Nowadays, mobile phone or smartphones have almost everyone.
From babies at kindergarten age up to a respectable elderly. Mobile phones have become an excellent assistant in everyday life. With the help of modern cell phone, we can not only
make a call or send text messages, but perfectly able to surf the web, play games and use countless applications for your needs.
One of the almost essential cell phone function is Navigation.
In most of these devices are equipped with GPS stands for Global Positioning System. So the phone can be used as a full-fledged GPS navigation device.
For any GPS equipment to work, it must have the appropriate software. The market is brimful with navigation applications for both iOS and Android phone users. As a rule, applications are created for both systems phones, but there are exceptions.
One of the most popular is Google Maps.
It is great already installed on most iPhone, Samsung, LG, HTC, Sony Ericson, HUAWEI and other brands of phones. For ordinary user can suffice with this application. Insert in search window your desired address and the screen displays the path and other parameters to reach your destination.
Another very popular has become Waze. It is a free navigation application. In practice, it has been developed and continuously updated by the users themselves. I do not want to dive into details, only that Waze can get real time information of traffic jams, police posts, speed cameras or obtain the details of your friend’s location. How much you can trust this information, judge yourself.
But these and many other applications has one major drawback,
your phone must have an Internet connection. Whether it is a cellular or WiFi, you need one. Being in your home GSM operator cellular coverage costs are negligible, but an abroad dollar or euro rates for gigabytes will be significantly high.
I often use the phone as a GPS navigator abroad and naturally that try to do as much as possible with the least cost. Now cities are highly developed free WiFi coverage, but unfortunately it not continuously. To use navigation, you have to have a permanent internet connection. But there are dozens of applications where the maps are downloaded the phone’s memory and can be used offline.
One of my most popular is maps.me.
It is a free application. If you drive abroad simply at home, download the country map and there will not be a necessity for internet connection. For example, you are going to Finland, the size of the map will be 225 MB, without routing map, 183 MB. Germany is divided into fourteen regions with each about the same volume.
These and many other free or paid apps can not be compared with such serious Navigational software like TomTom or NAVIGON.
Their prices range in Apple store for around 80 dollars. By me then it is one great advantage against TomTom GPS Navigator, maps updates are for free. But, and again, I repeat, never phone apps will outweigh the standalone GPS navigator. Either it is the TomTom, Garmin or iGO. Decision is yours, and I will try to give advice from my own experience and knowledge.
Very cool implementation of GPS is Pet Tracking.
Latest Whistle Pet Tracker is cutting-edge invention to care for your dog or cat safety. There are free apps available for iOS or Android smartphones.
Yes, and something else I wanted to ask you. If it is not laziness, anplease share a few words with your thoughts or ideas about cell phone GPS navigation apps. I am really interested in your experience. Thanks a lot!
Bon voyage and charge your phone before travel!
Just my two cents 4 October, 2016.
As far as searching information and different news regarding GPS navigation, a couple of days ago I came acroslocal rules implemented in Rhode Island (and in some other US States I guess). Skipping the details, in short, using a cell phone, even GPS navigation, is law breaking action and you could be easily fined with $100, or so, ticket. No matter what you do with your phone. The standalone GPS navigation device or factory installed navigation system may be used, and this is not a violation of the law.
Regardless of that I am not a big fan of smartphone GPS navigation app admirer, this particular law seems stupid and dishonest. In many cases, the smartphone features to overcome some stand alone GPS devices concerning voice commands or so. From the other hand, don’t type and drive are not just as a slogan. So many fatal car accidents are due to the usage of a phone in the car.
Hey there,
I stumbled upon your site, which is amazing I must say! Such useful and quality content.
Very well written and easy to understand, especially for beginners.
I will definitely visit your site in the future, thank you very much for sharing your knowledge with us and good luck.
Kind regards
Ct.
Hi Chris! Check out your phone app shop and type. There are pretty much free and paid apps available for GPS navigation. See you!
Great article! When I went on vacation last month, I used Waze to navigate me to different places. It was easy to use and gives you fair warning when you need to turn like a GPS. I’m surprised it is free but I’m glad it is. I also use it sometimes when I drive home from work because I live an hour away and there is always traffic along the way.
Thanks, Kevin for stopping by!
Yes, Waze is free smartphone application for GPS car navigation and all in all not so bad to find your direction in unknown places. Just keep in mind that it is an online app, and some data as roads and tracks are used solely from users information shared on Waze’s Map Editors network.
Generally, you can trust it but I almost always using Waze in company with other GPS car navigation source.