TRIP MAPPING SOFTWARE

[Lannis]

Find someone that upgraded their phone and they might just give an old one to play with.

Wouldn't the old phone have to have the "Compass Application" already on it?    Otherwise, how would you get it on it without signing up for some sort of Internet service?

I just found out that satellites are free, there's no telling what else might be!    ;-T

Lannis

[canuguzzi]

Wouldn't the old phone have to have the "Compass Application" already on it?    Otherwise, how would you get it on it without signing up for some sort of Internet service?

I just found out that satellites are free, there's no telling what else might be!    ;-T

Lannis

You can use any phone that has the GPS and or GLONAS receivers in it as a compass or put mapping apps on it and use it. The old phone might have a compass app on it but perhaps not. No biggie, connect it to wifi and download the compass app, it won't cost you a thing.

You won't have to pay anyone anything. You don't need any phone service for it to work in the way described. The battery will last quite a bit longer since you'll turn off the phone's data connection.

If you get a hold of one and need a step by step, I can send that to you. Shouldn't take you more than a few minutes to get going.

For WiFi you can go to any Starbucks, Petes Coffee or most coffee shops and use their's for free too.

[Lannis]

You can use any phone that has the GPS and or GLONAS receivers in it as a compass or put mapping apps on it and use it. The old phone might have a compass app on it but perhaps not. No biggie, connect it to wifi and download the compass app, it won't cost you a thing.

You won't have to pay anyone anything. You don't need any phone service for it to work in the way described. The battery will last quite a bit longer since you'll turn off the phone's data connection.

If you get a hold of one and need a step by step, I can send that to you. Shouldn't take you more than a few minutes to get going.

For WiFi you can go to any Starbucks, Petes Coffee or most coffee shops and use their's for free too.

Well, if anyone here has an old smartphone that they've no use for and wants a few bucks for it to be used in the way described, I'll pay a little old smartphone price and shipping for it .....

Lannis

[Wayne Orwig]

I just found out that satellites are free, there's no telling what else might be!    ;-T

Go to McDonalds for free WiFi. Download OSMand free (you need a Google account). Or download OSMand+ for a few bucks, has more features.

[bmc5733946]

I am a confirmed luddite about these things. Will this 8" Asus tablet perform GPS service while not connected to cell phone service and or WI-FI? I am intrigued by the large display and performance of other tasks. I would also like to know Norge Pilot's mounting scheme, he seems to have it down. I'm not sure I would mount it but would like to know the options. I am familiar with Ram-mounts and took a look at their mounts and only found some generic ones that might fit but didn't look all that secure for a moving motorcycle, I would never leave attached if away from the bike for any length of time so locking is not required.

Brian

[canuguzzi]

If the tablet has standalone GPS and or GLONAS receivers, you do not need WiFi or any data connection to use mapping systems like Route 66 or OSMAND.

You would need a data connection to use Google Maps but then Google Maps is rather limited.

I'l repost my mounting system tomorrow. It seems I used Smugmug when Photobucket went south on me. I have since fixed that.

The mount has room for hiding power wires, is quick detachable and best of all, is super strong and you can make it yourself on the cheap. If you can use a hacksaw and a file, no big deal.

There is no drilling or modification to any part of the Norge to get the mount on or use it.

I'll include the parts list and will send out an email with the pattern you can use in fabbing it up.

It will hold anything from a phone or MP3 player up to an 8" tablet securely. Secure to me means not coming off no matter how rough the road or someone walking up and trying to steal it.

[Wayne Orwig]

I am a confirmed luddite about these things. Will this 8" Asus tablet perform GPS service while not connected to cell phone service and or WI-FI? I am intrigued by the large display and performance of other tasks. I would also like to know Norge Pilot's mounting scheme, he seems to have it down. I'm not sure I would mount it but would like to know the options. I am familiar with Ram-mounts and took a look at their mounts and only found some generic ones that might fit but didn't look all that secure for a moving motorcycle, I would never leave attached if away from the bike for any length of time so locking is not required.

Yes, almost all (but not all) tablets and phones have built in GPS and Glonass. You only need WiFi to initially load them, then you are good to go offline.
Then it becomes a problem of visibility in sunlight. Cheaper tablets and phones may have screens that can't be seen in sunlight.

I put together some notes for a friend earlier this year on using a phone as a GPS:
http://1drv.ms/1mJBL6H

[dl.allen]

Norge Pilot, do you think a Samsung galaxy smartphone would have enough behind to run osmand?  It looks good.  How much memory does it take to have a few states saved on it?

[charlie b]

Yes.

Depends on how much is loaded on it.  FWIW, the little memory cards are cheap and will hold a set of world wide maps.

I ran OSMand on my Galaxy III and it worked great.  Also had Copilot and TomTom.

No subscription needed for any of it.  Just use it like a tablet with a WiFi connection (which is how I use my bigger tablet that I am typing on now).

Lannis check your PMs.

FYI, when a smartphone is running a GPS app, especially with the screen on, it sucks power.  You need a charging adapter that puts out at leas 1A, preferrably 2A.

