My Experience thus far with Andriod GPS apps

[craftycoder]

How is the GPS reception on these phones while riding?

[meat popsicle]

Originally Posted by craftycoder

How is the GPS reception on these phones while riding?

Perfectly adequate.

(I would wait for someone who has used theirs while trail riding, when little differences might mean the wrong trail, etc.)

[Thanantos]

How is the GPS reception on these phones while riding?

It will vary from phone to phone, but accuracy within 3 meters shouldn't be difficult to achieve with any of them.

[worwig]

I used to use Windows Mobile phones clipped to my handlebar with a charger. On those, I had the Garmin XT software. Even though it wasn't as nice as my 276C, it was adequate in most ways. It also ran a program called GeoTerrestrial, which would create tracks real time and upload photos to their site that were geotagged, making it very easy to create a trip log on the go.

I switched to Android earlier this year, and maps have been a struggle. NOTHING is as good as the Garmin XT software, and the Garmin XT software wasn't all that good. I use it mainly just for visible moving maps, not routing. I bought the app CoPilot, so I would have offline maps and routing. It is decent, and it was under $10. I had been trying a number of programs to display the open source maps, and didn't care much for any of them.

I have settled on OSMand. It lets you download vector maps easily and it performs well. It also displays Google, Bing and other maps). Routing is so so, but I don't really care. You need to download the latest version from the OSMand site, as the one in the Google app store is a very old version. Some of the items I like about it are:
1) you can mark a location, and there is an arrow on the screen like a compass that keeps pointing to that location. This is better then routing for me. I choose the roads, and it shows the direction I need to head.
2) It does a good job at keeping track logs in GPX. Plus you can display old GPX track logs quickly.
3) I can upload my track logs to EveryTrail, my photos to Picasa, and create a trip log with photos that I can share quickly on EveryTrail.

It also lets you put map layers on the screen. So you can put a layer of road maps, and lay a transparent layer of terrain maps over it. (it will manage OSM, Google, Bing and other maps)

Looks like a winner for me for now.

[meat popsicle]

Originally Posted by worwig

...

I switched to Android earlier this year, and maps have been a struggle. NOTHING is as good as the Garmin XT software, and the Garmin XT software wasn't all that good. I use it mainly just for visible moving maps, not routing. I bought the app CoPilot, so I would have offline maps and routing. It is decent, and it was under $10. I had been trying a number of programs to display the open source maps, and didn't care much for any of them.

I have settled on OSMand. ...

...

Looks like a winner for me for now.

I'll check out OSMand, but right now I'm liking OruxMaps. On my last trip I loaded the USFS georeferenced JPEGS (using OruxMaps' desktop software), created waypoints and routes in Google Maps and then loaded the KMLs into OruxMaps. The App has a function to select areas on the phone to download and store online maps for offline use, and... it does just about everything I've needed. Is it one of those you tried?

My problem has been overheating - both in the AquaBox on the bike and the Otterbox 1900 on the boat my Motorola Droid X has overheated - presumably due to lack of ventilation since the phone has never done it when not in one of these waterproof cases. I found out the phone has a cool-down mode, protection so your battery does not explode - so kudos to Motorola.

[craftycoder]

Dual Sport Maps is a derivative of OSMand, specifically designed for dual sporting. Worth a look as well.

[worwig]

Originally Posted by meat popsicle

I'll check out OSMand, but right now I'm liking OruxMaps. On my last trip I loaded the USFS georeferenced JPEGS (using OruxMaps' desktop software), created waypoints and routes in Google Maps and then loaded the KMLs into OruxMaps. The App has a function to select areas on the phone to download and store online maps for offline use, and... it does just about everything I've needed. Is it one of those you tried?

My problem has been overheating - both in the AquaBox on the bike and the Otterbox 1900 on the boat my Motorola Droid X has overheated - presumably due to lack of ventilation since the phone has never done it when not in one of these waterproof cases. I found out the phone has a cool-down mode, protection so your battery does not explode - so kudos to Motorola.

