[anon(1173270)]

you could also sideload M8, works a treat

Where did you get it from please?

Thanks.

[Scotter75]

All automotive GPS receive their lat/long info from the satellites. All other information is sent out by silent radio signals. The GPS has a radio receiver built in that picks up this streaming data. Most of this info is only broadcast in cities. Once you leave the city, you only get the satellites data along with the onboard maps.

[Mercury]

despite what people are saying, I'm finding that the Z10 Map app is actually doing a great job. It gives great turn by turn directions, 3d nav map (kinda 3d) and it keeps my phone on. I haven't tried using the PlayBook in my car yet.. will try it this weekend

[brianatbb]

This, the gps on the playbook is accurate just takes longer to get a fix, also very detailed explanation in your post good job.

Not correct. The aGPS on my (two) android devices places me on the nose. My PB never gets me that close and frequently puts me dozens of metres off.

And then sometimes it's totally wacky. Like right now. I have two gps apps open. One, GPS Data Master, gives me a latitude of 37.3951 and longitude of -121.9418, with claimed accuracy of 64.5 metres and no altitude number. Sounds acceptable but in reality I have no idea where on Earth that is, only that it is nowhere near Kelowna, British Columbia.

The other gps app, GPS Testing App, gives me a latitude of 11.83573644 and longitude of -157.01698579. Again, nowhere near Kelowna, British Columbia, and nowhere near the simultaneous reading on the other app.

A map app, the vaunted Navigator, puts me somewhere near San Diego, California. I knew there was some reason I had tried and trashed this app before, and will dump it again. On to MapApp. .... It' looking ... looking ... looking (and I have wifi activated, and the gps apps that place me over a thousand miles away). Time's up. Can't wait this long. On to another map app. MapSearch Free. It's loading. It's loading. There it is, a map of the world. I guess I'm on there somewhere. I touch the gps icon. Nothing. Touch it again. Nothing. Again, again, again. Nothing, nothing, nothing. So let's manually zoom in to my location. Good thing I know that and don't have to rely on my gps to tell me where I am. So there's Kelowna. But no location indicator. Touch the gps icon again. Nothing, again. Guess I'll dump this piece of garbage app and try another.

Let's see, I also have Maps Free. Looks like a native BB app, should work great. Hmmm, if it ever loads. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. Try reloading. Waiting. Waiting. At this rate I'll reach my destination before the app loads. Oh, there it is, sort of. And looks likes it's actually an android app. With a message: "Sorry! Process system is not responding." I push the 'wait' button several times before it responds and eventually I get a .... blank screen and another message, same as above. I've arrived at my destination so guess I'll trash this garbage app too. Let's try another. Bing Maps. (As you can probably guess by now, I've been through this ringer before). So Bing is ... um, not loading. It crashes without starting. Let's try again. It loads, sort of. At least it tells me to connect to wifi. What!!! I already am connected to wifi! Finally it loads. And gives me a message: "Unable to determine your current location. Try again later." Remember, I still have GPS Data Master running, even though it has me somewhere else in the world. Ahh, it finally locates me and shows me on a map. Only problem is, it has located me, very precisely, on the G4 highway in Santa Clara, California.

Well, it's a location so I guess I too will become a PB fanboy, telling all and sundry how the Playbook outperforms those crappy android tabs that need twice the specs to come anywhere close to the finely tuned QNX OS that Rim had the great foresight to put under the hood of the PB.

PS. I decided to relaunch GPS Data Master, give it another try. Ten minutes later, it's still 'acquiring signal'. And I'm off to refill my coffee. Good thing I have my android phone that works first time, every time.

Edit to add:
I rebooted my PB and the gps started functioning properly, getting my position within about 5 metres on GPS Data Master. I also restarted the map apps I tried above to see how they now function.

MapApp found me alright within a reasonable time (still not as fast as my android phone app). Maps free took about 30 seconds to show me a map of the US. Tapping the gps icon brings me no closer to home. Eventually, it tells me it can't find my location (even though MapApp still has me). GPS MapSearch didn't load within a minute so I gave up on it. Navigator brought up a nice map of the US midwest, centred on Chicago. Since I'm in Kelowna, BC, that's not terribly useful. Nowhere do I see on it any gps location button or indicator on the map itself at my actual location. Another junk app, obviously. Onto Bing Maps. It brought up a map of southern BC but informed me it was unable to determine my location. Latitude, another android port, opened with my location within just under 30 seconds.

