Help Google maps help

[Kraftwerk]

The Motorla Moto G is my first smartphone.

I've never had satnav in my car so using Google maps for directions is new to me.

How do I use Google maps:
What do I need to turn on to get it to work: 'Data'/'GPS' or does it use the phone signal?

What is 'GPS' used for?

Anything else I should know.

If someone could explain as simply as possible that would be great.

Thanks

 

[girolez]

Hi

Without posting a course on google maps:

It uses GPS en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Global_Positioning_System to locate you. The phone receives signals from 3 or more satellites and works out where it is quite accurately. GPS has to be enabled for Maps to work.

It uses mobile data (not just the phone service, so it may cost you depending on your data plan) to download maps of where you are (it knows that using the GPS ) as you go. If you know where you are going beforehand you can, before you leave, use wifi or data to download the maps to your phone and then navigate without using data all the time. This is good if your route goes where there is no data or you are abroad and data would cost a lot.

The various settings within the app are well explained in the internet help pages accessible from the app.

Hope this helps - do post again with more questions!

Roger

 

[alfick3]

Great explanation, Roger. +1

Using Maps is really easy. At the top, you will see the search box. That's where you put in the address, or business you are looking for. You can put in an address or you can search a specific name of a place; for example Dairy Queen. It'll then find you all the nearest (and furthest) Dairy Queens. You can also search for a city in a different state (or country) if you are just curious about where it is (I'll do that a lot).

 

[Kraftwerk]

Thanks for the replies

When using the directions will there be a voice saying which direction to go?

So I could plot the route at home and use it offline when in the car: But would I still have voice commands?

 

[alfick3]

Thanks for the replies

When using the directions will there be a voice saying which direction to go?

So I could plot the route at home and use it offline when in the car: But would I still have voice commands?

If using it on line, you will definitely have voice guided navigation. I'm not sure about off line nav, as I've never done it.

 

[Lordvincent 90]

Offline you will also have voice instructions. I travel constantly and still have voice instructions in areas where i do not have service

 

[Kraftwerk]

I've still not had time to test this out due to work and homelife, but I have been reading a bit on the internet.

Does Google Maps 7.5 (which I have on my Kitkat smartphone) work offline because I can't seem to see any setting for it.

I have a tablet which runs Android 4.1 and it has Google Maps 6.0 and I can see an option for it to work offline in the settings, but I can't see it on my smartphone.

What about being able to cache an area to use it offline which I've seen on some youtube videos for slightly older versions of Google Maps?

For someone like me who has never used this sort of app before and don't have a clue how it works, it would be nice to see a video that explains absolutely everything.
There most probably is one but I couldn't find it!

I just need know the basics to start to understand how Google Maps works.

What I really want, is to get directions offline.

Thanks

 

[Kraftwerk]

I've just turned wifi and gps on and set a route.
I am now going to test it out.
I'll let you know how I get on.
I'm looking forward to trying it out

Just got back.
Before I left the house I turned off 'wifi' and left 'gps' on.
Yes, it worked offline.
For a free app on my smartphone it worked very well.
What I wanted to try out was to set a new route using 'data' connection but I could not connect due to a problem with my network, so I could not try that out, which is a shame.
But at least I know I can now set a route at home and it will work without wifi being on.

I had a pop up when I set the route, saying that it was in beta.
Surely you have been able to set a route with 'Google Maps' with voice instructions for the last few years?

 

[Kraftwerk]

One thing I want to know is if this is still possible with the latest version?

I've seen this being done with older versions on Youtube, but can't seem to find any information about the latest version.

 

[Lordvincent 90]

One thing I want to know is if this is still possible with the latest version?

I've seen this being done with older versions on Youtube, but can't seem to find any information about the latest version.

Offline navigation still works with the latest version.

you can even cache full detail maps offline. (so you can zoom in and search even without a data connection) all you need to do is make sure the area you wish to cache visible and simply search "okay maps" ( or "ok maps" ) (without quotes) and you should see notification starting the map was cached

 

[Kraftwerk]

Thanks for the reply above.
Do you know how many miles is cached?

 

[alfick3]

Thanks for the reply above.
Do you know how many miles is cached?

I believe I've read somewhere, that it's about 12 square miles. I could be miss-remembering though.