[jinjin12]

i just downloaded new york city offline map with google maps. and now i turn it on without the wifi and i've enabled gps but it can seem to track my location. i've left it for 30 mins and still nothing. is this a problem with my nexus 4 GPS or does google maps not work with GPS in offline mode?

[still1]

google maps navigation(gps) dont work offline. you need to have data for navigation. when you try to navigate it give a message asking to enable data/wifi. you might have checked "Never show this message again" in the past.

one good thing about offline map is it save you a lot of data while using gps.

[jinjin12]

google maps navigation(gps) dont work offline. you need to have data for navigation. when you try to navigate it give a message asking to enable data/wifi. you might have checked "Never show this message again" in the past.

one good thing about offline map is it save you a lot of data while using gps.

that's good news and bad news lol. good news, gps is not broken. bad news, google offline don't work lol. i used citymaps2go on the iphone and it's amazing, however, on android, that app is so poorly coded and it lags badly even in nexus 4. thus i use google maps offline, but only to find out that gps don't work offline...

[still1]

that's good news and bad news lol. good news, gps is not broken. bad news, google offline don't work lol. i used citymaps2go on the iphone and it's amazing, however, on android, that app is so poorly coded and it lags badly even in nexus 4. thus i use google maps offline, but only to find out that gps don't work offline...

there are other good offline maps available in the market. you can look for it. I dont remember the app name. maybe someone else can suggest an offline map

[jimmiekain]

i havent had any issues with google maps. The only GPS issue i have is when I try to use the speed test app it always thinks im in Texas or Kansas. (I'm in California)

Anyone else experience this?

[Hubertsng]

Yeah... gps uses data. Ever wonder how the gps knows where you are? By the system sending a signal to a satelite to where you are so yeah.. you need data.
Google offline works, there is no issue with it. The reason you get it is to see the area around and where places are.
GPS NEVER WORKS OFFLINE

[jinjin12]

Yeah... gps uses data. Ever wonder how the gps knows where you are? By the system sending a signal to a satelite to where you are so yeah.. you need data.
Google offline works, there is no issue with it. The reason you get it is to see the area around and where places are.
GPS NEVER WORKS OFFLINE

what? gps sends data yes, but it's not using your data plan. it's not the same data that that is used to to browse internet you know? there is no reason for gps not to work without data plan, you make no sense....

also i can use gps offline with citymaps2go...no data needed...

[Pre-dawn raid]

GPS NEVER WORKS OFFLINE

My Garmin in the car works all day, every day...all offline.

Sent from my NookColor using Android Central Forums

[Hubertsng]

what? gps sends data yes, but it's not using your data plan. it's not the same data that that is used to to browse internet you know? there is no reason for gps not to work without data plan, you make no sense....

also i can use gps offline with citymaps2go...no data needed...

My Garmin in the car works all day, every day...all offline.

Sent from my NookColor using Android Central Forums

meant that it doesn't work with a connection to anything. If you don't allow it to send data to the satellite, it can't pick up your location and if you disable all transmittions you won't allow it to send data. Another clarification is that the GPS doesn't work well because it can't send data accurately with cell towers.

[jinjin12]

meant that it doesn't work with a connection to anything. If you don't allow it to send data to the satellite, it can't pick up your location and if you disable all transmittions you won't allow it to send data. Another clarification is that the GPS doesn't work well because it can't send data accurately with cell towers.

you can shut off every type of data and but as long as you have the gps receiver on, it will work.... again mobile data has nothing to do with gps. car gps has been doing this for while. there are small third party bluetooth gps adapters for ipod touch that has been doing this for a while. i can keep going on...

[gone down south]

meant that it doesn't work with a connection to anything. If you don't allow it to send data to the satellite, it can't pick up your location and if you disable all transmittions you won't allow it to send data. Another clarification is that the GPS doesn't work well because it can't send data accurately with cell towers.

GPS doesn't have to transmit anything to a satellite. It's strictly a matter of receiving transmissions from the satellite.

question for the original poster: are you trying to navigate or just have the map open up and show you your location? With offline maps you should see where you are, you just can't get turn by turn directions.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

[Hubertsng]

Really? That's news to me, never had a phone with GPS before, just had a regular GPS for the car.

[MidtownHD]

It works, my Nexus 4 isn't activated and the GPS works fine. Maybe you have it on airplane mode.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

[N4Newbie]

I downloaded an offline map that covers the area from my home to my place of work 20 miles away, then put the Nexus 4 into airplane mode.

Went out my front door, got into the car, plugged the phone into the charger. Started Google maps and cancelled out of the request to turn on a data connection, then loaded my offline map. The small blue arrow immediately showed my current location on the map.

