07-14-2020, 07:44 AM
The Pinephone GPS functions once you get a first fix, but that can be tricky, especially without downloaded assistance data. The loading of the assistance data isn't automated yet as far as i know. There's also the usual problem of multiple standards - ModemManager presents one location interface while gpsd presents another, with most applications using one or the other. The GPS is part of the 'modem' so the phone part needs to be powered up for it to work. It doesn't require a SIM to work, but ModemManager has an outstanding bug that blocks the necessary commands if the telephony part isn't active, so you need to use a workaround for now. In essence it can be made to work with some effort at the moment, but should become a lot easier in future.
I don't know what the plan is for the PineTIme, but you could use it immediately with a USB, serial or bluetooth connection to a GPS.
Getting lat/lon is quite easy, but I'm not sure about OS grid refs. Most of the mapping apps can be configured to show lat/lon although they often don't by default. A summary of the apps I know of:
Navit - vector based offline maps, but not the most user friendly to configure and I'm having trouble getting it to read the map data successfully. Map data is mostly Opentstreetmap derived. I think the route planning is online only. Uses gpsd.
FoxtrotGPS - online (with optional offline) tile-based maps from multiple (mostly openstreetmap-related) sources. The UI has an option to download tiles at various zoom levels for a specified area so that you can use the maps offline. I think someone once wrote a tool to convert the OS bitmaps into the right tile format. Can record track logs. Uses gpsd.
Pure Maps - primarily for Sailfish but should work elsewhere too (flathub version works on my desktop, and I think there's a version in UBPorts) - several online map sources. Offline mode needs a companion OSMScoutServer app. Closest I've seen to what you'd expect to see in a mainstream phone maps app.
Gnome Maps - relatively basic map viewer, apparently has an offline mode.
Marble - mostly-online map viewer with online routing. There is a tool to download tiles for a small area, and it can open small .osm files.
Qgis - more a tool for map makers than navigation, but worth a mention.
I don't know what the plan is for the PineTIme, but you could use it immediately with a USB, serial or bluetooth connection to a GPS.
Getting lat/lon is quite easy, but I'm not sure about OS grid refs. Most of the mapping apps can be configured to show lat/lon although they often don't by default. A summary of the apps I know of:
Navit - vector based offline maps, but not the most user friendly to configure and I'm having trouble getting it to read the map data successfully. Map data is mostly Opentstreetmap derived. I think the route planning is online only. Uses gpsd.
FoxtrotGPS - online (with optional offline) tile-based maps from multiple (mostly openstreetmap-related) sources. The UI has an option to download tiles at various zoom levels for a specified area so that you can use the maps offline. I think someone once wrote a tool to convert the OS bitmaps into the right tile format. Can record track logs. Uses gpsd.
Pure Maps - primarily for Sailfish but should work elsewhere too (flathub version works on my desktop, and I think there's a version in UBPorts) - several online map sources. Offline mode needs a companion OSMScoutServer app. Closest I've seen to what you'd expect to see in a mainstream phone maps app.
Gnome Maps - relatively basic map viewer, apparently has an offline mode.
Marble - mostly-online map viewer with online routing. There is a tool to download tiles for a small area, and it can open small .osm files.
Qgis - more a tool for map makers than navigation, but worth a mention.