[dl.allen]

So what is your favorite for the Galaxy?  Co pilot looks good also

[canuguzzi]

Norge Pilot, do you think a Samsung galaxy smartphone would have enough behind to run osmand?  It looks good.  How much memory does it take to have a few states saved on it?

Sure, GPS isn't very CPU intensive relatively speaking. What draws the most power will be the constant on display but there is an easy work around for that.

On a smartphone as with a computer, there are two types of memory , system and storage. You can't change the system memory (ram) that is fixed when they make it but no Android phone needs more than 512k to run GPS. That means if you have an Android phone, GPS is going to work just fine.

The storage memory requirements are what is used to house apps you download, pictures you take and so on. Here is an approximate amount OSMAND will take:

Maps for California take about 400k. That is the largest map. You can load up more if you are going cross country. So if your phone has say 16 gigs of storage you can easily put OSMAND on there plus a huge selection of maps. Remember, you can delete maps you no longer need and only put those you do need on the phone.

If you have access to it, you can change out your memory card for a larger one, they go up to 256 gigs now but sizes in the 32 to 64 gig range are very affordable. Gte a name brand like Sandisk, Samsung etc. The make sure to set your phone to store whatever it can on the card. There is a setting in Android under storage that lets you do that.

Once done and you have OSMAND loaded and all the maps you want, move the maps to the storage memory, the instructions on the the OSMAND site. If you run into problems, PM me and I'll try to help you get it sorted, been there done it.

At the maximum brightness setting, the screen on a phone is what draws the most power. Turning down the brightness even slightly increases the battery life a lot. Change the brightness just one or two below maximum, you probably won't notice the difference much but the battery will.

A word about charging smartphones. Most of them can't charge as fast as they discharge. Even when plugged in, if the screen is set to full bright on a longer ride you'll run out of juice. The solution? An extended battery.

You can easily find extended batteries for many smartphones. I have a Samsung Galaxy Note 3 with a double capacity battery. It can easily go 24 hrs with heavy use and have charge to spare. If you then also plug it into USB power on the bike, that means no concern at all about having enough juice.

Another trick is to use an anti-glare shield on the phone. It isn't to protect the screen, most have Gorilla Glass which is very hard to scratch but to reduce the glare on the display.

[canuguzzi]

That Asus 7" tablet has an awful lot of one star reviews and angry customers on Amazon. I'll keep looking for an inexpensive tablet.

With Amazon you get a lot of people who are kiddies when it comes to tech complaining. I have four ASUS tablets and all of them work.

My 8" ASUS has thousands of miles on it (being attached to motorcycles, cars and trucks) and has never failed. It has been accidentally dropped, been banged, water splashed and the battery run down to zero many times and never failed.

The 7" is used by my wife. It resides in a fanny pack and travels a few thousand miles a month on commutes, gets put wherever the packs gets dropped and works like a charm.

The 8" has a much better camera and a brighter display but they are otherwise the same tablet.

On a Norge, the 8" fits up front perfectly and is easier to see because of the additional screen real estate. It is also easier to use with touch, being larger.

I can't vouch for anyone else, just relay my experiences and if it didn't work I wouldn't keep it longer than it takes to toss it in the trash.

I can say that the one question I had of ASUS was met with a prompt reply within 24 hours along with a direct email to the tech support person if I had additional questions.

[Spuddy]

SO, am I right that OSMAND is only for smartphones?

[canuguzzi]

SO, am I right that OSMAND is only for smartphones?

No, it will work on Android tablets too. Same app. It won't work on a Windows phone or laptop/tablet.

I see they now have a version for the iPhone so for those that contribute to the cause, a solution is at hand.

http://osmand.net/

[Wayne Orwig]

So what is your favorite for the Galaxy?  Co pilot looks good also

I've used a Galaxy S3, S4 and now a Note 4. They work well as a GPS. The Note 4 is the brightest in sunlight.
I use CoPilot and OSMand. CoPilot is great for routing from A to B. The maps are good, with a lot of POIs. Hard to beat. I use ITNconverter on my PC to plan the route, then send it to the phone. CoPilot takes about 2GB of storage for the entire US.
OSMand is not geared as much to routing. But I prefer it when exploring for various reasons.

[canuguzzi]

Note 4 is nice. I need a bigger screen so bought a Hauwei Mate 2. 6.1" display and although not as high resolution as the Note (I have a Note 3 as well) for me at least, bigger means easier to see. Came with nearly a pure Android OS and the WiFi and GPS/GLONAS on it is faster than any other phone I've used.

At barely over $200, if it breaks I'll just get another one. Went to WiFi video calling for phone stuff and stopped paying Verizon even though I had an old unlimited plan. Down to maybe 300 minutes of talk per month (wife does that) and barely over 300 megs of data. Changed service providers and now my bill is below 80 for 4 people.

Equals a new to me bike every few years.

