gps for iphone

[grounded flyboy]

A few weeks ago there was a thread about gps apps different members were pleased with. I finally broke down and got a new phone. I have searched every logical word I can think of to bring up that previous discussion... but no luck.

Can anyone give me some help... thanks.

 

[TraneMan]

I'd like to know too since I have the iPhone as well. I am sure goggle map will work just fine?

 

[AmtrakBlue]

GPS Thread

It was easy for me to find...I started it and so I just looked up my threads.

It was suggested in that thread that a Pinned Thread for GPS be started because you can't search for GPS.

 

[john h]

GPS Thread

It was easy for me to find...I started it and so I just looked up my threads.

It was suggested in that thread that a Pinned Thread for GPS be started because you can't search for GPS.

You can search for GPS on google though like in search box put: site:amtraktrains.com gps iphone

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Next time you're looking for something the forum can't find you may want to use Google instead.

For instance, I entered the following into a Google search box exactly as shown.

site:discuss.amtraktrains.com gps phone 2011

And I received this list in return.

Google can be pretty nifty if you know a trick or two. ^_^

------------

Edited to add: Scooped again?! Wow, I am a slow typist!

 

[the_traveler]

To answer the OP directly, I have Motion X GPS on my iPhone. There is a free version and a paid version. I have the paid version.

This app does many things, besides showing your speed and following the tracks. It also shows your direction (on the compass in degrees), average speed, elevation, change in elevation, grade of travel, distance traveled, max speed, and much more. It also allows you to save your tracks for later. I am very happy with it!

If you purchase it, or anything from iTunes, remember to purchase it via AGR's Points for Shopping (under "Music"). You can then download it to your computer, earn 4 AGR points per $ - and then download it (again) on your iPhone for free!

 

[AmtrakBlue]

Dang, I didn't look under Music for iTunes. :angry2: I've ordered a few apps already for my iPod Touch, but didn't use AGR because under Electronics/Apple Store the "terms & conditions" stated that you couldn't use it for purchases through iTunes.

 

[the_traveler]

I don't like how the new Points for Shopping is set up.

You have to guess what category _____ is under. And "Apple" and "iTunes" under the "Music" category are both listed not in alphabetical order.

At least on some sites, you can type "Best Buy" or "iTunes" or "Sears", and have it come up. (On the old Points for Shopping site you could, but not on the new and improved site!

) You need to guess where to find "Sears" - and it can be under 2 or 3 different categories!

 

[grounded flyboy]

I read the description about all of the nav apps and was leaning toward Motion X so I'm glad other members like it. Thanks 'traveler' for the path to AGR points... I would have never given it a thought to grab some points for this purchase.

 

[afigg]

For an iPhone or 3G iPad, go to the App Store -> Navigation category. I've downloaded and used both MotionX GPS Drive and MotionX GPS. Both will provide your speed. The Drive version is aimed, as one would expect, at providing driving directions and tracking. They are ok applications, but don't provide, for example, speed information on the display map. Personally, I think the primary display map interface could be improved with more user options, but that is quibbling given the prices for the apps. A dedicated car or portable GPS device from Garmin or Tom-Tom will work better, but it is another device to carry around and keep charged.

I took the Acela earlier this month from WAS to BOS with a 3G iPad with me. And an iPhone, but I did not run the GPS app on it very much. It was fun to see where we were and the wide range of speeds going through CT and then hit the high speed parts in RI and MA. Got up to 148 to 149 mph for a decent stretch.

 

[PerRock]

Anyone have any suggestions for a related program for an Android? Motion X GPS isn't available for Android phones.

peter

 

[TraneMan]

To answer the OP directly, I have Motion X GPS on my iPhone. There is a free version and a paid version. I have the paid version.

This app does many things, besides showing your speed and following the tracks. It also shows your direction (on the compass in degrees), average speed, elevation, change in elevation, grade of travel, distance traveled, max speed, and much more. It also allows you to save your tracks for later. I am very happy with it!

If you purchase it, or anything from iTunes, remember to purchase it via AGR's Points for Shopping (under "Music"). You can then download it to your computer, earn 4 AGR points per $ - and then download it (again) on your iPhone for free!

Does this eat up the data plan? I am on the lowest price point of data since I use the wifi 90% of the time. I don't want to run over on my data when I use this in July for our trip.

 

[the_traveler]

Does this eat up the data plan? I am on the lowest price point of data since I use the wifi 90% of the time. I don't want to run over on my data when I use this in July for our trip.

