[WT44]

TomTom works quite well in the US, too.

Tomtom, actually, a few different ones on different trips, worked really well in Europe and when you don't know where you are going it is wonderful. In addition, I'm not sure my friends and I could have afforded the data usage costs to use the Phone as a gps in Europe whereas the gps was free once purchased. And we also did have a paper map which proved handy more than once and is much better at providing an overview.

Bottom line is that I'm tired to compromise something, anything, when I decided to stick with BlackBerry.
In the end there is always something off. For me the last absolutely perfect & flawless BlackBerry phone was the Bold 9900.
Sure, like I said, I can go ahead and buy a Tom Tom/Garmin Navigation kit or buy some old school road maps, but I don't want to go "down that road again". I had a iPhone 4 and 6. In all those years using them I never had any kind of issues with Google Maps/Waeze freezing up dozens of times (or stopping all together) or the arrow continuously pointing in the wrong direction.
With perfectly working GPS being "critical" for me, I meant that it is critical for me to be able to rely on my phones GPS when I'm on the road. I just don't want to be confronted with this GPS nonsense when I'm in the middle of nowhere. If it would be critical in a sense that I would otherwise miss work-related appointments, then for sure I would buy a Tom Tom, but that's not the case. And besides, I like to have a pocketable all-in-one solution if I don't know how to go from a to b when I'm in a new city. I was in a big German city a month ago that I wasn't familiar with. We had a small party in one of those Japanese restaurants. Since I could not park my car nearby, I had to park 20 minutes further away. I tried the walk function on Google Maps and naturally, it bailed on me again. I continuously walked into the wrong direction (arrow pointing in the wrong direction also) and the arrow not moving at all while walking. So embarrassing that I needed to ask strangers a couple of times for the road. In the end I came late 60 minutes. I mean, should I take my back pack with me all the time for my Tom Tom LOL.

@F2, Why don't you buy local sim cards if you are in Europe????? They are like EUR 10-12,50 for 1 GB of data? Wherever I go, I pop in local Sim cards to be able to communicate for small prices.

Why did BB remove Compass app from Priv/Android BB's? It was an amazing and useful little app, yes I am sure there are tons of 3rd party apps, but the stock one was just classy. The only problem I have with my GPS is the Priv not being able to tell which direction I am facing easily, maybe it's google maps issue too, I can't tell if Priv doesn't know which way it's being held or if google cannot display it properly.

Prolly, because they knew chances are hight that it would move in all direction like a roller coaster LOL.
No, for sure not Google's/Waeze's fault. We should not always find excuses with other parties as to why something, anything, does not work on a BlackBerry phone. Fact of the matter it, that the internet is full of people having issues with the Priv's GPS. That nobody of BB acknowledges the issue at hand. That naturally nobody is commenting on the matter (wouldn't be good for business as they might have to recall devices). That it doesn't seem that a software fix could deal with the matter. I think the world would explode if this GPS issue would occur in Samsung Galaxy/Iphone devices but since that isn't the case, we compromise, yet again. I can not spontaneously go somewhere again after work or in the weekends. I have to prepare at home and even print some Google maps/make some small notes on paper, to take along. We're not in the mid-late 2000s any longer. I don't not want to find workarounds, bypasses, or make compromises in this era anymore. Frankly, I'm tired of doing so or having to do so. I'm always very patience, but there is a limit to it when annoyances/irritations build-up. Sure, I will get the Mercury, but if there is something, anything I need to compromise again, then adios old friend.

[Wezard]

Just put "samsung gps not working" into google - 2,950,000 results, utube videos on how to fix, all kinds of work arounds, lots of threads on various boards. Don't know why everybody seems to think Samsung is invincible. My wife uses iPhone, trust me, it messes up navigation quite often, specially in the city(s). And don't forget the infamous iPhone 'across the airport and runways' problems that even after making the national news a couple times didn't get fixed for 2 years.
I don't quite follow you on a backpack for GPS, are you looking at a 1950's aviation unit? Our little one is just barely larger than the Priv, battery lasts a couple hours, easily snaps off dash mount and into pocket.
Doesn't matter if you don't want to find workarounds, bypasses, etc - Sat Nav by smart phone, any brand, is not quite ready for prime time. It's close, and it'll get there, but it ain't there yet.

