Related
I'm looking for a simple application that will run in the background, and send the current GSM/UTMS cell-id to a web server on a periodic basis (via HTTP GET).
Basically a program like cellGPS (http://www.vikinggames.hu/product.php?id=11) but for Windows Mobile. I don't really care about GPS info, since that just sucks power (and doesn't work indoors).
What I'm trying to do here is enable my home automation system to know where I am, without sucking my phone's battery to death (especially since GPS won't work indoors). GSM/UTMS cell-id is 'close enough' for me.
The application would just hit a webserver on my home machine with the current cell-id (http://webserver.com/receiver.php?cellid=4233-23) on a definable period. My own app on my webserver would record that data into a database. I can then go back and use that data to let my home auto system know "hey, Justin's almost home, turn on the HVAC, lights, etc".
It needs to be able to run in the background, no annoying icons on the screen, and start up on phone reset.
I figure since it's just sending the cell-id (which is always available), it would be rather efficient and not use much battery power (especially since I usually leave Activesync on "instant" so the data connection is usually up anyway).
Other extensions to this would let my server update twitter/facebook/etc with "Justin's at ... home/work/etc now.".
Any ideas?
wow this would be a great aplication
Two programs come to mind.... Comm Mgr Pro and rk-Location Switch.
I have not really played with these two programs much, but they do Cell tower based switching and might include some of the other features you require (but I do have to admit that they do not have all the features you want).
Dale Lane posted some c# code to programmatically get the cellID of the current tower.
The rest is pretty simple - a place to enter the url and then periodically issue HTTP GET requests.
I guess I could try to cook up something when I have some time.
Well I went and coded a sample app anyway. It just reads the current tower info at the specified interval. Is this the information that you require?
Just extract the zip to the device and run the .exe.
Note: It requires .NET Compact Framework 2.0
this sounds pretty cool. remember that cellid information is good for triangulating to about 1000 meters. you can get "justin's on his way home, turn on the AC" but probably not "justin's in the shower, begin youtube upload"
newb5000 said:
Well I went and coded a sample app anyway. It just reads the current tower info at the specified interval. Is this the information that you require?
Just extract the zip to the device and run the .exe.
Note: It requires .NET Compact Framework 2.0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Works great! even though this topic was supposed to be on logging it to a web database, I am not too keen on that since data charges are expensive. I would be more interested in an internal database where I can simply attach a "friendly name", say the location of the site (ie. corner of main and first st.) to some cell sites (or a group of sites) in the internal database. Similar to what nicetrack used to do on previous WM versions. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=320055
newb5000 said:
Well I went and coded a sample app anyway. It just reads the current tower info at the specified interval. Is this the information that you require?
Just extract the zip to the device and run the .exe.
Note: It requires .NET Compact Framework 2.0
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I will check as soon as I get my Kaiser back -- I managed to shatter the screen over the weekend. doh. This sounds EXACTLY like what I'm looking for.
Someone else mentioned data charges, which I don't care about, since I'm on unlimited data (AT&T won't even sell the things without the unlimited data plan now).
Actually, I still have my older TyTN somewhere. Let me dig it up and give this a try.
jasonchan said:
Works great! even though this topic was supposed to be on logging it to a web database, I am not too keen on that since data charges are expensive. I would be more interested in an internal database where I can simply attach a "friendly name", say the location of the site (ie. corner of main and first st.) to some cell sites (or a group of sites) in the internal database. Similar to what nicetrack used to do on previous WM versions. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=320055
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's a program that sort of does this now, called Trackme -- but it only does GPS as far as I know. Adding DB code would probably add a whole lot of complexity (and CPU power).
I'm sure it's doable, though, but I would hope it wouldn't be in this app. I have enough crap running in the background eating precious CPU cycles.
I wish I had a Windows machine to do development on. I'm Mac/Linux only, and don't have access to Visual Studio anymore.. I wrote an app to do this for the iPhone, but it can't run in the background due to SDK limitations. It's annoying that Microsoft hasn't made the WinMo SDK work on other platforms (although I guess Apple is doing that with the iPhone, so I don't have much room to talk).
The "goal" of this desired application is to be as lightweight as possible and offload all processing to a real computer. My phone doesn't need to do all of the work.
