Galaxy S3 Navigation help needed

[Shoalwaters]

Samsung Galaxy S3 - unlocked
Android Version 4.3
Google Maps version 9.20.1

I am having some success using Google Maps turn-by-turn navigation in St. Lucia, West Indies. Maps' detail of the road network here is surprisingly good. I don't have a mobile data plan, so have downloaded the map to my Offline Area. I have installed the Stay-Alive app.

With GPS turned on, the unit will navigate from (say) my current position to a selected destination. The little blue "me" icon follows my progress along the road and turn-by-turn directions appear (in very small font) at the top of the screen.

I would appreciate help with the following:

i) I cannot find an option to make the app speak directions. Is this available when the phone does not have a data link? Or maybe only in larger countries?

ii) The phone consumes power faster than the car charger can supply it - the battery charge indicator drops by about 5% per 10 minutes of operation.. I have a 110v wall charger rated at 1.2 amps at the house. This can keep up with this power consumption, but obviously it is no use in the car. Are there different specs of car charger? What do you recommend?

TIA
Mike

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Is the phone connected to your car's stereo via Bluetooth? If so, open Google Maps, tap Menu>Settings>Navigation Settings, and make sure Play Voice over Bluetooth is checked on.

Look for a car charger that puts out 2A--that ought to keep up with the battery drain.

 

[Shoalwaters]

Thanks B. Diddy.

Navigation Settings in my version of Google Maps only has four options: Distance units, Play voice during phone calls, Play test sound and Tilt map. What can I do?

 

[B. Diddy]

What version of Maps do you have? I'm on 9.20.1. If you're below that, make sure the app is up to date in the Play Store.

 

[Shoalwaters]

Same as you 9.20.1. I get update notifications regularly.

BTW: I tried navigating at the house with wi-fi connected, and a Bluetooth speaker linked to the phone. Still no spoken directions.

 

[B. Diddy]

Hmm, that's odd. Maybe it's a limitation of the phone's Android version or firmware.

Over on a different forum, I saw a possible solution (although it was for an S4). Go to Settings>Language & Input, and make sure the default Text to Speech is set to Google, not Samsung.

 

[Shoalwaters]

I tried Google Text to Speech - unfortunately no change.

I checked the instructions within the app:

To start and exit voice navigation follow the steps below:

1. Open Google Maps app
2. Get directions to a location
3. To hear voice-guided navigation touch the Navigate icon (fat vertical arrowhead)
4. To exit, go to the bottom left and touch the X

There is no start arrowhead on my screen, even with wi-fi, GPS and Bluetooth running. Maybe it has to do with my location or, as you say, Android version 4.3

 

[B. Diddy]

Did you also check the Text to Speech system setting, as mentioned in my previous post?

 

[Shoalwaters]

Yes, as mentioned in line #1 of my previous post!

 

[B. Diddy]

D'oh!:-\ Sorry, I'm not sure how I missed that.

This probably won't do anything, but it won't hurt either--wipe the cache partition: http://forums.androidcentral.com/sa...ing-into-recovery-mode-galaxy-s2-s3-tab2.html

 

[Shoalwaters]

Thanks BD. As predicted it didn't do anything but no harm no foul.
I'll just have to wait until my next trip to the USA and try there.
Many thanks for the time and effort.