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  1. #1 Offline maps on Android in China 
    Duct tape savant felix's Avatar
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    Firstly, a million thanks to Slabo for making me aware of Mobile Atlas Creator. Preloading offline maps into my phone was something i had been wishing for for a long time but had no idea was possible.

    There are many great apps for android that allow loading of offline maps (maverick and oruxmaps are two good ones) but in China they all suffer from the dreaded "offset of death", which renders them useless for city navigation. Now though i think i have finally found something that works.

    Big Planet Tracks actually has a feature where you can offset the map any amount you want. Apparently this was included specifically for use in china. You shift the map with two sliders which are not very accurate but you can get close enough to your true position. It can also load and record tracks (brilliant) and do a few other things, no turn-by-turn navigation (don't care).

    There is a write-up here to explain how to save offline maps using mobac.

    So far this is the only solution i know of to use offline maps on android in china without the offset of death. If you guys know any other way to do it, post it here and this thread could become a useful resource. The internet is currently quite lacking in info on this topic.




    [EDIT 08-26-2010] Though this app has the most convenient way to correct the offset, i don't really recommend it as it was very unreliable in my experience. There is a way to correct the offset in Oruxmaps too, and although it is a bit tedious, this is the one i would recommend. Details are on page 2 of this thread.
    Last edited by felix; 08-26-2010 at 05:42 AM.
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  2. #2 Re: Offline maps on Android in China 
    Life Is Good! ChinaV's Avatar
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    Thanks for that Felix, looks like an Android device might be next on the gadget list when I get back from America. As much as I despise WinMobile, it's been the best platform for GPS. Finally looks like Android is well on its way to surpassing Microsloth.

    Cheers!
    ChinaV
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  3. #3 Re: Offline maps on Android in China 
    Duct tape savant felix's Avatar
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    It would seem that way indeed! It's still early days for android but there are already some very useful and very complete pieces of software available for it. Big Planet Tracks may not be my first choice of GPS software if i lived somewhere else, but here in china it's the best option. And it's free and ad-free. Using an HTC Hero and there is no problem with lag or anything. The app comes with a tracking feature, i've tested it a few times in the last two days and it seems to work perfectly. Once the track is saved you can export it as a gpx file and load it into Google earth, the accuracy is quite impressive. It also gives you stats like av. speed, max speed, atlitude etc... I managed to record 97 kph on my sidecar!

    Incidentally, after much fidling around with the map offset feature in BPT, the offset i'm using is

    EAST: 487m
    SOUTH: -218m

    I think this might vary in different regions of china though.
    Last edited by felix; 08-23-2010 at 06:22 AM.
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  4. #4 Re: Offline maps on Android in China 
    Administrator-tron CrazyCarl's Avatar
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    Friggin A! I'm using the Motorola Droid X now and and can say I much prefer it over the IPhone which I happened to have had way to many problems with.

    No feeling of loss on the apps (plenty of android app and less "censored" than apple), a battery you can actually replace, happy to not deal with ITunes and much more customizable. Also much better navigation (IMHO). More advantages over the IPhone (any of them) than you can shake a stick at.

    Been a Moto user for many years and I'm glad to see they're starting to compete in the top ranks again. Now just waiting for Otterbox case to come out and I'll be ready to rock and roll. Get some offline maps of China on there (did I mention a micro SD card you can swap?) and it could be one of the best all round mobile devices available... at least until winter.

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  5. #5 Re: Offline maps on Android in China 
    Life Is Good! ChinaV's Avatar
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    The OtterBox issue has been a real deal killer for me on several non-iPhone models. Seems that although Android and WinMo have some nice hardware, they just don't have the volume for OtterBox to tool up and commit to rugged waterproof cases. I'm still using the same OtterBox 1900 and now on my 6th smartphone. Unfortunately OtterBox has discontinued the 1900, so let's hope they make something similar for the upcoming Android phones. It needs to be completely bombproof and include some kind of rugged mounting system like the RAM mount for the 1900.

