Android GPS

jonnyboy66uk

Howdy all, Just got myself an Android phone and been playing with endomondo which is brilliant for tracking routes, but is there software you can use to plan routes and use the phone as gps navigation? This would be brilliant if you could........

trail jacker

there is an app called B.iCycle that uses GPS to track your route and record it so you can see the distance, speed, total ascent/descent etc which I have yet to use. Got it for 84p off the Android Market a couple of days ago, not 100% if you can plan routes on it though...

DickBarton

TrekBuddy - available free on the Market.

You also need to download Mobile Atlas Creator (free) to your computer as you can then choose the area and plot your route and then export it in a format that Trekbuddy can use and allow you to follow.

predo

Viewranger.

joshtp

I use Google Mytracks (free in market) to track... really good... hated Endomondo....

Not sure about the best planner though...

phz

predo wrote:

Viewranger.

this

plus shell out a couple quid for Endomondo Pro (or Sportypal Pro) for tracking.

slainte 8) rob

d3matt

+1 for Google MyTracks for tracking. It's very easy to share your route and stats with others on the ride and upload to Google My Maps and share with others.

Not used any route planning. Would like too, but my phone (Dell Streak 5" tablet) is too expensive to have mounted to the handle bars, so it's safely away in my Camelbak.

wormball

Trek Buddy and Mobile Atlas Creator to cut sections of google maps out for offline use

MM Tracker (I think it's like Viewranger) to view Ordinance Survey maps on which you can upload GPX files (plotted routes) you can also record your route

Ulysse Gizmo for other tools that're usefull

Eskimo427

www.gpsies.com will allow you to create routes online and download them along with the application for your phone. It's free too.

Ssur

Hi, I have tried TrekBuddy and ViewRanger on an Android phone as I was also looking for a cycle Satnav, and remove the need to keep getting the maps out. They seem to load up my routes OK in gpx format so that you can see them on the phone, but I couldn't get them to talk me round the route.
Has anybody used these applications to direct them round an already created route, or know any other applications that can do this.
There seem to be plenty that record your route, I use CardioTrainer and its great, but can't find one that will give me spoken directions and save me from getting the maps out.

Thanks,

bluechair84

+1 ruffeled chip for viewranger

I use bikehike.co.uk to plan routes and then download the .gpx to follow

DickBarton

Do you really need to be spoken to to follow a route? Surely you do some research and go ride? If it's an unknown route you would surely check the next distance so you are aware of stuff rather than rely on some spoken word as it happens?

Just asking (although this does sound like a go) as I don't do this myself but make sure I'm aware of the route and check maps regularly on stuff I don't know as it allows me to also assess escape routes and alternatives...

bluechair84

Using paper maps, and good preparation is kind of like the debate between photographers who feel that post editing is cheating. However, the technology is an aide, it is only there to support skills (such as map reading) that you should already have. If you don't have the prerequisite skills, even with GPS you are still in danger of getting terribly lost.
GPS trackers can be unreliable, bad reception, batteries etc. but it is a neater solution, smaller and less likely to be blown away. My tracker is my phone so I'm combining tech meaning I'm actually carrying less (no map). Besides, what is the difference between looking at a map of the terrain that has been printed, or projected onto a screen (rhetorical Q)?

And I've never come across anyone using a GPS that 'speaks' to you. Mine certainly beeps when you come close to a waymark but I don't use that feature.

Anonymous

Paper maps, good memory and sense of direction

Viewranger seemed expensive to me to get the same amount of maps as you'd get with paper, especially at the higher level of detail, and having to pay for the app on top (though I've got a Nokia and they were charging a huge amount for it on that).

P.S. Not really a navigating thing, mainly a tracker, but keep an eye on Sports Tracker. It's a Nokia app at present by a company split off from Nokia, but they're announcing new platforms soon, and I suspect they may do an Android version.

Oh, and on the paper map side. I just make a copy of the area I'm going to ride onto an A4 sheet and stick it in a plastic pocket, stuffed in my bag. Could also laminate. Find it's quicker to yank that out than get the phone out and mess about with various menus and wait for a decent GPS lock.

TownyDC

I've been using Endomondo on android for the last couple of weeks now and love it, my only gripe is that when i'm out on a ride and i have my Brother Pep talking me from his laptop, if i haven't got any headphones on, i can't hear them, and can't read them after on the app or on the website. apparently with Blackberry you can.

Dave

bluechair84

deadkenny wrote:

Viewranger seemed expensive to me to get the same amount of maps as you'd get with paper, especially at the higher level of detail, and having to pay for the app on top (though I've got a Nokia and they were charging a huge amount for it on that).

Oh, and on the paper map side. I just make a copy of the area I'm going to ride onto an A4 sheet and stick it in a plastic pocket, stuffed in my bag. Could also laminate. Find it's quicker to yank that out than get the phone out and mess about with various menus and wait for a decent GPS lock.

I didn't pay for the Viewranger app. The software is free, you just purchase the maps through them. And of course, they don't get damaged so long as you back up your downloads - solvable by taking copies of a paper map too. And I think the DLs for OS maps do work out cheaper. Just need a compatible phone

bluechair84

There is also Google Latitude which is interesting; it logs your position and anyone else you know with latitude running on google maps. I lost the other-half in Dalby forest this weekend and it would have been handy to see where she was on the phone. The trouble is, google maps is a right toad's arse for outdoors types as there's no footpaths etc.

Oh, and Viewranger will do this too but you'd need both phones to have the maps D/Ld - I haven't tried this feature yet.

sparky.2002

+1 for viewranger. stick to 1:50k maps though - far better value. hopefully the android version will get all the features available on the symbian version.

Anonymous

1:50k doesn't have enough detail. Not if you want to see the nearest footpath or bridleway to where you are in the middle of a forest, especially stuff other than official public footpaths. OSM / OCM may have trails marked though, and they're free.


Anyway, turns out Sports Tracker is coming to Android as I suspected, and also iPhone...

http://www.sports-tracker.com/blog/2011 ... nd-iphone/

Really highly recommend it. It's the best thing available on Nokia phones and the key reason to have a Nokia at all.

sparky.2002

dont get me wrong, the 25k maps are far more accurate and detailed in everyway - but i dont think they are really worth the money (in viewranger at least). I'd say pretty much all passable places are marked up on the 50k maps. At the end of the day, you only need the map once. I initially spent a few quid on 'local to me' maps at 25k. I then spent 20quid on the local 50k maps - the area covered was huge!! and detailed enough.

bluechair84

There is also a free basic UK road map available for download, zoom out far enough and you get the eyes of God rather than just...... nothing. Found that quite handy as it helps me locate where exactly I am looking if I zoom out