I can't imagine this would use much bandwidth, anyway. Even if you updated every five minutes, that's far less than 50kb per day, assuming a 64 byte URL + all HTTP and TCP headers. It'd add up to around 1.5 megabytes a month. I'd bet it'd be closer to 800-900kb/month. That's nothing compared to email/etc traffic. I would hope EU/etc carriers aren't so bad that 1.5mb a month would put you over a limit...
jasonchan said:
Works great! even though this topic was supposed to be on logging it to a web database, I am not too keen on that since data charges are expensive. I would be more interested in an internal database where I can simply attach a "friendly name", say the location of the site (ie. corner of main and first st.) to some cell sites (or a group of sites) in the internal database. Similar to what nicetrack used to do on previous WM versions. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=320055
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tested it yesterday when driving home from work. Tower changes were very frequent during my drive home. But lets say that a HTTP GET request (depending on the length of the URL) is on average 100 bytes. Lets say in a day you switch towers 200 times. That would result in just under 20 kilobytes of data usage in a day. I actually calculated this for myself because I also initially thought that one would get a large bill at the end of the month for data usage, but it would seem that this isn't the case.
One could also limit the web requests to only "bookmarked" Cell IDs.
I like the idea of the original poster even though I cannot see how I could use it personally, since I do not have a home automation system.
Regarding more friendly names - I remember that I had set it up on one of my first phones to receive cell broadcast messages from the towers which included the tower friendly name. Haven't tried since, though.
The data that is made available in Windows Mobile is the following:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa921533.aspx
Don't see any friendly names of towers though
I thought of adding a "bookmark" button so that one can bookmark the current Cell ID (and possibly assign a friendly name) but this would be very awkward while driving (and the frequent tower changes).
Google has a database with Cell IDs and uses them in Google Maps but good luck getting a copy of their database
norelidd said:
this sounds pretty cool. remember that cellid information is good for triangulating to about 1000 meters. you can get "justin's on his way home, turn on the AC" but probably not "justin's in the shower, begin youtube upload"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hah!
I only need 1000 meter resolution. GPS is definitely more accurate, but it would kill the battery in 6 hours flat.
Maybe when the third generation of GPS sats start going up in a few years, GPS receivers will use less power (since the sats will be much more powerful and supposedly will reach inside most buildings).. but that's 2015 at the earliest. Who knows what HTC/etc will come out with by then.
jmat said:
I will check as soon as I get my Kaiser back -- I managed to shatter the screen over the weekend. doh. This sounds EXACTLY like what I'm looking for.
Someone else mentioned data charges, which I don't care about, since I'm on unlimited data (AT&T won't even sell the things without the unlimited data plan now).
Actually, I still have my older TyTN somewhere. Let me dig it up and give this a try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Only saw your post after I posted mine.
There aren't any web requests yet though, I just wanted to confirm that I was on the right track (through you testing it ). I'm willing to give it a bash because I'll learn something through the process.
Some questions arise:
Should the app dial a connection automatically, or just not send out requests if there is no active connection?
Still need to figure out how to get it to run in the background properly
I'm wondering how it should function if the phone is in standby
newb5000 said:
I tested it yesterday when driving home from work. Tower changes were very frequent during my drive home. But lets say that a HTTP GET request (depending on the length of the URL) is on average 100 bytes. Lets say in a day you switch towers 200 times. That would result in just under 20 kilobytes of data usage in a day. I actually calculated this for myself because I also initially thought that one would get a large bill at the end of the month for data usage, but it would seem that this isn't the case.
One could also limit the web requests to only "bookmarked" Cell IDs.
I like the idea of the original poster even though I cannot see how I could use it personally, since I do not have a home automation system.
Regarding more friendly names - I remember that I had set it up on one of my first phones to receive cell broadcast messages from the towers which included the tower friendly name. Haven't tried since, though.
The data that is made available in Windows Mobile is the following:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa921533.aspx
Don't see any friendly names of towers though
I thought of adding a "bookmark" button so that one can bookmark the current Cell ID (and possibly assign a friendly name) but this would be very awkward while driving (and the frequent tower changes).
Google has a database with Cell IDs and uses them in Google Maps but good luck getting a copy of their database
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Tower switching will happen quite fast in big populated areas. That's why I was just going for every few minutes and not "as the tower changes".
