Looking for a droid app

[Howardr]

I sure that" there's an app for this" but. .. is anyone familiar with app that would be good for scooting? Something that would integrate google maps, time, speed etc? I tried one designed for cyclists bit didn't care for it.

Howard

ps- I'm using the droid X

[Scalpel]

There are tons of GPS speedometer apps that will measure top speed, 0-60 times, etc.

The other app that might be useful is the built-in Google Navigator. Combined with a pair of headphones, it might be a good way to take road trips and not have to check a map along the way.

I also use a program called aCar to track my fuel consumption, average MPG, etc.

[Howardr]

Thanks, Scalpel. I am new to droids and have had a GPS.I thought maybe I had finally stumped the entire forum there for a bit.

So any GPS app will likely work? BTW, I'm looking for something that does mapping AFTER the fact. I don't plan too much where I'm going to go, but I do care where I went.

Thanks,
(Nice piece about getting the donut. I love it.)

Howard

[jmazza]

If you're looking for something to track your rides maybe RunKeeper?

It's meant to track your runs (obviously) but will map your route and time and avg speed, etc. I've never tried it on my Buddy but I don't see why it wouldn't work! You can send your "runs" to their website as a way of keeping a log as well.

[bigbropgo]

I have one that is for hiking. Most likely just a variation on any running or cycling app. I am a cheapskate and only have the lite version. Hi-hiker. Some of the cycling app looked really cool, just have not tested any.

*edit* I just looked and the hi-hiker pro is now free.

[trackpete]

I am assuming you're asking for post-ride information - if you're more looking for something to do fancy stuff during an active ride, maybe ignore this long post.

There are a bunch of GPS apps, but keep in mind that almost all phones have AGPS, not real GPS. This means they either require a cellular signal for positioning or they can be incredibly slow/inaccurate when positioning without a good signal. Also, I think most AGPS phones use 1DRMS for positioning, meaning much lower accuracy than a 2DRMS/3DRMS system if AGPS isn't available.

If you want to datalog routes/tracks, I would not recommend relying on a cell phone unless you are sticking to roads where you know service is available.

For advanced route data logging I use an actual GPS data logger (specifically, the Locosys BGT-31 - it was top of the line when I bought it two years ago, there may be something better out now). You get full 3D positional data with 2DRMS accuracy and great vector, velocity, and altitude info dumped onto an SD card (as well as an interactive display for stats). Waypoint navigation has helped me more than once as well.

No matter how you get the data log, you are probably going to want to process it externally afterwards - some apps have on-line sharing for tracks but they are typically designed for a specific area, cycling/running/etc. Here's a good toolbox for anyone messing with GPS routes:

GPS Babel: Software to convert between common formats, trim route data, concatenate routes, adjust times, etc. Most common formats are GPX, NMEA sentences, and KML (Google Earth)http://www.gpsbabel.org/

Google Earth: For reviewing your track in 3D - additionally, you can share fully interactive routes via embedded Google Earth on web pages. http://www.google.com/earth/index.html

GPicSync: If you take photos along the way, you can geotag them from your GPS route data using GPicSync. Very handy, especially if you're in the middle of nowhere and want to show where. http://code.google.com/p/gpicsync/

GPS Visualizer: Simple on-line webapp with a lot of options for creating complex shareable route maps in various formats. Extremely useful for generating images and whatnot from complex routes. http://www.gpsvisualizer.com/

Surprisingly, advanced GPS stuff is still very much not in the mainstream, so doing anything really cool or interesting often involves a lot of hacking stuff together, a bit of a bummer.