GPS without Data Package possible?

[AbuDhabiOmar]

Hello All,

I don't have a data package for my iphone, is there any way to get GPS working on it?

Thanks

[gierran]

Hello All,

I don't have a data package for my iphone, is there any way to get GPS working on it?

Thanks

GPS works fine without a data package or 3G. It uses Global Positioning Satellites! But Google Maps does use your data connection to download the maps and satellite pictures you need to show you where you are. It is possible to cache those maps on your phone using some jailbreak apps, but it takes a bit of work.

If you have upgraded to OS 3.0 you could also keep an eye on Navigon and TomTom in the Application store - they should both release apps for the middle east soon.

If you prefer to jailbreak then you can try google for sites like Google Maps offline for iPhone at What is special about Geospatial?

[bushako]

Google maps seems to only make use of the Cell towers and only triangulates your position up to an accuracy of 50-80meters. Which would lead to believe that without a data network you dont get maps and without the maps you wont know where you are since it wouldn't provide you an accurate position of you Eg. Lat/Longitude.
As mentioned there are 3rd party application via iTunes and Cydia however after repeated tests most of the time it fails to connect to the satellite and these apps also need Data package.

[gierran]

Google maps seems to only make use of the Cell towers and only triangulates your position up to an accuracy of 50-80meters. Which would lead to believe that without a data network you dont get maps and without the maps you wont know where you are since it wouldn't provide you an accurate position of you Eg. Lat/Longitude.
As mentioned there are 3rd party application via iTunes and Cydia however after repeated tests most of the time it fails to connect to the satellite and these apps also need Data package.

Erm, google maps uses cell phone towers, wifi (IPlocation) and GPS...
You can precache the maps you need to see where you are using some third party jailbreak apps, so you don't need to use your data connection at all, but it's a bit of a procedure.

I'm not sure how big the normal Google Maps cache is before cracking, but what I do normally when I know I'm going to use it is view the route I'm going to take on wifi before I leave, and it seems to cache enough for most journeys without having to download much or anything over the 3g.

[bushako]

Erm, google maps uses cell phone towers, wifi (IPlocation) and GPS...
You can precache the maps you need to see where you are using some third party jailbreak apps, so you don't need to use your data connection at all, but it's a bit of a procedure.

I'm not sure how big the normal Google Maps cache is before cracking, but what I do normally when I know I'm going to use it is view the route I'm going to take on wifi before I leave, and it seems to cache enough for most journeys without having to download much or anything over the 3g.

As far as i know when using google maps it never pinpoints my exact location. If i go to google maps now and see my location it will only draw a circle with a radius of about 100meters. Even when driving youll notice that when you come to a stop it stops showing your close location and again only triangulates your location. Even though the iPhone has GPS, google maps does not utilize the GPS chip.

[gierran]

Dude, Google Maps on the iPhone 3g definitely uses the GPS, with an accuracy of about 5-10 meters. I use it all the time, but don't just take my work for it - check apple's website!

[bushako]

Lets just say it does use the GPS chipset. Then why arent they still able to implement a turn by turn navigation yet on google maps?

[gierran]

Turn by turn doesn't work yet in many countries. But when I took my phone to UK and Europe it worked great!

[bushako]

Well either way i hope the Tomtom works with the 3G. Just hate the fact that its not a one time payment and you have to pay on a monthly basis.

[AbuDhabiOmar]

I found a solution.

There is an application that I downloaded called GPSLite (Motion X) for free. It allows me to manually cache maps at any distance and save them on the phone's memory. There is a cache limit even that I can set (between 10-250 megs) along with a clear cache button.

So, while I was at home with wifi connected, I roamed around Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and the roads in between at a couple different distances (took me about 15 minutes or so). Then the next day while driving from Abu Dhabi to Dubai, it used the GPS along with the cached maps, and it worked perfectly. This is exactly what I was looking for. No jailbreaking, no hacking, no dataplan, and FREE application.