Hi,
I live in China and so don't have 3G. Also I don't like to wait for maps to load and I don't like to pay data charges. So I started looking at off-line map programs. These programs which I review here all have the ability to download and cache maps. I'm not looking at apps which are primarily meant for outdoor activities and download customized maps. I'm using a Galaxy S
1. MapsDroyd. Nice that this program has vector graphics instead of raster maps. That means it could use offline navigation, and the map files are smaller because its a vector graph instead of thousands of map tiles. However, this is useless to me because the level of detail of China maps is just not usable. It has not points of interest. This does has rotating maps. I would consider using this if I lived in an area which had map data, and I just wanted a simple map program. BTW, it evidently does get position from cell tower as well as GPS
2. gvsigmini. Downloads and caches maps from many sources. Has a lot of features, including sharing, directions, weather, others. In my opinion, this app is sometimes slow. The on-screen features activate with a long press, which activates when I don't want it to. Actually that may be because I openned a lot of apps while testing. If this is the only one running, its quick enough. One thing about this program is that you can tell it to download all tiles within a given area- bulk pre-caching. . In general, tt works pretty well, but not perfect. Also wish it would share maps through the service that it uses (ie. if I'm using a Google map layer and I want to share it, then share through google). BTW, it evidently does get position from cell tower as well as GPS
3. Maps(-) . It caches (and can bulk pre-cache a large area) from Google maps and open street map. nothing else. No search. I thinkg it does get position from cell tower. So... simple, quicker, low features... but it works.
4. Maverick. Does what the above programs do: caches maps from a variety of sources, including bing, google, and open street map (which I don't have in China). This program also has track recording, which is cool. Has search. It appears need a trackball to use some features. Somethings I don't like: name of the program reminds me of Sarah Palin talking about John McCain. Which turns me off. There is something about the UI I don't really like, like the cartoonish icons. But overall, this is a usefull program. It also has a compass. No bulk pre-caching
5. Locus: Promising. But right now broken. Does not get position from Cell Tower. Somehow keeps defaulting to Prague.
6. Rmaps. Very similar to Map(-) above, but with much more map selections.POI does not seem to work. Has track recording features. POI seems broken. I think this is a good program, although it feels a little bare-bones in the UI department. Connects to cell tower for location.
7. Mulit-Map. Very nice mass pre-cache function. Clean UI. Does not do much else though. No search.
So which would I use? I think I can eliminate for my needs multi-map, Locus, and Mapdroid. The rest I need to play with some more to see which I like better.
Edit: Just in. ravisghosh turned me on to Brut Google Map. You can find this with a Google search and the original thread is in XDA forums. I don't know if its OK to link to the thread here, because Brut Google Map is a hack. It is Google Maps. But with caching on the SD card supported. I'm pretty sure this violates Google's TOS. For that matter, so do most of the above programs except MapDroid, which uses Open Street Map. But Brut Google Map allows using... Google Map off-line. With all of Google Maps features and stability. The only thing I can say bad about this is that it does not really have a pre-caching tool like some of the others. If you want to cache a map for offline, you need to go to the area you want to cache and scroll around until all the tiles are loaded; some of the above programs allow you to go to the higher-level area and the program will cache everything underneath. Anyway, this is my new default map program
I live in China and so don't have 3G. Also I don't like to wait for maps to load and I don't like to pay data charges. So I started looking at off-line map programs. These programs which I review here all have the ability to download and cache maps. I'm not looking at apps which are primarily meant for outdoor activities and download customized maps. I'm using a Galaxy S
1. MapsDroyd. Nice that this program has vector graphics instead of raster maps. That means it could use offline navigation, and the map files are smaller because its a vector graph instead of thousands of map tiles. However, this is useless to me because the level of detail of China maps is just not usable. It has not points of interest. This does has rotating maps. I would consider using this if I lived in an area which had map data, and I just wanted a simple map program. BTW, it evidently does get position from cell tower as well as GPS
2. gvsigmini. Downloads and caches maps from many sources. Has a lot of features, including sharing, directions, weather, others. In my opinion, this app is sometimes slow. The on-screen features activate with a long press, which activates when I don't want it to. Actually that may be because I openned a lot of apps while testing. If this is the only one running, its quick enough. One thing about this program is that you can tell it to download all tiles within a given area- bulk pre-caching. . In general, tt works pretty well, but not perfect. Also wish it would share maps through the service that it uses (ie. if I'm using a Google map layer and I want to share it, then share through google). BTW, it evidently does get position from cell tower as well as GPS
3. Maps(-) . It caches (and can bulk pre-cache a large area) from Google maps and open street map. nothing else. No search. I thinkg it does get position from cell tower. So... simple, quicker, low features... but it works.
4. Maverick. Does what the above programs do: caches maps from a variety of sources, including bing, google, and open street map (which I don't have in China). This program also has track recording, which is cool. Has search. It appears need a trackball to use some features. Somethings I don't like: name of the program reminds me of Sarah Palin talking about John McCain. Which turns me off. There is something about the UI I don't really like, like the cartoonish icons. But overall, this is a usefull program. It also has a compass. No bulk pre-caching
5. Locus: Promising. But right now broken. Does not get position from Cell Tower. Somehow keeps defaulting to Prague.
6. Rmaps. Very similar to Map(-) above, but with much more map selections.POI does not seem to work. Has track recording features. POI seems broken. I think this is a good program, although it feels a little bare-bones in the UI department. Connects to cell tower for location.
7. Mulit-Map. Very nice mass pre-cache function. Clean UI. Does not do much else though. No search.
So which would I use? I think I can eliminate for my needs multi-map, Locus, and Mapdroid. The rest I need to play with some more to see which I like better.
Edit: Just in. ravisghosh turned me on to Brut Google Map. You can find this with a Google search and the original thread is in XDA forums. I don't know if its OK to link to the thread here, because Brut Google Map is a hack. It is Google Maps. But with caching on the SD card supported. I'm pretty sure this violates Google's TOS. For that matter, so do most of the above programs except MapDroid, which uses Open Street Map. But Brut Google Map allows using... Google Map off-line. With all of Google Maps features and stability. The only thing I can say bad about this is that it does not really have a pre-caching tool like some of the others. If you want to cache a map for offline, you need to go to the area you want to cache and scroll around until all the tiles are loaded; some of the above programs allow you to go to the higher-level area and the program will cache everything underneath. Anyway, this is my new default map program
