This app was mentioned in 27 comments, with an average of 1.11 upvotes
I've use OsmAndroid with mixed results. It gets job done but is clunky. I have recently downloaded an app called CoPilot GPS. I got it for my RV but it also has a Motorcycle Routing Profile. Within the profile you can add restrictions on toll roads/ avoid ferries/ and road preferences. Road prefrences are detailed. For example you can say I prefer backroads with 35mph limits, or you can say i prefer primary roads with 50mph limits. So far it's worked great for my camper (height and propane restrictions). I'm excited to try it on my motorcycle soon.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.alk.copilot.mapviewer&hl=en_US Also available from the usual pirate sites to load onto Android with the maps needed, the maps are stored on the phone so mobile service isn't needed, that's where the old phone comes into play. This app was loaded on my handheld device at my first trucking job, and I have used it on my phone as well. It'll work as well as the device it's installed onto will, the Windows CE device was always slow, but an Android phone with nothing else running is great. Used it on a Nexus 5, and an LG something, a mid-range phone at best. It's possible to get the app and maps separately too, if one desired to keep costs low, again via pirating.
Before I switched from iOS to Android, I used CoPilot for exactly that. I'm not sure if the Android version has the same functionality because I don't need it anymore and now use another route planner. But since it seems to be free, you could always give it a try and see how it works for you.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.alk.copilot.mapviewer
I've used CoPilot GPS.
There's also an OpenStreetMap based GPS called OsmAnd.
Trucker here.
I use CoPilot, you can adjust the heights and stuff for your vehicle. It's also got a car mode which is nice since it keeps all the maps in-app so no internet isn't a problem. What may be a problem is that it takes up like 4GB with the US+Canada map and voice guidance and traffic are $100 a year which is a bit steep if you're just using it once. But if you can keep your eye on it, it's otherwise free.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.alk.copilot.mapviewer
I just bought a Samsung Galaxy Tab E for $120 from best buy yesterday.
It's a high-end tablet released in 2015, rather than a new cheap-o tablet. It feels more premium and durable, but it doesn't run the absolute newest version of Android (7.1.1 Nougat instead of 10 "Q")
It also has a TFT display, instead of an AMOLED display. This would be a bad thing normally, since TFT is more power hungry than AMOLED. but for a GPS, TFT is more resistant to burn-in which would leave ghost images of the GPS app on an AMOLED display. Since you'll probably have it plugged in 99% of the time, TFT is actually a better choice.
As far as the actual navigation app is concerned, I use Copilot by Trimble which is $100/yr (well, free and the voice nav and traffic are $100 a year) and there are others in the play store. I like CoPilot because it's one of the options for Omnitracs, so it's not some fly-by-night bullshit GPS.
So for $240 (A naztech windshield mount is $20 at TA) you'll have a GPS that's as good as that $500 Android Garmin.
It can work OK and you can predownload the maps from Google Maps for your trip over WiFi.
On the other hand, CoPilot GPS - Navigation and similar apps download entire maps of countries, so all route queries are offline and re-routes are fairly instant.
I don't use it much (I've had a license for many years) but one of my issues with it were that POI's weren't that great (mom and pop's) passed the main POI's (Walmart and such) and inputting an address was resonate with the mid-2000s GPS map devices (enter 'house number', now enter street, now city, now zip) instead of being able to just type out something close'ish and let it figure it out (ex. Hospital, 80202 or 1234 Some Rd., Denver) if I were looking for a hospital or some address in Denver.
That's a newer RV specific version that didn't exist when I bought mine.
I use the regular CoPilot GPS app (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.alk.copilot.mapviewer) and use the RV profile that's included in it.
So far I haven't had any issues, but I don't use turn by turn directions or traffic with CoPilot. I pre-plan my routes, and use both Google and CoPilot as overview maps as I go.
I have this problem with the router in my travel trailer. When googling for nearby attractions/restaurants/grocery/etc, my phone will bring up results for the last place I camped.
But, it usually sorts itself out within a day or two. Not sure why/how... it may be because I'm constantly using GPS navigation - either GPS CoPilot in my truck or Backcountry Navigator while hiking - (starting it while I'm still at the trailer) and its updating Google's location database in the background.
Thanks.
(1) about GSM and CDMA
Is a smartphone device (i.e. given its brand and model, e.g. Samsung Galaxy S3,S4,S5,S6) either for GSM or CDMA, not for both?
When browsing smartphones, I often don't find their descriptions mention GSM or CDMA.
Does a manufacturer (e.g. Samsung, Motorola, LG, Apple, ...) usually produce either GSM or CDMA smartphones, or may produce both?
Do either of GSM and CDMA smartphones dominate the other in the market? I.e. which of GSM and CDMA do most of the recent or a little older smartphones belong to?
Is there a preference among customers between GSM and CDMA smartphones?
