Chapter 14
IN THIS CHAPTER
Deciding what you want to use for navigation
Using what’s already on your phone
Using maps safely
Having a map on your phone is a very handy tool. At the most basic level, you can ask your phone to show you a map for where you plan to go. This is convenient, but only a small part of what you can do.
With the right apps, your Galaxy S20 phone can do the following:
There are also some mapping apps for the Galaxy S20 for commercial users, such as TruckMap from TruckMap or SmartTruckRoute2 from Smart-Routing, but I don’t cover them in this book.
You can’t talk smartphone mapping without GPS in the background, which creates a few inherent challenges of which you need to be aware. First off (and obviously), there is a GPS receiver in your phone. That means the following:
The kind of mapping app that’s easiest to understand is one that presents a local map when you open the app. Depending on the model of your phone, you may have a mapping apps preloaded, such as Google Maps, TeleNav, or VZ Navigator. You can find them on your Home screen and in your Application list.
It’s not a large leap for a smartphone to offer directions from your GPS-derived location to somewhere you want to go in the local area. These are standard capabilities found in each of these apps.
In addition to the general-purpose mapping apps that come on your phone, hundreds of available mapping apps can help you find a favorite store, navigate waterways, or find your car in a crowded parking lot. For more, see the section, “Upgrading Your Navigation,” at the end of this chapter.
The most basic way to use a map is to bring up the Google Maps app. The icon for launching this app is shown here.
The first screen that you see when you tap the Google Maps icon is a street map with your location. Figure 14-1 shows an example of a map when the phone user is in the Seattle area.
Your location is the blue dot at the center of the map — unless you’re moving, at which point it becomes a blue arrow. The resolution of the map in the figure starts at about one square mile. You can see other parts of the map by placing a finger on the map and dragging away from the part of the map that you want to see. That brings new sections of the map onto the screen.
A resolution of one square mile will work, under some circumstances, to help you get oriented in an unfamiliar place. But sometimes it helps to zoom out to get a broader perspective or zoom in to find familiar landmarks, like a body of water or a major highway.
To get more real estate onto the screen, use the pinch motion I discuss in Chapter 2. This shrinks the size of the map and brings in more of the map around where you’re pinching. If you need more real estate on the screen, you can keep pinching until you get more and more map. After you have your bearings, you can return to the original resolution by double-tapping the screen.
On the other hand, a scale of one square mile may not be enough. To see more landmarks, use the stretch motion to zoom in. The stretch motion expands the boundaries of the place where you start the screen. Continue stretching and stretching until you get the detail that you want. Figure 14-2 shows a street map both zoomed in and zoomed out. The map on the left is zoomed in in Satellite view. The map on the right is zoomed out in Terrain view.
The app gives you the choice of Satellite view or Terrain view by tapping the menu button, the circle with the initial of your first name, on the top-right corner of the map. This brings up a pop-up menu similar to the one shown in Figure 14-3.
To enable the Satellite view, first tap Settings. The Settings options are shows in Figure 14-4.
You enable this view by tapping the Satellite toggle switch. You can select a number of options that are useful to you, including transit routes and bicycling paths. I show you some of the other options in the next section in this chapter.
Most searches for services fall into a relatively few categories. Your Maps app is set up to find what you’re most likely to seek. By tapping the Local Services icon at the bottom of the page (refer to Figure 14-1), you’re offered a quick way to find the services near you, such as restaurants, coffee shops, bars, hotels, attractions, ATMs, and gas stations, as shown in Figure 14-5.
Not only that, it is aware of the time of day. There are different suggestions during breakfast time than in the evening. Just scroll down and tap one of the topical icons, and your phone performs a search of businesses in your immediate area. The results come back as a regular Google search with names, addresses, and distances from your location. An example is shown in Figure 14-6.
In addition to the location and reviews, the search results include icons and other relevant information:
More options, which include
But let’s say you show up, and the line is out the door. It happens. All you need to do is tap the street address, and the local map will appear, as shown in Figure 14-7. This map tells you all the locations around you so you can find another option.
You probably want to get directions from your map app. I know I do. You can get directions in a number of ways, including:
Any of these methods lead you to the map showing your location.
To get directions, tap the Directions icon. This brings up the pop-up screen shown in Figure 14-8.
This gives you the options of
For each of these options, you can use the options at the bottom of the screen to
The good news is that free navigation apps like Google Maps Navigation have real-time updates that avoid taking you on congested routes. This is very handy, particularly in urban areas. Companies that are offering navigation are adding new features all the time.
The next leap you will see has to do with augmented reality.
As you can see in Figure 14-10, the 3D map with a virtual compass gives you context and additional information, which can give you an extra level of confidence. This app, AR GPS Compass Map 3D from CodeKonditor, is a nice example of what you can expect.
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