It's too bad the towers don't "advertise" their GPS coordinates along with the other tower data. It seems like that would have been really easy to stick in the UMTS standard.
I'm surprised Google hasn't open sourced that database, or at least made an API library for it. Afterall, their users are the ones who discovered it all, not them -- Google Maps just records GPS coordinates + cell IDs and uploads them when you run the Google Maps location. I've seen that app upload several hundred kb during some runs.
Going back to the 'post on switch' thing. That might be a neat option -- to send a GET on every tower switch.. I'm going back and forth in my head on if that's a good idea or not. It'd be interesting to see how that hits battery life, though. (Since I have ActiveSync with "always push" enabled, I bet it doesn't make much of a difference).
First beta
Hi guys,
Apologies for the delay - I've been terribly busy.
I managed to create the app so it's ready for testing.
Attached is the cab file. The app consists of two components - the configuration utility and the service. The service is responsible for making the web requests and is launched at startup. You can use the configuration utility to adjust the settings as well as monitor what the service is doing.
The service will automatically dial your data connection when a web update is necessary, but it can also work via WiFi - although I don't see why you would use it via WiFi. It also supports websites that require Windows Authentication (Kerberos or NTLM should work, but do test it).
I think the app should be pretty self explanatory, but please do post if you have any questions or experience any problems.
FIY - the last error (if there is one) is stored in a log file located in:
Program Files\CellID Updater\cidlog.txt
Hope you like it!
EDIT: An update is available on the next page. I'm leaving this attachment as is just for reference purposes, but you should download the one on the next page.
CommMgrPro is creating a very big database automatically with operatorID-Cell/LAC-GPS coords sent (automatically) by the users (they can track their movements in realtime with googlemaps). Obviously GPS coords are only sent by GPS enabled devices. You can change the URL where the data is posted (HTTP GET) to point your site and I can give you a free license. Currently 3000 cells registed with gps coords and growing as the users moves....
Dani
newb5000 said:
Hi guys,
Apologies for the delay - I've been terribly busy.
I managed to create the app so it's ready for testing.
Attached is the cab file. The app consists of two components - the configuration utility and the service. The service is responsible for making the web requests and is launched at startup. You can use the configuration utility to adjust the settings as well as monitor what the service is doing.
The service will automatically dial your data connection when a web update is necessary, but it can also work via WiFi - although I don't see why you would use it via WiFi. It also supports websites that require Windows Authentication (Kerberos or NTLM should work, but do test it).
I think the app should be pretty self explanatory, but please do post if you have any questions or experience any problems.
FIY - the last error (if there is one) is stored in a log file located in:
Program Files\CellID Updater\cidlog.txt
Hope you like it!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey all - my first post.
I must say, it's outstandingly honorable that you share your skills with us. So good.. (haven't installed the tool yet, hope it's no virus or tv-on/off-switcher)
One question @jmat: How do you process the cellid once it is http'd to your server? Is there a webservice that maps cell-ids to gps?
Frouk
frouk said:
I must say, it's outstandingly honorable that you share your skills with us. So good.. (haven't installed the tool yet, hope it's no virus or tv-on/off-switcher)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks and no, it's not a virus / trojan / <insert something bad here>
One thing I forgot to mention is that if the device goes into standby, the service will be "paused". Then, when the device comes out of standby, the service will resume where it left off. I'm not sure whether this is acceptable behaviour for the app, but I considered the alternative - preventing the device from going into standby will drain the battery very quickly. So you would choose when the service should send out updates by taking your device out of standby.
Another thing: you can configure how often the service checks for a new tower and whether it should send out an update if the tower is different or the same since the last check.
I'm still wondering how I can put this app to good use, personally. I don't have a home automation system and I don't need to be tracked by anyone at home. Any ideas on what other uses this app could have?
newb5000 said:
Thanks and no, it's not a virus / trojan / <insert something bad here>
One thing I forgot to mention is that if the device goes into standby, the service will be "paused". Then, when the device comes out of standby, the service will resume where it left off. I'm not sure whether this is acceptable behaviour for the app, but I considered the alternative - preventing the device from going into standby will drain the battery very quickly. So you would choose when the service should send out updates by taking your device out of standby.