I could be wrong (not likely

), but I don't think it uses ANY of your data plan! It gets it's signal (I believe) from the GPS satellites, not from cell towers!

 

[afigg]

I could be wrong (not likely

), but I don't think it uses ANY of your data plan! It gets it's signal (I believe) from the GPS satellites, not from cell towers!

The GPS signal is of course free (well, courtesy of the US taxpayers). But if the GPS app is downloading map data as you go, that will come out of the data plan. I've have not noticed that the iPad or MotionX map data ever taking up a lot of the allotment when I was running it, but I generally set the map to road map mode. Satellite or terrain maps take more data. The map update often doesn't work that well on a Regional or Acela because at 125 mph or higher, it often can't keep up if zoomed in. I've found zooming out to get a 1 time update of a larger area at lower resolution and then update when the icon moves off of the map can work.

 

[grounded flyboy]

The advice from the store where I got the phone was to always download to itunes on the computer (especially big stuff like movies and albums) and then dump to the phone and you won't use any data. Updates take a very small bite out of the apple.

 

[AlanB]

With the MotionX ap, if you download the maps ahead of time while at home using your Wi-Fi, then you won't use any data while traveling on Amtrak. If you don't download the maps ahead of time, or stray off the actual route while downloading the maps, then you'll use up data while traveling.

Note: It can take some time to download all the maps for a long route. I've just spent the better part of two weeks downloading maps for the Crescent between DC & NOL. Now I'm grabbing maps down to a fine detail, as in I'm downloading zoom levels from 11 to 16 inclusive. If you don't want as much flexibility to zoom in and out, you can minimize the size of the downloads and the time it takes to get them.

I also recommend doing things in small bites. Don't try to get the entire route all at once. In fact, I'm going pretty much station by station. If two stations are really close I might do 3 stations in one download.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

With the MotionX ap, if you download the maps ahead of time while at home using your Wi-Fi, then you won't use any data while traveling on Amtrak. If you don't download the maps ahead of time, or stray off the actual route while downloading the maps, then you'll use up data while traveling.

Note: It can take some time to download all the maps for a long route. I've just spent the better part of two weeks downloading maps for the Crescent between DC & NOL. Now I'm grabbing maps down to a fine detail, as in I'm downloading zoom levels from 11 to 16 inclusive. If you don't want as much flexibility to zoom in and out, you can minimize the size of the downloads and the time it takes to get them.

I also recommend doing things in small bites. Don't try to get the entire route all at once. In fact, I'm going pretty much station by station. If two stations are really close I might do 3 stations in one download.

This is what I'm going to need to do for my WIL to WAS to CHI to PRO trip in November as I'm using an iPod Touch instead of the phone. It may take me that long to learn the best settings for download and then to do the downloads. :giggle:

 

[AlanB]

This is what I'm going to need to do for my WIL to WAS to CHI to PRO trip in November as I'm using an iPod Touch instead of the phone. It may take me that long to learn the best settings for download and then to do the downloads. :giggle:

While everyone has their preferences, as I noted I like 11 to 16. 16 let's me see individual streets and really follow the tracks to the point where I can see upcoming branches and stuff, while zooming out to 11 gives me a picture that encompasses a considerable area. For example, at 11, I can just about fit the entire city of Atlanta on my phone.

Now in my case, should I actually want to zoom out even more, I can easily afford the tiny of bit of data that would represent on my plan. Obviously in your case that is not an option. Experiment with things a bit by just looking at the base map for your area and zoom in and out using the + & - to get a feel for what they show, and then decide what you think you want to be able to see. Keep in mind that each magnification level adds more "tiles" as they call them, which increases the size of the file being downloaded. That's why I chose 11 - 16 as it gave me most of what I like, without creating huge files. This is not to say that I don't have some large files either. For example I'm even as I write this downloading Greenwood, MS to Memphis, TN on the City's route. That file is currently predicted to be almost 150 MB.

All totaled I'm guessing that I'll probably have almost a Gigabytes worth of maps on my phone by the time I get done downloading for my upcoming trip on the Crescent, City, and Lake Shore.

 

[grounded flyboy]

The midwest has a geographical double points deal going on selected routes for June & July. Next week I'm doing an out and back points run STL -- KC on the Missouri River Runner (provided the river hasn't covered the tracks that far south) so I wanted the Motion X on my phone by then... my plan was to put in those two waypoints and roll along. I can see where it is really worth the effort to put each station in as a way point. Thanks, Alan, for the timely info and ruining my Saturday! Supposed to be raining in IL all weekend anyway so I can do something productive.

