I've taken my Droid overseas with me multiple times, and I'm currently (well, when I initially wrote this post in June 2010) in the middle of a two month trip up Europe. Let me start off by saying that it's one of the most indispensable travel tools I have (aside from my debit card, that is!)
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EDIT: June 2011: I've now taken my Droid to 11 countries (Costa Rica, Ireland, Belgium, Italy, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, and Germany) and my Thunderbolt to two countries (Singapore and Malaysia), and not had any issues with any of those countries and incurring data charges--everything that I have described below worked perfectly. Please read this ENTIRE thread (it's not that long, honest) to find answers to questions you may have.
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I keep reading misconceptions on how the Droid works (and other Verizon Android phones work) or doesn't work overseas, so I thought I'd post a thread clearing things up for people, especially since it's summer and people are traveling more.
1.) DATA/ROAMING.
If you are in Europe, they use GSM, so you will not be able to use your phone as an actual phone.* If you are other places in the world, well, there are places that use CDMA, so if you don't put your phone in airplane mode, you may be able to use your phone as a phone, but you also CAN get hit with data charges.
***Here is a list of countries that use CDMA, and YOUR PHONE WILL WORK AS A PHONE: Countries Where Any Verizon Wireless Phone Will Work
If you are using wifi, YOU WILL NOT GET CHARGED FOR DATA. Trust me. It's wifi. You may have to pay for wifi, depending on where you are, but you won't have to pay for data. Incidentally, I HIGHLY recommend an app called WifiScanner for sniffing out open wifi hotspots.
It is possible to turn on both wifi and GPS (more on GPS in a minute) when you're in airplane mode. When you're on the home screen, open Settings, then go to "Wireless and Networks". Check the boxes for both Airplane Mode and Wi-Fi. Voila--airplane mode is on, and so is wifi.
If you want/need your cell phone to NOT be in airplane mode (more on why you'd want that in a minute) and you're in a country where CDMA works and you DON'T want to get hit with data roaming charges, you need to do the following:
1.) Go to Settings-->Accounts and Sync.
2.) Uncheck the boxes for "Background Data" and "Auto-Sync".
This way your phone shouldn't automatically send or receive data... unless you want it to! If your phone isn't in airplane mode and you're in a country with CDMA (like Canada, Mexico, Japan, etc.) you can still incur data charges if you do something that involves sending and receiving data, such as using the browser or using an app that requires data sending/receiving, like Maps.
*You CAN use Google Voice for texting when you're connected to wifi (since it sends through the internet) and you can use Skype for making phone calls when you're connected to wifi (there might be a way to receive them, but I haven't fiddled with that--I'm on vacation, and I don't want people calling me!)
2.) USING GPS.
It took me a couple of trips overseas before I figured out the GPS issue. I'll try to keep the technical stuff to a minimum here, but basically most Android phones have what's called A-GPS, or assisted GPS. It's assisted by the cell phone's radio, which in the US, means that GPS connects faster because it's using the cell towers to help triangulate your location (because waiting for the phone to connect to the three satellites needed to triangulate your location can take a while, and would make any GPS-based function seem slow.)
So anyway, in order to use GPS, you need to do the following:
1.) Take your phone OUT of airplane mode. (If you're in one of countries on Verizon's list that I linked to above that uses CDMA, don't worry, this will only take a minute... BUT TURN OFF DATA SYNCING FIRST as described above under Data/Roaming.
2.) Turn on your GPS (Settings-->Location&Security-->Use GPS Satellites.)
3.) UNCHECK the box right above that says "Use Wireless Networks".
4.) Go outside where you can get a clear line of sight (not under trees/roof overhangs/amidst a bunch of tall buildings) and wait for the phone to connect to GPS. Then put the phone back into airplane mode. GPS will stay on, and it *should* stay connected.
I know this will prompt the inevitable question: "But if I can't connect to Google Maps, how do I know if GPS is working?" or some variation thereof.
I have two free apps I use when I'm traveling internationally. Both are free.
