• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Caching Google Maps to Use Offline

Maps (-) worked for me. It took a few mins to cache the map tiles but worked. Got downtown toronto downloaded, and works pretty well without wi-fi or data.

Now to figure out if I can get navigation on the offline maps...
 
nik3t said:
Maps (-) worked for me. It took a few mins to cache the map tiles but worked. Got downtown toronto downloaded, and works pretty well without wi-fi or data.

Now to figure out if I can get navigation on the offline maps...
Click to expand...
getting navigation is the issue. Most of the alps do not provide provide navigation. P
 
Forget navigation: if I could even get street address search, I'd be happy. Browsing a map to find an address is useless: the screen is too small. That's the great thing about good ol' paper maps: you've got detail and wide view at the same time.

ravisghosh said:
getting navigation is the issue. Most of the alps do not provide provide navigation. P
Click to expand...
 
el_chupacabra said:
Forget navigation: if I could even get street address search, I'd be happy. Browsing a map to find an address is useless: the screen is too small. That's the great thing about good ol' paper maps: you've got detail and wide view at the same time.
Click to expand...

I use a combination of MapDroyd for offline maps and maps.google.com/m to look up an address when I have a data connection. It gives a general picture map of the destination area.
 
I've just tried the following:

Oruxmaps: no maps on startup. Bad.

Maverick: no maps on startup. Bad.

Copilot: Europe only. NA.

MapDroyd: Has maps when online. Choose and download maps in-app for offline use! Excellent - except that the map rotation is very slow and jerky (unlike Rmap).

Rmap: Huge range of online maps. Fantastic interface and options. Easy use of maps on SD card but no easy way to get them. No pinch zoom. Very smooth rotation, unlike MapDroyd. Excellent - just need to get offline maps.

AndNav2: I only tried AndNav1 (2 not available for Australia yet). AndNav2 might be the best of all, because it has route finding and voice realtime directions.

My verdict: I would use AndNav2 if available (for the route features).
As I can't use AndNav2, I have to choose MapDroyd or Rmap: I would use MapDroyd if the rotation were smooth, because it is so easy to download offline maps.
But the slow rotation means I will use Rmap, which is a fantastic app, but it will be a little troublesome to get the offline maps for it.
 
Creating offline maps for Rmaps:

1. get TrekBuddy Atlas Creator: Google Translate

2. Follow these instructions: Google Translate

3. Note that you will be choosing format BigPlanet_SQLite when you make the maps, and for the EXTRA instructions for that you need to read the README.HTM file that comes with TrekBuddy Atlas Creator
 
I've started using Brut Google Maps. Same as google maps but with caching feature. Plus there are some other feature. However, I guess not everything is cached in it, but thats just a doubt, cannot be sure.

Can someone confirm how good caching is in Bruit Google maps?
 
Hello,
for offline navigation I tested NDrive and I was quite impressed with the results, it feels a lot like Tomtom and it has all the essential features plus many inessential ones, for the details I've reviewed it here:
Random impressions: NDrive navigation app for Android

the big drawback is the cost of maps which are quite pricey and updates are not even mentioned.

Questions:
1) did anyone reviewed navdroyd? How well does address input work? Car navigation?
2) with the above methods for caching google maps does car navigation work completely offline? aren't searches and itinerary calculations still performed only online?

Thx,
Fra
 
Forgetful said:
Hello,


Questions:
1) did anyone reviewed navdroyd? How well does address input work? Car navigation?

Thx,
Fra
Click to expand...

Hey guys long time lurker, first time poster.

I decided to pony up the 5 quid (convert for American money) to give it fair chance. Ill let you know how I like it.
 
Alright so I paid for and downloaded Nav droid. It was a simple install and it is fairly simple to use. The interface is very similar to Google Nav. I only wish the menu Buttons were bigger.

2010-09-20100453_MtProspect_Illinois_US.jpg


The Navigation screen itself is large and easy to read (obviously because the Archos screen is large) however unless you are using blue tooth audio over your car radio, it is nearly impossible to hear over road noise if you are at speed with the windows down. This is a flaw of the Archos though.

