Originally Posted by
pdlamb
Let me count the steps a potential user has to take to use their phone as a GPS:
1. Pick and install an app.. (The right app!) <Not that hard. maps.me (free) is a good place to start. Osmand is a reasonable choice but it's a bit more complicated. I like guru maps but it's a bit expensive. An app is a useful/cheap backup too.>
2. Learn how to use that app.<not that hard. you have to learn how to use the device too. It's a useful backup too.>
3. Download maps for every area they might ride.<easy. It's a useful backup too.>
4. Update those maps periodically.<easy. you have to update the maps for your device too. It's a useful backup too.>
5. Learn how to use the phone and app while turning it off when it's not needed. <easy.>
6. Buy the $8 waterproof pouch.<Which you should have anyway/regardless. The alternative is to spend $200+ or more on a separate device.>
Originally Posted by
pdlamb
Six steps so far, right?
There are similar steps for some of these for a separate device. Some of the others you make out to be a bigger deal than they are.
Also, since it's much, much easier to view maps on a phone, an app is a useful and cheap addition to a separate device!
Originally Posted by
pdlamb
Six steps so far, right? but don't forget
7. Buy a cell phone mount for your bars (assumes you don't want to stop to look at the map) <Sure, the mount is an extra thing but it's still cheaper than buying a dedicated GPS!>
8. Buy a cache battery for cell phone and figure out how to mount it. <The batteries are cheap (they might already have one) and not that hard to use. I did it for a dedicated unit.>
Originally Posted by
pdlamb
So it can be done. One of my daughters would probably take this route to use her phone. I'd pay for the dedicated GPS. Other daughter is probably in between us.
As with most "which is best?" questions, it comes down to a choice; in this case is your time or your money worth more to you?
Sure, it can be done.
It's cheap and not as hard as you make it out (and people routinely consider the dedicated devices as being "too complicated"). It's also an enhancement to a separate device. It's a cheap backup too.
I won't presume to decide "which is best" for anybody.
If the OP can't afford a decent dedicated unit (one with map), why shouldn't he use what he has?
I use a dedicated device on the bike but, in other situations, use an app on my phone (which I nearly always have).