Smartphone navigation apps for Android?

When I decided to buy a plane, one of the things on my eventual "to-do" list was to buy a handheld GPS unit (like a Garmin 496) for backup/supplemental use in the cockpit. Since then, I've seen numerous electronic flight bag devices that look tempting. If money were no object, there are plenty of options to choose from.

But at a typical starting price of 0.5 to 1.0 AMUs, plus usually a subscription fee for updates, these gizmos aren't exactly cheap.

At the same time, I've recently stepped up to an Android phone (which in itself isn't exactly cheap, but that's another story). Aside from the smaller screen (though high-res), my phone seems to have everything you'd need to support a decent electronic flight bag application: GPS, magnetometer (compass), plenty of non-volatile storage, and a fairly beefy processor.

Anyone know if there's a good EFB or even just an aviation-friendly nav app available (or in development) for Android?

About the only thing I've run across is Aviation Navigator, by a German company. Appears fairly new, so not a lot of feedback. I'd gladly pay $100 for a useful app, but that's more than I'm willing to gamble on an app with little feedback.

Anyone here tried it, or have suggestions for other apps to consider?

Jim

Comments

  • I'm very interested in this subject as the technology evolves. I'm looking at the Droid now.

    Dave
  • I've got two Motorola Droids on Verison. The gps dropout rate and continual crashing make them unusable for aviation navigation -- they are totally undependable. Sometimes won't navigate even when strong signals are coming in from six satellites with good geometry. Get a used Garmin.
    JimC
  • That's a useful datapoint and valuable feedback, JimC, but I'm not sure I'm ready to write off all Android devices for all time based on the experience of one person with one phone model. That said, one concern I had was with GPS signal reception, and that might be a problem for most phone-type devices.

    It's possible, though, that the crashing and trouble determining a fix even with good signals are due to hardware or software limitations that may not be issues with faster phones and/or different nav fix algorithms.
  • I never said or implied that the droids should be written off for all time, but running on v2.1 the navigation package would likely kill you. It would for sure get you lost. It isn't a hardware reception issue -- it goes south while receiving strong gps signals on multiple satellites. Also, the compass will lose calibration and drift up to 90 degrees in timespans on the order of a few minutes. I do mapping professionally, and I wouldn't risk my family's lives on the present state of the art on the Droids. Maybe Froyo (v2.2) will do better. I'm looking forward to trying 2.2, but not enough to have to root the Droid to get an early Froyo download. If you want to fly now, get a used Garmin.
  • jruhnke


    My Android phone couldn't even stay connected on the ground and dropped calls a lot and was like going back 15 years with the old cell phones and dead spots, I can't imagine how bad it would be in the air with the signal.

    Not to mention you can't see the screen in bright sunlight enough to dial a number with the touch screen, I work outdoors a lot and was the reason I returned it and went with a Blackberry. Also if you don't hold the phone perfect and square to your head it will cut out your voice if it is slightly angled too.

    Too bad as Android looks like it will be a great product when they improve the reception and in regular lighting conditions had a nice resolution on the screen. I guess I will wait for a newer version when it comes out.
  • I agree with Paul. I love my Droids, but they are not ready for prime time yet. One of the things I do like about them is having them bluetoothed to my Garmin Aera, my Zulu headsets, my Audio Panel, and my two CD players. It's great for accessing various combinations of stereo music, and phone number lookups.
  • Well, this makes me rethink the droid. Thanks for the input. I don't know about you Jim, but it certainly helped me.

    Dave
  • The Android in concept looked great, but I think its still the first version which is always a mistake to buy in many products, for the record my droid I returned was the Motorola which was very rugged built and a nice sharp screen second to none. If you want to be online on the go it was pretty strong in that dept, but its weak points was the screen in sunlight and dropping calls, I am outside Boston and there are almost no dead spots anymore for typical cell phones, but the droid had so many it was a no brainer to return it, and will look foward to a newer version in the next year or so when they correct the bugs. In the mean time I am sure BlackBerry will introduce a better larger screen to compete.
  • Well, the majority of the complaints in this thread seem to be about the Motorola Droid itself, rather than Android in general. I have been using an HTC Incredible on Verizon for about six weeks now as my primary phone, and have not experienced the dropped calls, GPS nav fix failures, compass drift (except that it's affected by local magnetic disturbances like any other compass), or poor mic issues reported by Moto Droid users. The only complaint I have with my phone is that received voice quality is sometimes poor, but I've had that complaint with every cell phone I've owned; this phone is no worse than previous ones.

    Of all the reported problems in this thread, only the failure to achieve and maintain a good GPS nav fix despite good satellite signal sounds like something that's likely to be a generic Android problem; the others either definitely are or seem likely to be hardware-dependent.

