android google navigation tips

While using Google Navigation (beta) i've come across some helpful tips that may enhance your experience with it. Google Navigation (beta) is accessable from the Car Panel or via Google Maps. I'll share some of these tips below.

Home Screen Navigation/Destination Shortcuts: One of the first things i noticed was the inability to store places you frequently navigate to within the app itself. In order to have a shortcut to the destination of your choice do the following.

1. Navigate to the Home Screen you wish to put the shortcut icon.
2. Press the + symbol at the bottom right hand side of the screen next to the Phone button.
3. Press Shortcut.
4. Press Directions & Navigation.
5. Type in the address of the destination. You can also use GPS coordinates if you don't know the address.
6. Type in the name of the shortcut you are creating. IE: Home
7. Select an icon, such as the the arrow pointing to home.
8. Press Save.
9. The icon will now show up on your home screen, you can then move it around where ever you wish.

Create GPS Shortcut Folder: If you notice your screen filling up with shortcut icons you can always create a folder using the above instructions but choose "Folder" instead of Shortcut in step 3. Then name the folder GPS or whatever you like and you can store all your destination shortcuts within it.

Receiving a Phone Call: While using Google Navigation if you recieve an incoming phone call, you can take the call and google navigation will continue running in the background. It will even alert you of directions while you are talking so you don't miss your turn. Once the phone call is completed it will go right back to navigating you on your route.

Playing Music while Navigating: When you play music with the built in Music app and while using Google Navigation it will automatically cut the audio of the music out while giving you speech alerts during your route. This is done so you do not miss the directions it is giving you. Many aftermarker GPS devices do this as well when playing music from built in apps.

Enable Street View: This is a really cool feature but is not really talked about much within the Google Navigation guide. While you are on your route you can double tap the screen and if a street view is available it will show the street view of where you are heading and where you need to turn. This can be really handy when navigating in town or large cities where streets are in close proximity of one another. You can also zoom in to get street view, but you will need to keep zooming in until it shows the street view which can require many button presses.

Adding Layers to the Map: You can also add layers on top of the map which may help you located points of interest along your route. To do this while en route press the menu buttom and choose "Layers". It will then give you a choice of: Traffic View, Satellite, Parking, Gas Stations, ATMs & Banks, Restaurants. Just make your selection(s) and it will update the map to reflect the changes.

Turn off the Screen: While using Navigation you can manually shut off the screen and the voice navigation will continue giving you turn-by-turn voice alerts. This can help save your battery if you left your charger at home on accident. Also Google Navigation by default will keep the screen from falling asleep unless you follow this tip. Credit: Boomstk

Exit Navigation: Menu > Exit Navigation

Change Route: After your route is displayed, select the menu button, then select route info. on the map itself you will see a route icon. Select that and it will display multiple routes if they are available.

Home Screen Navigation/Destination Shortcuts (Alternate): While in the phones regular phonebook. If you edit an entry, then under "Others" click "Add", there's a "Postal Address" option. You can put in their address from there.

When you want to navigate to there, you can view the contact and a "View Home address" link will show up (or "View Work address, etc"). Click on it, it starts up Google Maps. Click on the Blue "Up" arrow that appears on the screen and it will navigate to that entries address. Credit: PaulRivers

Misc Tips:

1. When navigating, touch the ETA estimate in the lower left corner. This will make the display pop up to an overhead view of the route, complete with traffic overlays. This is handy if want to avoid bad, red traffic and wish to go another route. It won't give you options, but it will reroute if you deviate off course. Credit: dibs ODDJOB

General Tips:

1. Make sure to keep Google Maps up-to-date. Whenever an update is available its best to update your map as soon as possible to reflect any changes that may have occured.