Android Apps
50 Best Android Apps: GPS and Location Apps [#16 - 24]
September 1, 2009 | by Andrew Kameka
Travel
![50 Best Android Apps: GPS and Location Apps [#16 - 24]](http://androinica.com/wp-content/themes/androi/thumb.php?src=/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/aa_nominees.png&w=235&h=235&zc=1&q=91)
UPDATE: This is an old list. Please read our more current and updated top apps list, available here
Top 60 Apps List
Writing a Best Android Apps list is never an easy job. Android inspires passionate fans who believe their favorite app should be named, so no list will please everyone. Though voters selected their favorites in the Android Network Awards, these are my picks for some of the best Android apps. The apps are listed according to category, not merit.
[#1 - 15] Lifestyle and Productivity Apps
[#16 - 24] GPS and Location Apps
[#25-39] Media and Entertainment Apps
[#40-50] Tools and Utility Apps
Barcode Scanner [#1]
The first app to get is Barcode Scanner, which allows users to scan QR codes – the squares with dots and black lines – and get information. QR codes load contacts, messages, or sends users to a link. For instance, each QR code scanned in this post leads to the app listing in the Android Market.
The Best GPS and Location Apps [#16 -24]
Augmented Reality, GPS Instructions, Restaurant and Location Finders
Layar
Layar is a “reality browser” that uses an Android phone’s camera, compass, and GPS position to add real-time information about surroundings. Walk down a city street and point your camera to get additional info from real estate listings, bars, restaurants, and much more. You can even get live updates from Twitter or Brightkite. Layar is an augmented reality app that adds a digital context to your world.
Wikitude
Though Layar introduced itself as the first Augmented Reality app, it was actually Wikitude that introduced Android to information layered over a camera image. Wikitude uses GPS and your camera to look at your surroundings and provide information on the area or items of interest. Take this to a place you’ve never explored and let Wikitude find a Wikipedia article to provide information and context of what you see.
Brightkite
Brightkite is a location sharing/tracking service that lets members know where their friends are and share photos or notes about locations with others in an area. Members can post photos or comments about their location or activities and discover new people who use this niche website, ranging from within a few feet to an entire region. Any Brightkite member should grab this official app that looks great and feels better.
Zagat nru
Hungry or bored in an unfamiliar area? Fire up NRU and use its compass to locate restaurants, bars, attractions, and shopping centers in your immediate area. As users face a new direction or move, NRU updates as a compass for food and entertainment. The work of Zagat and LastMinute.com, it takes advantage of the 40,0000 locations, ratings, and professional reviews available to Zagat. It also provides some great links to nightlife and commercial centers. Possible Alternative: Rah Restaurant Guide
CoPilotLive
CoPilot Live is a great tool to have as your right hand man thanks to the voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation. CoPilot turns your phone into a GPS unit with voice instructions and directions in several map modes, a large POI’s database (gas, restaurant, attractions, etc.), favorite locations storage, and even the ability to redirect to the location where you took photos. If you need help getting around, get this app. [Read the Androinica.com Review]
Possible Alternative: TeleNav is another great GPS app available for $9.99 per month.You can also get AndNav2 for free
a2b
You’ll never forget a location again once you purchase a2b, an app that stores user notes on GPS coordinates. Park your car and record a typed or voice-recorded note explaining how to locate it. Or find a great spot for surfing on a beach and remember it by taking a photo of a nearby icon. However you choose to remember, a2b will store your locations and then provide directions of how to navigate back to it.
Waze
Waze is a new service that promises to keep drivers informed about road conditions with real-time traffic updates. Drawing GPS information from a community of users, Waze is able to pick up on roadway congestion and warn that a route may be troublesome. It also gives members the option to report speed traps and road hazards. Waze creates user-generated maps, so the product can only be as useful as it is adopted in certain markets. The developer reports over 100,000 users. The more people turn-on Waze as they travel from Point A to Point B, the more effective it will be in guiding others.
Where
The universe is a big place, but Where makes it smaller. Where finds your location and returns news, businesses, gas prices, traffic, movie times, and restaurants in your immediate area. Use it to find the nearest Starbucks or recommendations for a good place to eat dinner. There are also social features Buddy Beacon and Where Wall for communicating with others.
Sherpa
Sherpa is a location-awareness app with “adaptive learning” features. It provides contextual reviews and information for nearby points of interest and displays them in a handy carousel. Sherpa’s marquee feature is that it learns a user’s tendencies to give recommendations and reminders about places to visit. It’s an intuitive points of interest app for bars, restaurants, art galleries, entertainment venues, parks, and much more.
[#1 - 15] Lifestyle and Productivity Apps
[#16 - 24] GPS and Location Apps
[#25-39] Media and Entertainment Apps
[#40-50] Tools and Utility Apps
Is there some minimal, one button app (on/off toggle) that just stores the current location to a GPX file every 10 seconds or so?
