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
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
Dave
JimC
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.
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.
Dave
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.
JimC
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.
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...
> 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.
"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.
JimC
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.