Tablet GPS - which one do you use? Looking for advice

[Bob95065]

I have a Samsung Galaxy Tab A that I won last summer at a conference I went to for work. I installed BackCountry Navigator Pro on it and used it for a few trips. The more I use BCN the more it is driving me crazy.

I wanted to put maps of places I explore on mini SD cards and leave them on them for places I visit often. I bought a bunch of cards on Black Friday for this purpose. When I take the card out of the tablet it won't recognise the maps when I put it back in later. Also I want to record tracks that span several days in one file BCN seems to have trouble with that.

What tablet based GPS apps do you use? Please let me know along with the pros and cons of the app. I would buy a few more to test but I thought I would ask here first. Besides I would rather buy one good app and not waste money on more apps that will make me frustrated. I would rather spend that money on more important things like ammunition and diesel for my truck.

Thanks,
Bob

 

[captadv]

You can't use the cards like that. Instead by a 128gb card and leave it in the whole time. I do that with my Samsung 8" tablet.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[captadv]

Re: tracks. I think you want to record multiple tracks in one trip folder. That's how they do that...

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

 

[theksmith]

before removing a card, are you going into settings > storage and clicking on the "unmount sdcard" or "eject sdcard" (or whatever it's called on your particular version of Android)? then after a second or 2 it will tell you when it's ok to remove the card... same when you put a new one in (give a couple seconds to analyze the card before you try to access it).

BCN may also just have a glitch and require that you completely "close" the app (stop any current track recording and remove the app from the list of recents) and relaunch it during card changes - shouldn't, but i've seen stranger. in my experience BCN has a lot of features and is fairly easy to use for a newb, but it is not the most stable or bug-free app. you might want to try AlpineQuest Navigator if you get fed up with BCN, most of the same concepts carry over in how to use the app and it has most of the same map sources.

 

[verdesardog]

Save your tracks as gpx files then they will work with any map program you use.

 

[shane4x4]

With Hema Cloud (http://hema.li/cloud) or several other apps, when you record you can sync it to the cloud so it's always there. You can save it, export it, share it, whatever you want. That's my biased .02 =)

 

[Bob95065]

I do unmount the card before removing it.

What software do you use?

 

[workingonit71]

using SD card to store navigation apps and offline maps for Tablet use

I haven't used my Lenovo Yoga Tab 3 (8 inch) YT3-850 much for navigation, just experimenting, so far. I used Sygic-GPS Navigation and Maps only once, and haven't been able to open it again (immediate shutdown), so I loaded GPS Navigation (Blazing SRO), so I could have offline maps (my tablet is WiFi only) prior to my next trip. Maybe there was a time-limit on Sygic's free use? If my current app choice fails me, I guess I'll use Google Maps (offline) as my go-to. I don't have the justification yet, for spending much money on BCN or HEMA Cloud, until I get into the boonies. Also, I have all my apps and data stored on a 128GB SD card, with cloud backups (that won't help me when I ever have it fail in the boonies!). Only have 9GBs left on the card, now. Should I copy my 128 GB card to another Sd card?

 

[Dalko43]

I would highly recommend looking into Delorme's (now under Garmin) Earthmate app. It is free if you own an inreach device, but if you don't its a $29-$39 annual fee (depending on if you get the hunt version or not). I think the money is well worth it. You get tracking, GPS location, altitude, waypoints, route making, and unlimited access to Delorme's extensive map library (satellite, digital Topo, USGS Quad, Nautical maps, street maps). IMHO, Delorme's map library is the most extensive one out there. It can be downloaded as an app for iphones, ipads and android devices.https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/577212#additional

The only 2 issues to be aware of:
1) The maps for Canada aren't that good, but that might be fixed in the near future as Garmin recently acquired Delorme.
2) I'm not sure if this app will work with 3rd party GPS devices; I think it will, but you should check on that before buying it.

 

[Lucky j]

On my samsung tab A 8 I have the OSmAnd+ and earthmate. So far, I have downloaded all of the canada and us maps topo and standard maps and just like it.

So far, the most precise dirt road of quebec and very accurate of the us for sure.

 

[dcwn.45]

+1 on the OsmAnd
The details seem very good so far
I'm using a Galaxy tab 3 in a Ram mount