Newbie asks about Apps

[furkin]

Hi all, Thanks for the info in my first post.

I am now disabled and budget ain't great. I use 02 payg - so most of my concerns are about running costs.

Still basic questions I'm afraid:

1/ SAT-NAV:
I've been playing with my 'built-in' sat.nav & quite enjoy it - apart from the amount of data it uses when on a run.
A friend told me about CoPilot. I downloaded it last night but not got round to using it yet.
First question - does it take my data allowance ?
Second: Is this one of the good apps or is there a better one ?

2/ CAR MAINTENENCE:
Another mate told me about Bluetooth OBD2.
I already have a cheap code reader - Autel-905 (only used on my Sons & neighbours cars) so again, what's the best one out there ?

I'm slowly getting used to my first ever 'smarter than me' phone,,,, should have got one before !

Thanks for reading

 

[baldpaul]

Hi all, Thanks for the info in my first post.

I am now disabled and budget ain't great. I use 02 payg - so most of my concerns are about running costs.

Still basic questions I'm afraid:

1/ SAT-NAV:A friend told me about CoPilot. I downloaded it last night but not got round to using it yet.
First question - does it take my data allowance

CoPilot doesn't use your data allowance as the maps are all stored locally on your phone. I think there is a feature that would use your data allowance and I think its called active traffic and warns you about traffic jams etc. But you don't have to use it. I have used about 5 different sat navs that all stored maps locally and felt that CoPilot was the best. I eventually got the premium version or whatever the paid app is called.

I still prefer Google Maps and tend to use it when I have previously cached a map locally and I don't mind using some data allowance. But for offline maps CoPilot is excellent and a lot more customisable than G Maps. I'm in the UK by the way so my opinion is based on my experience here.

Can't help with your second query, sorry.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[furkin]

Cheers Paul (I s'pose I should be called bald baz !)
When you say that CoPilot stores map/s on the phone, can they still be used for sat.nav purposes ? That's all I'm interested in, otherwise, I'd use G.Earth & print out a route.

I wouldn't mind paying a few quid for a better version - if it does what I want.

When I travelled from the East Midlands to Cornwall a couple of weeks ago, I was only getting about 25 minutes of data for ?1. That soon started to add up.

thanks again

 

[cgavin1]

Hi all, Thanks for the info in my first post.

I am now disabled and budget ain't great. I use 02 payg - so most of my concerns are about running costs.

Still basic questions I'm afraid:

1/ SAT-NAV:
I've been playing with my 'built-in' sat.nav & quite enjoy it - apart from the amount of data it uses when on a run.
A friend told me about CoPilot. I downloaded it last night but not got round to using it yet.
First question - does it take my data allowance ?
Second: Is this one of the good apps or is there a better one ?

2/ CAR MAINTENENCE:
Another mate told me about Bluetooth OBD2.
I already have a cheap code reader - Autel-905 (only used on my Sons & neighbours cars) so again, what's the best one out there ?

I'm slowly getting used to my first ever 'smarter than me' phone,,,, should have got one before !

Thanks for reading

I am new here so won't spam replies too much but ..

1. I actually tried a few and obviously you should go with what you prefer. The ability to download and reuse offline maps is something I like, but given the devices memory limitation/s its not ideal really. You said you were on a budget, me too! I still managed to find a number of PAYG deals that included free minutes and at least 1gb of data for ?10 a month here. I would suggest looking at Virgin Mobile's sim only plans if you are in the UK. They are technically contracts, but are only 30 day rolling ones so at most it will cost you 1 month charges to cancel. The ?10 a month and up plans offer generous call and data. The ?15 a month (?180 a year) offer unlimited data which is ace if you like to use your droid on the road for skype, youtube, browsing, tethering etc.

2. I'd appreciate your feedback on this if you find out more as I'd love to be able to do OBD2 on my smartphone!

 

[furkin]

Cheers Gavin,
If I want to use payg - why would I want to pay-per-month ?
If I wanted to pay-per-month, surely I'd look for a contract ?
Because I'm disabled, I don't always want to spend ?10 + on my phone.
Unless - of course - I'm missing something.

 

[baldpaul]

Cheers Paul (I s'pose I should be called bald baz !)
When you say that CoPilot stores map/s on the phone, can they still be used for sat.nav purposes ? That's all I'm interested in, otherwise, I'd use G.Earth & print out a route.

Yes they can. Put simply, everything you need for the app to calculate and plan your route (and reroute if you go off course) is stored on the phone so no data needs to be used. Like I mentioned previously, there are certain options that require mobile data if you wanted to use them but you don't have to. The maps of the UK take up about 40MB of storage space by the way so its not too much.

The free version of the app has slightly limited functionality but I can't remember what off the top of my head. The turn by turn voice navigation is one feature that only works for a limited time on the free app but should give you enough time for you to try it out.

It also has a built in safety camera database that warns you when approaching them and the DB is updated regularly to stay on top of new ones that appear.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[baldpaul]

The maps of the UK take up about 40MB of storage space by the way.

Sorry that should be 400MB...the price you pay for offline maps I suppose!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[furkin]

CoPilot:
Thanks guys,
I've been playing with this now. I think I have everything I want from it,,,, except,,,, it only has drawn maps, not satellite images. I would have thought it was as easy to upload sat images (especially for an App requiring sat guidance etc) as drawn maps.
I have it set for Speed & Cameras. I took it past my nearest camera yesterday & it works fine.

Now, I'm expecting features to fall away as the Free version gets used. I hope it isn't too drastic !

Is there another - similar - app to this, with satellite images instead of just drawn ones ?

OBDII:
Nothing yet guys.

cheers all

 

[baldpaul]

Is there another - similar - app to this, with satellite images instead of just drawn ones ?

Not that I know of. I would have thought that the amount of storage space to accommodate the images would be astronomical even if possible. Also satellite images of the actual terrain would be much more confusing to try to navigate whilst driving than properly colour coded drawn roads without the distraction of buildings and vegetation etc.

I've never tried using Google maps for navigation with the satellite images turned on so I may give it a go to see what its like. Can't imagine it would be a good experience though!

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

 

[Russ Smith]

Cheers Gavin,
If I want to use payg - why would I want to pay-per-month ?
If I wanted to pay-per-month, surely I'd look for a contract ?
Because I'm disabled, I don't always want to spend ?10 + on my phone.
Unless - of course - I'm missing something.

Tescos (O2) do 500 mins, 5000 texts and 1 gb of data for a tenner a month too. A rolling 30 day contract is really the same as topping up and then buying a bundle, but paid by monthly direct debit..... And alot cheaper! It's different from a contract phone as you are paying another ?20+ per month (for a top end phone) and signing for 24 months.

All in all tesco (for example others are around about) charge ?2.50 per gb monthly if bought ahead. It's 10p per mb (?100 equivalent per gb!!!) on payg.

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