Tomtom has the full map in the phone's memory (sd card) so you don't need a phone/data signal for it to work. From what I understand other Sat Nav applications do not need a phone signal to work. What may stop working without a phone signal is the real time traffic update but this is also true of a dedicated sat nav unit.
Given that you can apparently see into the future, you don't need a satnav.
TomTom app on a phone only uses data service for traffic etc. The map is downloaded so planning and directions work perfectly fine without. And hence also work fine on a tablet without a SIM.
*All* the map(s)?
If you're cheap, like me, get a broken Windows/Nokia Lumia from ebay, you can often find them with faulty SIM slots. The 'Drive' app is already loaded.
The maps are free downloads using your WiFi. I've used mine in Texas, Norway, Greece, Ireland, Italy and Blighty without problems.
Mine is a Lumia 920 with 4.5" screen and 32GiB memory and was £15 with a broken SIM slot, so no phone, no contract, but emergency calls probably work. Loads of music stored on it, too.
It's also fun on a 'plane if you get a window seat.
Cheers
Whichever ones you want (assuming enough memory - and they can go on an SD card). I only have UK currently - about 800GB.
Some people who fly at short notice have just about the lot - but then they tend to have company phones with mega everything.
With 'Here' maps you can download the whole of the country you are going to and only need a GPS signal (as with any satnav). You only need a data connection if you want live traffic (as with any satnav).
I have an old smartphone in the car with the UK maps on it (no dat/sim card) that I use as a satnav on the occassions I need it. The maps are never more than 6 months out of date - indeed they showed some recent road changes the day after the new road opened. Maybe I was fortumate in updating the mapbase and app at the time I did but Garmin and TomTom are still not showing the new road layout some 2 months later (according to those who have them).
Sorry I posted later a duplicate of the above. Eternal-September was down temporarily yesterday and I think I've made things worse and borked me threading. Reset time.
So long as you can get the whole area you rationally might want to visit/get lost in, then fine. Anything that incrementally loads maps over the air is broken. Anything you have to decide in advance which maps you want is broken. Because you *will* lose data services just when you need them.
Like a 'proper' satnav then...
To an extent (see below)
Like a 'proper' sat nav...
Excpet that there are many places these days where you can connect to the wifi and download the maps you want. Not long ago I was in North Cyprus (I had a change of plans imposed on me at late notice) and once in the hotel I simply downloaded the North Cyprus maps there. Unless I'm wrong (and things have improved a lot since I had a TomTom unit) to do the same with a 'proper' satnav involves the use of computers and cables.
Everyone has their own preferences beween bespoke and app but I find it far simpler to just have an app on a phone.
Pick the right application and if travelling in the UK you download the whole UK road map. If travelling in Western Europe you download the whole Western European etc.
You seem to have chosen an application that only downloads in real time a few miles around your current location. The rest of us using sat nav on the phone either i) already have the full map permanently on the phone and don't require the phone signal to be working. Sat Nav works with GPS and doesn't necessarily require any information from a phone mast. ii) have an App where you identify your route a hour/day/week before journeying and download that part of the map to the phone's memory.
FTAOD you download a map of a *whole country* or *several countries* (eg Western Europe, Eastern Europe). (Well you can download just part of USA - eg North-east - as the whole map is big.)
Of course you might download the map for Western Europe, take a wrong turn (ignoring TomTom) and end up in Eastern Europe without a map and without the means to download one. Only you can judge how likely you are to do that ;)
No, not to an extent. Broken.
Depends on the scale. I have the whole of the UK and Western Europe in my SatNav. OTOH, Waze downloads chunks a few miles on edge. Broken.
In the middle of a field Ghod-knows-where at 2AM where there isn't even 4G, never mind WiFi? Yeah. Right. I was in rural North Lincs this weekend. There wasn't even 3G, never mind WiFi where I was.
BTW, people, this isn't an opinion. It's personal experience. You can be certain that when you need it, there will be no data connection.
Just like a proper SatNav, then?
Why would I do something as stupid as that?
You have the choice - you can use an App that you consider broken or you can use an App for all main purposes works in the same way as a dedicated unit. A phone having a SIM can receive real time traffic information{1] which many of the lower range dedicated units don't support.
A statement implying that Sat Nav on a smart phone doesn't work is false.
[1] Like all things related to Sat Nav, the traffic information has to be used with a bit of common sense. Around my way reports of delays on major routes result in the Sat Nav suggesting alternative routes. Unfortunately these alternatives are often rat-runs which become grid locked when more than a few cars are diverted along them.
There are not many companies producing the map data. The majority of Sat Nav companies buy in the raw data.
You can get 0.8TB on your phone?
Yes, to an extent.
I don't use Waze so wouldn't know. I use ones(s) where I can download either whole regions or whole chunks.
I *could* download the whole of europe - but don't see the point as I will not be travelling across the whole of Europe in one go. I do have the whole of the UK and Ireland plus a couple of US States and Canada, Cyprus (the whole), Turkey and some other bits'n'bobs.
If I go somewhere else (ref North Cyprus) I download it in the airport/ hotel/coffebar whatever
Not unusual in such places. I guess you must not have known you were heading there - did you get lost somewhere?
and just to add, all mine is based on personal experience too. I've
*never* been in a situation where I couldn't download what I wanted. I note that Huge hasn't commented about the ability to update a 'proper satnav' without the use of a computer and cables so I assume that is still the same - how very quaint.
True, but many of them then package updates periodically rather than making changes immediately available. They are still better than a paper version though - unless the whole thing crashes :(
to err is human...
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.