$2 GPS app (pre-download your maps!)

[Clovis]

I came across this exceptionally useful, $2 app. Motion X GPS HD.

http://news.motionx.com/category/motionx-gps/

It's exclusively for the iPhone and iPad. Not just another GPS app, because of the downloadable maps this is an effective GPS replacement.

Free downloadable maps for offline access -- i.e. use your phone's GPS when you're out of cell service. Select the area and zoom detail level (I found a 14 to be the best bang for the buck) and download before you leave (I recommend downloading over night). The entire state at near-street level runs about a gigabyte in size. Street level is 3-4x the file size.

Live updates!! Automatically send real-time updates of your location via email, facebook, twitter and/or other Motion X GPS users.

Select the 5 digit "channel" (any number between 11111 and 99999), have your friends do the same and now everyone will appear on each other's map in real time (depending on the update frequency you set).

You can also manually "check in" which generates a email or facebook link

Trip tracker Record and share your route. Records time, distance, speed, average speed, alt, ect.

For $2 it's a steal and highly recommended!

Grab a ram-mount mount and you're golden.

http://www.ram-mount.com/Products/Mo...8/Default.aspx

[vort3xr6]

Added. Thanks for the heads up.

[PhL0aTeR]

It's exclusively for the iPhone and iPad. Not just another GPS app, because of the downloadable maps this is an effective GPS replacement.

Free downloadable maps for offline access -- i.e. use your phone's GPS when you're out of cell service. Select the area and zoom detail level (I found a 14 to be the best bang for the buck) and download before you leave (I recommend downloading over night). The entire state at near-street level runs about a gigabyte in size. Street level is 3-4x the file size.

effective GPS replacement? or an effective MAP replacement? If you are out of cell range will the GPS work or is it just the maps that work? Will it track where you are if you are in the middle of a trip without cell coverage or just basically show you the map?

[Clovis]

Yes, the GPS works out of cell range. It's more of a mapping app though for seeing where you are, tracking yourself and updating. There's also Motion X GPS Drive ($.99) which is a great turn-by-turn GPS app but requires cell service.

The downside with the $2 app is downloading the maps takes FOREVER. It's dial-up speed but once you have them, you have them.

Alternatively Garmin has their version as well. $39.99 for the lower 49 states and $59.99 Canada/US/Mexico. Both of those come with pre-downloaded maps (1.8 gigs and 2.0 gigs respectively).

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1204170

[Penadam]

If you have an Android phone, the newest version of Google maps let's you precatch and area. Just long press and select precatch. Not sure of the story on the iPhone though.

[Clovis]

I love the share / live update feature.

When you share via email, here's what the person gets:



The map link is an interactive map that lays out where you went.

[PhL0aTeR]

Yes, the GPS works out of cell range.

how does it know where you are if you have no cell signal?

[grim]

how does it know where you are if you have no cell signal?

My educated guess is going to be that it actually uses the GPS satellites to track where you are and not a cell service signal. Much like a vehicles GPS it uses the many satellites we have in space that are used for free.

[PhL0aTeR]

its my understanding though, that 99% of phones use cell service to access GPS location and if you dont have cell coverage you are SOL as far as GPS goes. although it sounds like this app is good for downloading maps pre-trip as most gps/mapping apps download them on the fly, assuming you have a signal. My questions are coming from having lived outside of cell range for a bit over a year and has had to explain to people (mostly people im selling crap to on CL) why their "GPS" doesnt work on their cell phones when they try to find me. IMO if the app doesnt offer 100% of GPS features (such as turn by turn, which is the #1 used feature on a GPS) it is not a suitable replacement for a "true" GPS which actually uses satellites you speak of.

[Bueller]

My droid has stand alone gps. It will track without service and lay it onto downloaded maps.
OruxMaps onthe androjd market.

[PhL0aTeR]

sweet, is that pretty common in the new droids?

[Bueller]

It was also on my orig. Droid too.

[TFOGGuys]

My HD2(now running Android) does as well. Most cell phones with GPS features use cell tower triangulation to establish a rough fix (~300 meters resolution) initially to know what satellites to look for for a real GPS fix (usually ~7 meters resolution). Actual resolution is determined by the number of channels and the sampling speed of the GPS receiver module.

[Clovis]

My first cell phone with GPS (back in 2006) used cell phone towers to triangulate my location. Newer ones have a dedicated GPS receiver.

[Clovis]

There are three main options.

Get a dedicated GPS unit - but those are expensive and since cell phones now have dedicated GPS and larger displays I expect them to be phased out in the next few years. Just my guess.

Get the two Motion X products - GPS HD and GPS Drive (more on those in a minute).

Buy Garmin's N. America $50 -- covers Canada, USA, Mexico and some Caribbean islands.
Buy Garmin's USA - $40 - Covers the USA and some Caribbean islands.

If you go this route, I would opt for the extra $10 to get Canada and Mexico as well. We have riders here and on other forums (sport-touring.net for example) that ride into those two countries.

Or use the cheapest option.

Motion X's GPS HD and GPS Drive.

GPS HD is more of a mapping and tracking app. It doesn't provide turn by turn directions but rather it draws a line (and points your compass) to the destination. I think it's made more for hiking and biking. It does have pre-downloaded maps which are free. Which means no more being lost and not knowing where you are. I ran into this the first time I took the back rounds to Fort Collins around Masonville. The live updates are awesome - automatically send updates with your location at user-defined intervals. Send to email, facebook, tweet or map. The map means that your location shows up on an online map others can view and you also show up on other Motion X GPS HD users's maps (great for group rides when someone gets lost).

Motion X GPS Drive is the app that provides turn-by-turn directions... and very good I should add. You can also pre-download maps with this app but it works a little differently. Where GPS HD allows you do download the map for an entire region (several states for example) and varing degrees of detail of your choice (zoom level). The GPS Drive app lets you save multiple routes and pre-downloads that route.

For example - I saved the route to from Colorado Springs to Montrose and then from Montrose to Gallup, NM (the first day of riding on the upcoming Devil's Spine trip).

Also, if you want voice turn by turn directions, they charge $9.99 a year for it (all though your initial $.99 purchase includes this for 30 days. After that you can buy an annual plan or monthly pay as you go). Turn by turn directions are available for free, just without the voice.

The downside to this cheap option is the download speed. Pre-downloading the maps is at at dial-up speed. They must throttle back the server because even on home broad band its a snall's pace. Downloading all of Colorado, NM and Arizona is 1.2 gigs and I'm finally 40% complete after a couple of days of downloading when I go to bed.

But once you have the maps on your phone (and you can back them up via itunes) you're golden.

The German does have the advantage of downloading the 2gigs of file size through the Apple App store so presumably its faster. Everything I've read says the app is just like the Garmin Nuvi. One complaint I did read though was that the zoom isn't really a zoom - it just zooms in or out without changing the resolution. Probably how they were able to get an entire continent at 2 gigs. I don't think you can really view maps with this app.

My own personal set up is to use my iPhone as my GPS navigator and map - and also carry my iPad (which has the maps as well) as a map replacement for when I change routes. Paper maps I've found don't always show the lesser known roads I like to ride.