Google map on iPad with Verizon hot spot

[sifan]

Today I made a trip to West Virginia from Maryland and back. This was the first time I tried Google map for navigation on an iPad 3 (for a bigger screen due to aging eye sight), which connected to my iPhone 6's hot spot through Verizon. I was very disappointed with Google map's performance. It failed to update map on real time, did not provide turn to turn voice assistance, and refused to reroute when I deviated from the original planned route regardless in mountains or cities. I don't see this kind of performance when I run Google map on my iPhone 6. My old 5" screen Garmin GPS saved the day this time. However, it is not perfect. Last time I had to rely on Google map on my iPhone 6 to navigate through the Reagan National Airport in D.C. because my Garmin GPS simply could not track my car despite with the latest map update.

My questions are:
1) Does Google map behave differently on legacy hardware since iPad 3 is couple generations behind?
2) Is the abnormality related to the hot spot connection somehow?
3) Will Google map runs normally on a latest iPad Pro with LTE (without hot spot connection but with better hardware) like on my iPhone 6?
4) My daughter suggests a latest larger screen Garmin GPS unit is a better option than a latest iPad with LTE since an iPad will be outdated faster hardware wise plus more expensive. What is your opinion?

Thanks.

 

[RooflessVW]

The iPad does not have it's own radio or GPS, so it really didn't have much to use to locate itself.

A device with its own cell tower connection will perform better.

A device with both GPS and a cell tower connection will work very well, and in real time.

 

[Y_K]

Did similar experiment on a WA to FL road trip last year. Nexus 7 with a Verizon MiFi was the champion. This year iPad mini 4 with the same hotspot did the best with Maps.Me out of the Apple, Google and Galileo Pro. Maps.me and Galileo allow to download any maps you desire, so you need no connection [provided your apparatus has a GPS hardware set]

 

[sifan]

Wouldn't the hot spot connection on my iPhone 6 provide WiFi for my iPad 3's Google map? I understand Google map will not work offline.

 

[sifan]

Originally Posted By: Y_K
Did similar experiment on a WA to FL road trip last year. Nexus 7 with a Verizon MiFi was the champion. This year iPad mini 4 with the same hotspot did the best with Maps.Me out of the Apple, Google and Galileo Pro. Maps.me and Galileo allow to download any maps you desire, so you need no connection [provided your apparatus has a GPS hardware set]


Please ignore my previous question. I guess iPhone has a GPS chip in it; but, iPad does not.

What GPS hardware set did you use w/ MAPS.ME? I just downloaded it onto my iPad 3 which seems to be a good app.

 

[Y_K]

iPad Mini 4 has its own GPS / GLONASS chip.

 

[spackard]

If the iPad doesn't have the cellular option then it doesn't have a GPS chip in it.
Ostensibly, to save money.

Two ways around that for you -
1) Keep your iPad and buy an external GPS, such as Dual Electronics XGPS150A.
Can Google for people who do this (mostly pilots).
Antenna placement pretty good with this setup, but you need an additional
device and the charging need. That's about $100.

2) Sell current iPad and get a model with the cellular radio.
You still use your iPhone as a hotspot (for the data), but the iPad
with internal GPS chip is the rest of the equipment, so more
compact and one fewer charging device to worry about.

I've used my iPad Pro 12.9" with cellular option as a nav,
it's too large to be anywhere but laying in the passenger seat,
but otherwise worked very well, very fast. It's used with Waze
in the car, and with Google Maps when walking and taking the
bus/train. iPad Pro 9.7" should be fast enough for years,
but even on EBay is pricey unless you have other uses for it.

You don't need to get a cellular subscription to use the GPS
chip.

 

[sifan]

An iPad 3 WiFi with only 16 GB storage probably won't worth much today. I use my iPad mainly for checking emails and surfing Internet. The high price of an iPad Pro 9.7" is not justifiable to me. I did some research on external GPS devices on Amazon and ordered an Axxera XGPS150E ($70) as recommended by a consumer. That same consumer, a pilot, claimed that Dual Electronics was dumping XGPS150A (now around $80) of old stock on the market which had a known firmware issue with iOS 8 at the time of his commenting. Even though my iPad has iOs 9 I just don't want to take a chance on XGPS150A without knowing its firmware version.

Nowadays even an used iPad Air with cellular costs over $300. A $70 GPS unit seems to be a better investment. When the GPS unit arrives, I will see if iPad 3 is able to keep up with Google Map. If the set up is not satisfactory, I might invest on a faster iPad with cellular. I heard that even an iPad with cellular can still benefit from an external GPS unit for stronger satellite signals. So, an external GPS unit is still useful either way.

Thanks.

 

[Y_K]

Originally Posted By: spackard
If the iPad doesn't have the cellular option then it doesn't have a GPS chip in it.
Ostensibly, to save money.


Thank you for clearing this up. So, when I see my local position and moving arrow, that's due to some other location services being utilized..

 

[sifan]

Originally Posted By: Y_K
Did similar experiment on a WA to FL road trip last year. Nexus 7 with a Verizon MiFi was the champion. This year iPad mini 4 with the same hotspot did the best with Maps.Me out of the Apple, Google and Galileo Pro. Maps.me and Galileo allow to download any maps you desire, so you need no connection [provided your apparatus has a GPS hardware set]


I have downloaded both MAPS.ME and Galileo Pro from Apple Store. To my surprise Galileo Pro doesn't have the turn by turn voice assisted route planner feature. Exactly what is it good for for $3.99?

MAPS.ME has route planner, but it cannot locate the street number of my son's apartment off WVU after downloading necessary maps. Apple map, Google map, and Garmin have no such an issue. It took me a while to figure out how to search an address using MAPS.ME. It's search process is intuitive from a software developer's aspect, but it is just not conventional as using Google map.

Waze gets very poor user feedback on its latest update which renders it ineffective in navigating during driving. Some use it for monitoring real time road conditions. I will skip it.

I will stick to Google map for now till those two apps become better.

 

[Rand]

waze is good, but it was using over 10% of my battery while turned OFF after last update.
This was after a fresh restart.
so I had to uninstall.

Waze is basically google maps with better traffic/cop/etc updates. and a different look.

 

[Y_K]

Originally Posted By: sifan
I have downloaded both MAPS.ME and Galileo Pro from Apple Store. To my surprise Galileo Pro doesn't have the turn by turn voice assisted route planner feature. Exactly what is it good for for $3.99?


What is Google Maps good for when you have no data access? With Galileo you can download vector based maps of any area in the world and they are one much smaller than Maps.Me files.

I love my paper maps!

 

[javacontour]

As an aside, my Samsung Note 10.1 2012 edition, WiFi only, has GPS built in. If I carry my hotspot, I can use Google Maps.

I also purchased the OSMAnd+ app and can have Open Street Maps on the unit, so I don't need WiFi

OK, back to discussing Apple/iPad options