Are you tired of wandering through the Google play store to find the best outdoor application? If yes, then you are one of us. But we did all the digging, so you don’t have to. And guess what? We found the ultimate travel-friendly GPS application your phone should ever have!
Yes, we are talking about Android GPS Essentials. There is no way you haven’t heard of it if you are frequent at hiking, fishing, or traveling.
But how do you use it? After all, it has multiple tools for us, including creating tracks, finding waypoints, and so on. Don’t panic because this is your all-in-one android GPS essentials user guide.
So follow this beginner-friendly tutorial to get the best outdoor experience with GPS essentials!
Easy Installation of Android GPS Essentials
We guess you already know how to install this application. But let’s not be too sure. So, here’s the installation process for android GPS essentials.
- Go to your Google play store.
- Now search for the term “GPS essentials.” This will present the desired application before you.
- Click on the blue GPS essentials icon. You will automatically see the “install” button.
- Press on it and wait for a little.
Now, the installation is over. Let’s move on to the next step and configure it to use offline.
How Do You Configure GPS Essentials For Offline Usage?
Imagine the time when you are lost in your tracks. You open the application to get another look into the map and possibly guess where you are at the moment. But Alas! It says you don’t have a proper internet connection. Now that’s the rarest thing to have with you when you are hiking in mountains or traveling far away.
No worries. We have the perfect solution for you. This tip will help you if you are stuck in an area with congested cell signals or low data signals. Just follow these steps given below:
- Now before you leave the hotel or campsite, enter into your GPS essentials application. Make sure you have a good internet connection.
- Open the search bar and type a location you want to save.
- The map will now appear and show the location you asked for.
- Now you can pinch to zoom in and out of the map. You can save it any way you like larger or smaller.
- Tap on the button that says ‘download the map area.” Now, wait until the download is complete.
It is very important to double-check whether it works or not. Turn off the wi-fi or data connection. Tap on the saved map from the notification bar and wait for it to open.
Once you are sure it works, feel free to go out.
How Do You Choose Coordinates With GPS Essentials?
- After you install the application on your android device, you will receive a message. It says, “Do you allow GPS essentials to access this device’s location?” Well, you have to tap yes to continue.
- Now you will receive a lot of colorful icons on the screen. These are the various services GPS essentials provide their users.
- The first thing to do here is to check into the settings. Locate units and change measurements into kilometers and meters. It is easier to use. The default option will be set at miles, yards, and feet. You can use any other type of unit measurement if you feel comfortable.
- The second thing will be to set up the position format. Locate decimal and click on that. The default option will be set up at degrees, fractions, and minutes.
- Now we will set up the “position datum.” Tick on system 1984.
- So that’s it. Let’s go back to the menu. Enter the satellite button and check whether your phone can connect to the satellite or not. Let’s say if it says you are connected to eight visible and nine used satellites, that’s a good thing.
- So finally, we can get our coordinates. Enter into the coordinate menu from the list and tap on the plus sign. You will get a coordinate.
- To save your coordinate type a name in the bar and click on the “create.”
- The file you just created is saved. And you can easily find this coordinate whenever you need it.
It is better to choose your coordinate once you are outside the home. For example, your doorstep should work fine.
One thing is that you can pick and choose your coordinates even without any internet connection. That’s a very logical thing to add to this application since it is unlikely to have Wi-Fi in a deserted camp area.
How to Record a Waypoint on GPS Essentials App?
What we love about GPS essentials is that it will cover you up in all situations. Imagine you are fishing in your favorite lake. You suddenly found a spot that has fish in there. But you need to go back and bring some stuff to catch it. How will you find that place again? It is not like you can use a flag to mark it.
That’s when the waypoint comes in very handy. Whenever you leave a place that you need to return to, you can mark that location on the map. And then, follow this map to track your way back.
Let’s see how you can create such a waypoint using GPS essentials.
- First, go to the user interface and click on the orange waypoint icon.
- When it opens up, click on the “plus” button.
- It will show you the current location of where you are with exact coordinates. You can give this location a name and add a description to better remember it. For example, the name will be site 1. In the description, you can write tuna fish sampling location.
- In order to edit the coordinates, you can just double-click on them.
- Once you are finished making a waypoint click on create. It will be marked on the map for you to see.
- If you want to export it, go to the options menu. That will be the three dots on the bottom corner. Choose “export”.
- It is better to keep the file in a format (KML) that is compatible with the Google earth software.
- Now, you can choose any export method and send it.
How to Record Tracks Using GPS Essentials
In the previous sections of this article, we learned how to find waypoints and find our coordinates. Now, we will focus on keeping a track record when we are on the forest or mountain. Keeping a track record is vital when we are on a survey.
Because when we don’t know an area it is easy to forget which places we visited earlier. GPS essentials keep the history of your locations for a specified period. Simply, it will show you where you have been within a specific time frame.
Follow the steps and see how easy-peasy it really is:
- When you are on the user interface the first thing to check is how frequently it is recording your positional information. Go to the settings menu.
- When the settings menu opens, click on the tracking update interval.
- You will see options such as 10 seconds, 20 seconds, and so on. If you are walking on the road, setting it up at 1 minute should be sufficient.
- Remember that the more frequent you want it to record, the more space in the memory will be used up. So that’s a caution.
- Now return to the menu and click on the “tracks.”
- Once you are inside, select the three dots or options button on the corner and choose “record.”
- Now it will start recording your location at the time intervals you chose. You can stop the recording by clicking on the ‘stop” button of your current track.
Frequently Asked Questions (F.A.Q’s):
How Do I Download GPS Location?
Sign in to your Google maps > type a location on the bar> at the bottom specify your address. Now choose the exact location of the place and zoom in for more details. Click on the “download map” button and there you go.
How Do I Use My Phone As GPS?
To use your phone as a GPS tracker, go to the settings. Now turn on the location option. It will enable satellites to locate your phone and find you.
What Is The Best Offline GPS App?
Frankly speaking, GPS Essentials is a pretty decent outdoor application. It comes with multiple tracking and recording options and the process doesn’t require you to be online.
You may also have interested to know:
What is other in internal storage & how you can clear your android phone,
What is iothiddenmenu on android
Do your message blocking is active your Android phone
Conclusion
Whether you love hiking on mountains or exploring unknown places, GPS essentials will be your best friend. Nothing much, it will just make sure you won’t get lost or waste time by repeatedly ending up in the same place. So, this is it for this android GPS essentials user guide.
Wish you the best for your next adventure trip; Happy hiking!
