Originally Posted by
no1mad
I could be wrong here, but...
-While you may be able to cache GMaps (offline mode), I don't think that the phone will track you unless you have access to the network.
-You will also be draining the battery while tracking your route, assuming you manage to do that without a data plan in the first place.
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AFAIK, phones don't really have true GPS. The ones that feature Navigation do so using triangulation of your position in relation to the cell towers.
You might be better off with using a tablet to cache your maps on and make then consult that from time to time. At least if you find a WiFi access point, you should be able to figure out where you're at by doing a search of the establishment that you're at.
No, most Android phones do have real GPS, and you don't need data for that to work. There is a "GPS Test" app in the market that shows you the number of satellites in view as well as the signal strength. Using GPS does run down the battery however.
The phones do have the ability to try and triangulate using nearest tower information as well - that's entirely different. But the phone can get an approximate fix fairly quickly using this method.
I should add that the GPS does a mediocre job of getting the elevation. I was using my phone on an out-and-back ride, and I was surprised to see the difference in elevation for the two legs of the trip. My understanding is that a good dedicated GPS unit has a barometric pressure sensor built in which allows for much more accurate elevation measurements. Phones don't seem to have this capability.
I used to travel to Canada for business, and when I was up there I had no data service (I turned off data roaming to avoid expensive roaming fees). When I was leaving the office, I would pull up the maps app, tell it to navigate back to the airport, and get the directions (all via WiFi). It did a fairly decent job of giving me directions on the way home, with no data service. At least until my wife called me on the phone, and it forgot the directions that I had downloaded.
I have an old Android phone upstairs - let me try and charge it up and see what if anything I can do with it with no SIM card in the thing.