Do you mean that an unlocked GSM smartphone can be used with any GSM carrier, and so is an unlocked CDMA smartphone with any CDMA carrier?
(2) GPS feature
Does using GPS feature use data, or something else?
Is GPS feature offered by the device (smartphone) or the OS (Android) or both?
Does a smartphone device by default support GPS feature (so that i can use it during walking or driving or traveling), even a low end one such as the one used by Freedompop? If not, what words shall I look for in their descriptions when choosing a smartphone?
To install a GPS app, such as CoPilot GPS - Navigation App (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.alk.copilot.mapviewer), what is required on a smartphone and its Android OS?
I use copilot GPS. I liken it to MS Streets and Trips for pc. Download the maps and don't burn bandwidth or lose functionality in a no coverage part of the land.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.alk.copilot.mapviewer&hl=en
No, it's the other way round. Even Google Maps is available(ish) offline these days. Waze might still be online-only, but the selling-point of waze is up-to-the-minute disruption information anyway.
It's the norm for a satnav app to insist on downloading maps, and not-uncommon for them to let you also use online ones if you prefer. The usual rule is that you get one country for free, or sometimes one region, and generally you also have to pay extra if you want turn-by-turn navigation (which I imagine you don't if you were expecting a PDF).
EDIT: For some suggestions, OSMAnd is what I meant to say in my earlier post, it's mostly a map-viewer rather than a satnav (but does do satnav): https://play.google.com/store/search?q=osmand CoPilot's my normal 'proper' satnav, for turn-by-turn: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.alk.copilot.mapviewer
And TomTom gives you 50 miles of free navigation per month, if you do want that now you know you can have it :) https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tomtom.gplay.navapp
I use a Garmin 770 stand-alone unit. It's specific to RVs and allows you to enter your height, weight, etc in order to route you around low clearances and small bridges--plus, no internet or cell service required.
As far as aps go, CoPilot or CoPilot Trucker are arguably the best options. They used to have a dedicated RV app, but they merged it into the auto app and lost the ability to enter vehicle restrictions, which is where the trucker version comes in, as it still allows you to do so.
Its the only one with decent multi point navigation planning I've found on android. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.alk.copilot.mapviewer
Second this. If you're on Android, https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.alk.copilot.mapviewer
So... I spend the last couple of days trying out a dozen or so navigation apps, to find one that is able to dynamically re-route around blockages I define on the go, and I actually found a few that did a pretty good job. (Why Google/Waze isn't able to do it though, I have no idea...)
While I don't think I will replace Waze full-time with any of these apps, I will definitely keep one of them on my phone as a backup, for situations where Waze will get me lost... (Most likely Copilot, as it seems to be the most flexible, and since I have fond memories of it running on my laptop something like 20 years ago, finally letting me get rid of my boxes of maps; and finding that the couple of hundred dollars I spent on it were one of the best investments ever! ;)
Haha, as you list off those apps I'm feeling how you must've done as I held up the Rider as my experience with real satnavs :) Annoyingly, most of those have spawned features and become more awful than the barely-usable things they were when I went through them all.
I use CoPilot, which you get a week or so of for free before you have to buy it to get voice navigation (it's about £20 for the UK and £30 for Europe) and traffic's extra (I can't remember how much, but I bought it and it's not terribly useful). I think the free one can only have one country's maps at a time, too.
It does almost everything I want - I can drag-and-drop to move routes around, save them, email my saved and recent locations between devices (they have a 'cloud backup' thing that doesn't always work) and set road preferences so I can't really replicate "twisty route" but I can be fairly sure I'm not going to end up spending the day on a dual carriageway.
The shitty bit is that sometimes it implodes when you update it, and you lose all your saved points and, crucially, it can't read the map data any more so it needs redownloading. It's only done this twice to me ever, but one of those times was on a ferry which wasn't ideal timing.... It seems to sometimes have issues with reading maps off SD cards since Android KitKat ~~broke~~ secured SD card access, but so do several of my apps and it's just dawned on me that my SD card might be at fault here.
It's been brilliant to me with POIs, though, probably only because it's constantly updating (and maybe because I have low expectations) - it's only once ever taken me to a petrol station that's not there any more.
I've recently reinstalled NavMii (which is what NavFree became) and it seems much better than it used to be. It can't do waypoints and the POIs are awful, but it's just there in case CoPilot shits itself again. It seemed alright the other day, but I was using it for a route I already knew so it's not really a test. I know a few people who use it, though, and keep telling me it's much less shit than it was last time I tried it (about a year ago) so that's likely worth looking at as a fallback. No idea on voice commands, though.
I'll probably try it out tomorrow evening on the way to Wales; if I remember I'll let you know how annoying I found it on Monday :)
Copilot GPS is another free one. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.alk.copilot.mapviewer
CoPilot GPS - Navigation can work offline too.
CoPilot GPS is pretty nice on the N7.