Another thing: you can configure how often the service checks for a new tower and whether it should send out an update if the tower is different or the same since the last check.
I'm still wondering how I can put this app to good use, personally. I don't have a home automation system and I don't need to be tracked by anyone at home. Any ideas on what other uses this app could have?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The configuration is just perfect - that way one can decide when to update just by letting the device go to sleep or not. Another thing: am I right that this app will never be as accurate as Google maps "my location"? It uses triangular approximation with more than one cell-id, right? I experienced it to be very accurate, even being on the train it exactly locates my position, amazing.
I personally intend to use such kind of app for reality/virtuality games where website visitors can track something or someone on the web and then go outside into the real world and do something or meet someone.
But jmats' idea is also amazing.
Cell name
Years ago I had Ericsson R320 (BTW great phone). It showed cell name e.g. "city centre" on the screen besides op name. I dug up my eric from the closet and this option still works. It would be great to have this as a today plugin Do you know something like that?
Handy Use of App
newb5000 said:
I'm still wondering how I can put this app to good use, personally. I don't have a home automation system and I don't need to be tracked by anyone at home. Any ideas on what other uses this app could have?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe you could mount a web server in your home pc (pretty simple) and track your device if it gets lost or stolen... It would be nice to recover your $700dlls phone right.
i have seen a lot of gps application can do things like record tracking, dislay compass, coordination detail..etc.
but i also looking for gps tool which can tell me how long i have walked/drove? and also how far am i from my destination if i have set the coordination for the destination. i think this function can be archieved without using map. i saw that every nokia s60v3 smartphone with gps has this little gps utility. just wondering is there any similar software in android..thx
This might be of use:
http://www.cyrket.com/package/com.google.android.maps.mytracks
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2009/02/happy-trails-with-my-tracks-for-android.html
You can use BuddyRunner for walking/jogging times etc, I coded a driving app "Speed Proof", although it doesn't record driving times I'll add it to the todo list for the next release.
As for the nokia handset utils, nokia has a big database of mapping information, so they could easily do lots of mapping stuff on their server and spit out basic info on the phones.
like jashu said, check out MyTracks. Its similar to SportsTracker for s60, but not as "jocky". My tracks is nice because if you share teh maps, its via google maps, not some nokia service that everyone has to sign up for.
bittermormon said:
like jashu said, check out MyTracks. Its similar to SportsTracker for s60, but not as "jocky". My tracks is nice because if you share teh maps, its via google maps, not some nokia service that everyone has to sign up for.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
MyTracks seems like does not work without network connection. i prefer the application to use the built-in gps module only for positioning.
BuddyRunner seems like satisfying my needs..thx..
My Tracks can still work without network coverage, you just won't be able to get map tiles from Google. For any GPS app, without network coverage you won't have Assisted GPS, meaning your position fix will take longer and be less accurate.
jashsu said:
you just won't be able to get map tiles from Google
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AndNav2 allows you to pre-cache map tiles, I'm hoping they make some library similar to the radar library available to other devs so other applications can make use of their hard work too.
Assisted GPS, meaning your position fix will take longer and be less accurate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not having AGPS may take longer to get fix, and in some case it may slightly increase accuracy, but the GPS chips in the G1 will still give you accurate location data without any network connection.
Also AGPS was only added in Android 1.5 so if you are using 1.0/1.1 you won't have AGPS anyway.
gps measure does what you describe
You can try Sportypal,
It is working for Walking, Running, Cycling....and there is "free style" where you can drive or fly if you want ;-)
Sportypal is great for Android, but also is working for almost all phone platforms like iPhone,MicrosoftMobile,Simbian,Java,Blackberry...
http://www.sportypal.com/Workouts/Details/1016
My walking sesion near the lake.
Also this:
http://www.cyrket.com/package/com.sportypal
Very sweet app, will do battle with Sherpa.
Similar app to Sherpa, BUT has Facbook intergrated!! Very nice UI and icons look awsome!!
