Navigating on Smartphone

[george]

These days I use my Samsung pocket phone a lot more to navigate than the Garmin.Google maps work fine when you have a connection,but without a internet connection I can not see the maps,so its a bit useless when going offroad.
I know there is a way to zoom in on the area you want to use and then save it for offline use later,but that is not a perfect solution for me.
I see you can get T4A for android now
http://tracks4africa.co.za/shop/categor ... hone-apps/

Is this any good or is there other solutions?

[Dewald Posthumus]

Had a look at the new Nokia 1520 Phablet (Phone/ Tablet hybrid) last week - one the new features is a fully functional OFFLINE GPS system. Not sure of T4A and other maps will work on the device.

Best option for me is to use my phone in town, but when going on a trip I use my Garmin.

[george]

Best option for me is to use my phone ... my Garmin
Jip thats what I do know.The Nuvi has a nice Mp3 player so I prefer it.
It just for that odd occasion I dont have a Garmin with me,maybe hiking or something

[Mud Dog]

Hate smart-phones .... have a Nokia Lumia 710 but hardly use it. For me a phone should be a phone, perhaps with a few useful apps, no gimmicks / games ... it makes it tedious to navigate with multiple large menus etc.

That said, the 710 which must be about 2 yrs old now has an off-line gps system as well as an on-line one ... not wonderful graphics, but functional.

[george]

I have just installed CoPilot https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... .mapviewer
It has maps for offline use.Dont think it will have to much info for offroad use,at least its something.
Will still be using the Garmin though.

[Donkey]

I use the Garmin and phone together, and what I realised is that the phone has updated maps, which helps a lot with ever changing, much unnecessary, street names.

[smokintyres]

I have been using my tablet with OsmAnd (Open source maps for android devices) http://osmand.net/ with great success in city traffic! Not very useful in rural areas, as it does not indicate the type of road; we ended up on a "tweespoorpadjie" with thick sand etc. which in our case was the adventure we were looking for, but it will not be everyone's liking.

I also installed the Track4Africa android version and am very happy with the results. The large screen of the tablet helps a lot!

[hendrik.earle]

I bought Tom Tom software for my iPad for R650 and it has a built in gps and stores the maps on the device. So I can use it like a normal gps, doesn't use any internet or data.