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I don't currently have a data plan. Since I'm on WiFi 95% of the time, I don't plan on getting one. The only thing I haven't been able to do easily (without a data plan) is use Google Maps while driving/walking.
If I load the maps before leaving a WiFi hotspot, my location is tracked and I can pan around the map. Of course, as soon as I want to view another uncached portion of the map, I can't.
Maps are small, and it would be perfect if I could cache maps for a certain area - say everything within 100 mi of my house. Any ideas?
I doubt highly that will ever happen with gmaps. It is so tethered to the web. But its only a matter of time (after the market can start charging you) that we will see something with turn based directions and a map library; something like TomTom for windows mobile.
I doubt highly that will ever happen with gmaps. It is so tethered to the web. But its only a matter of time (after the market can start charging you) that we will see something with turn based directions and a map library; something like TomTom for windows mobile.
Yeah, you're probably right. It would be nice to have a local gmaps library, because there are many apps that integrate with gmaps.
Hi,
why don't you just check out if MapDroyd is the right application for you. MapDroyd is a free, true off-line map viewer for Android phones. It uses content from OpenStreetMap and provides maps for the whole world.
Cheers
The Following User Says Thank You to zeitinfarkt For This Useful Post:
Hi,
why don't you just check out if MapDroyd is the right application for you. MapDroyd is a free, true off-line map viewer for Android phones. It uses content from OpenStreetMap and provides maps for the whole world.
Cheers
Thanks for the heads up on that.
I've just been looking through the info on the website but can't find an answer to something I'm looking for, perhaps I overlooked it, can you help?
Can you download the maps to an SD card in your phone or does it need to use the phones memory?
I've just been looking through the info on the website but can't find an answer to something I'm looking for, perhaps I overlooked it, can you help?
Can you download the maps to an SD card in your phone or does it need to use the phones memory?
Since there's no way to store maps - of even small countries - on the phone memory MapDroyd uses your external storage (SD card) in order to store and load the map files from. The larger your SD card capacity is the more maps you can have with you.
Thanks you for clearing that up, it's good to hear.
Due to android not reading apps from an SD card I was worried that the maps would need to be stored on the phones memory, using it all up.
Last edited by itsmoirob; September 23rd, 2009 at 08:59 AM.
Yes, as you say there're lot of activities in this area. Other than the application you mention, MapDroyd does _not_ cache any map tiles like RMap does. It stores OSM (whole) vector maps on your local device (sd card) and does not cache map images.
Last edited by zeitinfarkt; September 23rd, 2009 at 09:13 AM.
I've had great success with the MapDroyd (incl. ContentDroyd); I've downloaded maps for Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Austria, and all the locations I know well seem to be fully represented -- in fine detail. However some of those maps take half an eternity to download, I'll give you that.
I briefly tried RMaps, but uninstalled it again for some reason I can't remember.
Will any of these allow me to import a map created with Google maps?
RMaps supports .tar and .sqlitedb maps created by SAS.Planet and TrekBuddy Atlas Creator respectively.
Both support Google Map and OpenStreetMap if I remember correctly.
I am totally lost on how to download offline maps to my phone. I have oruxmaps and trekbuddy atlas creator on my pc and can't figure out how to create a map and download it to my phone to use offline. NEED HELP!?!
Navigation doesn't work in the US, but it shows your location and heading on the map, and a trace of where you've been, and it can use Google Map tiles with restaurant locations and everything, so it's been quite useful.
There's a bunch others, too.
Quote:
That said, the development team and I are very, very aware of the desire to have an "offline" mode for Google Maps Navigation. We're currently exploring options about how to provide a better experience when in limited or no data coverage areas, so please look for changes to Navigation in the future. Thanks for understanding.
The problem with AndNav is you need to know where you are going to go before you leave. Most of the time I want to offline maps are when I am travelling and have no data connection. Something like TomTom or Garmin....Is anything out there?
The problem with AndNav is you need to know where you are going to go before you leave. Most of the time I want to offline maps are when I am travelling and have no data connection.
Hasn't been a problem for me. I have about 500 mb of map tiles on my 8 gb card. I downloaded high res tiles for everywhere I know I will be , medium res for places I might be, and low res for everywhere else. I haven't been without a map since.
Quote:
Something like TomTom or Garmin....Is anything out there?
Mapdroyd is probably more like that. You download an entire state or country at once, and it generates the display on the fly. The maps are much lower quality though.
Last edited by endolith; March 6th, 2010 at 12:47 AM.
The problem with AndNav is you need to know where you are going to go before you leave. Most of the time I want to offline maps are when I am travelling and have no data connection. Something like TomTom or Garmin....Is anything out there?
Check out CoPilot.
Personally, I can't imagine messing with manually downloading map tiles but to each his own...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nodders
Doesn't Google Earth do this (which is now on Android - albeit 2.x+ I think)
IIRC it downloads as needed.
Last edited by takeshi; March 25th, 2010 at 02:16 PM.
Personally, I can't imagine messing with manually downloading map tiles but to each his own...
IIRC it downloads as needed.
It can't be too hard to download map data for an entire state if not the entire country. It just isn't something that requires that much space if done efficiently.
If anyone has tried most of these and has a favorite, please post.
