Do you need to connect to the internet for Android phone GPS apps?

I like the look of the HTC Wildfire from Tesco, but don’t want to spend loads on phone charges to use GPS functions. I think you need to connect to use Google Map GPS apps, but can you download GPS maps to an SD card for other apps?

Are these phones any good?

Thanks.

Innes

You can, and I hope someone will pop along and explain how to use something like Mobile Atlas Creator to create an off-line OS map, because I don’t know how to do it…

I vaguely remember reading somewhere that the GPS -requires- a data connection, though I’ve no idea if this is true or indeed why (A-GPS data perhaps?) If it’s true though, I suspect the requirement will be small.

Google maps definitely requires a data plan, though there are other alternatives.

I don’t know Android, but I’m sure there must be quite a few with maps built in, as cloud-based mapping is frankly limited in it’s usefulness. Apps that allow copying of maps for GPS use I think let you grab sections of online map then you align the map via the phone’s GPS at two points, so it can then navigate the map. I’ve seen apps that allow you to photograph maps on brochures like ski resorts and navigate using the photo. I believe that’s how they work, I’ve never used one, but that’s the principle. Try google for android navigation apps, there must be some in the android marketplace with proven reliability. If there’s something like UK Map on Android that’s worth a look, as it uses the free mapping put out by Ordnance Survey. Good luck.

I run Endomondo on my HTC Legend. If there is no phone signal the GPS still works and tracks the route which I can see on a “blank” map display. When I get back into a signal area the data plan takes care of loading the relevant section of google maps.

Don’t know if that helps you?

Oh, and it also uses the data plan to upload the route to the Endomondo site.

GPS is free; it’s just the phone acting as a receiver for satellite data.

If you want to tie the GPS signal into a live mapping function, then you need data transfer which uses up your mobile internet allowance.

There appear to be two ways of using GPS based apps; those that record where you have been, and those that show you where you are, or both together..

Get one, either an android phone or an iPhone and have a play!

I’ve tried Endomondo, just don’t get on with it… I prefer Alpinequest with an offline map (saved to the SD card) created in mobile atlas creator.

As Potdog says, you don’t need phone signal for the GPS to work – it’ll record stas but you won’t be able to view it on a map on the screen. I use My Tracks (which uses Google maps) for mapping rides but turn ‘Airplane mode’ on which turns off the phone signal but still uses the GPS.

Oh yeah, and HTC Android phones are excellent so you won’t be disappointed if you get one 🙂

I think RMaps does offline, you just need to navigate to the area of interest beforehand and it caches it.

As far as I can find out from the ‘net there seems to be very little in the way of native map navigation apps for Android, which seems a bit off, somehow. There’s mapdroid and oruxmaps, but I don’t know much about them. I guess it’s still early days for Android devs to get the level of native mapping apps up near where it is on the iPhone. It took a while for the apps to get onto the App Store, so I’d expect a bit of a lag on Android. Sorry, I’m an iPhone user, so know little about Android, just trying to help out. I know how frustrating it is having the capability to use offline maps and no maps to use with it. It was quite some time before I had the sort of mapping I really wanted on my phone, possibly nearly a year or more, in fact it’s probably this year that native onboard mapping on the iPhone has really started to work properly with Viewranger, UK Map, CoPilot, TomTom, Memory Map, and Anquet on the way.

GPS is free. A-GPS uses your mobile signal to help with location, but doesn’t specifically use the data connection, or any sort of internet traffic.

You have various options to use the GPS without a data connectin. Mapdroyd is excellent vector mapping. Download the maps on your home WiFi connection, and off you go. It isn’t like googlemaps / nav though – no search, no looking things up, just a map with your GPS location on it. There are others available.