Of all the map apps I tried, with gps clearly functioning, only MapApp and Latitude met a bare minimum of functionality. Perhaps if I were outside and not next to a window under a cloudless sky, that might be different. But my two android devices work flawlessly, with a variety of map apps, from the same location at the same time, picking up my location within seconds of launching the app (not within seconds of the app launching but within seconds of me tapping the icon to launch it). Unfortunately, neither of the two that worked were able to navigate . Latitude, which uses Google Maps, ostensibly does have a navigation facility, but after typing in my destination and waiting about a minute, it crashed. Relaunching it, it automatically picked up my destination, told me which way to go but lost its gps and failed to map my route, or anything for that matter. Just a blue wilderness where the map should have been.It never did find my gps again. And anyway, it needs wifi or data to operate, so its useless.

So yes, I agree the Playbook's gps works, but it does so poorly compared to the competition. Worse, it is served by a collection of mostly useless map apps. The two that I consider operable, MapApp and Latitude, don't appear to have functioning navigation instructions.

I don't think there is anything particularly wrong with my Playbook. That is just how it works. Or doesn't work. So it is clear to me that if you want a tablet you can count on to offer gps and mapping, forget the Playbook, especially when the reasonably prices Nexus 7 offers pretty much flawless mapping and navigation, or, if you have the bucks to blow, an ipad.

[rkennedy01]

PS. I decided to relaunch GPS Data Master, give it another try. Ten minutes later, it's still 'acquiring signal'. And I'm off to refill my coffee. Good thing I have my android phone that works first time, every time.

And I just cold booted my PB in the middle of a sugar cane field on a remote island in the Indian Ocean and got an accurate fix from Google Maps in 8 seconds.

RCK

Sent from my BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps using Tapatalk 2

[FF22]

brianatbb

Maybe it's time to push rim - it would appear your gps is not working well (to way the least).

[brianatbb]

But is that normal? I don't know though I kinda think so.

[312Lorden]

Guys I want to thank you all for some excellent posts on clarifying GPS, especially if one does not rely on Wi-fi connectivity (Osmand, Navigator, et al). I had Osmand on my "apps to download" list but still haven't done it. I do have a very old model clunky-looking Garmin but I am quite happy with it. I had one free update a couple of years ago and that's it. Would you believe that years ago I paid $400 for the Garmin?

However, I'll definitely try either Osmand or Navigator as backup. WTH, why not try PBs built-in features if it's free.

[slparry]

When we have the BB10 update on the playbook Mireo Don't Panic will work on it. I have this on my Z10 now and it's fantastic, it's very similar to a Garmin/Tom Tom unit, the maps are downloaded onto the device, I bought western europe for about �13.

It's full 3D display, has 3D buildings available as navigation aids, great app. I can't wait for BB10 on the PB as this app alone will make it worth the wait, and will prompt me to immediately go out and get a mount for the PB for the dash in my car

[brianatbb]

Except that the Z10 has assisted gps.

[pacoman03]

However, I'll definitely try either Osmand or Navigator as backup. WTH, why not try PBs built-in features if it's free.

As far as I can tell, Navigator is a clone of Osmand (Osmand is open source software) and costs $7, while the basic version of Osmand (limited to 10 or 12 map downloads) is free. You might as well save your $7 unless someone can explain why/how Navigator is better than Osmand.

[312Lorden]

Long story short, get a Garmin. It sits better on your dashboard than the PB.

[312Lorden]

pascoman03, I just downloaded the Osmand free edition and downloaded Canada and Oregon. For Canada (16 Mb) I got every province, and for Oregon (70 Mb) the file was just huge compared to the previous. Of course it will only work when I'm in Oregon and Canada in June, so it remains to be seen. Anyway, I consider this as just a back up to my oldie and trusty Garmin.

[pacoman03]

pascoman03, I just downloaded the Osmand free edition and downloaded Canada and Oregon. For Canada (16 Mb) I got every province, and for Oregon (70 Mb) the file was just huge compared to the previous. Of course it will only work when I'm in Oregon and Canada in June, so it remains to be seen. Anyway, I consider this as just a back up to my oldie and trusty Garmin.

