boltjames

I'm vacationing in Sicily for a week and will use my iPhone 5 for turn-by-turn navigation extensively. I'm with AT&T and I don't want to eat up my $30 120MB data plan for the sake of a rental car GPS.

I've read about Google Maps offline and have had my iPhone download the maps for the territory I'll be covering in Italy. I've also read that Apple Maps uses a lot less data and may keep me under the 120MB limit without any offline mode necessary.

Hoping someone who has used an iPhone with Google Maps offline in a foreign country or someone who has used Apple Maps online in a foreign country might be able to offer advice.

TIA

BJ

Tizzette

On the subject of data roaming, has anyone has used the tmobile unlimited free data roaming plan in Europe? Europe is included but does it really work?

EmptyKim

Can you just grab a SIM from a local Italian carrier? Options are pretty reasonable. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...sim-italy.html

arjunrc

I bought pocket earth based on a flyer talk recommendation in another thread. The poster who recommended it used it extensively in Italy, AFAIK. I haven't yet had a chance to test it internationally, but reviews are good and I tested it quite a bit with my network turned off driving routes where I stay

Notes:
1. Its geeky. You need to figure out how to use it first, but its easy when you do
2. directions so far are very accurate
3. If you take a wrong turn, it will ask you permission to download an updated route - fortunately this is a very small data transfer - it only downloads the updated route - the map is already pre-downloaded

You may find some other more user friend app. So far, I've found the directions pretty accurate.

boltjames

I could but I need to use the iPhone for work when I'm abroad, can't be swapping in/out SIM cards as I drive from town to town.

Thanks.

BJ

boltjames

Thanks arjun, I'll look into that, but I'd be happier using an app that I'm comfortable with like Google Maps or Apple Maps.

If anyone has used these abroad and can comment on their data usage I'd be much obliged.

BJ

javabytes

I've used Google Maps on my iPad with the 120MB packages and it has served me for well over a week's worth of usage on 3 trips now. I -only- use cellular data for navigation. Everything else waits until I'm on wi-fi. The key is making sure Google Maps is using the plain old map view and not satellite (downloading those satellite images will chew through your data), but more importantly, ensuring all your other applications are shut off from using cellular data. Mail, etc.

Once you have your route loaded and start navigating, it will keep navigating even if you lose cellular coverage... so theoretically I guess you could even shut off cellular data as soon as you've got your navigation started... but I preferred to leave it active so A-GPS helps get a better lock, and the maps app can respond to any missed turns.

LIH Prem

This doesn't really answer your questions, but I tried something different in Italy ...

For my recent Rome and Amsterdam trips, I bought the new Garmin Viago app, and you can do an in-app purchase for the maps you need before you go (download them on wifi at home before you go). For Italy, I was able to download Italy and Greece, and there was some other required file for that, but not all of Europe, so the size was reasonable. it worked fine as long as it had a GPS signal. I set up some waypoints ahead of time (ie, train station, hotel, etc.)

The Viago app didn't have transit directions, but for getting from point a to b, walking or figuring out where you were it was fine. It also seemed to work fine when I used it in a taxi. Battery drain will be an issue, so bring a car charger.

In settings, make sure you only let that app use wifi for data and you'll be fine.

-David

JMN57

T-Mobile works fine in Italy/Sicily. I got my phone and my wife's tablet on TMO for a trip we did last November/December (Chile & Sicily). I didn't want to have to deal with local SIMs in both places so we with TMO. Worked fine both places. Data speeds, as you know, are slow but perfectly usable for e-mail and Google Maps/Nav.

Alternatively, if you don't mind the overhead, getting a local SIM in Italy is a reasonably low cost option. Pre-paid plans are not expensive and you can choose from Vodafone, TIM and Wind. Lately, I've been getting Vodafone but some recent postings might get me to try TIM. Once you get them setup, they work fine but getting things working can be a hassle.

dtsm

In Bkk and HK, I have occasionally used Waze on TMO with good success. Waze doesn't eat data just battery life so make sure to have charger or spare battery pack

Need

Unless something has been changed recently, Google Map offline does NOT support navigation. You can save a piece of the map, but only to look at afterward. You cannot search for things or navigate. You pretty much just use it like a paper map. I have use it before (actually in Italy too) to walk around town.

boltjames

I am doing an A/B test between Apple Maps and Google Maps today.

(Apple Maps) To work: 28 miles, 40 minutes, used 3.6 MB

Will be using Google Maps on the way home, will report back.

BJ

roastpuff

I know that for Android there are several navigation programs that store maps inside the phone or tablet. Does Apple not have anything like it? The maps are stored internally, and it does not use any cellular data. It turns your phone into a Garmin GPS almost.

The one I use is CoPilot.

wco81

First of all you'll probably find that Google Maps will find a lot more points of interests -- restaurants, hotels, attractions -- than Apple Maps.

Second, you need some kind of an unlocked device. It could be your iPhone, it could be a Mifi, it could be a tablet.

I've used a Mifi with my locked iPhone and a Telecom Italia SIM. A good data bundle, which you could also use at the hotel if the Wifi is poor there (which is not uncommon) would cost 30-40€.

I believe TIM has LTE in most big cities, including those in Sicily. But otherwise, their UTMS network is great too, will get you at least 5-7 Mbps.

For a trip this past May/June to the Amalfi Coast, I bought an iPad Mini Retina with LTE which supports all the LTE bands in Europe. TIM doesn't have LTE networks in the Amalfi Coast or Capri. In fact, in many coves along the coast, it doesn't even have good 3G reception but on the next turn, you get coverage back.

At the end of my trip, I saw good LTE speeds in Rome, 27/17 IIRC.

iPad Mini can also give you turn by turn, though it's a bit tougher to mount on the dash. But also the personal hotspot gets good battery life, unlike a little Mifi.

Alternately, I also had the T-Mobile Simple Choice plan, which gives unlimited data in many countries. Speed is about .1 Mbps but Maps still works, though it takes longer to load tiles of data.

wco81

Also I tried Sygic from the App. Store. It has a week free trial and costs like $30 for the Europe maps, which is cheaper than other offline GPS apps.

I used it a couple of times in Corsica before I got a local SIM and then went back to using Google Maps.

Didn't like the interface for it that much. I think the dedicated GPS apps. are going to have tough time matching the POI search of Google Maps, though their routing and lane guidance may be better.