I am totally lost on how to download offline maps to my phone
MapDroyd is pretty easy to use. Just download the app, install it. Launch it up and navigate to select the state/province/country you want to download. They're about 50 MB each. It may take a few minutes depending on your connection's speed. But once that's done it's stored on the SD card and you can bring it up without any data connections.
MapDroyd is pretty easy to use. Just download the app, install it. Launch it up and navigate to select the state/province/country you want to download. They're about 50 MB each. It may take a few minutes depending on your connection's speed. But once that's done it's stored on the SD card and you can bring it up without any data connections.
Yes. So far, MapDroyd might be the most convenient choice. But it doesn't have address search function. From its official website, it is said that NavDroyd would be available which seems to be more like a navigation app. Anyway, it won't be free, i think.
Has anyone tried using gvSIG Mini ? I am currently using it via WiFi. It navigates using GPS too. The one thing I am stumped on is how to save the maps to my SD card so I can use them offline. I am currently in talks with the developer on this matter.
Once I get it working offline, I will post a full "HowTo" on this subject.
VERY great app. check it out!
Has anyone tried using gvSIG Mini ? I am currently using it via WiFi. It navigates using GPS too. The one thing I am stumped on is how to save the maps to my SD card so I can use them offline. I am currently in talks with the developer on this matter.
Once I get it working offline, I will post a full "HowTo" on this subject.
VERY great app. check it out!
I hope you find out how to use the maps offline. I would appreciate it when you post the "how to" on here. thanks in advance.
Maybe a port of squid caching proxy could be installed on the phone?
That way google maps would pull from the cache rather than your 3G connection, and squid could get extra maps as it needed them.
Heeey, why android is so difficult? It relase many years ago, but still there is no way to put cache of Google maps to directory that used Google Maps application like in iPhone!( SHAME ON ADNROID! Shame!
Last edited by MCKool; July 25th, 2010 at 10:38 AM.
Would one of those apps work for when a GPS signal is dropped?
I always lose my darn GPS signal, using Sprint Nav or Google Maps. It's very annoying, and lately I've just been using my TomTom because I can't rely on either of my on phone navigations.
__________________
-Kelly, mom of 2 adorable boys, wife to a wonderful hubby.
Last edited by K-Rizzle; July 25th, 2010 at 10:47 AM.
Heeey, why android is so difficult? It relase many years ago, but still there is no way to put cache of Google maps to directory that used Google Maps application like in iPhone!( SHAME ON ADNROID! Shame!
It's not that it's difficult, but not practical.
Every time you "zoom" on the google map, you are on a different "layer". The closer you zoom, the more layers are needed to build a map.
I tried downloaded a small area of my province (just the map, not satellite view) and having only a few zoom layers downloaded, this small area ended up being approx. 300-400mb. If I added the next zoom layer, it would have been 1.5gb and likely well over 10gb if I added a few more.
Most people do NOT have that type of space on their phones or SD cards.
When you purchase a GPS app that requires a 2GB SD card for the data, the maps are in vector format, so you can zoom in and out using the same data. Google maps doesn't work like that, so it's quite a bit more difficult to store Google's map data.
Every time you "zoom" on the google map, you are on a different "layer". The closer you zoom, the more layers are needed to build a map.
I tried downloaded a small area of my province (just the map, not satellite view) and having only a few zoom layers downloaded, this small area ended up being approx. 300-400mb. If I added the next zoom layer, it would have been 1.5gb and likely well over 10gb if I added a few more.
Most people do NOT have that type of space on their phones or SD cards.
300-400mb of small area? Cache google maps for the iPhone is 400mb with maximum zoom and full city! Android work different?
Last edited by MCKool; July 25th, 2010 at 09:23 PM.
Heeey, why android is so difficult? It relase many years ago, but still there is no way to put cache of Google maps to directory that used Google Maps application like in iPhone!( SHAME ON ADNROID! Shame!
You're incorrect. The first phone running Android didn't come out until October 2008. I think Google Navigation came out with the release of Eclair (but I could be wrong) so it's only been out a year at most. Also, there is no Google Maps application on the iPhone. At least not one that's available in the US.
Edit: It's available, but you can't cache the maps there either. And it's not nearly as robust as on Android.
Last edited by A.Nonymous; July 25th, 2010 at 09:48 PM.
LOCUS is what you are looking for. It will download Google sat maps and give you an option of how many "Zooms" you want downloaed with it. takes awile to download but will resume download. I downloaded border crossings between Vietnam and Cambodia, just in case.... You can just walk through the rice fields...
I have been using Maps (-) by coderminus. I have cache all the area in Metro Manila and so within Region 3 and 4 and was using it when going out in those area. Give it a try.
Edit: It's available, but you can't cache the maps there either. And it's not nearly as robust as on Android.
No i can! I used iPhone for 3 years and i have cache Google Map of my City full city and maximum zoom! You've probably never used the iPhone if you think so!
The requirements are:
1. Get navigation working so that we get directions for going from point a to point b.
2. Get quick access to map for which offline or cache is required so that people without data plan or on 2G can make use of mobile gps.
Now, which apps support it.
MapDroyd doesnt support navigation and maps are too crude (at least for India).
Caching Google Maps to Use Offline
Tracking?
