HTC Desire & gps data usage with Virgin mobile

Fitze73 · 05-04-2011, 22:11

hi guys wondered if you could help ive got a htc desire, and im going to be doing to extensive travelling around the uk in may and i just wanted to know how much data google maps navigation uses, ive signed up to 1gb allowance with virgin mobile .... ive read on other forums it equates to something like 1mb to 8 miles , but wanted to know if anyone had any first hand knowledge

cheers

jon

**Graham M** · 05-04-2011, 23:08

You'd be far better off getting Co-Pilot Live

https://market.android.com/details?i...=search_result

Maps are stored on the phone

Fitze73 · 05-04-2011, 23:12

ye ive ordered that as well.... its just i dont want to get stung when using google maps nav , i havent used a android phone before so im a novice when it comes to things like data usage lol

so i just needed to know how it faired

royaltiger · 06-04-2011, 10:00

I thought you download the google maps also to your phone and store them on sd card, so you should not be downloading anything when you use the navigation, or am I missing something.

carmad · 06-04-2011, 10:19

I am sure the maps are on the phone as it always warns you before it updates them to use a wireless connection as it is a large file. I will check next time I sync the phone.
I they are not on the phone then it would be useless every time the phone lost it's connection with the 3G signal

**Graham M** · 06-04-2011, 10:41

Google Maps are NOT stored on the phone, if you set the route before you leave, it will cache the maps between you and your destination

royaltiger · 06-04-2011, 12:59

Google Maps Navigation (Beta) works by communicating through your android powered devices mobile data connection to access routes, traffic, geographical and business information, etc... If you're driving in an area with spotty or no data connectivity, you'll still be able to use Google Maps Navigation (Beta) through the use of pre-fetched map data. Pre-fetched map data for your route is passively downloaded and stored locally on your device, and Google Maps Navigation (Beta) will rely on this data when your device loses its data connection.

jamie29 · 06-04-2011, 14:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graham M

You'd be far better off getting Co-Pilot Live

https://market.android.com/details?i...=search_result

Maps are stored on the phone

Second that comment! I've been using Co-Pilot since Version 5 on my old T Mobile SDA, then changed phones a few time since and Copilot has always been installed. Now on latest version on a HTC Desire HD and it's brill. Highly Recommended.

royaltiger · 06-04-2011, 15:12

There is supposed to be a tomtom app for android coming soon, but how soon nobody knows. I tried copilot but found it could not calculate a route if slightly off road, ie in a hotel car park whereas tomtom can.

Fitze73 · 07-04-2011, 23:14

only problem i have atm is im not showing the 3g icon on my mobile phones display, plus can only connect to the net via wifi please help

robolots · 08-04-2011, 13:30

I can heartily recommend co pilot live. I'm using version 7 and have found it excellent. You can download a trial and try it for 14 days. I purchased a licence via Ebay for around £10.
I have used Tom Tom for as long as I care to remember, but have been pleasantly surprised by Co Pilot.
There are loads of free POI to download at pocket gps world (for all sat navs).

I'm using an app called nodata which sucessfully switches off the data usage (as I have found most modern smartphones can download huge amounts of data all the time and you not know). Google maps as mentioned above uses data so can be expensive if you have a limited data plan.

Not sure if this will help anyone, but when I first started using Co pilot. If I was to go on a journey and then use it again miles from where I was, it wouldn't always find the satelites-however there is an option to reset satelites and it always seems to pick up straight away using this option.

Ta
Rob