[Old_Mil]

Just downloaded this as I am heading out of the country and will be renting a car in a couplenof weeks....can anyone explain how to download and cache maps for offline use and what a good cache size setting would be? Looking at the options this appears to be a fairly powerful GPS app but how to get it to work is a bit confusing.

[Dominic Hagan]

as I got it you basically track where you are going and it will remember the map tiles, you then save them to the cache. the idea is that you only download what you need which is fine unless you get lost and go off tile.

I followed the reviews so got it then tried the osmand route and then purchased OBJ navigator as well. both of which allow you to download full maps so get the free version of osmand to try.

navigator doesn't time out which is nice.

nothing is perfect nor tom tom like which is a shame considering tomtom 5 runs on my ancient nokia phone.

[Old_Mil]

The thing is, how does a wifi only PlayBook get tiles as you go? There has to be some way to download map files and point the software to them..?

Posted via CB10

[Dominic Hagan]

the only way I managed it was by sorting the journey out beforehand while connected and caching the tiles. browsing the map also stores the tiles which you can then cache.

there is a manual somewhere IIRC.

download free osmand and have a play with that as the only negative is the limited downloads. I dont regret paying for magellan as it was bog cheap, had good reviews and encourages them to update it, but I also bought navigator and will be looking at nogago.

there's also android osmand+ at goodereader which works, back country navigator, maverick and so on. haven't managed to get sygic working but there are a few apps which others have got going but seem to fail when I try.

[anon(5597702)]

The thing is, how does a wifi only PlayBook get tiles as you go? There has to be some way to download map files and point the software to them..?

Posted via CB10

For Osmand, you can download a lot of map data, and I guess along with that comes routes/directions, because the app fully works offline (with certain caveats, no doubt).

[Old_Mil]

Your API key is not valid. You are using version 7.1.1_MQ_MOBILE of the API.

I am getting the above message which replaces the map...?

Posted via CB10

[dmlis]

About offline maps.

When I plan my trip, I do the following:
1. Put target area on the screen.
2. Settings ->Map -> Provider. Choose which is the best for you. Open Street is my default choice, but Nokia provides better details in some parts of the world (e.g. China).
3. Settings -> Cache -> Current Map To (select required level of details) -> press Add button. Wait for tiles to download...
4. Existing Tile - I select "leave alone", as I don't expect significant changes in maps between my trips to the same place.

"Block" or "street" level is usually OK for navigation in any city. "Corner" is hardly needed, unless you find yourself in densely populated area, with narrow streets and chaotic urban planning. Example: historical centre of Istanbul.
For rural areas "Town" level is usually sufficient.

Note: you might experience crashes when your cache size exceeds 300-350MB. It happens to me on at least 2 Playbooks. My remedy is to clear cache after each trip and to download only what is essential.

[pacoman03]

download free osmand and have a play with that as the only negative is the limited downloads. I dont regret paying for magellan as it was bog cheap, had good reviews and encourages them to update it, but I also bought navigator and will be looking at nogago.

Nogago is an offshoot of Osmand, so if you know Osmand, you pretty much know Nogago. Plus, Nogago, which was a free app, now seems to be a $10 app in app world. As for Osmand's limitation on downloaded maps (for the free version) there are ways to overcome this if you're too cheap (like me) to fork over the money for the paid (unlimited) version.

[pacoman03]

When I plan my trip, I do the following:
1. Put target area on the screen.
2. Settings ->Map -> Provider. Choose which is the best for you. Open Street is my default choice, but Nokia provides better details in some parts of the world (e.g. China).
3. Settings -> Cache -> Current Map To (select required level of details) -> press Add button. Wait for tiles to download...
4. Existing Tile - I select "leave alone", as I don't expect significant changes in maps between my trips to the same place.
.

That seems like a lot of work, considering that Osmand also uses Open Street Maps and it allows you to download entire maps with full detail. For the US and Canada, downloaded maps comprise an entire state or province- for Europe, it's an entire country. Osmand also allows you to calculate routes for navigation entirely offline, and will recalculate your route if, for one reason or another, you stray off course while navigating. Can Magellan do this?

[Old_Mil]

Well, can't seem to get it working on the PlayBook. I will try Osmand on my Z10.

Posted via CB10

[dmlis]

That seems like a lot of work, considering that Osmand also uses Open Street Maps and it allows you to download entire maps with full detail. For the US and Canada, downloaded maps comprise an entire state or province- for Europe, it's an entire country. Osmand also allows you to calculate routes for navigation entirely offline, and will recalculate your route if, for one reason or another, you stray off course while navigating. Can Magellan do this?

It's not difficult actually, just time is needed to download detailed maps. I'll take a look at Osmand to see if there are benefits over Magellan.
Yes, Magellan allows route calculations offline. UI could be better, however, I can't call it intuitive. And support is non existent.

[Gearheadaddy]

I just happened to download OsmAnd onto my 64GB Playbook today. It does work without an active internet connection. The download of 350+MB California maps took 2-3 hours but offline GPS worked in my car moving on down the road!

Trusted Member Genius

[Herve5]

Magellan Compass just released a new version, 4.9.4, that actually stopped working on my PB. It started, showed the welcome screen with the new version 4.9.4, then showed a black window from where one can access settings by sliding from the top inwards, but no map whatsoever.
After a LOOONG while I managed to get miraculously to a dialogue requesting me to accept the (new?) conditions of use, that never showed when just launching the app nor when ust accessing the general prefs. Don't ask me how. From then you are back to normal -ie, an guiding GPS capable to cache maps but not reroute if offline (so: useless for me...)
Still, I don't regret buying it: Magellan are actually independent guys, and there are not so many. Hopefully some day their GPS guidance becomes really efficient offline, and that day the large size of the Playbooks will be very rewarding...

[m_b]

A couple of questions out there for people using Magellan:

1) Does one need to be online in order to start using navigation even though maps may be cached. (asking this since m.here.com works in this fashion)

2) Does Bing maps caching go right down to the level of street (like the HERE maps app on Lumia)

3) Can you search for places and navigate using cached maps? (unlike google maps cache)

Thanks

[dmlis]

A couple of questions out there for people using Magellan:

1) Does one need to be online in order to start using navigation even though maps may be cached. (asking this since m.here.com works in this fashion)

2) Does Bing maps caching go right down to the level of street (like the HERE maps app on Lumia)

3) Can you search for places and navigate using cached maps? (unlike google maps cache)

Thanks

1) No.
2) Sorry, no idea.
3) Yes. It all depends on how detailed was your download (city, street, etc.)

[Old_Mil]

I finally deleted Magellan from my Playbook the other day. I really gave it every chance to work but found the user interface to be a bear, the app itself to lag terribly during driving when I could get it to work and no support to be deal killers. It is too bad too, it really seems as it could have had a lot of promise with a more intuitive interface and some tweaks.

Posted via CB10

[dmlis]

I finally deleted Magellan from my Playbook the other day. I really gave it every chance to work but found the user interface to be a bear, the app itself to lag terribly during driving when I could get it to work and no support to be deal killers. It is too bad too, it really seems as it could have had a lot of promise with a more intuitive interface and some tweaks.

Posted via CB10

Probably the lag was caused by large amount of data cached. In my experience, 0.4-0.5GB was optimal. Anything larger resulted in lags and crashes. Not every time, but at the most inconvenient moment. Murphy Law rules.
And I agree on UI - absolutely counter-intuitive...