    Cheers
    ChinaV
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  6. #6 Re: Offline maps on Android in China 
    Administrator-tron CrazyCarl's Avatar
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    Otterbox is making cases for the Droids, and a bunch of other phones. The Droid X has been out for less than one month at this point so it's likely a matter of weeks. Certainly the Apple products get a lot of aftermarket support, but it's only a matter of time before others catch up... it's probably not far. The Droid OS is customizable in ways apple would never give you. I also like having much more control and info over what the apps and hardware resources are doing as well as how they are being used.

    There are a couple features of the IPhone interface I prefer, but am more than happy to give that up to make better use of the same resources. They're all pretty crazy little devices. Still waitin' on the case though!

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  7. #7 Re: Offline maps on Android in China 
    Senior C-Moto Guru euphonius's Avatar
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    I've got only an iPhone (an ancient 2g version at that), and it did not take well to some heavy downpours during my ride to Beijing and back. ryanjpyle and I both use iPhones in bluetooth linkups with our Garmins and Cardo headsets, so it's a nice piece of the mix. So I've taken to sealing it in a ziploc bag in my jacket pocket during rides. It's definitely a very hydrophobic phone.

    There is an iPhone app that I think I mentioned a couple of months ago, from a developer in San Francisco, called GreatestRoad. I've not used it more than once or twice.

    I recall it allowed you to map out routes (it calls these "stretches") in googlemaps (maybe only on the iPhone but maybe also in a browser) and also to share them on the site, with ratings, etc. Stretches can have waypoints and descriptions of things that can be found there (nice burgers at the Burger Shack in Philo). Once you've picked a stretch you like, you click Start Ride and it takes you into iPhone's Maps app, and gets you to the start of the stretch from your current position. Worth a look for iPhone users.

    Anyone else tried this?

    I may see if I can map a stretch or two here in China...
    jkp
    Shanghai
    2010 JH600 "Merkin Muffley" (in Shanghai)
    2000 KLR650 "Feezer Ablanalp" (in California)
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  8. #8 Re: Offline maps on Android in China 
    Senior C-Moto Guru
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    Thanks Felix, I did not know how to get round that. The offset thing did not really bother me, cause i did not use gps in cities. I always seem to download less detail for cities. If you read Hanzi, ditu.google.com is better source for China maps. If only it were in Pinyin...
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  9. #9 Re: Offline maps on Android in China 
    C-Moto Guru MotoKai's Avatar
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    Thanks for the useful tools....

    I successfully downloaded MOBAC and proceeded with the following mapping steps:
    1. Click the "Add selection" button after selecting the multiple "Zoom Levels" of the map.
    2. Confirm the "Map Source" to be "Google Maps" (default value, you can choose another types).
    3. Confirm the "Format" of "Atlas settings" to be "BigPlanet SQLite" (default value).

    But when I try to download the map after clicking the "Create atlas" button I get the following error: Unable to find SQLite libraries. These are required for BigPlanet ouput format.

    Was there a step that I missed? Any support is appreciated.
    _____________________
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  10. #10 Re: Offline maps on Android in China 
    Apollo 1 steve_nb's Avatar
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    The daily topic apple versus the rest of other phones... Yes, android will be on more phones by 2012 then iPhone iOS which is a simple fact because there are many manufactors for android but only on for iphone. And closed versus open system? Yes it's nice to have an open source system, so Linux might be great for you instead of Windows, but for many it's too complicated, same goes for Mac versus PC. Don't let me get into this as the topic was about GPS offline.

    I am using my iPhone with "MotionX GPS" and it's great for all you ever wanted, you can record your tracks, one can store offline maps (open street maps & open terrain maps) or if you have a GPRS/3G package you have google maps / satellite view as well. Compass, waypoints, altitude and so on.

    Check it on the app store, it has several other great features which I don't have to repeat here. I just got an otter box, but now looking into the best way to fix it on my Suzuki DRZ.

    Stefan
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