Google Maps navigation on Wear OS now works without a phone
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- Donald Trump
- Q{4
- 09 Jan 2023
jdgage, 08 Jan 2023So I Saw this article and went and bought a Galaxy watch 5 ... moreYeah this are fake news from Google. I also have Galaxy Watch 5 Pro LTE and latest google maps STILL require phone to navigate. There is no stream option in setting as said in google instructions and apparently same applies to pixel watch users. I read on Sammobile that we might need new version of GMaps that would take another couple weeks to arrive. So much for end of the year promises from Google :(
At least, there are other solutions. I have been using GPS Navigation by Somyac on Tizen and now on Wear OS 3. It's a full featured standalone satellite gps with optional offline maps. It uses Nokia Here maps service thou, not Google as far as I am aware.
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- jdgage
- Ibx
- 08 Jan 2023
So I Saw this article and went and bought a Galaxy watch 5 LTE Why is it still asking me to connect to my phone when I go to Google maps??
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- Olympus Oms
- 8pQ
- 07 Jan 2023
Nickxrp, 07 Jan 2023I guess it’s all just up to the software.
You’re right.... moreI'm using Google maps myself. Always download offline maps when going trips, because we never know if there will be coverage holes.
But I'm talking about the grand old original Nokia. Not hmd wannabe Nokia. When I had Samsung gear s3 frontier watch, I tried everything to use the GPS by itself, but it needed a phone with connection to the internet. Even for the altitude sensor. It was lte, but sadly nobody was able to use e-sim here yet. And now it's only 1 company that supports lte connection on other watches than iwatch. Iwatch is sadly favorited.
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- Nickxrp
- xDh
- 07 Jan 2023
Olympus Oms, 07 Jan 2023You mean traffic data. On the Nokia you did just like the r... moreI guess it’s all just up to the software.
You’re right. Data and wifi add more precision to the onboard gps, but there still is a dedicated gps chip.
For my Apple Watch, I use WorkOutDoors for offline maps. Works mostly ok.
Obviously, I would prefer native offline support from Apple Maps, but that’s been a disaster anyway.
Not sure about what is different about your Nokia example?
It sounds like your Nokia came preloaded with offline maps for turn by turn navigation. All I’m saying is you can still do offline turn by turn if you download your offline maps in advance (similar to what Nokia would have done on your behalf before).
Ultimately it all comes down to software. I’m sure you can find software from Tomtom or the likes that offer a more traditional gps experience. I’ve been ok relying on Google Maps for offline gps.
It sure would have been nice to get live traffic data when offline, but like you said, it wouldn’t be possible since the traffic data isn’t a gps task, it’s a separate data communication line
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- Olympus Oms
- 8pQ
- 07 Jan 2023
Nickxrp, 07 Jan 2023Yes! My iPhone can also show gps without wifi and data!
... moreYou mean traffic data. On the Nokia you did just like the real GPS for card and such. Updated the town/city/country you wanted and then you could use it as GPS. But of course, traffic data needs communications with the internet all the time. The maps, roads and routes were already in the GPS through the update. But if a road job or block was added the day or two after, you wouldn't be informed about it. Apple tried to copy Nokia with their own GPS, which also didn't require data. But it often went really bad. Therefore they had to ask Google maps for help on making it stable.
Watches today have at least 16GB internal storage, so they could easily use GPS without data.
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- Nickxrp
- xDh
- 07 Jan 2023
Olympus Oms, 07 Jan 2023The old Nokia could use GPS without. Of course the quality ... moreYes! My iPhone can also show gps without wifi and data!
Not sure what’s different. You always needed to load map data to your phone. Gps only gives you latitude and longitude coordinates. Map data turns the data into information you can read.
But yeah, I do this on vacation all the time when I don’t have data or wifi. I just use gps with data and wifi disabled.
Have you tried it on your phone?
Via Google maps, download offline maps (gps database) and then you can navigate without wifi or data! :)
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- Olympus Oms
- 8pQ
- 07 Jan 2023
Nickxrp, 07 Jan 2023Our phones do have gps modules though. Really, an inter... moreThe old Nokia could use GPS without. Of course the quality was strengthened by the wifi/mobile data and Bluetooth. But it was still able to use and show live time GPS without.
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- Nickxrp
- xDh
- 07 Jan 2023
Olympus Oms, 07 Jan 2023I miss the old Nokia GPS, that worked even without wifi/mob... moreOur phones do have gps modules though.
Really, an internet connection is needed to access the map data.
You can download offline maps and turn off wifi/data and still get around using them :)
When you have data and wifi off, and are using offline maps, I believe Google Maps only does driving directions (as most normal GPSes do)
Most major watches also have gps sensors too, but because of limited space, map data often requires an internet connection.
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- Olympus Oms
- 8pQ
- 07 Jan 2023
I miss the old Nokia GPS, that worked even without wifi/mobile data turned on. Our units have GPS, or does it really? Because they simply can't work without data turned on, either wifi or mobile.
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- Trooper
- mE0
- 07 Jan 2023
joe nodden, 07 Jan 2023Lies. I have like a 400~ square mile map that only take... moreYou seem to be getting your KB's and MB's mixed up...
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- Trooper
- mE0
- 07 Jan 2023
sanshiro, 07 Jan 2023Who has a carrier smartwatch nowadays with LTE?The alternative being ?...
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- Mik3
- Bkg
- 07 Jan 2023
Turn-by-turn nav w/o the phone means that the destination can be set on the watch when connected to the internet via wifi, say. This article should be explicit about that. As it is written I'm not sure and I'm not interested
- joe nodden
- j5{
- 07 Jan 2023
AnonD-1079443, 07 Jan 2023storage will probably fill up just from downloading the vat... moreLies.
I have like a 400~ square mile map that only takes up 81mb.
At that rate of square miles to mb, all of new england would only take up less than half the pixel watch's 32 gigs of storage. The Vatican would only take like 34 kilobytes. I mean you can't even make maps as small as the Vatican.
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- AnonD-1079443
- D6e
- 07 Jan 2023
joe nodden, 07 Jan 2023They can't just save maps to their storage like on a phone? storage will probably fill up just from downloading the vatican city's map