1.) GPS Status (I use the one by EclipSim, although there are multiple programs available that will do the same thing.) What this does is tell me I'm connected to GPS (I can watch the screen as the satellites connect), it works as a compass, and it gives me my exact GPS coordinates.
2.) MapDroyd. This essentially is offline Google Maps--you choose the countries, and it downloads street-level maps for those countries. Unfortunately, it can't yet provide you with directions, and there's no way to search for certain streets, so it is pretty limited. But you can use it to show your location (just like in Google Maps) and just having city maps and knowing where I am in relation to other things and places has been immensely helpful.
3.) USING GOOGLE MAPS.
If you want, you CAN use Google Maps, but you HAVE to be connected to wifi in order to do so. Also, once you have maps open and a certain map selected (for example, the map of your location) you can disconnect and it will save that map for a while... but I wouldn't count on that, if I were you.
What is kind of amusing, and kind of cool (to me anyway) is that even if you're not connected to wifi and you have GPS on and My Location selected in Maps, if you move off of the map that you loaded when you were connected to wifi, and you get the gray grid that Maps kicks out when it can't serve up a map, it will still show your location, and if you're moving, it'll show you moving... along a gray grid. Helpful, I know.
There have been times where I've been somewhere and wanted to remember where I was, so I used GPS Status to email myself the coordinates of where I was, and then I added it to my Google Maps later on so I could find it again. (Of course email won't send while you're online, but at least it's in your outbox and you know where to look for it.)
Anyway, sorry for the long post, but I think I've covered the basics of using your phone overseas. If anyone has any questions about using your Verizon Android phone overseas, feel free to post them here--I'm happy to help!
Other travel programs I love:
- TravelDroyd (made by the fine folks at MapDroyd): I can download maps for the countries I'm visiting, AND (unlike MapDroyd) they are SEARCHABLE. NICE.
- WikiDroyd (you guessed it--same folks as above): Offline Wikipedia (all the articles, no pictures) so if I'm somewhere interesting and want to look something up about where I am, I can.
- iTravel Free: offline WikiTravel (you choose which articles to download.)
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EDIT: June 2011: I've now taken my Droid to 11 countries (Costa Rica, Ireland, Belgium, Italy, Croatia, Montenegro, Bosnia, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, and Germany) and my Thunderbolt to two countries (Singapore and Malaysia), and not had any issues with any of those countries and incurring data charges--everything that I have described below worked perfectly. Please read this ENTIRE thread (it's not that long, honest) to find answers to questions you may have.
****
I keep reading misconceptions on how the Droid works (and other Verizon Android phones work) or doesn't work overseas, so I thought I'd post a thread clearing things up for people, especially since it's summer and people are traveling more.
1.) DATA/ROAMING.
If you are in Europe, they use GSM, so you will not be able to use your phone as an actual phone.* If you are other places in the world, well, there are places that use CDMA, so if you don't put your phone in airplane mode, you may be able to use your phone as a phone, but you also CAN get hit with data charges.
***Here is a list of countries that use CDMA, and YOUR PHONE WILL WORK AS A PHONE: Countries Where Any Verizon Wireless Phone Will Work
If you are using wifi, YOU WILL NOT GET CHARGED FOR DATA. Trust me. It's wifi. You may have to pay for wifi, depending on where you are, but you won't have to pay for data. Incidentally, I HIGHLY recommend an app called WifiScanner for sniffing out open wifi hotspots.
It is possible to turn on both wifi and GPS (more on GPS in a minute) when you're in airplane mode. When you're on the home screen, open Settings, then go to "Wireless and Networks". Check the boxes for both Airplane Mode and Wi-Fi. Voila--airplane mode is on, and so is wifi.If you want/need your cell phone to NOT be in airplane mode (more on why you'd want that in a minute) and you're in a country where CDMA works and you DON'T want to get hit with data roaming charges, you need to do the following:
1.) Go to Settings-->Accounts and Sync.
2.) Uncheck the boxes for "Background Data" and "Auto-Sync".
