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Help Using Ally as GPS

Mitchell4500

Mitchell4500

Android Enthusiast
Im going to buy the thunderbolt when it comes out and I want to give my ally to my dad so he can use it as a GPS. This means the phone deactivated but using the internal GPS. Now google maps uses the dataconnection for maps. Is there a good preferably free app that has maps installed on the sdcard for example that i could use for this.

Thanks
 
pretty sure you need some data connection for the GPS to work at all. it's not a standalone GPS as things like Garmin are. Connected to a wifi network is enough. I took mine to Spain where there is no service for american non-triband phones and the gps didn't work for me (in other apps or google maps) until i connected to a wifi. that's my experience at least. based on that, if you have no cell service wherever the driving is happening, the GPS won't decode your position.
 
Easy way to test is to put it in airplane mode then turn on the GPS only and see if it can find you.
 
k.c.cole said:
Easy way to test is to put it in airplane mode then turn on the GPS only and see if it can find you.
Click to expand...

I put mine into airplane mode to check it out. The good news is the GPS and Google Maps work, but I think Google Maps needs a data connection to update the maps as you travel.
 
Yes the phone has a GPS like Garmin or Something. Google maps requires a DataConnection to download map data. So we need an app that dosent download map data but instead has its own stored on the phone its self.
 
interesting... i went to GPS Test and it tracked 8 birds but would not give me my coordinates. (i'll bet if i turned on 3g or wifi it would). but when i went to GoogleMaps, it loaded only the cached maps but quickly locked on to me at my location. i didn't drive around with it to make sure it updated. but still cool. i wonder why it didn't work in spain. unless the newer version of Maps allows for this and the one at the time didn't. It also could not lock on in a 747 cruising at 35k ft... but again maybe it's software.
 
gaetawoo said:
interesting... i went to GPS Test and it tracked 8 birds but would not give me my coordinates. (i'll bet if i turned on 3g or wifi it would). but when i went to GoogleMaps, it loaded only the cached maps but quickly locked on to me at my location. i didn't drive around with it to make sure it updated. but still cool. i wonder why it didn't work in spain. unless the newer version of Maps allows for this and the one at the time didn't. It also could not lock on in a 747 cruising at 35k ft... but again maybe it's software.
Click to expand...

The plane didnt work cause you had no GPS connection - in order for it to work you were too far up for Consumer GPS to work - the phone was made intentionally not to work as a stand alone GPS - There IS a garmin app - but not sure what it does.
 
how can it not be standalone and yet still work without wifi or 3g? why didn't it work in spain? google just sent up some nexus s or whatever the new one is 100,000 feet with it's gps on and an additional standalone gps. the impression was that both worked.

either it can self-decode the signals or it can't... no?
 
gaetawoo said:
how can it not be standalone and yet still work without wifi or 3g? why didn't it work in spain? google just sent up some nexus s or whatever the new one is 100,000 feet with it's gps on and an additional standalone gps. the impression was that both worked.

either it can self-decode the signals or it can't... no?
Click to expand...

A GPS needs specific signal to find a Satellite - unless a GPS has the antenna to see European Satellites, it just wont work (a US phone not made to work in europe would be a waste to have a gps antenna that did work there)

also 100,000 feet what? A consumer would never go that high?
 
Afteraffekt said:
A GPS needs specific signal to find a Satellite - unless a GPS has the antenna to see European Satellites, it just wont work (a US phone not made to work in europe would be a waste to have a gps antenna that did work there)

also 100,000 feet what? A consumer would never go that high?
Click to expand...

there is no such thing as a european gps antenna.... gps is gps, it works everywhere. what doesn't work in europe is the cellular antenna. and what i had originally thought was that the ally and most phones are aGPS which is assisted GPS, which requires some sort of cellular or data connection to help the phone decode the incoming GPS signals. But if you turn the phone to airplane mode and thereby turn off its cellular radio, the GPS still seems to work here, but in spain it didn't which may be for a number of reasons that i can no longer verify, but once I turned on wifi when i was in spain, and connected to a wifi network, it then started to work. so i don't know what is going on. but it was a surprise to me that it worked here.

as for 100,000 ft, i'm not saying i want to go up there, just that google has recently done it and if GPS worked there, it really ought to work at 35,000 ft, unless the plane has some sort of interference blocking the signal, but that probably wouldn't be since cell phones work once you are within range in side the plane.
 
