Even with them, the app is easy to navigate. Navmii is ad-supported, but those ads can be removed with a whopping $2 investment. Within iOS (reviewed here), you can download additional country packs for a nominal fee (the fee varies based on the region). Android users can download a single app that covers the whole world, but iOS users have to pick from more than 20 regional options. Navmii (RATING: 8 iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone free app, national map packs are under $5 each), formerly known as Navfree, is an exemplary app that is well worth considering, mainly because most of the functionality of the app, including map packs and offline use, is totally free. With a capable offline GPS app, you won't notice much of a difference versus the traditional maps-on-the-fly method.

With offline maps, your phone uses its built-in GPS radio (which works independently of your data plan) to figure out where you are, then simply plots your route on a map that's stored in your phone's memory. A number of GPS app providers let you (or even require you to) download maps for offline use as a key feature of the system. So what do you do when travel takes you off the grid, or into a foreign land where your data plan doesn't work? Suggestions like 'switch to another carrier' or 'carry a standalone GPS device' aren't altogether helpful to the vast majority of users who simply want to use their trusty smart phone to navigate hostile territory like they've become accustomed.įortunately, there's a solution: GPS with offline map support. (Google Maps has limited offline map support, allowing for downloads of maps that are a maximum of 50km x 50km square, which is fine for city walks but insufficient for even a modest day trip.) Rather they send relevant maps to your phone on the fly, over the air.

These services aren't preloaded with map information.

Many of the leading GPS and mapping app providers, including Waze, Apple Maps, and Google Maps, will only work if you're connected to a network. But at the same time, it has made us slaves to our cellular provider's data plan. GPS technology has freed us from the tyranny of the printed, folding map.

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