I think that you did something wrong. There should be no Canada map to download- only individual provinces that should be much larger than 16 MB. You may have downloaded the world basemap, which has no detail. Try turning off your wifi and then zooming in on an area in Canada to see if you have any detail. You'll also need to download a voice pack for voice guided navigation. The en voice pack seems to work the best (rather than en-US).

[312Lorden]

pacoman03, you are right. I got the world map and zooming in to a Canadian province (with wi-fi off) did not give me any navigation. I'll try again when I am connected to wi-fi, and also download the voice pack. Thanks.

[312Lorden]

OK downloaded British Columbia map (220 Mb). It took 2 hrs.
Uh-oh, I think I downloaded the en-us voice pack instead. We'll see. Anyway, the map test offline works.

[Blackman91]

I sideloaded the android google maps and wow it picks my location in seconds even inside my house!! I recommend it if you want a faster gps fix for the playbook.

[FF22]

I sideloaded the android google maps and wow it picks my location in seconds even inside my house!! I recommend it if you want a faster gps fix for the playbook.

If possible you might want to provide a link and/or the version that you are using.

[Blackman91]

Here you go:
http://db.tt/BP1u8hPt

That version works so smooth on the playbook, shame that the sideloaded street view doesn't work on the playbook.

[westronic]

I also like Magellan but you cant download maps to use offline and the navigation requires internet. Btw GV2012 if you have any questions about Navigator I can answer them.

Not accurate. Magellan can be used 100% off-line after loading up (caching) the maps at your chosen zoom levels. This is the only GPS app that works for me, all others have issues of one kind or another. It also has very active development and they are well-positioned for the future.

Still short a few features, but they are working on it. Suggestion I submitted, which are being worked, are:

o Allow one to choose to rotate the map to direction of travel being "up," even if street names rotate and are even upside down sometimes - give us that choice.
o Add a night mode for lighting - even better, have it do that automatically (as an option) based on local sunset/sunrise time. (One can select Map Box/Neon style for a night mode today)
Increase the volume of the voice when at 100%. It is sometimes too soft, even at 100%, to hear above road noise or music.
o Optionally, have the voice get louder with higher speed.
o Have the voice pause the media player, give an instruction, and then resume the player.
o On demand, show alternate routes and allow selection of an alternate route.
o Have selections available that let one choose faster route, scenic route, avoid freeways, etc.
o Work on estimated trip time (ETA) - the time projected is routinely way longer than actual travel time. Perhaps speed limits are not being used in the projection? (This one looks like it cannot happen due to limitations on source data

P.S. Magellan can also use your phone data connection via Bridge, if desired, but will sometimes struggle a bit due to the reduced bandwidth.

[jetstreamblue]

Not accurate. Magellan can be used 100% off-line after loading up (caching) the maps at your chosen zoom levels.

I downloaded the map tiles I need, and indeed they display without an active data connection. However, it seems that search for street names still require data, which makes the app pretty much unusable (unless you have all the destinations you want pre entered). Am I missing something or that's a limitation of the app?


Posted via CB10

[pacoman03]

I downloaded the map tiles I need, and indeed they display without an active data connection. However, it seems that search for street names still require data, which makes the app pretty much unusable (unless you have all the destinations you want pre entered). Am I missing something or that's a limitation of the app?

Osmand can do a street search offline.

[jetstreamblue]

Osmand can do a street search offline.

Yes, I've tried Osmand, and it's great.
Unfortunately, I'm planning a trip to Taiwan and the openstreetmaps that Osmand uses doesn't have the minor streets in many areas. I was hoping the Magellan's Nokia or MapQuest maps could be used while I'm there without using data.

[Blackman91]

this is the latest version out feb 20 - Google Maps for Playbook and BB10 - Blackberry Playbook and BB10 Travel and Leisure Apps | Android APPS - BB10 Apps & Playbook Apps

[Blackman91]

Does anyone know how to make this one work?
Street View on Google Maps for Playbook and BB10 - Blackberry Playbook and BB10 Android Apps :: Android APP Store – Blackberry Playbook & Z10 and Q10 Apps