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Navigation - Maps, Compass, GPS How to find your way - traditional map, compass and road signs, or GPS and more
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  #1  
Old 27 Dec 2017
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Question about Phone navigation
Apparently battery life for an Android phone is quite short when riding with Google Maps navigation on an all day ride (rental bike). Is it advisable to just connect an external battery to your phone will riding? Or will that cause a problem. Thanks.
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Old 27 Dec 2017
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The connection to the phone is usually a miniUSB type - they are not robust, nor waterproof.

Another option is to use a spare battery. Replace the battery halfway through and you should be good to go. Recharge at night while you eat and sleep.

Then there is turning the phone off .. other than while you are using it.
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Old 27 Dec 2017
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Some navigation apps are very taxing on the battery of a device. It really depends on what the app is doing. On an iPhone, just using the GPS chip information really does not cause a major hit on the battery, but using something like Google Maps really does. Plugging up is certainly doable as long as you have a USB port on the bike.

If you use something like Motion-X GPS on the phone and download the maps you'll need before you leave, that is much less taxing on the battery. Another trick is to turn the screen brightness down as low as you reasonably can.
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Old 27 Dec 2017
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Minimise battery drain:
You might get reasonable location information from the cell phone towers, so you can turn the GPS chip off.
Alternatively if the phone is out of contact or near it (2 or less bars) then turning off the phone mode will help a lot (set 'aeroplane' mode on). If you then need to locate yourself you will have to turn on the GPS chip. Aeroplane mode more than doubles my phone battery life.

Local map on phone not over internet:
Use an app that uses a downloaded map - not one that relies on a connection to constantly download appropriate maps.

Location information only when you need it
Some apps will allow map display without location information - you can then pan with your fingers. That would reduce the battery consumption while still giving you a map. You do have to 'find yourself' on the map just like a paper map. If you are lost turn on the location (GPS and/or cell phone) information.
Last edited by Warin; 27 Dec 2017 at 06:52. Reason: headings
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  #5  
Old 27 Dec 2017
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I don't think I asked my question clearly
If you wanted to power your cell phone thru out the day while using turn by turn navigation with Google Maps, could you attach a power bank battery to ensure enough battery for the entire ride.
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Old 27 Dec 2017
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Forsellini View Post
If you wanted to power your cell phone thru out the day while using turn by turn navigation with Google Maps, could you attach a power bank battery to ensure enough battery for the entire ride.
Yep, powering the devices one way or the other is the way to go. Here is my setup. The first pic just shows the arrangement. I had the devices off because we knew where we were going. Second and third pics shows just one device running. I love how you can use these types of devices in different ways by just altering the apps. They have their limitations, but I just work around those.






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Old 11 Jan 2018
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Forsellini View Post
Apparently battery life for an Android phone is quite short when riding with Google Maps navigation on an all day ride (rental bike). Is it advisable to just connect an external battery to your phone will riding? Or will that cause a problem. Thanks.


Maps me app is beter than google
saso


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  #8  
Old 24 Jan 2018
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Custom map navigation
I have read various opinions about Map navigation and one question really hasn't been addressed. I've read that custom routes will be problematic with certain mapping apps. If you've created a custom route and saved it, which app is likely to do the turn by turn that you've created and NOT give you an alternative (more direct) route?
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Old 25 Jan 2018
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If you want turn-by-turn, I don't think you will find an app that can guarantee the exact route you have planned. All navigation apps that I know of (including dedicated GPS devices) will recalculate the route using their own routing algorithm and the maps in the app.
How much the end result will deviate from your original route is hard to predict. I try to use devices or apps which allow me to load both tracks and routes. I visualise the track, which will always be exactly the route I planned, but does not support turn-by-turn and than load the route. That way I can see where the two are different. It also allows me to easily deviate from my originally planned route and pick up on it further on based on the track.
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  #10  
Old 26 Jan 2018
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If you are renting a bike for more than a few days, then buy a cheap charging cable off ebay/amazon (some come with multiple ports, you want at least 2.1amp to keep up with the drain of navigation apps). Take it along with some basic tools and cable ties, and fit it to the bike.

When we rented bikes from Pop bike in Chaing Mai, and M2R in Marrakesh, the owners of the rental companies were more than willing to help us fit our phone chargers and garmin montana cradle and charger.
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  #11  
Old 28 Jan 2018
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If your that worried about where u r going buy a roll of surgical tape, write the road number/turning /town name on a strip then stick on your tank in route order and pull off as u go.... Save the phone for when u get lost
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