Has anyone figured out the Navigation app?

[pbelfi]

Mike is right.....download Sygic.....it works great, and no need for a data connection. Actually, the Nexus 7 has a great GPS radio in it, as it finds and locks onto satellites fast!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

 

[Captain Kana]

Cnet has a review of 4 free nav apps to try. NavFree stores the data on your device.

Here.

 

[royal hussar]

OK have read every post in this thread and fully understand the need to set up and make the map available off line for the Navigation app to use. It all works great for maybe three miles Voice prompts etc. Clearly after only a few yards I would be out of WiFi range so why do the voice direction promts work three miles down the road and then stop. The mapping works great still but I dont want to look down at a map. All I get when the man stops giving directions is a noise like a gong at a point when I would expect a voice to tell me which way to turn. If the N7 has GPS such as the Tom Tom it should give the voice as well as the mapping surly... If not is there any alturnitive for here in the UK as I see lots of posts that are clearly USA orientated.. ie is there a Nav Free app for the UK

 

[hpilot]

Do none of you have a smart phone? Navigation works just fine on my Galaxy Nexus phone. Why were you expecting a wifi-only product to be a good navigation device?

Using a smart phone is a lot cheaper than plunking down money for a Garmin.

If you have an Android smart phone then just download the FoxFi app and get free wifi tethering. You can then use your Nexus if you like.

Well actually, FoxFi does not work with 4.1...

 

[dedduck0121]

I really with the Nav app worked offline with the downloaded maps. However, I just wifi tether my phone to the Nexus 7 and boom!, Navigation. I could just as easy use my phone for with the Nav app but having a 7inch navigation screen is sooo nice

 

[dsneedmd]

I use Co-Pilot. It works well & you can download all N America for $10 or less. No internet needed.

 

[YAYTech]

If I use pdanet to tether between andriod phone and the tablet, I assume that I can get the routing info and direction to where I want to go.. If I only use the phone for the location search, then unplug the phone and let the tablet navigation work by itself using the satellite.. In case, I only use a small amount of data from the phone to get the routing info.. does my assumption correct??

I think you're on the right track. You can connect long enough for the N7 to get the directions and start navigating, then shut down PDANet, and the N7 should keep navigating on its own, at least for a while. If you miss a turn, or it starts having trouble navigating, you can turn it back on. It shouldn't use a lot of data doing this, though I'm not sure it would use all that much more data just to leave the tethered connection on (though you might turn off syncing of accounts and such while doing this if you want to make sure it's not continually checking for email, etc, if you really need to keep usage to a minimum).

 

[simeonnevel]

All I get when the man stops giving directions is a noise like a gong at a point when I would expect a voice to tell me which way to turn.

The gong means that you've lost your GPS lock. When that happens to me I continue to use the map. When you reacquire GPS it will pick up at your current location.

Simeon

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Dubbin1]

Well actually, FoxFi does not work with 4.1...

Sure it does, I'm using it right now on my 4.1 Gnex.

 

[tflash]

Wow. That's ridiculous. So the point behind downloading a map is .. what? I guess you can use it like a fold-out paper map

Does a fold out map update your position on the map and show you what direction you are going?

 

[tflash]

Download either Sygic or CoPilot. They use stored data. Neither require a data connection. Once it's installed, you're done.

Just another example of Google's crappy apps used to get people to buy the device. They don't allow you to remove them (without rooting). Then you have to spend more money to buy a fully functional app from the play store.

The software on the N7 is a scam, but a smart one. They were very careful as to which features were not functional or not there at all to make you want to replace them.
Apple screwed up by having a crappy mapping and nav apps. that people could complain about.

What Google did (not allowing nav directions to be taken from cached maps while off line) could be called a 'feature', but what Apple did could be called a 'bug'.

They both had the same result of getting you to spend money in their app stores.

 

[beck79]

I think Google uses online mapping engine instead of local (stored in phone) to avoid licensing issues. So each time the route has to be recalculated the devices gets it from the Google server hence the need for internet connection. Since Google already has the navigation engine online, it is easy for them to maintain the online one which serves more than Android Phones.

GPS will work without Wi-Fi, mapping software probably uses the Wi-Fi to get a fix faster (even if not connected to any WiFi). Also I think these days most of the GPS are built as combo chips with WiFi, GPS, NFC etc built in together sharing some circuitry. So they might need some part of the WiFi circuitry for the GPS to function better or something.

Most of these are my assumption based on little that I know.

