Sat nav on android.

[climbingsidrat]

Hi.
I'm about to start commuting for work, to do this I'll be cycling from different train stations to various places in a city.
I originally considered a garmin system but my funds don't stretch that far yet so I'm trying to find a decent sat nav on my mobile phone. I use an android mobile and I'm looking for an app that I can punch in a postcode and get voice directions and a map on screen just like on my car system. Can anyone recommend something? For preference I'd like to be able to use it without a data connection in case if patchy signal and the cheaper the better.

[[XAP]Bob]

osmand

see my thread re voice navigation

[freeflow]

Take a look at Osmand. Not sure about the post code bit but you can certainly get a route by poking your finger at the map.

[Ayesha]

Which city?

Study the map. Post one on the wall of your office at work.
Memorise the routes one-by-one from studying the map.

In addition, memorise the back-street alternatives and how you can get round bad junctions.

After a couple of weeks, you won’t need your phone.

[Ayesha]

Those of us who have been cycle couriers to earn extra cash, buy proper SatNavs like TomTom Urban Rider. Originally aimed at motorcyclists, it really is the dog’s doobries for getting to a postcode or street address anywhere.

[pete75]

Cycle streets is an excellent, free app for the UK. It gives voice directions, is designed for cyclists and produces three routes fastest, balanced and quietest. With the advent of smart phones there seems, to me at least, little point in buying a dedicated GPS unit. Both are computers and the guidance and other functions are controlled by software. The average Android phone with it's quad core processor and 2 or more gig of ram is a better computer than almost all GPS units. Depending on the model they are water, dust and shockproof but even if not waterproof handlebar mounts are available for around a fiver on Ebay.
Cycle streets needs a data connection for routeing but it does the whole route quickly and once calculated it remains on the device - it doesn't need a data connection once the route is calculated. You can download their maps for the whole of the UK for free and over wireless to keep on your device or let the app download the bits it needs when route planning.
Igo is an app aimed at car users and similar to, but better than, Tomtom. It will calculate bicycle routes. It's paid for.

[mnichols]

I mostly use my garmin, but also have OSMand which I use for the maps and Navfree which I use for navigation both use free offline maps. Both are there as backups if anything happens to my Garmin. Don't forget google maps when your are online, there are tips, tricks and apps to get a copy of the map offline before you go - I tend to use this when walking around unfamiliar towns especially if it has good wi-fi

The main reason that I have a garmin is that the battery lasts all day and its waterproof. Depending on your phone and length of journey this may be an issue, but for short dry journeys you should be fine

Also checkout specialist apps such as ridewithgps and mapmyride that allow you to plan your route in advance on your PC and download to their free android apps. I prefer ridewithgps of the two. both are free though I use them to plan, view and share my route with friends rather than navigate so can't comment on its ability to do that

[cotswolds]

I have OSMAND and like it a lot, but it doesn't seem to do postcodes. I may be wrong, but I don't think that you'll find a free completely offline solution that use postcodes because the postcode database is copyright and so money has to be paid to put it into an app. (Someone is trying to build a crowdsourced postcode database at present http://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Free_The_Postcode but it doesn't look very comprehensive at the moment, at least in my area.)

I use a mixture of a Garmin and OSMAND. I find apps much easier to use than the Garmin (even though I've been using the Garmin much longer), and I've found Garmin routing to often be non-optimum, particularly over longer distances. However, I still use the garmin a lot because it is infinitely better in the rain, and it uses AA batteries, so I'm never dependent on how long a charge lasts.

I'd check how well your phone works in the rain before being too dependent on it - the touchscreen on mine doesn't really work. I'm also a bit doubtful about being able to hear voice navigation in a city street with a noisy truck going past, but that depends a lot on how loud your phone is, how you carry it, etc.

As for apps, cyclestreets looks good, but I've never used it anger - I rarely need postcodes so I prefer OSMAND for its ability to route completely offline.

[Deako]

OsmAnd wouldn't work on my admittedly quite old HTC smartphone. After some searching I found out that older version of Android limited the available memory for applications to 16 meg - OsmAnd is too memory hungry and will crash with out of memory errors (exactly what I was getting).

It doesn't work on my GF's much newer Samsung either, it couldn't access the phone's GPS.

Seems to work fine for a lot of other people though.

[francovendee]

Go for Osmand. I thought about buying a Garmin but was very put off by some reviews, I ending up buying a cheap phone (70€) and putting the Osmand Ap on it. Brilliant! very pleased with it but I can't compare it first hand with a Garmin.

[mjr]

Current best cheap phone guess http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/p ... 875408.htm but I've not seen it in action yet.

[[XAP]Bob]

Garmin advantage is mostly in battery life to my mind.

[CliveyT]

Garmin advantage is mostly in battery life to my mind.

that and (at least for the etrex it takes AA's so its you can get emergency replacements (relatively) easily

[pete75]

Garmin advantage is mostly in battery life to my mind.

that and (at least for the etrex it takes AA's so its you can get emergency replacements (relatively) easily

That's almost irrelevant when you can get these things for under 12 quid http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/291078678275 - they have about 10 times the battery capacity of an average android phone. I charge my phone with the hub dynamo though.

[al_yrpal]

You might be better off with this 4G phone. http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/p ... nformation

Al