[Wezard]

TomTom works quite well in the US, too.

Tom Tom's maps and algorithms for N America have come a long way in the last few years. I just prefer Garmin's interface, Tom Tom handles round abouts better though. We picked ours up on Ebay a few years back for the France trip, it had up to date most of Europe maps and cost about 1/2 as much the Garmin maps alone. We only use it when traveling abroad.
We'll order a country map(s) well before we leave, so have a general idea of regions, then the the free maps at hotels and tourist places will give us a good feel for local, and GPS handles the detail work.
Back when we were doing a lot of canoing, I'd pick up the USGS Quads, those were real maps! We also used them up there in your part of the country, laying out grids for search and rescue, compass required, (didn't need a compass on rivers).
Somebody here said something about picking up a local SIM, thats fine unless you want/need to stay in telephone contact with back home.
I do know how to refold a map, 80% of the time, and can fake it pretty good the other 20. I'm taking the 5th on Murgatroid.

[FF22]

@F2, Why don't you buy local sim cards if you are in Europe????? They are like EUR 10-12,50 for 1 GB of data? Wherever I go, I pop in local Sim cards to be able to communicate for small prices.

I opted for Verizon's "Global" for the 3 weeks each of the last 3 summer trips to Europe. While not exactly cost savings, it did not break the bank and was convenient. I really haven't had much need to make phone calls where abroad - just a few. It was the occasional data that I wanted without going bankrupt but most of the time I would rely on wifi.

And, now frankly, after yesterday morning's fiddling with swapping my T-mobile sim from my ShopBB Priv into my Verizon Priv, I want to futz with those tiny sim cards and flimsy sim card trays as little as possible. Use the "pin device" to extract the tray from both phones. Not even mess with the sim cards, just try swapping intact. Oh, sim card dislodges and falls to floor. Try getting fingers on that thin crap. Try realigning in to tray. Try sliding tray into slot without dislodging card again!!!!!!!!!!! I guess I should not have tried first thing in the morning.

My friend did purchase a local sim, then a second when the first would not activate. If nothing else, sticking with the Verizon sim (works in Europe) simplied the process even if pricey.

If nothing else, the TomTom gps made driving around and between Alp countries (France, Italy and Switzerland) relatively easy. The maps were onboard, nothing new to download. Speed traffic warnings. Nothing to complain about except, yes, another piece of gear to carry.

[WT44]

Just put "samsung gps not working" into google - 2,950,000 results, utube videos on how to fix, all kinds of work arounds, lots of threads on various boards. Don't know why everybody seems to think Samsung is invincible. My wife uses iPhone, trust me, it messes up navigation quite often, specially in the city(s). And don't forget the infamous iPhone 'across the airport and runways' problems that even after making the national news a couple times didn't get fixed for 2 years.
I don't quite follow you on a backpack for GPS, are you looking at a 1950's aviation unit? Our little one is just barely larger than the Priv, battery lasts a couple hours, easily snaps off dash mount and into pocket.
Doesn't matter if you don't want to find workarounds, bypasses, etc - Sat Nav by smart phone, any brand, is not quite ready for prime time. It's close, and it'll get there, but it ain't there yet.

From a very egocentric P.O.V., I'm just speaking about my own experiences when I had the iPhone 4/6 and about experiences of people that I know who use either iPhones or Galaxy's. In all those years I did not have any kind of GPS issues nor did I ever hear about GPS issues when talking to people. It doesn't mean that the devices are invincible, not at all, it just means that in my personal view they are, when it comes to GPS. Naturally, you don't invest too much time dealing with other peoples issues if you don't have them yourself. Just like you don't spend time reading about for example all kind diseases until you directly or indirectly get exposed to them. That said, I have personally never heard nor read about what you said about many Samsung devices and iPhone devices having GPS issues. Nor did I ever hear about national news covering that. In the end it's about the individual. Fact of the matter is that I am very unhappy about the Privs GPS and that I got lost multiple of times due to it not working when I need it the most.

About mobile GPS units. I have to admit, I have never researched the matter, because, again, there was simply never reason for it since owing the iPhone 4. But how small they currently might be, bottom line is that I just don't want to take along 2 devices (even if it would be a GPS sports watch) when I'm on the go, especially when I should not have to deal with those GPS issues on a modern smartphone to start with. Pretty much like F2 says:

Nothing to complain about except, yes, another piece of gear to carry.