Aloqa is a mobile service that proactively notifies you of interesting places, events, and Facebook friends near you. Instead of having to search, you can just look at your phone and see your favorite hotspots, friends, events of interest, and recommended bargains close by. Whenever You Want. Wherever You Are
VOTE FOR ALOQA "Best Location Based App": http://androidnetworkawards.com/
Link to office site:
http://www.aloqa.com/
Criket:
http://www.cyrket.com/package/com.aloqa.me.client_modules.android
and of course it can found on the Market
or
Here:
Yeah.. played around with it today so far. Its a pretty bad ass app!
Thanks for the heads up
I like sherpa better Aloqa looks too iphone-ish to me.
alritewhadeva said:
I like sherpa better Aloqa looks too iphone-ish to me.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I always find it funny how people won't like an app because its or looks "iphoneish"... I could care less as long as its functional and does what I need and does it well who cares what it looks like, then again you do
Lakers3408 said:
I always find it funny how people won't like an app because its or looks "iphoneish"... I could care less as long as its functional and does what I need and does it well who cares what it looks like, then again you do
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol just personal opinion
Interesting read from Business Jounral:
Mobile search and information startup Aloqa GmbH and named Sanjeev Agrawal as its CEO.
Agrawal was previously global head of product marketing at Google Inc. and later vice president for products at TellMe Networks Inc., which was acquired by Microsoft Corp.
Aloqa said the funding came from Wellington Partners Venture Capital and angel investors. The company is based in Munich, Germany, and has its U.S. headquarters in Palo Alto.
The company has released a beta of its application for handsets that use Google's Android operating system. Users automatically get information on their mobile device about friends, events and local offers based on their location without having to launch a browser or search application.
"What appealed to us about Aloqa is its proprietary technology for tracking billions of moving and static objects without draining mobile handset batteries, without jamming cellular networks with extra data, and without creating user privacy concerns," said Ram Srinivasan, managing partner of Wellington's Palo Alto office. "The mobile app springs into action only when two or more objects come meaningfully close to each other."
So its safe to say that we should expect great things to come from Aloqa. I hope
Aloqa seems to focus on providing notifications to things around you in a new way while Sherpa seems to want to learn where like to go and what you like to do in a new way. Both are location suggetion apps. They both have their shortfalls early on. It will be interesting to see how these two mature.
I just Downloaded this app, and it's taking FOREVER to configure...should I just stick with Google Place Directory/Sherpa?
Personally I really like the app. You can add and remove things from it and its really slick. I like how it shows things in button format opposed to having things all over the place.
shotad said:
I just Downloaded this app, and it's taking FOREVER to configure...should I just stick with Google Place Directory/Sherpa?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whats taking you forever to do? Just start it and pick what you want. I had it up and running in less than 30seconds. Of course if you want to add and remove channels that takes a few minutes, but I left everything in a default state.
underamoon said:
Aloqa seems to focus on providing notifications to things around you in a new way while Sherpa seems to want to learn where like to go and what you like to do in a new way. Both are location suggetion apps. They both have their shortfalls early on. It will be interesting to see how these two mature.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Very true, it will be interesting to see if Aloqa jumps on the "Adaptive Learning" aspect of what makes Sherpa unique. After all Aloqa is only a beta version.
kizer said:
Whats taking you forever to do? Just start it and pick what you want. I had it up and running in less than 30seconds. Of course if you want to add and remove channels that takes a few minutes, but I left everything in a default state.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i started it, picked up my location, and now it's stuck in "Thank you. We are now configuring Aloqa for you. 'Found your location. Connecting...'". and its just stuck there...
kizer said:
Personally I really like the app. You can add and remove things from it and its really slick. I like how it shows things in button format opposed to having things all over the place.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly I really like it as well, if I would rate Aloqa vs. Sherpa on a scale of 1 to 10
Aloqa = 8
Sherpa = 6
You can customize it to what your into, for example
If you hate burger king, remove it. If you love Coffee add it.
By default a McDonalds tab shows, I removed it and added the FastFood tab which includeds McDonalds and others (KFC, BK, PizzaHut, Subway, Wendy's, Taco Bell, Carls and In-n-Out)
Even has a weather tab (pretty cool)
shotad said:
i started it, picked up my location, and now it's stuck in "Thank you. We are now configuring Aloqa for you. 'Found your location. Connecting...'". and its just stuck there...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If on 2g or 3g it will take a LOOOOOONG time.... I switched to wifi and it connected in a matter of seconds!
