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HTC Desire Google maps/navigation

paulcooper

paulcooper

Android Enthusiast
I am REALLY impressed with the google maps navigation on my Desire, I have a TomTom and pay for maps quarterly and it's up to date but still does not know about the 4 new roads where i live and one is a few miles long.

However Google Navigation knew about the new roads (1 extra before i knew, let alone tomtom)

How can they offer such great navigation for free when i have just paid
 
I agree, I have used all sorts of Sat Nav software as well as dedicated ones and I find Google Navigation to be excellent.

One of the best, show off functions is the street view it gives you at your destination.

I personally think it will slowly be the demise of dedicated Sat Nav's
 
Google Navigation isn't going to replace my TomTom until it can work offline. I live in a rural area and the mobile coverage can be patchy, Google Navigation is no use if I get lost in an area where I don't get a signal on my phone because it can't download the map of where I am.

If they can sort that out I agree it'll be a killer app.
 
Very true! :cool:
I am on T-Mobile and generally get a good signal on mine, other than at home but then I have wifi.
 
Work offline? You mean without 3G?

I used it to go to darkest Wales over the weekend, and there were barely any signals, but the GPS / navigation managed to get me there and back. Using very little 3G bandwidth too - don't know how they do it but it worked perfectly. :-)
 
I was of the understanding that you put your route into Google Nav, it then downloads all the map info to the phone then and there and thats all that is needed apart from turning the GPS function on.
 
The ability to have a new satnav and a new phone was the thing that made me go for my first smartphone and the Desire ticked all the boxes. Having used the Google Navigation a few times I am also very impressed. I try and download the route before I leave the house with the wifi, then I use almost no data ont eh road unless I go off the route.

I did a little test last week by d/l the route, then ran the phone only with GPS on, no 3G and it got me where I was going fine. Obviously if I needed to reroute I would have turned on the 3g and it would have done it instantly.

I find the maps very smooth, the rerouting is far quicker than my old Navman, the GPS signal is very strong and reliable.

The two negatives I have are the lack of speed cameras so it would be good to have those available as an overlay and in this recent hot weather, the phone has actually shown as overheating when sitting in the sun in its cradle. I'm not sure if it's supposed to do that and I would like to know if anyone else has had that problem.
 
Interesting comments, I thought that it cached the directions too when you created a route for navigation.
I am going to try this today and see.
 
Caching the directions is not the same thing. If I think I know where I'm going and am therefore not using navigation, but subsequently go wrong and get lost where there is no mobile signal I'm stuck.

When I say no mobile signal, I mean no signal *at all*. There is no 3g where I live, the only internet connection I can get on my phone is GPRS, and there are areas where even that doesn't work. For example in Caldbeck I can't even *ring* people, much less get a data connection.

For Google Navigation to be a viable option for me I'd have to be able to pre-load the maps onto my phone, until then I'll be keeping the TomTom. It may not be a problem in or around cities, but out in the sticks depending on a data connection just doesn't cut it.
 
I too am really impressed, just a couple of things would make it perfect in my opinion.

-More display options (like ETA rather than estimated journey time, total distance remaining, current speed etc)
- layers for speed cameras and POIs

I was using Copilot8 on my WM phone but feel no need to re-buy it for Android...well done Google!
 
I could not agree more, I Copilit8 for my wifes HTCTouch2 and works a treat, was going to buy for android, but not now!

When I talk to search on the navigation it struggles as it does not understand my voice very well but gets there eventually!
 
simon1 said:
... in this recent hot weather, the phone has actually shown as overheating when sitting in the sun in its cradle. I'm not sure if it's supposed to do that and I would like to know if anyone else has had that problem.
Click to expand...

yeah mine got hot (no warnings though) while we were driving - mind I was charging it at the same time and it was a 5 hour journey. Taking it off the charger seemed to make it happier.

Then again, we were listening to the radio, music and following a gps route with the screen always lit. No wonder it was getting hot!
 
I used this the other day and I was well impressed. not sure if its possible/planned, but can you get navigation to use street view when on the journey?
 
biscuitlad said:
yeah mine got hot (no warnings though) while we were driving - mind I was charging it at the same time and it was a 5 hour journey. Taking it off the charger seemed to make it happier.

Then again, we were listening to the radio, music and following a gps route with the screen always lit. No wonder it was getting hot!
Click to expand...

The warning I got was from the battery indicator app I use which shows the % of battery left. When you pull down the notification screen it also shows the charging state and the temperature. It came up as 'overheating'.
 
I've just been for a spin to give it a good going over. It seems to work pretty well. The voice is absolutely awful though. I use garmin satnav normally, and it's now due for a update. I'm not sure I'll get away with replacing it with my Desire just yet though. At the very least I need the screen to indicate which exit to take at a roundabout, 'cos I can't rely on the voice alone to tell me.
 
I've just been for a spin too, set a destination a few miles away and turned airplane mode on and successfully navigated to the destination, renaved back home and went a different way and I am fairly sure it has worked - so no data connection and it still named all the streets i went passed?

I am guessing it caches a lot of data already used?

I agree voice is annoying.
You want to try it with a parrot 3200 bluetooth when you get a call the nav voice comes through the speakers of the car during conversation and the screen on the desire shows an android or the callers photo, annoying
 
HYCAET said:
At the very least I need the screen to indicate which exit to take at a roundabout, 'cos I can't rely on the voice alone to tell me.
Click to expand...

Why can't you use the screen? When I navigate using my Desire, I always double check with the screen. There was one occasion over the weekend when she (after all, it is a she but at least she can pronounce Welsh names!) failed to tell me to turn left to stay on the road. Luckily, the screen showed the turning.

Really very impressed with this app. Looking forward to using it on a bike in London, though I guess then trying to check the screen might be a bit iffy... ;-)
 
The screen doesn't say which exit to take. If I need to 5th exit for example, and I don't hear the voice say it, I can't look at the map to see which way I'm coming of the roundabout whilst negotiating said roundabout. Unless I'm missing something obvious!
 
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