I don't think anyone should have to settle with less than a fully functional smartphone. That's the message I wanted to bring across.

[Wezard]

I don't think anyone should have to settle with less than a fully functional smartphone. That's the message I wanted to bring across.

Nicely worded
Was afraid I get somebody riled up, but I just get tired of seeing all comments that Samsumg and Apple don't ,,, what ever the problem is.

Here's the BBC's take on the airport, it's pretty funny actually. Now that it's over and nobody got hurt.
Apple Maps flaw results in drivers crossing airport runway - BBC News

[Bfalcon1]

My GPS would not work and T-Mobile replaced my phone. Works fine now.

[WT44]

Nicely worded
Was afraid I get somebody riled up, but I just get tired of seeing all comments that Samsumg and Apple don't ,,, what ever the problem is.

Here's the BBC's take on the airport, it's pretty funny actually. Now that it's over and nobody got hurt.
Apple Maps flaw results in drivers crossing airport runway - BBC News

Trust me, my list of annoyances on iPhone's was, and surely still is, bigger than my Privs annoyances list ever was. Even small things annoyed the hack out of me on iPhones, simple stuff, like not saving pics with the original name when you download it via a browser or camera pics getting generic names like IMG_4488.JPG But in my personal view they nailed certain things like the camera and GPS.

Ah yes, the Apple maps issue. That I know of. I'm pretty sure though that it didn't had anything to do with faulty GPS units inside iphones (which seems to be the case with the Priv), but more so with Apple maps being a total disaster compared to Google Maps.

My GPS would not work and T-Mobile replaced my phone. Works fine now.

Yea, I would probably send it back too if it wasn't for the news that the release of the Mercury is imminent. But not sure how high the chances are that it's still not good. In one of the links I provided there was some guy who already got 5 "faulty" devices. On international Phone forums I also read about people getting new devices and that the GPS still remained jacked-up. I'll just sell it (less of a hassle), but the real question is: are we supposed to mention the dozens of downsides of the Priv like we discussed on CrackBerry since the Privs launch? And what to do when they later on don't want the creakiness etc. Should you give the buyer a guarantee to get their money back for all Priv-related annoyances and for how long?

[Wezard]

We can and should knock BB and any device if there are problems - see my thread on "No devices for warranty replacemen"t. Just use caution when saying xyz doesn't have these issues, cuz odds are good that they do.
Now if you wanna knock the PKB, and say no other current phone has issues, you can be pretty confidant that no other phone has those issues.

[GEO1ER]

It's September of 2017 and my Priv always had signal problems and GPS problems, and guess what? It still does! I've tried everything and finally just gave up and learned to live with it. It's terrible!

[dan99x99]

Same here! Att priv

[Gigolo69]

Gps is so bad lately.

[Bob80220]

Same here... typically my GPS works just fine but lately it has been very wonky.

Any idea why this might be happening?

Bob

[Gigolo69]

Same here... typically my GPS works just fine but lately it has been very wonky.

Any idea why this might be happening?

Bob

Don't know but it's gotten so bad it made me pass my destination by a couple of miles today. Phone lately always says gps not connected or something like that. Use to work fine. Not sure what's up

[Bob80220]

My GPS issue started before I received and updated to the October 5 Security Patch so I'm not suggesting that had anything to do with it.

It's odd that all was good and now it's very erratic... it appears others are experiencing this issue recently as well.

Bob

[Gigolo69]

I think it's the update cause it was working fine and it hasn't taken any falls etc. I even did a fresh reset few weeks back.

[mpcook]

I think it's the update cause it was working fine and it hasn't taken any falls etc. I even did a fresh reset few weeks back.

Same here!

[FabriciusFab]

I don't know if it was a software update that broke it or it's hardware related, but since a few months I can't get the gps to work. Went as far as autoloading the software.
If it's hardware, how can it be fixed? is the antenna exchangable? Can it be deattached somehow?
Thanks

[heading4tomorrow]

My priv thinks I am home when I am 50 miles away. It's weird search results know I am away but when I turn on Google Maps and try to set navigation it starts from home until I wait a while or try to close open a few times. The blue dot is showing me at home. Really annoying.