[charlie b]

I've used a Galaxy S3, S4 and now a Note 4. They work well as a GPS. The Note 4 is the brightest in sunlight.
I use CoPilot and OSMand. CoPilot is great for routing from A to B. The maps are good, with a lot of POIs. Hard to beat. I use ITNconverter on my PC to plan the route, then send it to the phone. CoPilot takes about 2GB of storage for the entire US.
OSMand is not geared as much to routing. But I prefer it when exploring for various reasons.

+1

FWIW I use a 10" tablet for planning.  Make my route and then email it to the phone. 

[Wayne Orwig]

I just noticed that Best Buy has a Moto G, prepaid, no contract, smartphone, for $30.
So, you should be able to grab one of those, load Here maps for free, or other offline maps, and use it as a GPS, no contract. Even have it handy for a 911 call in case of emergency.
Unless I'm missing something in the ad.

[canuguzzi]

OSMAND just had a major update, so check it out if you use it. The interface seems much cleaner and moving the map files to the SD memory card is easy and fast.

[LowRyter]

so...someone summarize,  what is the best app for my smart phone?

[canuguzzi]

so...someone summarize,  what is the best app for my smart phone?

I'll give it a shot:

1. If you have an unlimited data plan or lots of gigs, Google maps is ok for getting from point A to B otherwise;

2. Either OSMAND or Route66 will work with OSMAND being best of breed IMHO. OSMAND will run on an iPhone now so you aren't limited to Android phones.


If your phone has a small amount of storage (gigs, not RAM) then if you can, put an SD memory card in it, a 16 gig is plenty but more is better. In setup choose external storage as where you want to put downloaded maps. When asked if you want to move maps/files there say yes.

Try both out and see which one you like best because it is a rather personal thing. When you decide that for yourself, consider the small donation to get the "Pro" versions because Route 66 is time limited for the free version and OSMAND allows you to download 10 maps for free. That would be about 8 States because the global base map will count as one as will one other base map you need. As you go through the setup you will download maps at that time.

The simply delete the one you don't want to keep or if your phone has plenty of storage (the gigs) keep both, it won't hurt anything.

When you download the app(s) and then download the maps you want, connect to WiFi just for that so you don't incur data charges and also because it will probably be faster.

Both mapping systems are available on Google's Playstore.

[Wayne Orwig]

so...someone summarize,  what is the best app for my smart phone?

I like to use OSMand+ for mountain rides.
For simple A to B on main roads, free Here maps is hard to beat.
For preplanned cross country trips I usually use CoPilot.
Of course for it is hard to beat Goggle maps for online navigation.

What phone do you have? What style riding do you do?

[charlie b]

Another vote for Copilot, but you have to pay for it.  If you like TomTom there is a version available too.  Garmin for iPhones.  Neither is free.

[drums4money]

I couldn't get friendly with OsmAnd for some reason.  Probably my short attention span, ADD, & dyslexia conspiring to keep me at arms length from something simple.

I did stumble across this one, though:

inViu Routes - it's android/google store

loaded it up (free) and it worked like a champ.  it will navigate, record your route - (what I was most interested in), and it's got a nifty route analysis feature that includes graphing of speed & route altitude changes. 

[canuguzzi]

That looks interesting. It uses open source maps just like OSMAND and many others. As more and more phones and tablets have standalone GPS receivers we'll see more and more apps like this which is good.

Seems inexpensive enough 99 cents for all features.

OSMAND does take some getting used to and the common complaint is limited searching. Important to remember that none of the off-line mapping apps let you search as you would when you're connected to data but then that means running a tab just to get maps.

I'm going to try it out though, never know. That is how I bought a Guzzi.

[canuguzzi]

On InViu this is what I've discovered so far:

It records and sends your routes to a server operated by the company. If you choose to use it in local mode (no data connection) it won't delete your routes once connected and after it uploads your routes to the server. The key there is that is still collects your routes and uploads them. Up to the user if they trust that sort of thing or not.

[stormshearon]

Just an FYI, but Microsoft has discontinued both Mappoint and Streets and Trips, and they really don't have any alternative to offer except online mapping options which frankly don't work as well.

[canuguzzi]

Just an FYI, but Microsoft has discontinued both Mappoint and Streets and Trips, and they really don't have any alternative to offer except online mapping options which frankly don't work as well.

Not from Microsoft but for free is something called Offline Map which is an app for tablets (or computers) running Windows 8.1

The only tablet I'm familiar with that is easy to carry around is the Vivotab from ASUS. Offline Map lets you download maps for the EU and USA and features street level searching. I haven't tried it out but it is an option for those using a GPS enabled Windows tablet

[lorazepam]

I was happy with my Street Pilot 2610 until I read this thread.  :(  Really makes me feel like I am using a dinosaur.

[charlie b]

Despite all the talk about GPS on phones, I still use my Garmin Nuvi (yes, the car version).  Why?  Mainly cause I can use it with gloves on.  The phone I cannot.

So, I usually just look at the phone when I want to see the weather radar app.

PS the car GPS units are starting to come with "pinch to zoom" screens, just like phones, so watch which one you buy.