Use wifi for the initial set-up after that use 2g 3g 6g or what ever it will work without a problem.
Lakers3408 said:
If on 2g or 3g it will take a LOOOOOONG time.... I switched to wifi and it connected in a matter of seconds!
Use wifi for the initial set-up after that use 2g 3g 6g or what ever it will work without a problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ok, so I should just wait ntil I get home and set this up...cuz this is ridiculous...still configuring!
Lakers3408 said:
If on 2g or 3g it will take a LOOOOOONG time.... I switched to wifi and it connected in a matter of seconds!
Use wifi for the initial set-up after that use 2g 3g 6g or what ever it will work without a problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you know, i've been having some hard time connecting to my WiFi, it does connect, but I get NO signal...i'm running Cyanogen ROM, did the fix_permissions and did not fix, wiped and did not fix this problem...anythign else i'm missing?
great app i will use both sherpa and aloqa. aloqa on wifi took about 2.343 seconds to setup. thanks again for this recommendation as i wouldve never know about either apps
How to set-up Facebook app thru Aloqa
After you register your Aloqa app, you need to complete the Facebook part of the registration here:
http://buzz.aloqa.com/AloqaBuzz-war/welcomeGWT.html
Sign in to your Facebook account from the website then click on Activate.
Are you in some way associated with this app. Just a curious question since it seems that you have gone above and beyond normal fanboyism in your thread regarding this app. No offense intended here, just curious Personally I find that Sherpa misses a lot of places, and while Places Directory seems to get the places that Sherpa misses, it also seems to miss quite a few places too... (often the places that Sherpa gets ) So if this new app can combine the two in terms of what it finds.... that would be great. Will see what happens
I think this is much better than Sherpa...though I believe with Sherpa...it will remember what you search...but who really searches for ATM's and Starbucks and forget?
Now that it is warmning up and my fiance and I can go back to do walks I would like to get a app that show how far we walked. Latter how far we jogged. I know I need a GPS program. What one is good for this? Since we do not always walk on paths by streets it is hard to do using google maps.
Thanks
Endomondo, or Cardio Trainer. Cardio trainer seems to be working great for me. Accurate and has some motivating features
fldude99 said:
Endomondo, or Cardio Trainer. Cardio trainer seems to be working great for me. Accurate and has some motivating features
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's also Runkeeper, I like that one.
I've tried many of these programs for my mountain bike rides. The best I've found so far is AllSport GPS. It supports many kinds of activities and allows sharing via Facebook, Twitter and Trimble.com (the app producer). You can see street and satellite views on the device and on the website. It also tracks way better than Google Maps.
I vote for Cardiotrainer. It has a lot of features like the other guy said. Plus one I like is you can save your walks etc. on their server which means you will always have your tracks even when changing roms.
CardioTrainer fan here too. What I find sets it apart is that you can adjust the GPS quality threshold, meaning that you can force it only to use strong GPS readings and ignore weak ones. I've gotten my best most accurate tracking from this app plus the Phoenix ROM.
I also appreciate that they allow you to manually enter workouts. Sometimes I do treadmill work and I can just enter it in easily.
YMMV
Use CardioTrainer here too. It seems like they always come out with new features and add ons to help engage the idea of fitness. It hooks up with your google health account (yes really) and saves all your stats there. You can track/time run/walks and classify them accordingly. You can track other work out types as well.
My favorite feature is the calorie burn tracker you can turn on in your notification bar. I just wish I could get mine over 500/week regularly
Cardio Trainer also has a setting somewhere where I get a reminder to run or whatever..so much harder to ignore and say..nah not today
Ok, so I was really excited when Google discussed at I/O the ability to save map data for certain areas to be able to access it with our Nexus7's without a data connection. Obviously on a tablet with no 3G/4G/LTE/etc. connectivity, this is a requirement to be able to use it as a GPS device.
When I got mine, I saved my entire home region. It seems to cap out around 85MB in size, so you can't just save the entire country, which is fine. I also noticed that the amount of space required seems to be tied to the size of the map you make, and has nothing to do with the amount of streets, cities, etc. (aka data) for that location (ie: New York City takes up the same amount of space as Nowheresville, MT). This was a little confusing, but OK.