 

[jasonaward]

There are several reasons why it's to Google's advantage to not push all maps to local storage. First, it saves some storage space on your device. Secondly, it allows them to push only the amount of data needed for your trip, not large updates every time they update maps. Thirdly, they are probably updating maps on a constant and dynamic basis, unlike the other map providers which release data monthly or quarterly. Next, it allows them to do cool things like monitor trips, traffic, routes, travel times which gives them tremendous data and allows them to make their map products that much better with things such as estimated travel time depending on how busy the streets actually are. Finally, data connectivity is becoming pretty ambiguous for most devices... and more popular all the time. In the end, I seriously doubt Google will ever provide a traditional GPS service, it doesn't seem like that's something they're aiming for. But for what it does, and how it works, even now, it's a pretty amazing FREE product.

 

[royal hussar]

Tried a 50 mile journey at the weekend and same as before loose the voice prompt within 3 miles and it never returned for the entire journey.Re did the return journey using wi fi and again exactly the same even tried different mounting positions. Hey Ho looks like there is Mapping but no Navigation voice prompt. Wonderful. back to my Tom Tom I guess unless I am doing something wrong.

 

[philba]

Just another example of Google's crappy apps used to get people to buy the device. They don't allow you to remove them (without rooting). Then you have to spend more money to buy a fully functional app from the play store.

The software on the N7 is a scam, but a smart one. They were very careful as to which features were not functional or not there at all to make you want to replace them.
Apple screwed up by having a crappy mapping and nav apps. that people could complain about.

What Google did (not allowing nav directions to be taken from cached maps while off line) could be called a 'feature', but what Apple did could be called a 'bug'.

They both had the same result of getting you to spend money in their app stores.

Yeah, total scam. You spend the HUGE sum of $200 for an N7 and all you get is a crappy little fully functional high resolution, tablet with some really great software. Man, what a travesty.

Since you are probably humor challenged, let me be clear I think you are completely and utterly wrong. You can criticize G's decision to put the nav engine in the cloud but I find it amazing that you call it a scam on their part. I think you are the perfect candidate to pay the Apple tax - they've got great maps and nav SW.

 

[lmvine]

I tried Sygic & another one but neither of those found a destination (in a rural area) BUT Google nav found the address.

What I would like to see is an overlay app that uses the Google maps. Is there one?

 

[sojodave]

I forked over the $9.99 for co-pilot and I love it. It can give you turn-by-turn without wifi, but it also gives you an alternative route if your existing route is going to take 10 more minutes than what it originally estimated.

 

[tflash]

Second, there's no benefit to Google -- it's not like we get ads while navigating!

The benefit to Google is they can say how great the app store is when you go there to get apps with features that aren't missing or screwed up.
Fine, I'll pay the $10 for the CoPilot app that will do what the native 'nav' app should have done.

 

[tflash]

Yeah, total scam. You spend the HUGE sum of $200 for an N7 and all you get is a crappy little fully functional high resolution, tablet with some really great software. Man, what a travesty.

Since you are probably humor challenged, let me be clear I think you are completely and utterly wrong. You can criticize G's decision to put the nav engine in the cloud but I find it amazing that you call it a scam on their part. I think you are the perfect candidate to pay the Apple tax - they've got great maps and nav SW.

"fully functional" - really?
No file manager.
A USB port that can't read and write files to a "USB" flash drive.
The need for an OTG cable for USB hosting. (not included)
No DLNA support as a 'renderer' or a 'server'.
No offline nav support. (Maps and GPS, yes, but nav., no)
Bluetooth that won't work as a headset to a phone for hands free calling in a car.
A keyboard with no arrow keys.
A movie player that won't play many file formats.
No camera app.
An auto screen brightness function that adjusts up, but not down.
Audio output max is low.
A calendar app that will only do 'events' with no task or checklists that I can tie to a certain date.

I still think the N7 is the best choice for a 7" tablet with no monthly fees.
I also think the software could have been better, even for the $250 I payed.

Whether they are 'bugs' or 'features', or if it's a 'scam' or a 'business model', I'm not sure.

I'm not some trolling Apple fan, but I'm not a Googleite either.

So which SW apps that came with the N7 are you still using and have no desire to replace or supplement them with 3rd party apps?
For me the list is:
Play books
YouTube
Maps
Calculator
Play Store

 

[Ward510]

The November edition of Which? had test results for satnavs and included some apps. As far as the British Isles was concerned , the best app was Navigon Mobile Navigator v1.8.2 but at a cost of UKP42. They also rated Google Maps as bad and only useful for getting around on foot! Another app - iGo My Way at UKP 17.50 narrowly missed being a best buy but was a " good all- rounder with clear maps".