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Phone as sat nav
cliftyhanger - 3/12/12 at 07:49 AM

Now, I hate playing with phones and stuff.
We currently have a tomtom satnav that regularly gets stuffed in the glovebox as it is hopeless. Really, it is. The old garmin was way better... and indeed a friend used our tomtom and reckoned it was "odd" compared to his earlier one.

Anyway. Rather than fork out for another satnav, is it viable to use my HTC wildfire 9S if it makes any difference) as a satnav??
Can it be used in europe WITHOUT running up massive data charges? I do have a fair chunk of UK data included in my monthly fees, but when we go on our hols the satnav is handy to find teh places we actually stay, getting to towns is never an issue.

Cheers for any pointers.....
Clive

snakebelly - 3/12/12 at 08:06 AM

Firstly can't agree more about how useless tomt have become, I'm binningine and going harming, until I get round to it the I have been using navfree on my phone and have to say I'm very impressed, don't know about the data question but the version I'm using does uk & roi might be worth seeing if there is a Europe version

sdh2903 - 3/12/12 at 08:16 AM

same here Tom Tom never gets used now, just use Google nav on my galaxy s3 so much better, I've just bought a spider mount to hang it from my heater vent and an in car charger as it drains the battery.

karlak - 3/12/12 at 08:27 AM

I haven't got a decent phone yet, that will run a SatNav. But, a few people I know are using WAZE.

I think they call it a "social" Nav system, where users can update the road conditions etc themselves. This then gives a truer picture on traffic conditions etc, allegedly.

40inches - 3/12/12 at 08:39 AM

CoPilot Live Premium. £20 for the paid version, but they do a free version for you to try.
I have a TomTom one XL, don't use it any more, CoPilot on a Galaxy S2, now S3 is faster, and doesn't take a week to find a GPS signal

MK9R - 3/12/12 at 09:03 AM

I have just started using sygic (you can fine it on googleplay), free trial so you can try it, and all maps stored on your phone so no data connection/charge issues. Its also very easy to use

matt_gsxr - 3/12/12 at 09:29 AM

Google Navigator (on Android) also updates database with live road conditions and shows other users cars as they go the other way (not useful but cool).

It crashes my Orange San Francisco occasionally, and occasionally is too much for sav nav so I stopped using it.
I have an old TomTom and for me it is great.

HowardB - 3/12/12 at 09:40 AM

having used my nokia overseas for navigation I can confirm that the data can be expensive, however it is simple and easy to use for just the last mile/km to get from the town to the hotel and that is cheap. I have also loaded maps on wifi and used them to navigate...

depends on the software and settings for the exact data use,...

hth

Peteff - 3/12/12 at 09:41 AM

My daughter had a Tom Tom (start 20 I think) a few months ago bought with Tesco points for about £4 and she preferred my old hacked Navigo even though the maps are out of date. I plugged her unit into my computer, downloaded the updates and tried it out for a couple of days and it was faultless. She took it back now though
I've used my android phone but if it's not plugged in to the accessory socket if soon kills the battery.

[Edited on 3/12/12 by Peteff]

Slimy38 - 3/12/12 at 09:45 AM

I use the standard Google maps on my Galaxy S2, but I am aware that it downloads the maps as it goes. Fortunately it's only a few kilobytes at a time so I've not been bothered, but there are plenty of third party options to make maps available offline. Even Google maps itself allows you to download a region of maps.

The only annoying thing is that it can take several minutes to get a lock, although once it has locked on it has never dropped out. And it's far more accurate compared to my old sat nav.

wilkingj - 3/12/12 at 10:03 AM

If your satnav has not been in use for a while, it will download a file from the satellite. This is one of the reasons that it takes extra time to lock up.
Not having this data will affect the accuracy of your positioning information that the Tomtom (or whatever) calculates from the Data signal that the GPS satellite is putting out. Namely the satellites drift inside a set Cube of space (they drift to save fuel by not needing to correct their position all the time - hence giving them a longer life in space). The file gives additional data that your device uses for correctional purposes.

Also from cold, a GPS unit needs to have data from at least 4 satellites to achieve a 3D locked position.
It will also depend on what GPS chipset you have in your device, the device processor and speed, and the max number of channels the GPS chip can search for satellites at the same time.
This can be slower to achieve if you are on the move.
It can be slower if you are under trees or in the shadow of buildings in narrow streets with tall buildings in town. (Signal shadow form the satellite).
A bit like being colder whan standing in the shade on a sunny day, then stepping out into the sunny area.