Anyway, here is my issue. The other day, I took my Nexus7 for a road trip, and tried to use the Navigation app. It was able to show me where I was in real time, and give somewhat-detailed street information which was nice. However, it doesn't actually know how to GET anywhere. In other words, if you try to give it a destination, it fails, requiring Internet access. I tried addresses, cities, business names (who are actually on the map) as well as just clicking somewhere and asking it to provide a route. Nothing.
So I ask this: what good is offline map storage if you can't actually DO anything with it?
Don't get me wrong, I understand that this is a new feature and might not be fully developed. But based on the Google I/O presentation, they made it out to be much more functional than it is. Something along the lines of "Going to a different city? Just preload your Nexus7 with the map for the area and you're good to go!". Sure, if all you want is a static map and want to try and figure out directions yourself, I guess that will work. But it certainly doesn't provide anywhere near the functionality required for an offline GPS device.
Unless of course I'm missing something - but I doubt it.
I agree and I don't think you're missing something. For the size of the data it downloads for a given area, I believe it has all the address so I why can't one do a search of somewhere?
Might have something to do with apple taking aim at local search functions with their lawsuits? Finding that information would probably require accessing the function in question.
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nooomoto said:
Might have something to do with apple taking aim at local search functions with their lawsuits? Finding that information would probably require accessing the function in question.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
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Possibly, but I doubt it. AFAIK, the "local search" issue was with Samsung allowing users to run a search query which would also perform the search on local apps, files, etc. It had nothing to do with map searching, which would fall under a completely different scope. And the app supports it, but just seems to require Internet to make it work.
Also, while Samsung seemingly took it out of one/some of their devices with an OTA update, they later said this was an accident, and have pushed a fix out to put it back.
I given up with Offline Maps, really it just the same as having a paper map that only covers a limited area, instead I've been using NavFree, does navigation, address search, points of interest all without a data connection.
The Apple/Samsung lawsuit is 100% unrelated to offline search in maps. Google it, do some reading, and you'll see what I mean. I have GPS Copilot installed for any offline needs I may have.
Yeah dude google maps offline is a joke. You'll need to
1) start your destination somewhere you are connected to wifi
2) wait for google maps offline to not suck so bad
3) use a different app
Or just root your phone and tether...that's what I've been doing for years.
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nooomoto said:
Or just root your phone and tether...that's what I've been doing for years.
Sent from my HTC One X using XDA Premium HD app
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That doesn't solve the problem, it's simply a work around.
Sure, if you have wifi or tethering you can get online and get live maps/route data. But that doesn't negate the fact that Google Maps Offline is seriously flawed. It should work without needing to be online, otherwise what's the point of saving offline map data in the first place.
phonic said:
That doesn't solve the problem, it's simply a work around.
Sure, if you have wifi or tethering you can get online and get live maps/route data. But that doesn't negate the fact that Google Maps Offline is seriously flawed. It should work without needing to be online, otherwise what's the point of saving offline map data in the first place.
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It's much better than not having the map at all. If you have a GPS (like the Nexus 7 does), you still see yourself on the map where you are. The only thing missing is the blue line to your destination. It's limited, sure, but it's a lot better than not having a map at all to see your GPS location on.
+1 for NavFree though. If you need navigation (like in cities you aren't familiar with), this is a lifesaver, even if it eats battery rapidly and is very slow (at least on my Galaxy S).
I'm sure Google can/will release offline navigation in time (possibly along with entire country map downloads), but probably not until Apple pushes them to by releasing their own offline navigation.
jabsys said:
I given up with Offline Maps, really it just the same as having a paper map that only covers a limited area, instead I've been using NavFree, does navigation, address search, points of interest all without a data connection.
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I used the offline maps with directions when i started out on a data connection and then immediately turned it off. I started the n7 navigation with it tethered to my phone, once navigation has established its route, I disconnect my data and the directions continue to work.
This worked for me. It may not work for you, I do apologize if I waste your time.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda premium
I use offline maps quite a bit.
Navigation is usually useless for most of the back country roads I'm on. Having a map and GPS showing me where I am in relation to where I need to be (pre-set waypoints) is awesome and is better than nothing.
