Do a lot of you use your cell phone as a GPS? I know that using the GPS on your phone runs your battery down faster so generally you need to have it plugged into power at all times. Just wondering if this is hard on your cell phone battery since your battery is constantly charging and screen is lit up at all times. Second question for those of you that have iPhones. Do you prefer Apple maps or google maps.

I try not to leave my phone plugged in "all the time" - this is the #1 killer of cell phones. Doesn't matter how smart the phone, battery, charger, etc is, charging it all the time shortens the batteries life. Charging it to 100% drastically shortens the life. But that's a different subject.I use a stand alone GPS as my always on GPS, but I use my phone to navigate to "places". The phone has a much larger and up to date database of places. So I want to find an oil change, or a certain restaurant, or whatever, I ask Google for directions. My phone is fairly new and can run the screen for hours before the battery becomes an issue, so if I need to see the map, I just leave it on. Most of the time the turn by turn audio prompts are enough.When I drive from one city to another, across 100s of miles, I use the stand alone GPS.The stand alone gps has a battery in it too, but I don't care about that battery. the stand alone gps is usually turned on when a trip starts and left on until the trip ends.just my opinions

If I use my phone for a GPS the screen will turn off and the Google lady will still tell me when to turn.

GordonThree wrote:I try not to leave my phone plugged in "all the time" - this is the #1 killer of cell phones. just my opinionsAnd in my opinion, totally worthless.I bet you can't provide a respected source that backs up that outrageous claim.There is a LOT of bad advice in that post.YES, use your phone as a GPS and leave it plugged in during the few hours which that might take.....and do not worry one tiny second about ruining anything.A really LOT of people do it every day and phones are not dying in masses.

You may find yourself where there is no cell coverage but there's always GPS satelite coverage.

I use it now and then locally, but for anything longer I still use a stand-alone GPS. I don't like the battery drain or constant recharging required to use it as a GPS in the daily drivers (which is why we bought them both with integrated GPS), and I don't trust cell networks enough for it to be my only navigation when towing the travel trailer. I need to upgrade the GPS I use for our tow vehicle, but I would do that before I'd rely on cell.

Using Cell Phone As Your GPS | Good Sam Community

drsteve
Explorer
Feb 07, 2019
Lantley wrote:
drsteve wrote:
K Charles wrote:
If I use my phone for a GPS the screen will turn off and the Google lady will still tell me when to turn.

Beware the Google Lady. She has led us into some rather odd places, especially if she thinks there's a tenth of a mile to be saved.

That is my problem with Google, sometimes in an effort to find a shorter route, I get led down a questionable road.
TYpically not a big deal until you're towing a 40', 5'er

Last summer DW and I were camping in a state park on Lake Michigan, and we decided to go explore the adjacent National Forest. We went looking for a NPS campground, and the Google Lady had us leave the paved road and go down a dirt road... that got narrower and narrower... then became a two track... then became a sandy ORV trail. I was lucky to find a place to turn around.

Had we stayed on the paved road the campground was only a couple miles away...
Mickeyfan0805
Explorer
Feb 07, 2019
drsteve wrote:

Last summer DW and I were camping in a state park on Lake Michigan, and we decided to go explore the adjacent National Forest. We went looking for a NPS campground, and the Google Lady had us leave the paved road and go down a dirt road... that got narrower and narrower... then became a two track... then became a sandy ORV trail. I was lucky to find a place to turn around.

Had we stayed on the paved road the campground was only a couple miles away...

This is why, anymore, I actually pre-review maps and plan routes for any travels outside of my areas of familiarity. We were once routed onto the side-streets of Boston, spending 30 minutes going from street light to street light, in order to cut a few miles off the highway route. I know most systems can be configured to try to avoid this stuff, but I don't trust it when I'm towing. I pre-determine any route I'm taking long distance and then use the GPS/phone nave systems locally from destination to destination.
Mickeyfan0805
Explorer
Feb 07, 2019
GordonThree wrote:

Easy to find on Google.

I'm not going to get into the argument, as it is a place I've only ever 'heard' that certain things were true and untrue. That said, I wouldn't ever start an argument with 'easy to find on Google.' There's a lot that's easy to find on Google, and most of it is profoundly false!
GordonThree
Explorer
Feb 07, 2019
I'm not looking to argue either, but also not do another's leg work. Just saying there's plenty of scholarly articles available on the subject.
AsheGuy
Explorer
Feb 07, 2019
GordonThree wrote:
Easy to find on Google. Micro-cycling is one side affect, and other is driving "whiskers" deeper into the electrode structures, making them less likely to dissolve in future recharge cycles.

LI batteries are continually evolving as are the electronics that manage them. So it is good to check the date of articles that attempt to describe how to manage your LI battery. Here are a couple of recent articles that seem to discount your claim:

How to prolong lithium based batteries

How to Calibrate a “Smart” Battery

Smart LI batteries and smart devices do not require the same discharging cycles that older batteries do.
2oldman
Explorer II
Feb 07, 2019
Mickeyfan0805 wrote:
d, I wouldn't ever start an argument with 'easy to find on Google.' There's a lot that's easy to find on Google, and most of it is profoundly false!
Hmmm.. maybe I should google "google is mostly wrong".
Lantley
Nomad
Feb 07, 2019
Mickeyfan0805 wrote:
drsteve wrote:

Last summer DW and I were camping in a state park on Lake Michigan, and we decided to go explore the adjacent National Forest. We went looking for a NPS campground, and the Google Lady had us leave the paved road and go down a dirt road... that got narrower and narrower... then became a two track... then became a sandy ORV trail. I was lucky to find a place to turn around.

Had we stayed on the paved road the campground was only a couple miles away...

This is why, anymore, I actually pre-review maps and plan routes for any travels outside of my areas of familiarity. We were once routed onto the side-streets of Boston, spending 30 minutes going from street light to street light, in order to cut a few miles off the highway route. I know most systems can be configured to try to avoid this stuff, but I don't trust it when I'm towing. I pre-determine any route I'm taking long distance and then use the GPS/phone nave systems locally from destination to destination.

Ultimately this is why I prefer the Built in GPS when towing. In general its routing is not quite as aggressive as using my Apps.
Again no GPS is foolproof, but the Garmin keeps me on the larger main roads and is less likely to short cut me through a neighborhood or down a dirt road.
lryrob9301
Explorer
Feb 07, 2019
I no longer use a GPS but use the Co-Pilot app on my android tablet that has a GPS sensor built in. With Co-Pilot you can configure your vehicle size and it will keep you out of trouble.
parker_rowe
Explorer
Feb 07, 2019
Actually, the GPS (in my iPhone at least) continues to work fine even if you don't have cell service or data.

I've just started using Waze, but Google Maps can download the route so it can continue to guide you even after cell service drops. If you try to re-route in a no service area though, good luck!

I've never owned a standalone GPS, although our Caravan does have a built in one. It is nice other than being slightly out of date and a PITA to update the maps.
zigzagrv
Explorer
Feb 07, 2019
lryrob9301 wrote:
I no longer use a GPS but use the Co-Pilot app on my android tablet that has a GPS sensor built in. With Co-Pilot you can configure your vehicle size and it will keep you out of trouble.

THIS ^^^