NAVIGATION: Interesting Behavior During Trip

[640k]

So we took a 250ish mile trip from Cinci to Detroit over the weekend and used Google Nav to get us there and back. The wife and I each have a DROID and we switched back and forth between them whenever we felt like it.

At any point during any of the navigation, either of our phone would suddenly "blank" out and then come back on. Almost as if someone hit the power button, but the phone turned itself back on. It didn't matter if the phone was plugged into a charger or not, but they would always do it at some point.

My phone even did it so many times, that it rebooted itself!

Has anyone else noticed this behavior? I'm wondering if it has something to do with the coverage. VZW coverage seemed different in Detroit compared to Cinci. Voice calls weren't as clear, 3G service was terrible in some areas and horribly slow where coverage was clear.

I've used Google Nav here in Cinci a few times and don't remember ever seeing this behavior.

 

[Martin030908]

I've used Nav across Western and Eastern MA, never seen the screen 'blank out'.

 

[cereal killer]

640k I used to live in Detroit : )

To answer your question. I have not experienced that neither. Last week I took a 5 hour trip using Nav and did not have an issue either way.

 

[640k]

It's super-strange, for sure. If could time a video recording of it, I would. There has to be something interfering with the phone.

 

[blufftontiger]

Mine would "black out" (more like a flicker), but never turn off. The navigation would come right back without missing a beat. I noticed it happened on bumpy roads. Perhaps the bumps were having an effect on the accelerometer.

 

[640k]

Mine would "black out" (more like a flicker), but never turn off. The navigation would come right back without missing a beat. I noticed it happened on bumpy roads. Perhaps the bumps were having an effect on the accelerometer.

that's the exact behavior, although i wasn't able to effectively pinpoint it to a bump or not. i noticed it more when bumps were hit, but when we tried to pay attention while hitting bumps, the Nav never blinked.

 

[bigthinker]

I have used my Google maps and navigation several times in differing parts of the country and I have never had the issue where the phone would just blank out or shut down.

 

[bennyj]

I have noticed this behavior also when using google nav. It looks almost like a screen refresh? I have never had it reboot though.

 

[crspang]

Could it be attributed to the amount data downloaded for a four trip? Maybe the navigation isn't able to buffer that amount of info. I've yet to use nav for anything more than hour away.