As I drove to work, the blue arrow accurately tracked my position on the map. One thing I did notice: with a "live" map, the map automatically moves such that the blue arrow remains in the middle of the screen. However with the offline map, the map remains stationary while the blue arrow moves, eventually moving all the way off screen. At that point, I can either drag the map into position or tap the icon at the top right of the screen to automatically move the arrow back to center screen and center the map. During all this time, the GPS icon was present at the top left of the notification bar.

jinjin12, are you in Manhattan? If so, how does the GPS work for you with "live" maps? I only get to Manhattan a couple of times per year, so haven't experimented much. But, my sense is that GPS would not work very well because the tall buildings would limit the device to only seeing satellites which are more or less directly overhead; not enough to establish a fix in most cases. Can anyone comment on this?

[Michael Rodgers]

Several people have already gotten this right, but just to add:

GPS and Google maps will work just fine without data. What you will NOT be able to do is search for things (like a coffee shop near your location) or ask for directions. But the map should load (if you've saved an area for offline use) and the GPS should show your current location.

On the other hand, you might be having trouble getting a direct line to a satellite, which isn't really a phone failure so much as a limitation of GPS.

[corance]

And also since it's a smart phone you should have a smart data plan. They are cheap enough nowadays.

[jinjin12]

It works, my Nexus 4 isn't activated and the GPS works fine. Maybe you have it on airplane mode.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

lmao dude, i would know if i had it in airplane mode

[N4Newbie]

lmao dude, i would know if i had it in airplane mode

And even if you did, it wouldn't matter.

GPS itself uses neither Wi-Fi nor cellular connections. It does not transmit any data at all; it merely receives signals from satellites orbiting above. The more satellites it can lock on to, the more accurately it can determine the position of the device - a minimum of four satellite locks is required for accurate positioning. See

[gone down south]

It's notoriously difficult to get a good GPS lock in the canyons of Manhattan, you never have a really good view of enough sky.

Try turning your Wi-Fi on and enabling Wi-Fi location. Even if you don't connect to a network, Google will have a surprisingly good lock on your location just by knowing what networks you're near.


Sent frm my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

[greydarrah]

I downloaded an offline map that covers the area from my home to my place of work 20 miles away, then put the Nexus 4 into airplane mode.

Went out my front door, got into the car, plugged the phone into the charger. Started Google maps and cancelled out of the request to turn on a data connection, then loaded my offline map. The small blue arrow immediately showed my current location on the map.

As I drove to work, the blue arrow accurately tracked my position on the map. One thing I did notice: with a "live" map, the map automatically moves such that the blue arrow remains in the middle of the screen. However with the offline map, the map remains stationary while the blue arrow moves, eventually moving all the way off screen. At that point, I can either drag the map into position or tap the icon at the top right of the screen to automatically move the arrow back to center screen and center the map. During all this time, the GPS icon was present at the top left of the notification bar.

So, if your taking a trip (say a couple hundred miles) and you load up the destination address in Navigation, then start navigating, what specifically do you need to do to to download the offline maps for that trip?

[skyrockett]

So, if your taking a trip (say a couple hundred miles) and you load up the destination address in Navigation, then start navigating, what specifically do you need to do to to download the offline maps for that trip?

Navigation requires Data connection. But if you download google maps then you can view your location on saved maps without data connection.. Just a location!

[N4Newbie]

So, if your taking a trip (say a couple hundred miles) and you load up the destination address in Navigation, then start navigating, what specifically do you need to do to to download the offline maps for that trip?

Open Maps. Tap Menu -> Make available offline. Follow the directions to pan and zoom the map so that it entirely includes the area you will be driving in. Note how it estimates the storage space required as you make the map area larger or smaller.

Later, to use the offline map, tap "Maps" at the top left of the screen, select My Places, and then the "OFFLINE" tab at top left.

[greydarrah]

Open Maps. Tap Menu -> Make available offline. Follow the directions to pan and zoom the map so that it entirely includes the area you will be driving in. Note how it estimates the storage space required as you make the map area larger or smaller.

Later, to use the offline map, tap "Maps" at the top left of the screen, select My Places, and then the "OFFLINE" tab at top left.

Thanks for the info and the instructions. Will that offline map work in the Navigation app, or does it only work in the Google Maps part of the app?

[N4Newbie]

So far as I know, the actual "navigation" (planning the trip, rerouting when you miss a turn, etc) is performed by Google's (or TeleNav's, or ...) servers and so you must have a data connection for navigation to work.

[greydarrah]

As an alternative, I have the free app ForeverMap2 which comes with one country's maps for free. You can elect to not download any of the states you don't think you'll need to save space. I'm pretty sure that it lets you use turn by turn navigation without a data connection, but I haven't tried it out on the road yet.