 

[AlanB]

Actually a waypoint is not the same thing as downloading a map ahead of time.

Waypoints will stil work even if you're downloading the maps as you go along.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Here's my advice. If you're on an iPhone with AT&T or Verizon's limited data plans then you might want to choose a stand-alone mapping program instead. Something like Tom-Tom or Navigon. They don't require a data connection at all as they come with all the mapping data they need to function already installed. Well, unless you're trying to see traffic and weather patterns or the like. As for me when I first left AT&T I unlocked my iPhone and joined T-Mobile instead. The phone potion worked much better than with AT&T (no dropped calls and much quicker connections) but the data connection was stuck on EDGE (2G) due to differences in frequency allocation. It worked fine once it was up and running but took a little while to get enough initial data when I first brought up a streaming map program like Google Maps. Then I switched to an Android phone on Sprint's unlimited 4G network and I had finally hit the sweet spot. It took a little while to get familiar with the Android way of doing things. It's more like how Windows works than how OSX works, but it does basically the same things. You get all the data you could ever want to download anything you desire at good speeds. Maps, movies, television, full system updates, whatever. No need to ever think twice about what network you're on as they're all unlimited. However, if you're on a long distance train in the middle of nowhere (I'm looking at you Sunset Limited) then you're still out of luck when it comes to data. Unlimited plan or not you still need towers nearby. When you're following I-10 you're golden, but when you're following 90 or something you're pretty much screwed no matter who you're with. And thanks to my employer I've tried them all. Anyway, the mapping progam I've been using recently is My Tracks by Google. It's simple to use and displays several measurements that are still missing from their maps program. You can also save your maps and share them with others if you want to. Maybe we can get some folks to install My Tracks and each save a given train's route on our next journey. Then maybe we'd have track-level coordinates of where exactly each train goes.

 

[GPSTraveler]

Hello all,

I would like to wholeheartedly recommend GPS ESSENTIALS for the android. I recently used it during my trip on the City of New Orleans, Capital Limited, and Lake Shore Limited. It uses Google maps, but lets you preload waypoints in KML (Google earth) format. I actually saved 3 files inside my phone before departing - Amtrak station, Chicago, and New Orleans. While you are on the move, you can add or delete waypoints and reload from another file, as many times as you like. You can compare your current location to a target location by clicking on a waypoint. It then draws a pink like with the distance inside of the line (2.4 miles, etc). Underneath the map, I have speed, distance to target, and estimated time of arrival (you can show or remove any other distance info you want). Most importantly, this is not car navigation software... This is walking GPS software, so it does not follow tracks or roads. But I have found that the walking GPS style software (like Garmin Etrex display) is the absolute best for the train.

Before hand, I created waypoints using Garmin Mapsource on the PC. I made sure I had the exact location of all amtrak stations, making corrections from the amtrak website and google earth.

Since the exact location of all amtrak stations are now programmed in, you can then determine the exact moment you are arriving at a station. I knew within 200 yards, exactly when we were arriving at each Amtrak station. There was no need to standup too early before any of my final destinations.

GPS essentials even predicted our arrival into New Orleans Union station during a bustitution from Memphis within 10 minutes (reading taken around Jackson, MS). And remember this is not routing software, just point to point. You can clearly see that unless you are actually driving, the turn by turn street routing software is NOT the way to go on the train.

GPS essentials makes my old Garmin Etrex interface look absolutely prehistoric. For the train, GPS essentials is the way to go!

I would also like to add that The Trails and Rails volunteers liked GPS essentials very much in the CONO lounge car. They asked me for many updates during our time in Mississippi.

You can see what it looks like here -> Article about GPS Essentials with Photo

 

[Devil's Advocate]

GPSTraveler,

Does GPS Essentials allow you to save accurate maps of where you have been and the speed you were going at the time? Since Android can multi-task I suppose I could just have My Tracks recording coordinates in the background but if GPS Essentials can do as good a job it would be nicer (and easier on the battery) to just have one program running.

 

[GPSTraveler]

I just checked the GPS Ess app. There is an icon called "TRACKS" that allows this. It has a simple start stop and resume button. It shows start time, end time, duration, lowest altitude, highest altitude, gain, TOP SPEED, and AVERAGE SPEED.