I know I tried OruxMaps a couple of months back. There was something I didn't like about it, maybe the overly complex menus, but I didn't care for it. If it directly handles KMLs, I may look again. OSMand uses GPX files. I also like the OSMand vector maps of many states that fit on the phone easily.

Have you tried a simple RAM universal finger grip. that is what I use, and the phone does not overheat. I tried an AquaBox and the phone would shut down it a very short time. Of course it is not waterproof in the finger grip, but I have had good luck with it.

[meat popsicle]

As long as the phone is not in the sun on a hot day it doesn't overheat in my AquaBox (Droid X), so I may fashion a rudimentary cover to keep the sun off it when I'm not looking. This may also keep me from being tempted to look while I am riding too... :\ Phone is too precious to leave it unprotected, so I will continue to deal with the box/overheating issues.

OruxMaps handles GPX too. I like it enough that I am going to donate to the developer soon, but not $20...

[worwig]

Originally Posted by meat popsicle

As long as the phone is not in the sun on a hot day it doesn't overheat in my AquaBox (Droid X), so I may fashion a rudimentary cover to keep the sun off it when I'm not looking. This may also keep me from being tempted to look while I am riding too... :\ Phone is too precious to leave it unprotected, so I will continue to deal with the box/overheating issues.

OruxMaps handles GPX too. I like it enough that I am going to donate to the developer soon, but not $20...

Check out OSMand. The offline vector maps is a real winner IMHO. No need for a desktop and only downloading small sections.

[meat popsicle]

Originally Posted by worwig

Check out OSMand. The offline vector maps is a real winner IMHO. No need for a desktop and only downloading small sections.

Roger, but for DS riding I need better than the usual road maps. The USFS maps are excellent as they show all their roads in great detail, are easy to ready, and include roads not on road maps (like Google Maps etc.)

For road riding away from cell service I can even just use Google Maps, as there is a Google Labs you can turn on to speculatively download their maps for a route (for this very reason). I haven't used it yet because downloading them from within the OruxMaps App (while at home on WiFi) is just too easy.

I bet OsmAnd does allow for importing maps, but the OruxMaps software has some great features (like creating zoom levels ala Garmin et al).

Funny that Orux and Osm have almost identical icons in Android...

[craftycoder]

With dualsportmaps, you can cache map tiles (such as google road maps) for just the area underneath tracks which gives you maximum bang for your buck in terms of map tile caching. The vector OSM maps are really quite good though. I rarely use the google maps out in the world in practice. There is a video which shows that process. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7kd_hfpVBc

[worwig]

Originally Posted by meat popsicle

The USFS maps are excellent as they show all their roads in great detail, are easy to ready, and include roads not on road maps (like Google Maps etc.)

Where do you find the USFS maps? Do you have to create those on a PC and copy them to the phone?

[craftycoder]

Originally Posted by worwig

Where do you find the USFS maps? Do you have to create those on a PC and copy them to the phone?

MVUMs from the USFS are available here. They are PDFs generally.

USGS topo maps are available at dualsportmaps.com and through the app if you want them on your phone. Like below.

[meat popsicle]

Originally Posted by worwig

Where do you find the USFS maps? Do you have to create those on a PC and copy them to the phone?

http://www.fs.fed.us/r5/rsl/clearing...itorMaps.shtml

For OruxMaps you need to rename the .jgw (world file) to .tfw (technicality) and then run them through the desktop program, where you can create zoom levels and such to prep them for the App on the phone. Then copy them into the correct folder and finally select it in the app. Using .kml files is the same; once in the proper folder Orux finds them and makes them available in the app.

[Joe Dirt]

Has anyone considered porting this idea over to a "cheap" tablet? I'm thinking a 7" tablet could sit on my tank bag and be no more distracting than my 60CSx on the bars. Here's an option for discussion sake: Android 2.2 Tablet Cortex A8 Touch Screen Support Flash Bluetooth Gps Wifi