Another app I use often is Maverick with pre-cached satellite maps. I'd dump Maverick if Google Maps had offline satellite and topo maps.
jabsys said:
I given up with Offline Maps, really it just the same as having a paper map that only covers a limited area, instead I've been using NavFree, does navigation, address search, points of interest all without a data connection.
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Thank you for showing me this app! That's perfect, and just what I'm looking for. Looks like it will work amazingly!
Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Premium HD app
I wish apps could use the cached data from Maps, but so far each app I've tried appears to download it and cache it directly. No idea if it's even possible to to, but it'd be nice if all apps could access the cache and use it.
As for the OP, this has been discussed since Maps first released.... It does not have the engine or routing data to do offline navigation. Maybe it will in the future, but it does not today.
try Co-pilot GPS from the market. It's free, and it downloads maps and stores them on the phone. If you have any svox classic voices purchased you will get the more advanced street names as part of the turn by turn verbal directions. I haven't tried this version yet, but it looks great and for free you have nothing to lose.
nooomoto said:
Or just root your phone and tether...that's what I've been doing for years.
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Tether to what? I already pay $70 a month for internet at home I am sure as hell not gonna pay for more data
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
IMO, for a FREE navigation app, I think you get a little more than you paid for...
The Turn-by-Turn directions require a data connection initially. But once it has downloaded the directions, you can use it offline and still get the voice directions - I tested it out on Saturday. You want to leave it connected a few minutes so it can cache all the map tiles along the route. If you don't let it finish caching the route, there will be places where you can see the route and get voice nagivation, but the streets won't show up.
If you deviate from the route, however, you will lose any navigation until you get back on the suggested route. You can see your route on the map, but there won't be any streets showing up at your location - even if you have chached the entire area in maps. If you zoom out you can see the suggested route. The voice nagivation will try to get you to turn around and go back since it can't recalculate the route. It needs more than just a map to calculate the route. It doesn't read a map the way you or I would to get directions...:silly:
I had maps and navigation running at the same time, and when I left the suggested route I switched over to maps (leaving navigation running in the background) and could see the streets I was on. A bit crude but it worked...
Once in range of the suggested route, the voice navigation will pick back up again and continue from there, and the streets will show up again.
I really hope Google eventually allows client side navigation, instead of server side requiring a data plan or wifi.
I've used Google Navigation on my tablet by calculating a route prior to disconnect from wifi, and their Navigation is hands down the best available for Android.
I've tried other Navigation apps, and they're super slow compared to Google, especially when it comes to re-routing or telling when you turned. Google almost re-routes you instantly when you go off route, other apps sometimes take a full minute before they set another route. Plus, Goole's street naming is fantastic for audible directions.
Offline maps is something, but off line route planning will be the ultimate offering.
I don't see how this could be too difficult to enable. Sure, maybe there are patent issues to work out (possible, but unlikely). But this functionality is already present in cheap GPS devices. The maps themselves take up a lot of space (a couple gigs on average for the entire US on a dedicated GPS unit), but if we download an 85MB region map, all the streets/addresses should already be built in. So it comes down to getting the routing engine to work offline. I'm not sure how big or complex this is, but IMHO it should be a simple addition.
And yes, it's "free" so we are getting what we pay for, but still.
As I mentioned earlier, my biggest disappointment was that Google made it out to be a fully comprehensive update to Google Maps, when it really isn't.
phonic said:
I don't see how this could be too difficult to enable. Sure, maybe there are patent issues to work out (possible, but unlikely). But this functionality is already present in cheap GPS devices. The maps themselves take up a lot of space (a couple gigs on average for the entire US on a dedicated GPS unit), but if we download an 85MB region map, all the streets/addresses should already be built in. So it comes down to getting the routing engine to work offline. I'm not sure how big or complex this is, but IMHO it should be a simple addition.
And yes, it's "free" so we are getting what we pay for, but still.
As I mentioned earlier, my biggest disappointment was that Google made it out to be a fully comprehensive update to Google Maps, when it really isn't.
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I would love to know Google's reasoning behind server side routing only. I've searched around, but can't find a definitive answer. I always figured they stay clear from allowing off-line routing because you'll lose out on real-time traffic condition, weather, accident updates, etc.