Difference in GPSs, and is there an App for that?

[DJTURNz]

I currently have a LG Voyager with VZ Navigator. My DROID is waiting for me at home (FEDEX just dropped it off). It only works as a turn by turn driving GPS. I was in the woods hunting (well, taking my gun for a walk) and I wanted to see how far away my truck was parked. When I tried to map it, all it would tell me is that I was not close to a road.

My buddy has a regular GPS (I guess) that does not do turn by turn, but does track you (so you can "bread crumb" you way back) and shows the roads, but doesn't tell you where to go. It also works in the woods and can over lay topo maps and stuff.

Is there an app that would perform like my buddy's GPS? I don;t know what the different names are for the two kinds I am describing, but I assume that there is a name.

 

[gsDroid]

The Droid gps receiver works like any other, but the maps are not native in the Droid as they are in standalone gps's. You must have a data connection to load the maps from Google. If you are out of range for phone/data you won't see maps even though the gps identifies your location. I'm hoping a developer can create an app that allows loading of a specific map area onto the sd card for situations like hiking in a National Park where there is no phone service.

 

[jefbystereo]

I would love preloaded maps too. Maybe try My Tracks, it charts a trail of your path. I got it for mountain biking and hiking, but havent used it yet so I cant report. My Tracks for Android

 

[jbr13]

I agree it would be nice to save a map to the SD card.

I also use My Tracks for stuff like this for photography. It works great when you have a cell tower you can get into. With My Tracks even if you don't have a map loading, it will show you your track, and you could still back track to your vehicle or designated spot.


Jason

 

[takeshi]

My buddy has a regular GPS (I guess) that does not do turn by turn, but does track you (so you can "bread crumb" you way back) and shows the roads, but doesn't tell you where to go. It also works in the woods and can over lay topo maps and stuff.

Is there an app that would perform like my buddy's GPS?

It's commonly referred to as "tracking". I haven't looked in the Android world but many tracking apps work just fine without data since most just need GPS which works as long as you have a good clear view of the sky.