MapDroyd

Summary

Google Maps is an extremely useful tool, especially when you can use on-the-go using your Android phone. If you happen to lack an unlimited data plan, Google Maps can quickly become problem. With Madroyd you can download all your maps using your internet connection at home and then use it anywhere without having to use up any data. Not bad, right? Find out whether this app is the thing for you in the test report below.

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If your expecting Mapdroyd to be a carbon-copy of Google Maps with offline content, you're probably going to be a bit dissapointed. Downloading map content from every corner of the world and accessing it anywhere isn't a problem, but Mapdroyd lacks many of the Google Maps features you're used to. Your current position is only displayed when the GPS feature is activated on your phone. In our test the GPS was accurate even inside of an apartment.

If you're looking for a specific address, you aren't going to get very far because this app doesn't allow you to search for street addresses. You can also forget about planning a route - Mapdroyd lacks this feature too. As far as the map content is concerned, Mapdroyd does display restaurants, banks, museums, monuments, parking lots, schools etc. Unfortunately, you don't have the possibility of obtaining any additional information by clicking on a certain location. These are all serious drawbacks since you expect to have see these features on every map application.

I wouldn't be too quick to throw this app in the garbage just yet. As a day-to-day tool, Mapdroyd can still be of great help and use. Basically, Mapdroyd is a good old street map albeit in a much more practical digital form.

I had some difficulty rating this app in terms of features and hesitated betweem two or three stars. Even if some features are missing, Mapdroyd is still a very useful and all-around functional app. Three stars! 

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You can select which map content you would like to download to your phone from the start screen. Using the drop-down menus you can look through the following categories:

• Africa
• Americas
• Asia
• Europe
• Oceania
• Other

Europe, for example, is broken down into different regions:

• Eastern Europe
• Northern Europe
• Southern Europe
• Western Europe.

In each region you'll find a list of respective countries including local regions and states. You can select either an entire country or only certain areas. Via the menu button you can press on "Update Maps" in order to dowload all of your relevant maps. A small confirmation displaying the size of your map data is shown before the actual download begins.

Madroyd's main page consists of a world map that you can navigate through to find your downloaded map content. You can zoom-in by using the plus and minus buttons on the bottom edge of your screen. If you select "Rubberband" in your "Settings/Map Usage" section, you can zoom-in with the help of an adjustable box. You move around a map by simply sliding your finger across the screen. The "Rubberband" function worked really well during our test.

At the bottom your screen, you can also adjust the map's orientation or let it orient itself according to a compass that is displayed at the right hand corner the screen. Finally, you are always shown the current map scale on the top edge of your map.

You have the following options via the menu button:

• Manage Maps
• My Location
• Overview
• Settings
• Help

With "Manage Maps" you can download or delete any maps by selecting them and pressing the "Update Maps" button.

"My Location" displays your current location on the map. As mentioned above, this only works with an enabled GPS.

"Overview" let's you zoom out to the world map level and select a different geographical area.

You'll find the following options in your settings:

• Map Usage (point and drag or rubberband)
• Fast Map Animation (on/off)
• Compass (on/off)

Bottom Line:

A couple of extra features would turn Mapdroyd into a must-have app, but many will find themselves quite satisfied with what Mapdroyd has to offer at this time.

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Mapdroyd ran smoothly on both the G1 and the Milestone.

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Mapdroyd is available for free from the Android Market.