GPS in airplane mode????

[flyjbaker]

I was just wondering if there are any apps that take advantage of GPS while in airplane mode??? I was really hoping the reason why apps like Maps or Google Sky didn't work without a network connection because all that data could not be stored on the phone's internal memory. Now that we can move apps to the SD card, are there any apps out there that work with the cell radio off??? Or do you think we will see more of this??? The only reason I ask is because I travel out of the country alot and it sure would be nice to be able to use an app like Google Maps when it would be most useful.



PS...when I use the "GPS Test" app in airplane mode, the phone is seeing plenty of satellites....at least 10.

pss...Also it would be nice to be able to use Google Translate when it would be most useful....trying to speak the language in another country....although I realize that is totally unrelated to GPS but it is related to apps2sd.....just irritating that it doesn't work without a network connection....again, I would assume that the network connection is needed for data storage purposes????...why not store it on the SD card...it is only text in this case.

 

[EarlyMon]

Unlike a dedicated GPS - this is assisted GPS. Initial values are seeded using tower location, GPS then zeros in from there.

 

[Grung]

Unlike a dedicated GPS - this is assisted GPS. Initial values are seeded using tower location, GPS then zeros in from there.

I use MapDroyd which uses maps stored on board. In Northern New England where I travel a lot, I can always get accurate location info where I have zero service. And on a recent trip to Martha's Vineyard, I had no service at all on the ferry, but was able to see my location (on cached Google Maps) as well as accurate speed from Speed HUD. How does it do that if it's just seeded with tower locations? By the way EarlyMon, I learn something new from you in every post you make. Clue me in here. Thanks.

 

[freeza]

Check out "MotoNav" basically iGO but themed to fit our resolution.

I use it all the time in airplane mode

 

[Yankees368]

I have used GPS while in a plane before, at 30,000 feet. It worked fine, with no cell network

 

[flyjbaker]

Grung, the GPS does need a starting place to help it find itself. When a GPS is totally "lost", it is called a "cold start"....meaning it has no reference where it is. When that happens, it can take quite awhile for it to get a fix. Likely what happened with you on the ferry is that is still remembered it's last position and then took it from there. I honestly have no clue but I bet that is what happened. The aGPS is just a jump start to tell the computer where to look for the satellites.

I go to Rio tomorrow so I am going to do a little experimenting now that I hae a few extra apps to play around with. I would like to see these apps work without a network connection. I see no reason why not since data can now be stored on board on the sd card.

 

[EarlyMon]

Grung - that's what I meant by seeded.

 

[novox77]

Here's a good explanation of cold starts. and I found the answer I wanted. It takes about 12 minutes for the GPS to report location info after a cold start.

GPS Time to First Fix - TTFF Defined

And I assume that once it has a fix, if you have map data stored locally, you're all set.

 

[EarlyMon]

^Yes, excellent.

For those interested, here's a bit of same on aGPS - Assisted GPS, A-GPS :: Radio-Electronics.Com

 

[dan330]

you can purchase 3rd party software...to do full navigation using static maps that you download to your phone. it works just fine. data on maps get old over time

NO.. google translate will not move data to your phone... why?? it is free.. but they make money somehow..
answer... advertising... if no data connection.. no adds will be downloaded and shown to you.

You might find a translator app that is paid for... and can store data (full dictionaries in different languages to your phone).. but i it might be very hard to find a good solution.

 

[KingFatty]

Google makes an application that records a track of your GPS location data, regardless of whether you are connected to data or not.

It's like turning your phone into a Garmin Forerunner or other GPS based running/hiking tool, letting you see your speed/altitude and progress on a map.

My Tracks for Android
http://mytracks.appspot.com/features

 

[novox77]

Google makes an application that records a track of your GPS location data, regardless of whether you are connected to data or not.

It's like turning your phone into a Garmin Forerunner or other GPS based running/hiking tool, letting you see your speed/altitude and progress on a map.

My Tracks for Android

I use this app routinely for hikes and jogs. It also keeps track of useful stats, like total distance, max/min/average speeds, elevation, etc. Only complaint is that you can't associate photos with your waypoints. And MyMaps on google's website could use some updating.