Is Anybody Here Using An Old Smartphone Like A Traditional GPS On The Dash?

 

As posted above, I am just wondering if anybody here is using an old smartphone or tablet and just leaving it in a mount on their dash for GPS only purposes? Obviously, I could do that with my current smartphone, but I really like having the ability to see the screen continuously while driving and navigating. If my main phone receives a call, and I answer it, I can no longer see the screen.

What recent smartphones have car mounts that are as secure as a Garmin mount? With Google Maps, as long as the phone has wifi, or the maps are loaded onto the device, I should be good to go, right?

Smartphone GPS

I have off lines maps on my phone. On short trips ,or if something comes up while out on the road. Reach under the seat and pull out the smartphone mount.Works well for me using Here Maps.

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Charlie. Nuvi 265 WT and Nuvi 2597 LMT. MapFactor Navigator - Offline Maps & GPS.

not me but ...

There are a lot of universal phone mounts out there that work very well. I used one in a friends truck, when my truck was down, and it held my Nuvi 2460 without a problem, I'm sure it would work nicely for a phone.

https://tinyurl.com/y8fd5m9p

As far as your last paragraph, the phone would need to maps loaded onto the phone, a cellular signal, or a GPS signal. Pretty sure a wifi signal in a moving vehicle wouldn't be possible unless the car itself had some kind of wifi signal.

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. 2 Garmin DriveSmart 61 LMT-S, Nuvi 2689, 2 Nuvi 2460, Zumo 550, Zumo 450, Uniden R3 radar detector with GPS built in, includes RLC info. Uconnect 430N Garmin based, built into my Jeep. .

iPhone 5S

I used my old iPhone 5S as a GPS with HERE maps for a while after getting a new XS. I made a mount for it using the belt clip that came with the 5S Otterbox case. I screwed a 1" RAM ball to the back and used it with the RAM mounting system I have in all my vehicles.

I found the 5S screen was too small and difficult to read on the dash. It was also tough to operate the touch screen accurately. I quickly went back to my Garmins.

yes

bdhsfz6 wrote:

I used my old iPhone 5S as a GPS with HERE maps for a while after getting a new XS. I made a mount for it using the belt clip that came with the 5S Otterbox case. I screwed a 1" RAM ball to the back and used it with the RAM mounting system I have in all my vehicles.

I found the 5S screen was too small and difficult to read on the dash. It was also tough to operate the touch screen accurately. I quickly went back to my Garmins.

Did something similar, I got the Xs on the deal before Thanksgiving, so I didn't trust iOS having never used an Apple product. I had a free hotspot on loan for a month, so I actually used my S8 as a GPS with the hotspot. Once I had to give the hotspot back, I used the Xs to provide 4G for the S8, and continued to use it. But I stopped and now use the Xs.

iOS can you imagine you cannot adjust the volume except when the nav launches? There's no way developers would do that, unless their hands are tied. Android you can adjust the volume at any time and by touch.

There is simply too much time savings using waze or google over garmin, to use the garmin.

In what IOS app are you not

In what IOS app are you not able to control the volume? I have not found any on my phones over the last 5 years.

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Frank DriveSmart55 37.322760, -79.511267

iPad Mini would work too

I always thought an iPad Mini would be great for this. Nice size screen, not super expensive, and great choice of apps - online or even offline if downloaded in advance on WIFI.

Is Anybody Here Using An Old Smartphone Like A Traditional GPS

ptownoddy wrote:

I always thought an iPad Mini would be great for this. Nice size screen, not super expensive, and great choice of apps - online or even offline if downloaded in advance on WIFI.

If I recall correctly, only the cellular version of the Apple iPad Mini has a GPS receiver aboard.

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Don't use an old phone as gps but half the time I have my iPhone running Google maps on the dash right beside my Garmin. On my newer Garmin, I'm not very happy with the traffic. I find Google more accurate. So Garmin for directions and Google for traffic.

that is a definite yes. No

that is a definite yes. No GPS on ipads w/o a phone.
Kindles also
other tablets as well.

Apple Maps smart phone app turn onto an imaginary entrance ramp

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Nuvi 2460LMT

Off line maps.

No problem to take a android tablet and use it like a GPS. No phone needed. Just download offline maps like Here Maps and you are good to go. No data required.

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Charlie. Nuvi 265 WT and Nuvi 2597 LMT. MapFactor Navigator - Offline Maps & GPS.