gaetawoo said:
there is no such thing as a european gps antenna.... gps is gps, it works everywhere. what doesn't work in europe is the cellular antenna. and what i had originally thought was that the ally and most phones are aGPS which is assisted GPS, which requires some sort of cellular or data connection to help the phone decode the incoming GPS signals. But if you turn the phone to airplane mode and thereby turn off its cellular radio, the GPS still seems to work here, but in spain it didn't which may be for a number of reasons that i can no longer verify, but once I turned on wifi when i was in spain, and connected to a wifi network, it then started to work. so i don't know what is going on. but it was a surprise to me that it worked here.

as for 100,000 ft, i'm not saying i want to go up there, just that google has recently done it and if GPS worked there, it really ought to work at 35,000 ft, unless the plane has some sort of interference blocking the signal, but that probably wouldn't be since cell phones work once you are within range in side the plane.
Click to expand...

There IS a difference in GPS, this is coming from an Electronics major, I have BUILT a satellite with a team of engineers, theres a difference in the frequency used, and thus not ALL European geosynchronous satellites will work with american devices. (The US GPS System was military based at first - and is thus Proprietary). A Garmin or Tomtom would most likely work fine there, as the antennas are built in (if you ever take one apart they have anywhere from 3 to 4) A US made phone may work if you can connect to a newer European satellite, and those are located more about Great Britain and France. If you want a reliable GPS in European countries its highly recommended you purchase a Pure GPS device that is capable of such.
 
This thread is loaded confusion. A few facts:


-The GPS in your Ally does work in Europe. I've fooled around with a rather poor Map/GPS app (I've forgotten which) while in Europe. The GPS tracks & works fine even when there is no Cellular service.

- There is only one GPS system that consumer products use & it is built by the US (There is a European system in the works, GNSS, but it is incomplete.)

- GPS satelites are not Geosyncronous, they are in low-earth orbit & there are about 30 of them.

- There is a system called augmentation & yes there are seperate US & other systems. They use geosyncronus satellites paired with earth-stations. (I can't find any technical reference that suggests thay the Ally uses Augmentation, in fact it reads as if it does not)

- You phone has something called A-GPS. The "A" means "Assisted". It uses the data network to get orbital data on satellites so it can find & lock on faster. (this explains why my Ally is so much faster to lock on than my stand alone GPS)

- there is a restriction on consumer GPS that prevents them from working at high altitude & high speed (as in balistic missile). Those restrictions are not so tight as to stop them from working in airplanes.

(Source, Wikipedia & other web sources)
 
- You phone has something called A-GPS. The "A" means "Assisted". It uses the data network to get orbital data on satellites so it can find & lock on faster. (this explains why my Ally is so much faster to lock on than my stand alone GPS)

If your Ally locks on faster than your stand alone then you are very lucky. It takes forever for mine to lock.
 
With radios enabled Ally seems to first quickly lock on the nearest cell tower to give your general location (one or two tenths of a mile off) but does take forever to acquire GPS satellites (to give your exact location) if you are indoors, faster if your outside. This is just an observation.
 
Afteraffekt said:
There IS a difference in GPS, this is coming from an Electronics major, I have BUILT a satellite with a team of engineers, theres a difference in the frequency used, and thus not ALL European geosynchronous satellites will work with american devices. (The US GPS System was military based at first - and is thus Proprietary). A Garmin or Tomtom would most likely work fine there, as the antennas are built in (if you ever take one apart they have anywhere from 3 to 4) A US made phone may work if you can connect to a newer European satellite, and those are located more about Great Britain and France. If you want a reliable GPS in European countries its highly recommended you purchase a Pure GPS device that is capable of such.
Click to expand...


Wait, wait, huh?

US GPS will not work in Europe because it can't see "Euro Sats"?

GPS is a 24 satellite constellation, with LOS on the entire globe...

ConstellationGPS.gif
 
Look on the market for an app that backs up google maps data. I found one a while ago that was a GPS but offline version, meaning no data connection was needed. I don't remember if it calculates routes while being offline, but at least the map is available for use to pre calculate a route.

*Check out MapDroyd, I just viewed it over, didn't actually use it, but it seems like it may have what you are looking for. Or maybe can point you to something better.
 
Sell Ally on Ebay for 100 something dollars. Buy Garmin on sale for $89.00 (for a nice one too). Profit.... and he'll have a bigger and better screen to look at.
 
FYI, Google Navigation Beta is US ONLY. You might be able to find yourself on Google Maps, but if you want to use it to find directions you'll have to use a seperate app with support for Europe.
 
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