[honeybee]

Maybe you are destined to ask for directions ;-)

On a serious note, can you borrow someone's gps system and try that?
Apart from the Lumia issue which could be a glitch, do you have updated maps stored offline? Are you able to use the navigation feature in cities and your daily commute?

[jfxavier]

Originally Posted by amit.s

I just came back from a highway trip and suffered because none of the GPS apps available with us worked.
I have Here Drive+ on my Lumia 720. Since past few months the app freezes when I click Start Navigation after setting the destination. The map just hangs with the navigation arrow stuck on the origin. I tried restarting, re-installing but nothing works. The phone GPS should be fine because it is able to identify my current location and suggest routes to destination. Even Waze and GPS Voice navigation (free edition) did not work well and kept freezing randomly.
I also tried Google Maps on an Android phone. This also behaved erratically. It got stuck at a particular point on the map and kept giving me directions from there to the destination, even when I was already way ahead of that point. I don't know, is my car spooked? Infact, I never had a satisfying experience when using any of these navigation apps.

Can you try installing the "GPS Status" app from Play store?
It will give you the signal strength & no. of satalites available and time taken for a position fix, errors etc.
Try to switch off the GPS and switch it on again when you are inside the car and while outside. It will give you an idea if the signal for the Phone GPS is being affected by the sunfilm etc. if any.

[Jaguar]

Originally Posted by amit.s

Infact, I never had a satisfying experience when using any of these navigation apps.

Maybe your phone is the culprit. What phone do you use?

I am very satisfied with Sygic. Use my old nexus phone as a dedicated navigation device and it is flawless. But the reason could be that I don't even have a SIM on the phone and have no other app running.
There is an art to use Sygic though. The search is not as powerful as google and one has to try different spellings to find the match. Before leaving for any long trip, I just search and mark the places I want to go as favorites so that when on the road, I can quickly select the destination from the favorites list.

[amit.s]

Originally Posted by honeybee

Apart from the Lumia issue which could be a glitch, do you have updated maps stored offline? Are you able to use the navigation feature in cities and your daily commute?

I use downloaded maps and update them before taking any highway trip. Here Drive+ does not work even within city.

Originally Posted by jfxavier

Can you try installing the "GPS Status" app from Play store?
It will give you the signal strength & no. of satalites available and time taken for a position fix, errors etc.
Try to switch off the GPS and switch it on again when you are inside the car and while outside. It will give you an idea if the signal for the Phone GPS is being affected by the sunfilm etc. if any.

Thanks for your tips. I downloaded GPS Status on the Android phone and would see if it helps me in troubleshooting. I could not find an equivalent app on Windows Store.

Originally Posted by Jaguar

Maybe your phone is the culprit. What phone do you use?

I have tried Android (Sony, Honor) and Windows (Lumia 720). 720 used to work OK earlier but for past 6 months or so it just freezes. I have browsed numerous online forums but did not get any solution.

[ashwin.terminat]

Originally Posted by amit.s

I have tried Android (Sony, Honor) and Windows (Lumia 720). 720 used to work OK earlier but for past 6 months or so it just freezes. I have browsed numerous online forums but did not get any solution.

Do you store the maps on the SD Card? If so, do you use a Class 4 card or so? If you do, try with a faster card.

If you don't store the maps on the SD card at all, try a soft reset. Though I don't think it will make a difference. Your best bet is a hard reset.

I think I found an app that *claims* it provides GPS Signal Strength: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/stor...y/9nblggh0jfz7

Hope this helps.

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by amit.s

I just came back from a highway trip and suffered because none of the GPS apps available with us worked.
I have Here Drive+ on my Lumia 720. Since past few months the app freezes when I click Start Navigation after setting the destination. The map just hangs with the navigation arrow stuck on the origin. I tried restarting, re-installing but nothing works. The phone GPS should be fine because it is able to identify my current location and suggest routes to destination. Even Waze and GPS Voice navigation (free edition) did not work well and kept freezing randomly.
I also tried Google Maps on an Android phone. This also behaved erratically. It got stuck at a particular point on the map and kept giving me directions from there to the destination, even when I was already way ahead of that point. I don't know, is my car spooked? Infact, I never had a satisfying experience when using any of these navigation apps.

I can relate to that!

Try the following:

1. The GPS antenna is usually on the back cover, connected to the chip via some sort of spring contacts. Sometimes, it does not make good contact, so you get poor signal. "But it shows the location!" you may say - that may be because it uses the WiFi or mobile towers to get a fix, which may not be available in your car. Remove the back cover and try to make sure there is good contact with the antenna. (YouTube for instructions).
2. Sometimes the default settings may be incorrect, some of the 'fix' apps help you change that.
3. Do you have mobile data switched on? A-GPS uses mobile towers and it most likely (not sure) queries the tower for location. You also must uncheck "restrict background data". This makes a big difference in the time to get a fix.
4. Like others have said, run as few apps as possible and keep all the map related data on the internal storage.
5. Some GPS chipsets are not too good, you'll have to look at the general feedback on the particular chipset in your phone.
6. Go to XDA and check if there are solutions to your problem.
7. Finally, don't depend completely on maps, I've lost count of the number of times I've been mislead by Google Maps (or other maps) - you'll have to work within their limitations.

[amit.s]

Thank you guys for your suggestion. Trying out the tips you all suggested. I store my maps on a class 4 micro SD card so not sure if that may cause an issue. It does seem that my Lumia is behaving inconsistently while latching onto GPS signals. I switched on flight mode and tried connecting to GPS. Some apps connected while Here Drive + and GPS My Way couldn't connect. Waze found my location but got stuck while finding route to the destination I set.

[Vizay]

Google launched offline maps and navigation for India. Earlier offline maps were just maps. (no navigation etc).

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/t...w/49844244.cms

Need to check if there are any restrictions or can we download good size (read one full state etc). Other hand, they consume lot of space I believe. So, its a trade off.

[praveen_v]

Originally Posted by Vizay

Google launched offline maps and navigation for India. Earlier offline maps were just maps. (no navigation etc).

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/t...w/49844244.cms

Need to check if there are any restrictions or can we download good size (read one full state etc). Other hand, they consume lot of space I believe. So, its a trade off.

I have tried it and we can now download a larger area than before. I was almost able to cover the entire area between chennai and bangalore and the download size was around 400MB.

I had read reports online that the max size allowed is around 2.5GB but for now it looks like we can only download areas upto 400MB. Still its better than before.

[deepv]

Till a couple of weeks back my clear preference would have been for HERE maps/app due to the ease of offline usage and decent enough maps.
However with GoogleMaps' recent update to allow storing maps offline, I am finding them more useful within the city (due to more specific instructions, lane guidance, larger set of POIs, etc.).
Still GM data is fairly large, it took more than 150MB just for area covering Hyderabad and near about, while HERE maps' data for AP/TS, MH and KA total is around 600-700MB.
I suppose for near future I will continue to use combination of both of them, but will vote for HERE for now.

[punto_]

Here is best for Offline mapping solutions, I like the Voice navigation on Here than on Google. If you use both back to back, you will understand what I am referring to.

However, for more details Google is far better.

[Lovelydude77]

Folks,

Bumping an old thread. Came across few more offline navigation options like MAPLORER and NAVeGIS.

Has experience with mapfactor improved in india? I find review from europe being good ?