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Does GPS work WITHOUT data plan on mobile devices?

ibex333

ibex333

Diamond Member
Lets say I have an iPad with 3G, or an old iPhone or Android phone.... But I don't have a data plan, and I don't have cell service. Will GPS still work?

Thanks.
 
You'll have to find mapping software where you can download the maps and store them locally. Otherwise you'll have to use something like a Mifi or another mobile phone and tether to get signal.

I believe the GPS should work, but it might take a lot longer to lock onto your location since you won't have assisted GPS with cell towers.

EDIT: Will the GPS lock more quickly if you have WiFi on? That seems to happen with my Android phone; I think they can see which WiFi networks are in range and determine your location more accurately that way (much the same as looking at which cell tower you're connected to) so you don't have to wait forever for a GPS lock.
 
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Yuriman said:
GPS still works, but you need preloaded maps and the phone must not be in airplane mode.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily true. My OG Droid works fine for GPS in airplane mode. Now there was/is a bit of a trick. Even if you are without cell service, it must first have the radios, that seemed to be a bit of a power restriction of the chipset in some way. Once it is initialized and up you can go to airplane mode with no problems.
 
Preloaded maps... What do you guys mean? If I just use my home wiFi and download the app and update it, doesn't it have maps?
 
ibex333 said:
Preloaded maps... What do you guys mean? If I just use my home wiFi and download the app and update it, doesn't it have maps?
Click to expand...

Which app? Google maps?

All of the maps in the world are probably thousands of gigabytes, when you look at a map it just loads what you want to see.

There is decent aftermarket GPS software for sale, but it'll probably have a healthy download, be prepared to fill a 16GB SD card.

I used my OG Droid (w/o service) for a while as a GPS and I would just open google maps before I left home and scroll across the area I was going to drive, it would cache those maps and then I could use them on the road.
 
ibex333 said:
Preloaded maps... What do you guys mean? If I just use my home wiFi and download the app and update it, doesn't it have maps?
Click to expand...

If you're using Google Maps or some other app that relies on streaming the maps over a data connection, you're in trouble. The workaround is to set it up so your entire route is visible on the screen and then keep it like that so when you lose your data connection it stays visible. But that's pretty limited.

There are different map apps that let you download maps for whatever area you need so you can actually scroll around and not have to worry about losing your precached maps. I have no experience with them but I know that they exist.
 
the free gps apps that phones come with work really well in a pinch, and as long as you have good reception.

but if you use gps a lot, then do yourself a gigantic favor and buy an app that uses local stored maps. i use copilot 8, and it works wonders even on my old touch pro 2. the fact that it doesnt need to have cell reception dramatically increases battery life, and its so much faster working because it doesnt have to wait to refresh all the time. gps locks only take a min or so too, thats never a problem

it uses around 2gb for the north america maps, and thats loaded onto the sd card. again , for the $30 i paid for it, it is cats ass.
 
^^^ Yes, for my dedicated GPS too, local storage for the North American maps is a little under 2 GB. ie. If you plan on doing this with dedicated software using pre-loaded maps, make sure you can spare more than 2GB free space, more if you want more maps.
 
My Nokia comes with free navigation and I can preload whichever maps I chose, so data connection is not required. Last I checked, their WP7 phones also have that feature. If you have an iphone or android... good luck with that, I've yet to see them offer similar capability.
 
you can cache for google navigation too, but in my opinion its just a pita. or at least it seems like it, ive never tried it so i guess i cant comment properly.
 
wirednuts said:
you can cache for google navigation too, but in my opinion its just a pita. or at least it seems like it, ive never tried it so i guess i cant comment properly.
Click to expand...

You press on an area of the map and it downloads a large square area of the map.

Not sure how its a PITA
 
have been using my nokia smart phone for maps for years. pretty much the main reason i am still with nokia. i travel around the world and they give out world maps for free.
 
NikolaeVarius said:
You press on an area of the map and it downloads a large square area of the map.

Not sure how its a PITA
Click to expand...

just tried it. yeah its not hard, but it covers only 10sq miles at a time. so if you just need to find your way around a city then sure, it works fine. otherwise i would still like to have the full cached maps that other nav software provides.
 
Oh, youre right. I misread.

Not complicated tho... he either buys stand alone software like copilot for $24, or caches his maps in google nav for free. Id say if youre staying in town, then use google.... otherwise copilot is cheap and awesome
 
Yuriman said:
GPS still works, but you need preloaded maps and the phone must not be in airplane mode.
Click to expand...

This. I use a topo map app to track my hikes, and never have my 4G connected. As long as GPS is enabled, it records a track. When it comes to apps like Google Maps, the phone always whines when data is shut off.
 
There is no need for data plan to use GPS, unless the carrier messed with the phone and made some artificial restrictions. I use Navigon iPhone app which stores all US states in about 2GB. I've modified the application IPA file to remove all the "middle of nowhere" states, so now it takes well under 1GB of space. Hopefully I'll never end up being somewhere in Wyoming. 🙂
 
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