This way your phone shouldn't automatically send or receive data... unless you want it to! If your phone isn't in airplane mode and you're in a country with CDMA (like Canada, Mexico, Japan, etc.) you can still incur data charges if you do something that involves sending and receiving data, such as using the browser or using an app that requires data sending/receiving, like Maps.
*You CAN use Google Voice for texting when you're connected to wifi (since it sends through the internet) and you can use Skype for making phone calls when you're connected to wifi (there might be a way to receive them, but I haven't fiddled with that--I'm on vacation, and I don't want people calling me!)
2.) USING GPS.
It took me a couple of trips overseas before I figured out the GPS issue. I'll try to keep the technical stuff to a minimum here, but basically most Android phones have what's called A-GPS, or assisted GPS. It's assisted by the cell phone's radio, which in the US, means that GPS connects faster because it's using the cell towers to help triangulate your location (because waiting for the phone to connect to the three satellites needed to triangulate your location can take a while, and would make any GPS-based function seem slow.)
So anyway, in order to use GPS, you need to do the following:
1.) Take your phone OUT of airplane mode. (If you're in one of countries on Verizon's list that I linked to above that uses CDMA, don't worry, this will only take a minute... BUT TURN OFF DATA SYNCING FIRST as described above under Data/Roaming.
2.) Turn on your GPS (Settings-->Location&Security-->Use GPS Satellites.)
3.) UNCHECK the box right above that says "Use Wireless Networks".
4.) Go outside where you can get a clear line of sight (not under trees/roof overhangs/amidst a bunch of tall buildings) and wait for the phone to connect to GPS. Then put the phone back into airplane mode. GPS will stay on, and it *should* stay connected.
I know this will prompt the inevitable question: "But if I can't connect to Google Maps, how do I know if GPS is working?" or some variation thereof.
I have two free apps I use when I'm traveling internationally. Both are free.
1.) GPS Status (I use the one by EclipSim, although there are multiple programs available that will do the same thing.) What this does is tell me I'm connected to GPS (I can watch the screen as the satellites connect), it works as a compass, and it gives me my exact GPS coordinates.
2.) MapDroyd. This essentially is offline Google Maps--you choose the countries, and it downloads street-level maps for those countries. Unfortunately, it can't yet provide you with directions, and there's no way to search for certain streets, so it is pretty limited. But you can use it to show your location (just like in Google Maps) and just having city maps and knowing where I am in relation to other things and places has been immensely helpful.
3.) USING GOOGLE MAPS.
If you want, you CAN use Google Maps, but you HAVE to be connected to wifi in order to do so. Also, once you have maps open and a certain map selected (for example, the map of your location) you can disconnect and it will save that map for a while... but I wouldn't count on that, if I were you.
What is kind of amusing, and kind of cool (to me anyway) is that even if you're not connected to wifi and you have GPS on and My Location selected in Maps, if you move off of the map that you loaded when you were connected to wifi, and you get the gray grid that Maps kicks out when it can't serve up a map, it will still show your location, and if you're moving, it'll show you moving... along a gray grid. Helpful, I know.
There have been times where I've been somewhere and wanted to remember where I was, so I used GPS Status to email myself the coordinates of where I was, and then I added it to my Google Maps later on so I could find it again. (Of course email won't send while you're online, but at least it's in your outbox and you know where to look for it.)Anyway, sorry for the long post, but I think I've covered the basics of using your phone overseas. If anyone has any questions about using your Verizon Android phone overseas, feel free to post them here--I'm happy to help!
Other travel programs I love:
- TravelDroyd (made by the fine folks at MapDroyd): I can download maps for the countries I'm visiting, AND (unlike MapDroyd) they are SEARCHABLE. NICE.
- WikiDroyd (you guessed it--same folks as above): Offline Wikipedia (all the articles, no pictures) so if I'm somewhere interesting and want to look something up about where I am, I can.
- iTravel Free: offline WikiTravel (you choose which articles to download.)