    Except that I haven't seen the "bad GPS fix" behavior on my phone. There are also hundreds of thousands of Android users now with no unified outcry about lousy GPS performance, so I question whether that's really a generic Android flaw. Personally I've only used the GPS nav features a handful of times for ~15 minutes each time, so my experience is limited. (For what it's worth, I can sit on my couch on the ground floor of my two-story house and watch the "GPS Test" app pull in usable signals from 5+ satellites and fix my position precisely.)

    Anyway, I'm still climbing out from under a double-digit AMU annual bill right now, so I'm not in a hurry to buy another gadget--I'm just surveying the landscape. I can afford to wait (or rather, I can't afford not to wait!) and see what's available in 6-12 months...

    Thanks for all the comments.
  • The Motorola Droid 2 will be out shortly. The gps problem is related to glitches from other Android apps -- it's not specific to the Motorola. I'm hoping that the Froyo update will fix it.
    JimC
  • jruhnke

    I used my now returned Android GPS Navigation feature the first week I had it for a ground trip in a car, guess what it didn't work as the screen stayed locked into the map view while your current position drifted off the map as I drove, I had to keep dragging the map screen to find the cursor which showed my current location. Pretty poor if you ask me and expected better, and sad the droid couldn't even do that.

    "my phone seems to have everything you'd need to support a decent electronic flight bag application: GPS, magnetometer (compass), plenty of non-volatile storage, and a fairly beefy processor."

    Not sure why you would even consider a unapproved cell phone
    for any navigation, as most cell phones don't work well at altitude let alone accurate for navigation. If want a cheap GPs go get a Garmin 295 approved for flight, probably about 150-250 bucks.
  • I have a Droid. In the last six months I have only had one day where the gps was suspect. And, I think it was related to some new app I downloaded. It has never wandered of the road. Seems to work just fine in the air as well. Just for fun, In navigation mode its always trying to get me back to a road
  • JimC

    Be careful as if you download any application you are on your own if you have a problem with your phone, kind of like the old days with software versus the hardware company...
  • The Droid gps problems are not related to the hardware; they are related to app conflicts. The cellphone difficulties at altitude have nothing to do with suitibility for navigation. The failure of the vehicle icon to stay on screen is an app bug. The potential is there; the reality hasn't arrived yet.
  • PaulR Wrote:

    > I used my now returned Android GPS Navigation feature the first week I had it for a ground trip
    > in a car, guess what it didn't work as the screen stayed locked into the map view while your current
    > position drifted off the map as I drove,

    Message received: You didn't like your Droid's nav features 'cause they were buggy for you. Got it. Thanks for the info.

    > Not sure why you would even consider a unapproved cell phone
    > for any navigation, as most cell phones don't work well at altitude let alone accurate for navigation.

    How 'bout:
    Because I've already got one, because unlike your experience the nav functions seem to work well on my phone, because I'm going to have it with me anyway so one less thing to carry, and because it might be inexpensive?

    If my panel GPS goes out, plan B is to fly via VOR and pilotage. I plan and fly all my XCs that way anyway (and have lost GPS in flight once, to nicely reinforce the practice). Using the GPS in my phone would just be gravy...if it works, good. If not, no biggie.

    As mentioned previously, I'm just exploring options. Thanks for the input on your subpar experience--I'll keep it in mind.
  • I' m exploring those same options, so like you, remain quite interested in Android navigation. As long as we don't count on it to be there when we need it, there's no downside.
  • jruhnke

    "Message received: You didn't like your Droid's nav features 'cause they were buggy for you. Got it. Thanks for the info."

    Call it Buggy if you want,but it didn't work and enough for me to stay away from it and return it. Also my first Motorala Android screen failed within 24 hours, the screen would stay in dark in the energy saving mode when you took it away from your ear and it was supposed to turn on the display and didn't. I think there are two versions for the Android and mine was on the Motorola, sounds like you have the other product, anyway best wishes and will be nice when they fix the problems.
  • I think I've identified the source of the erratic gps performance on Verizon's Motorola Droid smartphone. Everyone who has had the problem seems to have also had an app called "Advanced Task Killer" installed. Uninstalling that app has resolved the gps problem for everyone who's tried it.
    JimC
  • Jim... try adding the gps to the "ignore" list on the advanced task killer...

    I wouldn't navigate by it, but I use mine for fun (just logged a trip from durango back to phoenix yesterday in "mytracks")

    FYI using droid on Verizon.
  • Brandon, I had done that. Didn't help. I've since switched to advance task manager, and that did help. I'm also trying a free nav app called gps essentials that I'm liking so far. I'm still having to pull the battery for about 30 seconds from time to time, in order to dependably maintain a gps lock. Google the droid gps reception problems for some interesting reading. Google is well aware of the problem, but isn't talking much about it. I'm curious about whether the Droid 2 or the Droid X will address the issue.
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