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

Help Google Maps - how much bandwidth does it actually use?

DarkSky

Well-Known Member
Here in Canada we don't have unlimited data plans ($25 for 500MB on Telus), so obviously of big importance is how much bandwidth a GPS system like Google Maps actually uses, when it streams it's content.

Right now my option is to stick with Motonav, but I won't be buying it - it's 99EU, PER AREA, *EVERY 2 YEARS!* The funny part about Motonav is their site says the 99Euro is for the 'lifetime of the product' and then further down they define 'lifetime' to be 2 yrs. Haha. :p

Anyway... has anyone done a test with Google Maps from start to finish on say a 1hr trip and recorded how much data it uses? (maybe use an app like NetSentry which records used 3G and WiFi bandwidth) I'm not sure if Google Maps uses like megs per minute, or just a few kb per minute. I only get 500MB/month on my plan so if anyone knows if this is feasible, for a few trips per month using it...
 
Nice! I didn't even see that in there!
I plan to buy the Milestone and will likely use the GPS feature, before I decide on the exact same plan as you sound like you are on (500MB), how much is it using per/whatever? If you could tell me. Thanks.
 
I plan to buy the Milestone and will likely use the GPS feature, before I decide on the exact same plan as you sound like you are on (500MB), how much is it using per/whatever? If you could tell me. Thanks.

I've never used GoogleMaps because it doesn't have turn-by-turn navigation here in Canada. Right now I use CoPilot. One time fee and the maps are stored on the phone, not streamed. Much more confusing than GoogleMaps though.
 
Choose "About" from the "More" menu in Google Maps and it will tell you how much data it's used.

It must only show you what you've used in the session. Mine in/out are both at 0.

@DarkSky - That's two years of updates. You can still use the product after that. (so they say). hah
 
Not much i would beleive. On a 45 minute trip from Richmond Hill - Newmarket it said i used 256 kb.

Motorola defines the lifetime as 2 years because thats how long they believe people keep a phone. I am one who changes phones every year. Ive had 4 phones since last december. Motorola Rokr E8, HTC Dream, HTC Magic and now my Milestone
 
Back
Top Bottom