A dumb GPS 4G iPad question?

[iBozz]

I'm new to iPads, and indeed to this forum (I'll introduce myself on the relevant thread shortly), but I'm puzzled about the GPS capabilities of the new 4G (sorry, I meant 4G and not G4 as in the typo in the original post) iPads.

I live in the UK where there is, currently, no 4G and I do not yet have a SIM card to allow the iPad to connect to a 3G network so I get on-line via wifi, both at home and when out and about.

I read, on another thread on this forum, that the 4G iPad has a GPS capability built in from which I infer that it can be used as a SatNav in the same was as can my old Garmin i3(?) model.

Well, I was out of range of wifi this afternoon, and thus not attached to the interwebbything, so I decided to see what happened.

I opened the supplied Maps app and, when it opened, it showed the pin on my home which is where I had last logged on and opened that app.

After a while, (I may have tapped the Location arrow, I can't recall) it dropped a pin on the map which showed my then current location.

Or did it?

The pin certainly seemed to "move" but the app said that it couldn't load the map data (or somesuch, I didn't make a note of the precise wording) and I then appeared to be standing slap bang in the middle of some graph paper, with no map, topography or anything!

If it can act as a GPS device, then surely the maps should be preloaded as they are on my Garmin?

Have I overlooked a setting or preference?

Have I failed to download the app maps correctly? If so, how come it displays the Hybrid view so presumably gets the information from somewhere, surely not on-line every time?

Do I need to download another map app which would then allow me to use the iPad as a SatNav without being on-line - as with my Garmin?

Or am I being utterly stupid and completely misunderstanding everything? it would't be the first time!

 

[Texas Holders]

The GPS doesn't need connectivity with either 4g/3g or wifi to work. The maps on the other hand do, they are downloaded when you open up the app. There may be apps out there that come with maps that stay on your machine, but I haven't looked into them. I know there are some hiking apps out there that come with maps that you can use to follow trails and such, so I would imagine there are probably GPS aps for vehicular travel with preloaded maps as well. That would be one big GPS screen.

 

[AQ_OC]

What model of iPad do you have? 1, 2 or 3, Wifi only or 3G/4G? without knowing this, we cannot help you.

In order to have a built in gps chip you need a 3g/4g model, the wifi only model does not have the GPS chip. It won't matter if you have an app with maps or not, without a means to link to a GPS signal, you can't do navigation. There are several apps that let you download maps to your iPad, so with those you don't need 3G/4G to download maps, but you need the 3G/4G model to have the built in gps chip, so you can do navigation. Or, you can use other apps which download bits of maps on a 3G/4G connection, so then you can navigate. Doing it the latter way means you are using your data plan's data, however, so if you do it a lot plus do other things on the web you could have overages in terms of data.

 

[ajcgn]

There are a lot of offline maps that you can download onto your iPad.
I use Navfree which has free voice directions, citymaps2go and motion X.
With Navfree i find that it is better to look up the address you are going to and save it as a favourite or contact while you have an internet connection and then you can ask for directions any time after.
I am sure there are better maps out there as there are so many to choose from.
Worked great on my old iPad on my last vacation.

 

[MikesTooLz]

GPS works without internet, however the google maps app does need internet because it loads the maps via internet.

You can download a GPS app that saves the maps onto the iPad itself and then use your GPS while out and about without internet.

 

[iBozz]

Oops! There was a typo in my original post (but correct in the signature - it's a 4G plus wifi (and not a G4 - D'oh!) iPad.

I hope that makes it easier to understand what I meant!

Thanks for the responses so far. I shall check them all out and, if you want to make changes now that I've recovered from my toe-curling embarrassment, feel free!

 

[wvkawboy]

A Newbie...

GPS works without internet, however the google maps app does need internet because it loads the maps via internet.

You can download a GPS app that saves the maps onto the iPad itself and then use your GPS while out and about without internet.

As a first time Apple customer, this is all new to me too. I have the new 64GB 4-G Model & was wondering which GPS App that you recommend to do just what you're describing, download the GPS & then can use the GPS while out of Wi-Fi range.

Thanks!

 

[wvkawboy]

Just want to say that I am an Ipad newbie too, in fact my 4G 64gb black Ipad is the 1st Apple product that I've ever purchased! I really like it but it is definately a learning experience. LOL

 

[AQ_OC]

Just want to say that I am an Ipad newbie too, in fact my 4G 64gb black Ipad is the 1st Apple product that I've ever purchased! I really like it but it is definately a learning experience. LOL

You want a learning experience, get an Android tablet!

 

[b00bie]

As a first time Apple customer, this is all new to me too. I have the new 64GB 4-G Model & was wondering which GPS App that you recommend to do just what you're describing, download the GPS & then can use the GPS while out of Wi-Fi range.

Thanks!

There are several on the app store, my personal favorite is Navigon (Garmin). You can D/L the maps you need on your device and use them when you need to. Try Googleing reviews of iPad navigation apps to get a comparison of the features.

 

[Lunar]

Your main points have already been answered by other so I won't repeat.

However, as far as the use of 4G in the UK is concerned, the new iPad3's 4G capability will NEVER work in the UK, certainly not with the current iPad3 units anyway.

Why not.. you might ask?

Well.. the answer is very simple and final, it's because the frequencies that have been allocated for 4G in the UK which are 900MHz and 1800MHz, but the new iPad3's 4G works on 700MHz and 2100MHz, so there you have it. Anyone with half a brain can see someone has cocked up big time at Apple, if they ever thought their current 4G offering would work in the UK. Our allocated 4G frequencies cannot be changed as there is no spare frequencies which can be used, other than the old now obsolete TV frequencies, and those are what the government decided on, in fact they really had little choice.

So our 4G system in the UK when it eventually gets running will require any 4G device to operate at 900MHz & 1800MHz for it to work at 4G, IOW you can totally forget about the current Ipad3's from ever working on 4G in the UK.

I assume in due course, Apple will change the hardware, to make it compatible.. ie. iPad 3 version 2...lol

 

[MikesTooLz]

Motion X is highly recommended and they also have a turn by turn app for navigation while in the car.

I also have the Navigon app and really like it. It does cost more but I like how it tells you what lane you should be in when getting near an intersection or an exit.

 

[toffee]

What applications would allow one to download maps? I am in the States. Which one of those apps will allow one to plan trips on google map than just export the trip to the app? thx

 

[iBozz]

Thanks, Lunar. That's a tad depressing after all the hype.

I understand that The Advertising Standards Authority (or whoever) are beginning to take an interest in case there has been misleading advertising, i.e. that which is not legal, decent, truthful and honest in UK terms.

I believe that our regulations are a tad more stringent than those across the pond!

 

[iBozz]

Thanks, Navfree now works for me, even on the train this afternoon when I would have expected there to be too much metal around.