Testing how much data Google Maps uses...

I would be careful to make sure you shut Google Maps down after you use it, lest it suck up a lot more bandwidth tracking your every move even when you are not using it. It also uses battery power, of course, if still running in the background.

For folks who don't know about it, apps remain running in the background at all times, unless you shut them down. Here's how you do that on iOS 7 and later: while on the home screen, press the home button twice. A parade of currently running apps will appear. Shut down apps you aren't actually using by flicking them upward so they disappear from the parade. When you want to run one of them, launching it as usual will bring it right up with perhaps a half-second more delay than usual.

Apps that constantly ping both your bandwidth and your battery, such as maps, Siri, email, and many others, as well as any app you use rarely, are best left in shut-down state.

Thank you for the detail on this. I love Google maps when we are travelling but have resisted using it for fear of using bytes. I suppose we probably should turn the "photo view" off though.

I probably won't replace it when it dies but my stand alone GPS has real time traffic also (no cell data used).

Hi,

On my home computer, I used to be able to look up the Mb/s and total data transmitted and received while using the Wi-Fi. There is a screen that can look up this data real time.

Because you probably have a limit while on the road, I would be 'careful' not to exceed the data usage while using the phone as GPS. I have noticed while on my home computer, the maps tend to take up a lot of memory, and time to download things, especially if I am using google earth and looking at the homes on the ground.

I have real time traffic on my Garmin GPS, it has lifetime maps, and lifetime traffic. I bought it at Wal Mart for something like $150, but because I ordered it online, they offered me a credit card, with a $30 off coupon for my first purchase! It has a 6" screen, anything larger might get in the way of seeing out the windshield of my car. I really wish that the mount would go someplace other than the windshield, like on the dash somehow.

I can also look up nearby gas stations, places to eat, stores, and other places.

Recently I was able to look up a ATT store, Petco, Safeway, Carl's Jr, Jack in the Box. (just thinking of what I looked up recently). I have Home Depot and Costco programmed in as favorites. They seem to list thousands of local places in their directory. Sure 'google' in your phone is more up to date, but this works just as well for any store that has been around for more than 1 year.

Good luck,

Fred.