Using phone for road directions

Logo

Hi. I'm not tech savvy but need to travel to a location that I haven't been to before within my county and wonder if my android phone can be use for voice directions - a bit like a sat nav. Thanks

SCOOP 64

Google maps App you could try that.

Logo

SCOOP 64 wrote: »

Google maps App you could try that.

Thanks. Does this give voice directions?

Xander10

Logo wrote: »

Thanks. Does this give voice directions?

Yes. Have your Bluetooth on.

One thing I've experienced, it doesnt always send you the quickest route.

Fils

Where are you going in your own county op?

YellowLead

Google maps is the absolute best. It’s extremely accurate and will often present you several routes depending on whether you want to avoid tolls. It’s live - so if there’s a traffic jam on your route it will suggest a quicker alternative. It will give you an ETA that is always pretty accurate!

It’s good practice though to have a look at the directions first, in case your phone does or internet goes off - so you have a vague idea.

Del2005

Xander10 wrote: »

Yes. Have your Bluetooth on.

One thing I've experienced, it doesnt always send you the quickest route.

You have options to choose shortest or quickest route. The problem in this country is that so many roads have 80kph limits Google will route you on them, so you could be going down a boreen with grass in the middle because the limit is 80kph.

OP are you looking purely for voice directions? I've used a few different ones on my motorbike and in urban areas voice directions can be hard to follow, it's much easier to use the visual maps as they can show junctions that you need to skip.

con747

Download the county you need and save it in Google maps so if the signal goes you can still use it.

greasepalm

Make sure phone is fully charged and you can power it in the car also.

nibtrix

greasepalm wrote: »

Make sure phone is fully charged and you can power it in the car also.

Using a GPS/map app with live directions absolutely devours battery life, so totally agree with this that being able to plug in the phone in the car is important if you’re going any distance at all.

greasepalm

Yes as i found out and got lost with no signal on virgin and got dumped after that.
Also got a sat nav in car now.

TP_CM

I wouldn't survive without Google Maps. I can't believe it's a free service in monetary terms. If I ask someone for directions, and the response has more than 1 turn in it, I basically let the rest wash over me knowing full well that I will need to ask the same question of someone else 100 metres down the road.

frozenfrozen

There is also waze I prefer how it says how much the tolls will cost on your journey rather than just Google saying there are tolls

For me all journeys start with a toll basically so googles info isn't great but waze will show me a route that will cost 6 euro in tolls or 8 euro in tolls and I can choose then

Feisar

Del2005 wrote: »

The problem in this country is that so many roads have 80kph limits Google will route you on them, so you could be going down a boreen with grass in the middle because the limit is 80kph.

I have been that soldier. It's important to review the route and also if on the way you pass a sign for where you want to go I'd be taking it. Google maps doesn't have the sense to stick to the main arteries.

Wetbench4

if you have the eircode, you can just put that directly into google maps

Hyperbollix

Google maps has to be one of the greatest inventions of the tech age.

You can be anywhere.........and in need of a good or service and a quick tap on maps and it's directing you to the very place you need. Couldn't function without it.

Montage of Feck

Google maps those have a habit of sending you up obscure backroads if your not careful.

Feisar

Hyperbollix wrote: »

Google maps has to be one of the greatest inventions of the tech age.

You can be anywhere.........and in need of a good or service and a quick tap on maps and it's directing you to the very place you need. Couldn't function without it.

Further to my previous on it the above is very true however could they not have programmed in a bit of common sense?

Hamsterchops

Wetbench4 wrote: »

if you have the eircode, you can just put that directly into google maps

Agreed,

Google Maps + Eircode = find that location bliss.

Capt'n Midnight

frozenfrozen wrote: »

There is also waze I prefer how it says how much the tolls will cost on your journey rather than just Google saying there are tolls

https://www.viamichelin.com does that too.

Mr. CooL ICE

Google maps used to be bad if you were out foreign and had data switched off. Being able to download maps in advance has made it much better. And yeah, it's pretty amazing now. Having a car with Android Auto is fantastic.

Back before google maps improved on this, I was going to a wedding in England and purchased OsmAnd as the whole offline/no data thing supposedly wasn't an issue. Big mistake. Aside from being a counterintuitive nightmare to use, it directed me up the long driveway of a farmers house and through a dirt track in an adjoining field. In a rented Vauxhall Corsa. No joke.

frozenfrozen

Osmand is great but only for going along a predetermined track

is_that_so

Logo wrote: »

Thanks. Does this give voice directions?

I tend to use it for any bits of the route that don't involve main roads. Type in route you want to go before you head off and just switch off the screen and only open the app when you need it. It'll help with potential battery issues. If I have a single destination I also look up Google Maps on a computer to get a general sense of where I'm going first as I prefer the bigger screen.