A couple of newbie questions

[plumberdv]

First question is, what use is the Nav app that comes on the Nexus 7? As long as I have wifi available, it seems to work like a champ (playing with it at home) but as soon as I'm out of wifi range, nothing. What use is it in a vehicle when you're traveling? I also tried to find and uninstall it just to clear some space, but it doesn't show up when I go to settings---apps?

Second question, I have the 8gb version right now but I'm giving it to my Grandson when my new 16gb arrives this week. I've purchased a book and it's on this tablet. Is there anyway to transfer it to the new one so that I don't have to be online to read it?

Thanks for being patient with a new user.

 

[paulsalter]

On your first point, when in the maps app, press the option button (3 vertical dashes at the top right), this will give you an option to 'make available offline', you can then select areas of the map so they work without wifi, some things won't work, traffic info, but the maps/directions should be fine
you cannot uninstall this, it is part of the OS so has to be there

second point, where did you buy the book from? if it was bought from google (or similar, amazon) then when you sign into your account on the new device it will be there automatically

hope that helps

 

[paulsalter]

Ignore...not sure why it duplicated the post

 

[a1kemist]

You have to remember that this is a wifi only device. Without an internet connection, you won't have live access to maps. You can however cache maps like what the above poster mention, but you will need to know in advance what you want to cache. Kind of makes it not as an efficient GPS driving tool IMO. I still stick with maps on my phone or if I have to/longer trips, use my garmin nuvi.

Also anything you bought with your google account will be available for use as long as you use that account.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Android Central Forums

 

[Tbayrgs]

Second question, I have the 8gb version right now but I'm giving it to my Grandson when my new 16gb arrives this week. I've purchased a book and it's on this tablet. Is there anyway to transfer it to the new one so that I don't have to be online to read it?

Thanks for being patient with a new user.

Just a heads up--looks like a new 32GB will be released on Monday for the same price as the current 16GB, so you may want to return your 16GB model before opening (in case you have a restocking fee).

 

[plumberdv]

Thanks to all. What I've figured out so far is that as a GPS, the Nav app is pretty worthless since once I lose a wifi signal it no longer works as a GPS. That's why I was hoping to be able to remove it from the 7.

Also, the book I downloaded came from Google Play and although it does show up on another Android tablet I have, it will only play if I have a wifi connection. That's the reason I wanted to know if I could move it to my new tablet for off line reading.

 

[mr_nobody]

There are a number of alternate offline nav apps in the play store, both free and pay. I use the free navfree usa app.

Also, if you root your device then you can remove system apps if desired.

 

[flacousa]

Thanks to all. What I've figured out so far is that as a GPS, the Nav app is pretty worthless since once I lose a wifi signal it no longer works as a GPS. That's why I was hoping to be able to remove it from the 7.

That is an incorrect statement, it is only worthless if you don't know how to use it, paulsalter before me tried to explain how to capture a portion of the map for navigation, go back and read it.



Sent from planet earth

 

[anon(847090)]

Thanks to all. What I've figured out so far is that as a GPS, the Nav app is pretty worthless since once I lose a wifi signal it no longer works as a GPS. That's why I was hoping to be able to remove it from the 7.

Also, the book I downloaded came from Google Play and although it does show up on another Android tablet I have, it will only play if I have a wifi connection. That's the reason I wanted to know if I could move it to my new tablet for off line reading.

dont remove a map app. so many app depends on the map api and might fail

 

[YAYTech]

Thanks to all. What I've figured out so far is that as a GPS, the Nav app is pretty worthless since once I lose a wifi signal it no longer works as a GPS. That's why I was hoping to be able to remove it from the 7.

Also, the book I downloaded came from Google Play and although it does show up on another Android tablet I have, it will only play if I have a wifi connection. That's the reason I wanted to know if I could move it to my new tablet for off line reading.

GPS works without Wifi, the only issue with using maps away from wifi is it not being able to load new maps as you travel. That's why, as mentioned, you have to choose to make maps of certain areas available offline. Once you do that, it works very well. If you decide you just don't want to use it, just don't use it.

Forget about removing the app. If an app came on the device to begin with, leave it there. This being a Nexus device, it has "vanilla" android on it, AKA, there's no bloatware to remove. Any apps on it originally are integrated into the OS and have to stay. There are some functions and services that can be disabled, but not removed.