2010-09-20100905_ArlingtonHeights_Illinois_US.jpg


The Navigation itself however isnt top notch. The route calculation needs work. I gave it a location to Navigate to (because I couldn't use an address but more on that in a few.) and it tried to give me an odd indirect ass backwards route to the express way. Of course I knew better and took the most direct route. After a few minutes it caught on and directed me to the Express way and worked well from then on. When I reached my destination it told me so, now most navigation systems at this point turn off the travel directions and show map. however when I reached my point of destination (Which wasnt my house but a point near it.) and then kept going it started to tell me to make a U-turn and head back. My old Tom Tom and other navigation systems I have used in the past knew when to quit.

Lastly Open maps. Yes I know its free and serviced by the general public and yes I know it isnt 100% complete but that makes this in an incomplete product as a whole. Since my area had not been mapped yet in Open Maps
( which you can actually do yourself by going to OpenStreetMap and signing up, I did.) I couldn't navigate by address which is, lets face it, the best feature of a Navigation device. Perhaps in a year or so when more detail has been mapped and addresses have been added it will function better.

If you can handle a Navigation program that functions by finding a point (which requires a little bit of knowledge about the area already) by scrolling through the map for a few minutes then it is a decent program (but watch out for that initial route calcuation) for the cheap price but other wise in my mind, you would probably be better off waiting for a better solution.

I actually would have ponied up the 40 American dollars for NDrive if the Archos store could actually process my order as I had used it previously with the HTC G1 phone and it worked pretty good. Alas Archos hasnt got its shit together with its own store.
 
Google, "Directions" is just fine for _online directions.
You get voice + written directions + map plus lots more.

BUT......

How do you save ANY of those for later use when you are offline?

ie.
1. I'm at home
2. I fire up my WiFi
3. I get all of the above
4. Now I want to save it to my SD card.
5. Can't do it :(

:(
 
DroidRick said:
Google, "Directions" is just fine for _online directions.
You get voice + written directions + map plus lots more.

BUT......

How do you save ANY of those for later use when you are offline?

ie.
1. I'm at home
2. I fire up my WiFi
3. I get all of the above
4. Now I want to save it to my SD card.
5. Can't do it :(

:(
Click to expand...


Hey, I had similar problems with my old TomTom XL...
(And it could never manage to make phone calls either! :eek:)

If you want directions between two fixed points then print them out (or save them to a text file and shift it to your phone).

If you want GMaps to "Navigate" for you (including detours for road closures, traffic, etc) then you'll need a data connection or maybe you could try getting your hands dirty compiling your own offline maps. As folks have mentioned, this is new ground and not yet foolproof.


Next up: "my microwave won't cook my meal while I'm driving across country"
;)
 
I used Google Nav in another real world test yesterday while coming from the Oktoberfest in Munich. I was standing on the sidewalk with my wife and niece while I tried to dazzle them with Google Nav, but the map took so long to load on 3g that it was faster to ask the mail lady from Deutsche Post. Luckily I also have CoPilot, Navigon & iGo MyWay... no waiting for maps to load as they are all on the SD card. Navigon is my favorite by far but I have never had any issues with any of them except Google Nav which works great if you don't go anywhere. Relying on a data connection for your location is hit & miss and not recommended if you roam between countries because you will incur high fees. Once Google adds maps 2 SD then it will be a powerhouse to be reckoned with, but for now it's a novelty I can't rely on as I travel a little father than to the Starbuck's across town.
 
is 3g that bad in europe? I've never had a basic street map (no layers) take longer than 5 seconds to load even on *zero* bars, provided I already had a gps fix.
 
I have found and been using Route3D. You have to zoom to the level you want before caching, but it is a 3D map, and so far works well on my Incredible.
 
Mr. Boom said:
I have found and been using Route3D. You have to zoom to the level you want before caching, but it is a 3D map, and so far works well on my Incredible.
Click to expand...


This is a really cool app. I love seeing the landscape in 3d. Now, it probably isn't that great for actual navigation, but it's still a neat program. I need to play with it a bit to really figure it out I guess.
 
Try NavDroyd, its a paid app that works excellent with Open Source Maps, trick is to send in the updates when you find a problem.
 
Hi, why don't you just check out if MapDroyd is the right application for you. MapDroyd is a free, true off-line map viewer for Android phones. It uses content from OpenStreetMap and provides maps for the whole world. Cheers
 
Im going to give MapDroyd a try. I have been trying to find a map for NYC that I would be able to access while i am in the subway. Hell I am even willing to pay for it but I cant seem to find anything. I dont even care about extra features. All I would like for it to do is show me street level and my location.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom