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Phone call during GPS...

kbayer

Android Enthusiast
Dec 5, 2009
417
32
Houston, Tx
I think I have a DROID under the tree and i'm trying to convince my wife to let me open it early...

In the meantime, I'm reading mixed responses to what happens when you are using the GPS/Map driving program and a phone call comes in.

Do you have to stop the gps, answer the call, then restart the navigation from the square one, or does the navigation continue running in the background?
 
I think I have a DROID under the tree and i'm trying to convince my wife to let me open it early...

In the meantime, I'm reading mixed responses to what happens when you are using the GPS/Map driving program and a phone call comes in.

Do you have to stop the gps, answer the call, then restart the navigation from the square one, or does the navigation continue running in the background?

Congratulations dude. I would like to know the answer to this one as well!
 
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the navigation stops most likely, as you can't do data and voice at the same time on verizon cdma network.

not sure if it restarts from scratch or where you left off after you are done

Yes, we know about the CDMA limitation. If I were to take a guess, I'd say navigation gets totally cut off during the call (maybe length of the call could matter?), and navi is restarted.
 
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Navigation definitely keeps going. I know this because the first time I got a phone call while I was using GMaps Navigation, the narrator screamed "TAKE EXIT 5 IN .5 MILES", or something to that effect, directly in my ear while I was on the phone.

Wow, so GPS works WHILE you are on a phone call? Is this possibly because GPS has no correlation with the "data" connection on your phone? For example, if you had a GPS-capable phone but did not have a DATA plan on your phone, would GPS still work?
 
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Navigation definitely keeps going. I know this because the first time I got a phone call while I was using GMaps Navigation, the narrator screamed "TAKE EXIT 5 IN .5 MILES", or something to that effect, directly in my ear while I was on the phone.

Same thing happened to me. It appears to be somehow caching the route (at least a portion thereof) and the directions.
 
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I believe GPS is separate from data. All I know is that it definitely works. Sure, it could cache the route, but obviously the GPS is still calculating your location; it could not have known my position with caching alone.

Yup, GPS in and of itself will still track you, but it still has to pull actual map data from somewhere to trigger the voice prompt.
 
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The route info is cached on your phone, so it will continue to track you and give you voice prompts. It will do this until the cached info runs out. So a very long phone call could cause problems.

While you are in a call you cannot receive new layer information (sat images, street view, lattitude, traffic, etc...) and your sat imagery will most likely disappear very quickly leaving only the map view.

So you are ok taking calls while navigating as long as it's not a very long call. If you are in a call and you deviate from your route or take a wrong turn, your directions will not be updated until you end your phone call.
 
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The route info is cached on your phone, so it will continue to track you and give you voice prompts. It will do this until the cached info runs out. So a very long phone call could cause problems.

While you are in a call you cannot receive new layer information (sat images, street view, lattitude, traffic, etc...) and your sat imagery will most likely disappear very quickly leaving only the map view.

So you are ok taking calls while navigating as long as it's not a very long call. If you are in a call and you deviate from your route or take a wrong turn, your directions will not be updated until you end your phone call.

I agree. The length of the call would probably determine the GPS "time-out" period. I might post this question to Motorola/Verizon to get an official answer.
 
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The route info is cached on your phone, so it will continue to track you and give you voice prompts. It will do this until the cached info runs out. So a very long phone call could cause problems.

While you are in a call you cannot receive new layer information (sat images, street view, lattitude, traffic, etc...) and your sat imagery will most likely disappear very quickly leaving only the map view.

So you are ok taking calls while navigating as long as it's not a very long call. If you are in a call and you deviate from your route or take a wrong turn, your directions will not be updated until you end your phone call.
+1 For truth.

The cache also allows navigation to continue working when there is no signal. I run through dead zones on the way to the boonies where my grandmother lives and did make a wrong turn. All it says is "data connection lost" and you are hosed until you get to somewhere there is signal (luckily with vzw the dead zones are few and small so it hasn't hindered my trips yet).

Amusing story. The first time I got a call while navigating I picked it up and answered it. I don't have hands free or a bluetooth adapter and wasn't wise enough to turn on speaker phone so I put it up to my ear. Rosie (thats what I've named my nav lady btw) SCREAMS out of the spearker and boy was it startling when I got to my next turn hahaha.

Edit:
I agree. The length of the call would probably determine the GPS "time-out" period. I might post this question to Motorola/Verizon to get an official answer.
The GPS doesn't time out. Since we are on CDMA we cannot have data and voice at the same time so it's only a problem if it needs to download something. Like virtus and others have said the route is cached and as long as you make no wrong turns you are OK.
 
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+1 For truth.

The cache also allows navigation to continue working when there is no signal. I run through dead zones on the way to the boonies where my grandmother lives and did make a wrong turn. All it says is "data connection lost" and you are hosed until you get to somewhere there is signal (luckily with vzw the dead zones are few and small so it hasn't hindered my trips yet).

Amusing story. The first time I got a call while navigating I picked it up and answered it. I don't have hands free or a bluetooth adapter and wasn't wise enough to turn on speaker phone so I put it up to my ear. Rosie (thats what I've named my nav lady btw) SCREAMS out of the spearker and boy was it startling when I got to my next turn hahaha.

Edit:

The GPS doesn't time out. Since we are on CDMA we cannot have data and voice at the same time so it's only a problem if it needs to download something. Like virtus and others have said the route is cached and as long as you make no wrong turns you are OK.

Well, hooray for cache! :D
 
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Interesting questions ... but testable.

Google Navigation runs in the background via a set of services. Once you start navigating you'll notice a blue triangle in the notification area (upper left corner). If you switch to an application ... switch songs.. etc... until you reach your destintation, GN is still running and will prompt you with audio updates.

To get the GN activity back, drag the notification bar, and select the GN item in the list.

If you get a call while navigating and, the GN screen will become the active activity again once the dailer / call activity completes. If you use the browser or hit the home button that changes the activity stack, you will need to bring the GN activity back to the foreground manually via the notification bar.

I didn't bother to test how much it will cache. GPS is separate from the cellular network, and updates when the GPS is turned on, even if your in a call.

The no data connection on a CDMA phone is limited to the cellular network connection. If you have a wifi connection, you can "surf the web" while on a call.

Works same with blue-tooth headset.

The only issue, I've found (which just may be my settings), is once the dialer/phone call activity is on screen, the phone will honor the screen timeout settings.... once the call completes the screen is not turned back on, you need to hit the power button and then unlock the phone.

You will be then greeted with the GN activity, and the always on screen settings will then be honored.

^^ -- I think that should be classed as a bug, the screen settings should be handled by the GN service rather than the activity.... so the screen never times out while GN is running.

If you want to cancel navigation before your terminal point. With the GN activity up, hit the menu button, and hit "Exit Navigation" button. Once you reach your destination, GN auto terminates itself.
 
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First I must say the GPS is bad ass, on the money! I tried it today for the first time to get to comcast, and right on and got me there with no probs. Funny thing happened to me, while following the directions the phone rang....I was SOB, I am going to have to start over. So instead I slid to ignore and guess what....it was back to the GPS and never skipped a beat!

This phone "F"-ing rocks! I have always had a WinMo phone, almost bought the Omnia 2 (had an Omnia prior) and decided to try somethign different.

DROID= Very Happy Boy!
 
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Just to clarify a few things.

GPS (Global Positioning System) is a set of satellites broadcasting positioning information. The Droid has a GPS receiver built in. Receiving GPS signals has nothing to do with the phone or data connection of the phone. In fact, you can receive GPS signals on an airplane will the Droid is in Airplane mode. An app like "GPS Status" will work fine while you're on an airplane. Note: some airlines allow the use of a GPS while in flight and others do not.

Google Maps Navigation uses the data connection to download maps (and quite likely for navigation calculations too). While using Google Maps Navigation the route and maps are cached. It's not clear how much of the route's maps are cached, but if you go off route without a data connection you will be "out of luck." Of course you can lose your data connection while using the phone or just because you move outside Verizon's data network.

There are a couple of third party GPS navigation apps that load their maps onto the SD card (1GB to 2GB for US maps). The best deal seems to be CoPilot Live (it's $19.99 for the US, it's also available for Europe). Like any standalone GPS system it has alot more options than Google Maps Navigation. If you talk on the phone alot, travel outside Verizon data network areas or need more routing options (detours, more than one stop, etc) then it might be worth the money.

I travel in an RV and I'm frequently traveling in areas with no data coverage so I am seriously considering purchasing it.
 
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