Thankfully, you can actually use a GPS without having any connection to the internet. This applies to both Android and IOS devices, and it can do this for different reasons. Maps on your phone do not require the use of the internet to work because the routes do not change very often, and there is no need for services like live updates.
One article claimed that however, even though your GPS system will work without cell service, it’s very important that you download the correct maps to your phone before you get out of service. If you don’t, your phone will still be able to locate you, but you’ll show up as a blue dot on a blurry map, and that won’t be useful at all.
Yes, but you’ve got to know how. Learn five clever ways to navigate when you’re off the grid.
Can I get my location with no GPS active?
So with “no GPS active”, I still get my location as long as there are cell towers in reach. I can, however, not say whether it’s using the “last known position” if there’s no GPS and no cell towers. Show activity on this post.
Thus, you can still use apps who access location through Android Location Manager. According to my research of the top 5000 apps, most apps still use Android Location Manager. So, you should be good without Google Location Services.
Should you use offline GPS on your phone?
Using offline phone GPS can also help you conserve data. This is useful when traveling abroad, where data plans are often costly and limited. Finally, many location-based apps gobble up data voraciously.
The most important thing you’ll need to do to use your phone as a GPS device is to download maps for offline use. Once you’ve downloaded the maps onto your phone for offline use, they will automatically show your location on a topo map when you’re in that area. As far as which maps to download, we always download two different maps for offline use.
Can You track a cellphone without a cell phone?
Your phone’s GPS tracking allows you to use them in offline mode, incurring no data penalty so long as you preload maps and information while connected to Wi-Fi. Certainly, your cellphone can do more without a cell connection than you might think; here are five of the best.