golf match one day becase the POI was on the wrong side of the course on a road that was 3 miles from the true entrance. (Yes I do report them)

I use POIs which I download from PocketGPSWorld UK:T, and convert them to Sygic format (of course it is different!) to use. As they are crowd updated, they are usually more accurate. Even so, if the journey is time critical I always check on google maps satellite and street view!

I've now got OSMAnd, which is initially free for 10 downloads of maps or voices. I've since paid for the plus version with unlimited downloads. I use it for walking and driving. It uses Open Street Maps (as does NavFree) but no in-app purchases. I've used it in UK, France, Switzerland, Northern Ireland so far. I can download free contour data, and a parking add-in that I can use to get me back to my car. Ther is also a free ski add-in with piste maps for Europe, which I have used. It is regularly updated, and the available maps are regularly updated. Routing system has been updated this month (April 2014).

For outdoor walking, I use OMN - Outdoor Map Navigator, which uses Ordnance Survey maps bought and downloaded. Too expensive unless you need footpath maps, and then sometimes OSM is better.

BEWARE - NAVIGATION SYSTEMS USE AVERAGE ROAD SPEEDS BASED ON THE TYPE OF ROAD. Yesterday, in the Yorkshire Dales on an A road, the navigation system thought I could do 60 mph! I was lucky to do 40. On the very early TomTom for Windows Mobile, you could set your own speeds for different road types. Since then, I have never found this feature. Yes, I do know that certain versions of TomTom's PNDs (not phone app)use "real traffic data", as does Google navigation if you can get a signal.

All said, you cannot beat a good Ordnance Survey map or Atlas! And luck to avoid traffic hold ups.

RumRat

danensis wrote: »

Do these satnav systems have voice output? I don't fancy changing specs while driving so I can look at arrows on a screen.

:rotfl:Yes they act like all satnavs...

I've started using 'Navigator' Free on android and so far it's been solid.

PhilLondon

I think CoPilot is brilliant. An occasional out-of-date junction, sure, but they all do that, and CoPilot updates itself every now and then. I think I paid £29.99, which seems cheap to me for what you get. I find it intuitive and capable - I like being able to select a contact when entering a destination. I note there's an edition for Cyprus (someone was asking) although that's £35.51 on its own (weird). I did try others, and I've used a stand-alone TomTom, but I'll stick with CoPilot.

A little off-topic, but if you want more than just the schematic maps of these SatNavs, and you *don't* need directions, have a look at Anquet. Can't post a link (new user) but it's anquet dot com.

Phil

NarneyJekson

As for me CoPilot performs well, but it doesn't worth its money.

Pet50

I'm not a fluent app user - quite new to it!
Tried to find Navfree on my Samsung mini playstore and got the message: 'Your device isn't compatible with this version'.
Seems a lot of work to get. Wondering if a cheap satnav is the best answer. My old one costs for updates, so didn't want to go down that route as there are so many that come with lifetime updates for free now.
What does anyone else think??