There should be a way to make the book available offline on the 2nd device without having to actually move it from the first one. That's the beauty of the Google Play and similar stores - you buy something once, and you can generally just re-download it whenever needed in the future. No need to keep track of a file and shuffle it around between devices.

 

[sparksd]

I actually had an issue recently wherein Google Maps did not work without a WiFi connection, even with cached maps. It could not get the GPS data even though other apps could (I verified GPS was working correctly with GPS Test). I ended up doing a factory reset to fix it. I'm not sure but I think the problem was introduced in the 4.1.2 update - something went bad for my install.

 

[YAYTech]

[duplicate post]

 

[plumberdv]

I guess I'm doing something wrong. I put in an address and brought up the route. I then went to the three vertical dashes at the top right side and found no option to make it available off line. What am I doing wrong, did I just misunderstand something?

 

[a1kemist]

This is what mine looks like, I circled the settings bar and placed an arrow to "make available offline" after you open the settings menu. It will open a box for you to highlight the areas of the map you want to cache. You can close the directions box while you do that. Also a tip, pinch the screen, in or out to zoom in or out.

 

[plumberdv]

I managed to figure it out just before the previous post. I didn't have a clue that you had to use two apps in order to use the Navigation. I just tried it out and it works fine but it just isn't very intuitive, especially for a beginner. I'd have thought the Nav was a stand alone program.

Thanks to everyone.

 

[sfrrr]

I actually had an issue recently wherein Google Maps did not work without a WiFi connection, even with cached maps. It could not get the GPS data even though other apps could (I verified GPS was working correctly with GPS Test). I ended up doing a factory reset to fix it. I'm not sure but I think the problem was introduced in the 4.1.2 update - something went bad for my install.

I've been having that same problem for a few months now. After working fine for afew months, one day it just wouldn't work unless the data connection was on. (Now, I can't remember whether my Wi-Fi was on or off. I'll check in about an hour and correct this post if necessary.) And this problem started long before I did the OTA JB update.

I always thought I had installed an app that caused some sort of conflict. And I hate the thought of doing a factory reset, so I've just lived with it.

Do you have any layers on your map that need continual updating (e.g. traffic)? That might freeze the whole app if there's no WiFi or data connection.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Android Central Forums

 

[sparksd]

I've been having that same problem for a few months now. After working fine for afew months, one day it just wouldn't work unless the data connection was on. (Now, I can't remember whether my Wi-Fi was on or off. I'll check in about an hour and correct this post if necessary.) And this problem started long before I did the OTA JB update.

I always thought I had installed an app that caused some sort of conflict. And I hate the thought of doing a factory reset, so I've just lived with it.

Do you have any layers on your map that need continual updating (e.g. traffic)? That might freeze the whole app if there's no WiFi or data connection.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Android Central Forums

No, I used the simplest configuration and went through every possible gyration to avoid doing a reset - clear cache, clear data, uninstall Maps updates, reinstall updates, you name it, I tried it. Hence the last course, a factory reset. And I reinstalled all apps that I had before the reset so I don't believe it was a conflict.

 

[sparksd]

Ignore - somehow double-posted

 

[YAYTech]

I managed to figure it out just before the previous post. I didn't have a clue that you had to use two apps in order to use the Navigation. I just tried it out and it works fine but it just isn't very intuitive, especially for a beginner. I'd have thought the Nav was a stand alone program.

Thanks to everyone.

Yeah, I think Google needs to work on integrating Nav and Maps into the same program, since they're so interlaced with each other anyway. There are all sorts of links between them as it is, but it can be confusing.

I don't think there's a way to make a route available offline, but just rectangular portions of maps. I've made towns I visit regularly available offline, and when I get ready for a trip, I need to remember to make maps of places I'm going available offline. I'd love it if Google would set it up to let you cache much larger regions, or even something like the entire US and Canada, so you don't have to think about such things before traveling. My understanding is that TomTom recently released a nav app for Android that supplies full maps for this purpose. If I remember right, it's a pricey app though.

 

[quamdar]

How much space does storing an area for offline use take? Like if I were to do say a 50 or 25 mile radius around my home.


Also when you have the maps cached can you still do searches for certain stores or just addresses?