I run my own GPS tracking in my car, and sometimes it locks before I am off the drive, sometimes its a mile down the road before I get lock up.
Its quite normal.

Now for the Geeks among us:
The satellites broadcast two types of data, Almanac and Ephemeris. Almanac data is course orbital parameters for all SVs. Each SV broadcasts Almanac data for ALL SVs. This Almanac data is not very precise and is considered valid for up to several months. Ephemeris data by comparison is very precise orbital and clock correction for each SV and is necessary for precise positioning. EACH SV broadcasts ONLY its own Ephemeris data. This data is valid for a period of time (maybe several hours) as determined by information contained in the broadcast. The Ephemeris data is broadcast by each SV every 30 seconds.


Just my 2d's worth.

vanepico - 3/12/12 at 10:34 AM

My nokia 5230 came with a windscreen mount, it only uses data for the AGPS to locate satellites then runs from maps on memorystick, but i've got 500mb data so not a problem

UncleFista - 3/12/12 at 11:06 AM

I've tried most satnav software on my android phone, IMHO google maps wipes the floor with them all.

Since the new update you can download big chunks of maps before setting off and not use any data.

hearbear - 3/12/12 at 11:53 AM

quote:
Originally posted by MK9R
I have just started using sygic (you can fine it on googleplay), free trial so you can try it, and all maps stored on your phone so no data connection/charge issues. Its also very easy to use


I have been using this also for about a year I put the Florida map on and had the data switched of while over there and no problems finds everything no probs.

mcerd1 - 3/12/12 at 12:03 PM

quote:
Originally posted by vanepico
My nokia 5230 came with a windscreen mount, it only uses data for the AGPS to locate satellites then runs from maps on memorystick, but i've got 500mb data so not a problem

my old N95 and my current M86 both do a not bad job - but they work best with an external bluetooth GPS reciver

if you pre-download all the area's your interested in from the nokia maps website it won't cost a penny
(street maps for most of the world only take ~5Gb of space)

NigeEss - 3/12/12 at 12:59 PM

I use Navfree, maps are stored so no data usage. Used it in Australia recently with no problems and no charge.

scootz - 3/12/12 at 01:01 PM

quote:
Originally posted by snakebelly
Firstly can't agree more about how useless tomt have become, I'm binningine and going harming, until I get round to it the I have been using navfree on my phone and have to say I'm very impressed, don't know about the data question but the version I'm using does uk & roi might be worth seeing if there is a Europe version




If your say nav inputs are anywhere near as bad as the input of this post, then it's no bloody wonder that it won't find you anything!

nick205 - 3/12/12 at 04:26 PM

CoPilot Live on my old HTC HD2 and new One S phones works very well indeed. IIRC Western European mapping was ~£30-35 and has directed me around the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands without issue.

I never had a separate Sat Nav device as i couldn't be doing with multiple devices in the car. Plus I always have the phone with me if I'm in someone else's car.

Once purchased it's resident on the phone and doesn't incur data charges.

snakebelly - 3/12/12 at 06:15 PM

Scootz, the joys of typing on a tiny iPhone keyboard with crappy predictive txt!!

morcus - 3/12/12 at 08:05 PM

I've completely given up on Sat nav. My mother has a really good one which is quite useful but the things just annoy me and always seem to give directions in an overly complicated way so that they're impossible to follow, a particular favourite being these commands in rapid sucession, Keep Right Turn Left or where it invents turnings. What I'd really like is something that just showed me were I was on a map.

Best way top navigate, work out your route and just right down a list of the major places. If your in a built up area, have a look on street view and see what you can remember as landmarks to guide you.

David Jenkins - 4/12/12 at 09:00 AM

I've used my HTC Desire smartphone for navigation, and it's not bad. The main issues are:

1. Data consumption - not a problem for me as I'm on a generous data package. Maps don't add up to a lot of data anyway (don't use satellite view though!). I haven't tried it abroad.
2. Small screen - I only use the screen when the voice commands are unclear, as it takes my eyes off the road for too long.
3. Heat - my phone wasn't designed to stay with its screen on for long periods, so it does get warm.
4. Low volume - unless you can plug into your car radio system.

The big advantage is that the maps are always up-to-date (reasonably so, anyway). I also use a camera alert app on my phone, which is helpful. You will need a good in-car power supply though, powerful enough to run the phone in addition to charging.

I've heard of people who are using android tablets for navigation, which would overcome a lot of the problems (e.g. they're designed to run for long periods with the screen on), I haven't tried that... yet.

[Edited on 4/12/12 by David Jenkins]