pricesquire

I used Google Maps.

A whole week, using about an hour a day of nav, used 1 gig.

I tried Apple Maps - no data issues - but there were too many errors/mistakes - borderline useless in Sicily. Literally took us the wrong way multiple times. Ended up giving up.

Google Maps > Apple Maps (and I'm a Mac whore )

wco81

I'd like to say Apple Maps are as good but especially overseas, that is not the case. You won't find the same hits when you search for particular hotels or parking garages or whatever.

Too bad, it would be useful to have Siri find some POI and find directions (by passing the destination info you spoke over to Apple Maps).

Most of the time I'm overseas, including in Italy, I'm using Google Maps.

boltjames

Thank you for responding.

Did you save the Google map for the area if you were in around Sicily as an off-line map? I am wondering if that would've kept the data usage down. Did you use the satellite map much? I'm trying to understand why the basic map with traffic and email turned off (assuming) would have led to such usage of data. I am not experiencing such data usage here in the United States traveling one hour a day using Google maps for a week.

BJ

boltjames

We are going to a remote location south of Palermo and I won't have the need for any points of interest. When I have used Apple maps on the iPhone to plot a course from The airport to our specific hotel it takes us there in a nice and straight manner in 45 minutes which is the same route I get from Google maps on my PC.

Seeing that I have both options along with some other GPS apps I have downloaded, I'm going to give Apple maps every chance to succeed in Italy. It's data usage is incredibly small and would easily fit within a 120 MB plan.

BJ

javabytes

Fine. You're still ignoring Waze.

And I've tried using Apple Maps both in the US and overseas. Did it for the last time in 2013 where I asked it to find me a car rental place and it led me to the middle of a cornfield. I get they're improving it but its still nowhere near as good, especially in Europe.

boltjames

Not ignoring Waze, but does it work in Europe? Wouldn't it be a data pig with all the social aspects of traffic notification and tracking?

I've read posts in articles and other forums that Apple maps worked well in Italy, and since I'm not going to any large cities with labyrinth-like streets I think I'll do okay.

BJ

dtsm

You are so far behind the curve -- see my earlier post (#10) that addressed both. Waze works overseas and uses very little data.

wco81

When I get mobile data, I'm not only using it for maps. I get email, push notifications, etc.

I could turn that stuff off to stay within the tight limit of data.

But if I was that worried about data, I'd use a Garmin (pain to pack another device) or buy an offline GPS app.

pricesquire

I did not use any off-line map.

I don't think it would be useful in Sicily.

To be quite frank, Sicily is a third world country compared to most of Europe. The roads are in good shape, physically, but convenience ends there.

There are almost NO street signs. Like none. Outside of major cities (Palermo, Catania, Taormina, etc), zero street signs - if there is one, it's plastered onto the side of a building and you can't read it until you've missed it.

There are easy-to-read ROAD signs, but even those get confusing (think of coming up to a 5 road roundabout, and 3 of the 5 roads say 'PALERMO THIS WAY'...)

Even with 100% accurate and ideal mapping we'd still momentarily screw up at least a half dozen times a day. Not sure how off-line maps work, but I'm assuming they won't correct you if you go wrong.

As for what I kept on, data wise:

Safari
Email (push)
iMessage
Google maps
Chase Bank
Instagram
Facebook

Dubai Stu

I read the OP's comment about how SIM swapping is not an option because he has to be in touch with work. iMessage is telephone agonistic. Traditional text messages are a problem. You can get a temporary US number for texting abroad from Google Voice.

Call forwarding to your foreign SIM is child's play. We've talked about a number of solutions in other threads. I just took a second look at the Roamer App for iPhone (available in Android as well, but I didn't review it). They have reduced their forwarding rates, adding a VOIP module, and otherwise improved their game. I can beat their forwarding rates, but they are highly competitive.

wco81

Perhaps a Mifi for data then.

My work allows us to do voice and SMS roaming internationally but not data.

So I used Mifi, though the battery life is poor so I kept it off a lot of times, when outside car where I would keep it plugged into the charger.

Now with iPad Mini Retina and Telecom Italia data bundles which allow tethering, I should be able to use data more of the time.

Also the T-mobile SIM with free international roaming is just fast enough for Google Maps. Can't stream video or load certain web sites easily but not bad in a pinch.

boltjames

I am not behind any curve. I've used Waze in the US and find it's UI is too cartoon-like and it's crowdsourced traffic information not much better than what I get in other apps in 2014.

Unless there's a significant reason to choose it over Apple maps or Google maps I don't see the point.

BJ

boltjames

Ah, that explains it. Thanks for posting back, I can now see how you could go through 1GB of data in a week.

BJ

boltjames

Thanks Stu.

While I could figure out a way to swap SIM's without much hassle, we are a large family and are renting two cars and my father-in-law is driving one of them. So while I'm learning about other options to guarantee we don't get hit with heavy data usage and thus high ATT roaming charges, my father-in-law is not that technically savvy and I need a simple iPhone solution for him moreso than myself.

To date all signs point to Apple maps as the answer as it's very low on data consumption and when I map our routes here in the US its showing me the proper turn-by-turn directions as confirmed by online maps like Google.

BJ

boltjames

Okay, so I tested Waze against Apple Maps today, identical route, Waze on the way out, Apple on the way back, 30 minutes, 19 miles, local streets and highway, the results:

Waze: 1.2MB
Apple: 0.4MB

No matter what turn-by-turn GPS app I test against it, Apple Maps comes up with the lowest data usage of any of 'em. Additionally, I find Apple Maps building detail, smooth scrolling, lag-free reaction, and 3D zoom/turn animations vastly superior to the rest.

Unless Apple Maps puts me in a corn field in Italy, I'm sticking with it.

BJ