Verizon iPhone/Navigon/GPS in Europe?

if you have a gps application that does not require a data connection the built in map application requires a data connection to view the maps along with the gps chip to show your location..

The GPS function has no need of any data connection or WiFi connection, except if there is a need to download maps. But if you have an application with which the maps are already downloaded and stored on your iPhone, then all should be OK.

tonefox wrote:
The GPS function has no need of any data connection or WiFi connection,

That's not exactly true. It's Assisted GPS, meaning that it tries to use a data connection to first connect to the GPS satellites. You may find that the GPS is unable to locate you if you are too far from your last location (say, if you last used the GPS in the US and you are now in Europe, it might not find you at first). I had problems with this when I was in Europe recently.

One possible solution to this is to go somewhere with wifi (hotel, coffee shop, etc) when you first get there, and open the maps app or your GPS app while connected to the wifi. This will make it easier to locate your position, and from then on you should be able to use the GPS without a data connection.

Message was edited by: ostiarius

If the phone's satellite info is obsolete (you have moved more than 50 miles, or it's been more than a few hours since last, used), then the phone needs an update.

It first tries to connect to an Apple server that proxies the chipmaker's assistance server, in order to get satellite status and orbit info.

If it can't do that, then it'll fall back to standalone mode, and download that information from the satellites themselves, which constantly broadcast it.

As mentioned, this could take some time, a little over ten minutes. A lot of times the iPhone goes back to sleep before it can finish. So one key is to make sure the app you're using doesn't let the phone sleep before it gets its first fix.

Is there any way to "force" the Maps App to cache maps for a local area? Let's say you are exploring a new European city with your Verizon iPhone 4 and you fired up the Maps app while connected to a WiFi hotspot in your hotel to get your current position, then browsed the maps for a while in the area you are interested in. Are these maps retained within the iPhone in any useful way OR when you go for a walk without a data connection are you out of luck?

With the Maps app included with the device, you are out of luck. It streams the map data in real time.

There are standalone apps though in the app store - some of the commercial apps (TomTom, Garmin and the like) will download the maps for the region you've purchased and have them stored on the device. Others (MotionX, for example) allow you to capture and keep streamed maps (or portions thereof) on the device for offline use.

Message was edited by: Michael Black

Thank you. That's what I expected.