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Join Date: Feb 2016
Location: SE Wisconsin
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Bikes: Lemond '01 Maillot Jaune, Lemond '02 Victoire, Lemond '03 Poprad, Lemond '03 Wayzata DB conv(Poprad), '79 AcerMex Windsor Carrera Professional(pur new), '88 GT Tequesta(pur new), '01 Bianchi Grizzly, 1993 Trek 970 DB conv, Trek 8900 DB conv
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I look at a smart phone as a safety device. It works really well for navigation with its big bright screen, but if you crash and the battery is low or dead(due to navigation use..nav can pull a lot of power depending on how you use it)..you may put yourself in a tough spot.
Use your Garmin for navigation and the phone to double check something if necessary. Keep the phone in an accessible, safe place in case you need it to call the cavalry.
As for the offline maps.. download the Maps.Me app or Osmand. Maps.Me is easier to use initially. With either you will need to download maps for the areas/cities you'll be in. No cell signal is needed once you have the downloaded maps up and running. You can also set up a route on a home PC and mail the gpx file to your phone-accessible email account. Open the email, click on the gpx file and Maps.Me will open it and store it for later access. You'll be able to pull it up from your Maps.me library when you open the app. Osmand works the same..with kml files, but the interface is a little less intuitive.