MyTracks
my tracks is not as good as you might think. The tracking is ok and the data showned. But it consumes power (in 2 hours 50% of battery), slows down the mobile phone (htc desire which has 1ghz processor and 512RAM) and even if it uses google maps, unlike google it does not cache the map. You need constant reloading of the map images.
I have been scouring online for months trying to find a similar app. Most of the major outdoorsy gps type applications (MyTracks, Maverick, SportyPal, etc) will include the option of adding waypoints and will track your movement but most are geared to be storing much more information and drain the battery extremely quickly. It would be nice to have a simple app that you could add a single waypoint manually from your home screen via a button or have it plot waypoints at user-set intervals (10s, 30s, 1m, 5m, 15m, 30m, 1hr).
It seems like it would be such an easy application to create compared to some of the complexity you see in these other applications.
I'm looking for just this now, and might have a go at writing it. In the meantime, it's also possible to get the location of a point by taking a photo of it: latitude and longitude are stored in the EXIF metadata. With Mac OS X, open a picture in Preview, press Command-i and there is a GPS tab which shows the position.
MyTracks (http://mytracks.appspot.com/) will export your track to GPX (you export at the end, so not one-click but darned near to it).
but will not import anything !!!
Bravo, what words … great idea
Where is no longer available. Or at least, the QR code is no longer valid…
just go to The market. Where is still available.
Perhaps, but not in Austria. I've found quite a few apps here in this list (and others) that are available ONLY in the USA. Sucks.
Nice post. I am posting a link back to this on my Digg, Mixx, Reddit, Stumbleupon, Twitter and Facebook right away.
i agree with david , these items should have a 'US only' tag against them.
We're working on an android app at the moment. Its dead basic but we're adding features. Check out Spedmo – Activity Tracker and visit http://www.spedmo.com to see the GPS activites in full glory.
Check out the new application in the Android Market "Gas Detective", also available from slideME via http://slideme.org/application/gas-detective
Seamlessly integrates the following features:
- Gas prices from community updates
- GPS location
- turn by turn direction
- street view
- compass mode
- find by and automatable nearest gas station
My recent post If you register your site for free at
from where the map is being used?
Is there a turn by turn GPS NAV APP that works off line i have limited internet
Thanks
Neil
CoPilot stores maps locally and works if you use a connection.
Lots of apps are just available ONLY in the USA. Not fair really.
This is untrue. Every app listed here is available in multiple countries with the exception of Sherpa.
Where is not available in UK , so where is where actually available . i agree these apps should have a flag saying US only or a link to list of available countries.
I tested android locator, it usefull!
Co-pilot is atrociously slow on my Google G1 . it takes 10 seconds to respond after you press some of the buttons . For a turn by turn navigation in isolation I ve found Navigon to be the best one so far . However Navigon on android lacks speed cam warnings and could do with traffic alerts and traffic auto re-routing and it costs …… 79 GBP
Hi, i just thought i’d post and let you know your blogs layout is really messed up on the K-Melon
, I hope to be this big of help myself someday
Wow, I think what you mentioned earlier is very true. Displays what I am experiencing. Well since I’m already here, wonder if you’ll be kind enough to change links with my site. I shall be inserting your link in the blogroll part, and I hope that our hyperlink trade might help us make our blogs better. Hope you are able to fulfill my humble request.
I found another app that helps me a lot; WAY?, you can find contact's current location with text message.
Where is Gowalla?
EchoLocation beats these apps by far, as it transmits real-time gps data.
Hey,__I am a fashion photographer and travel across eurore and china with my Moto Droid. I have jsut bought an incredible Android app 'GeoTask Alert System' which allows me remember everything during my travel using google maps. I now never forget to carry passport, mouth freshners, currency denominations, travellers cheque, photo book….almost everything I need is on google maps….Realy awesome…__Just for all you people for what a great way to use google maps… _http://tinyurl.com/5txz4g6__Enjoy !!!___
Hey,
I am a fashion photographer and travel across eurore and china with my Moto Droid. I have jsut bought an incredible Android app 'GeoTask Alert System' which allows me remember everything during my travel using google maps. I now never forget to carry passport, mouth freshners, currency denominations, travellers cheque, photo book….almost everything I need is on google maps….Realy awesome…
Just for all you people for what a great way to use google maps…
http://tinyurl.com/5txz4g6
Enjoy!
Susie, CA
Hi,
I am the author of InstantPanorama – application for android mobile devices that draws a mountain panorama and names all visible peaks from any location.
I thought that this application of mine might interest you and your readers.
You can read about it in here: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.jezit.h…
Regards,
Chris
Finally! It's really hard nowadays to find a good GPS app for android.. Thank you!
I've found it to be really hard to find any good apps actually, but this is great! Thanks buddy.
Please check out GPSTest :- https://market.android.com/details?id=com.chartcr…