Post by millie on Mar 13, 2013 22:12:13 GMT
Free app turns phone into sat nav for 30 countries
If you've a smartphone with GPS such as an iPhone, here's a nifty way to turn it into a sat nav abroad, with local maps, for free - without using up any pricey data overseas. It isn't a fully-fledged system like paid sat navs, but it's handy if it's for a one-off trip.
Launched in 2010, Navfree is a free app for iPhone and Android. It turns a GPS smartphone into a sat nav, with pre-loaded maps, route planning and voice prompts.
The big boon here is that once you've downloaded it to your phone, it doesn't need any internet data to find routes, search or access its maps via GPS (unlike similar apps, eg, Google Maps), as these are stored offline in your phone.
It also has optional paid premium content, including voice prompts by Wallace and Gromit or Snoop Dogg.
By contrast, paid sat nav app TomTom Western Europe is over £50 at the time of writing. Though it doesn't have the same bells and whistles, it's still a big saving.
Where can I use it?
It has downloadable apps for about 30 countries, including Spain, France, Germany, India, Russia, Canada, and the USA, as well as the UK.
To get them, just search 'Navfree' in your phone's app store, with the name of the country, eg, 'Navfree France'. Navfree has confirmed all of these are free and allow you to access map GPS without using any data.
Download it before you go
Don't forget to download it in the UK before you leave, as part of your standard data plan. Otherwise you'll pay for data to download it abroad (see Cheap Data Roaming). The size of the initial download varies depending on which country it's for, but you can see this before you get it. As an example, the Navfree UK app is around 450MB.
It isn't perfect, but it's got good forum feedback, including "hasn't let me down yet" and "it doesn't always recognise house numbers but it will direct near perfectly to the bit of the road you need to be on". If you try it, please add your Navfree feedback.
If you've a smartphone with GPS such as an iPhone, here's a nifty way to turn it into a sat nav abroad, with local maps, for free - without using up any pricey data overseas. It isn't a fully-fledged system like paid sat navs, but it's handy if it's for a one-off trip.
Launched in 2010, Navfree is a free app for iPhone and Android. It turns a GPS smartphone into a sat nav, with pre-loaded maps, route planning and voice prompts.
The big boon here is that once you've downloaded it to your phone, it doesn't need any internet data to find routes, search or access its maps via GPS (unlike similar apps, eg, Google Maps), as these are stored offline in your phone.
It also has optional paid premium content, including voice prompts by Wallace and Gromit or Snoop Dogg.
By contrast, paid sat nav app TomTom Western Europe is over £50 at the time of writing. Though it doesn't have the same bells and whistles, it's still a big saving.
Where can I use it?
It has downloadable apps for about 30 countries, including Spain, France, Germany, India, Russia, Canada, and the USA, as well as the UK.
To get them, just search 'Navfree' in your phone's app store, with the name of the country, eg, 'Navfree France'. Navfree has confirmed all of these are free and allow you to access map GPS without using any data.
Download it before you go
Don't forget to download it in the UK before you leave, as part of your standard data plan. Otherwise you'll pay for data to download it abroad (see Cheap Data Roaming). The size of the initial download varies depending on which country it's for, but you can see this before you get it. As an example, the Navfree UK app is around 450MB.
It isn't perfect, but it's got good forum feedback, including "hasn't let me down yet" and "it doesn't always recognise house numbers but it will direct near perfectly to the bit of the road you need to be on". If you try it, please add your Navfree feedback.