How to use our tablets with GPS as a tablet GPS without data connection or mobile network

Quite a few our tablets has built-in GPS (You can find them in “Products/Shop”->” Tablets with GPS ” Section. For example, even you  cannot use PhonePad Gen 3 as a phone (the phone function works in all other countries except US), you can the tablet as a GPS. The GPS in those tablets are standalone GPS, not like the GPS used in iPhones that requires mobile network. You can use it as a standard alone GPS without any mobile or data network. The key is to download the maps first.

There are many free GPS applications in Google Play . Many of them are kind of working, but poor quality. We recommend the following three GPS apps for Android. They are fully function GPS with paid app quality.

Google Maps

Google Maps has built-in support for offline maps and it’s pre-installed in all of our tablets with GPS , including uPlay PhonePad Gen 3. This feature lets you download a map area to your Android, so you can view it without a data connection. This was previously a labs feature with a variety of bugs, but it’s now solid and stable.
However, there’s one significant limitation: Only map tiles are downloaded. You can’t search for points of interest or get navigation directions offline.

To download a map area for offline use, launch Google Maps, tap the menu button, and select Make available offline.

Zoom and pan around the map with your fingers until the map area you want to use offline is within the square. When it is, tap Done.

Google Maps will download the map area for offline use. You can view your offline maps by opening the My Places screen and swiping to the Offline category.

While offline, you can open Google Maps and use your GPS to see where you are, including a detailed map of nearby streets and some landmarks. While you can’t get directions while offline, you can ask for directions while you’re online and then go offline, using the directions to get where you’re going without a data connection.

Navfree

Navfree is a free offline GPS app that depends on OpenStreetMap data. It offers turn-by-turn directions, offline point-of-interest search, and spoken directions.

Its main screen looks very similar to a dedicated GPS unit. Some of the features, like the Google Search feature, require a data connection, but the basic map-viewing, navigation and point-of-interest features don’t.

OsmAnd

OsmAnd is a full GPS application that offers turn-by-turn directions and an offline point-of-interest database. It also has other features that you might be accustomed to from GPS devices, including spoken directions.

OsmAnd uses OpenStreetMap data. You’ll need to download map files to your device when you first use the app. The free version allows you to download ten map files for free, which should be more than enough for most people.

OsmAnd allows you to navigate to locations by address or by searching a point-of-interest database. It will also speak turn-by-turn directions to you so you can follow them while driving, just as you could with a dedicated GPS unit. OsmAnd isn’t just for driving, but also offers walking, biking, and some public transit directions.

Both OsmAnd and Navfree are solid, well-put-together, and full- featured apps. They use the same map data, so which app you prefer will depend on which interface you like best.