Everybody would say: Finally! Yes, xGPS 1.2 has been released. The version has been sent to the MMI repository and will be available within some hours. It should be in everybody’s Cydia as the MMI repository is installed by default. Just do a refresh within some hours and xGPS should pop up.
This version of xGPS has required us a lot of hours of work. We have tried to bring the most advanced and stable navigation software for the iPhone / iPod touch. However, even if we have made our best, you have to keep in mind that this software is free but not bug free. If you experience such a bug feel free to ask in the forum but do not say “It doesn’t work, it’s crappy”.
New Features
A lot of new features have been added. We will not re-enumerate them again. You can find an exhaustive list in the previous pre-release post. One thing which hasn’t been mentioned is a new way to create itinerary called “Routes manager”. Using this function you can compute and save routes for offline use. It let you choose places and addresses as starting and ending point. Please notice that there is currently no support for routes with more than one starting and one ending points. It’s due to a Google limitation and we are working on it.
The new major improvement in this version is the voice instructions support. It uses a Text-To-Speech engine to convert text instructions to sound. So there is no way to change the voice yourself as it is not pre-recorded sound. We are working on a cleaner English voice which should be included in the subsequent releases.
Also please note that this version will delete any existing downloaded maps on your device .
xGPS Manager
A new version of xGPS manager is also released. It has been rewritten from scratch and should be more user-friendly and self-explanatory. It is available for Mac OS X and Windows. For Windows users, you should have the Java system installed. Be sure to have it installed (you can download it at the Java Sun Website) before installing xGPS Manager. The manager can be downloaded from the official xGPS website.
Official xGPS Website
A website for the project has also been developed. It is still in hard development and the only thing available now is the ability to download xGPS Manager. We want also to inform you that we are experiencing some servers problems and are making our best to solve them. That’s why the websites sometimes become unavailable.
Logo
We have also chosen one of the proposed logo. We would like to thank you all for your ideas and creations. It was very difficult to choose. The creator of the logo (which can be seen in the blog header) is: dna75. A big thanks to him!
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all of you for your support and interest. Without you this project would not be in the state as it is today. We would like to restate that donations are still welcomed and allow us to offer xGPS for free and to afford servers costs. We would also to thank Thomas Heben and Fabio who are managing and answering all the questions of the forum, and even more! Thank you guys! Thanks go also to all the translators of xGPS. Thanks to them the project is translated in almost 25 languages! Impressive! Thanks go also to Demis Balbach for the amazing design of the website. Thanks also to ModMyI to host our project in their Cydia repository. Finally we would to thank you all the people we forgot to mention (sorry for that!). Without you this project would die.
One more thing…
As people always want to know the future. We will release and intermediate version some weeks later to fix translation problems which could have been occured and also minor bug fixes. You can still find exactly what is going to be fixed in subsequent releases by checking the TRAC website.
Tags: 1.2 release
@shadow
Garmin maps are not free you know.
@3d Designer
Yea.. it’s free. And there’s no freakn way they could charge for this in it’s current form. “Buggy as hell” would be an understatement. “Difficult” would be accurate. Google maps works. Gets me directions on where I need to go, quick and easily, plus some, which is the bottom line here.
I’ve mentioned it elsewhere I and I will again.. it’s funny how caught up in the whole jailbrake/3rd party thing one can get caught up in, when there’s an app that came installed on the phone that works so well. It’s Silly.
If you’re that impressed with this, I suggest you keep away from G-Map, an app I use to loathe. It has POI, night mode, history, favorites, the ability to search and find directions on the fly, etc. You’ll be crying in joy for 1.2. It blows doors on xGPS, only lacking landscape and the ever annoying, nearly useless, Stephen Hawking navigation. I’m half way home while you’re still searching and entering search field info into xGPS. Suddenly landscape and voice nav seem silly. Forest for trees, pal. Forest for trees.
Yes, in many cases there’s a good reason apps must pass the Apple app store muster. And for that I’m grateful.
Damn it, cant use Google Satellite Maps now with this new version via Global Map Download Too
@severe
You are comparing a $20 app to a free app. Thats apples and oranges. My friend has Gmaps and regrets buying because according to him its just “google maps” pasted over. Xgps is constantly improving. I am not paying for navigation software as i dont use it a lot, but for that occasion where I may need it this helps.
This is an EXCELLENT application. You have done a terrific job.
I am super excited about what the future holds for the development of this app! You’ve created a winner!!
yes xgps is free, and i appreciate the works/efforts of the developers. perhaps you guys never owned a symbian (nokia) phone so you dont know how it works there. after you hack (like jailbreak) you can install apps for free, even if its listed as $100 on garmin’s site. you just need to know how. then you have a gps thats exactly same as ones for cars, except smaller screen, all for free.
@fabregas
without data/wifi, you cant search/route anything with xgps, thus useless (for people without dataplan at least). if you preload routes via computer/wifi you can do the same with gmap app, minus the robot voice navi and landscape. fyi, the size of a map for garmin for the entire north america is about 1 gb, its not fancy satellite view, but its really just like google map except for a different color
@severe
i agree man. i get my location locked with gmap app within like a minute, while with xgps, i had it on for like 10 mins its still searching. idk why but thats whats happening. as im not on dataplan, im currently downloading map cache files using gmdt for gmap app
sry i meant the stock google map app, not gmap
@shadow
Maybe its your iphone, I get my location within 30 sec with xgps and with google maps.
Looks good and am about to start running it again, my replacement gps360 came in shortly after I updated. One problem though, xGPS manager is crashing/freezing when downloading. It never even starts, I select my region, set fielname and zooms and hit download. The menu disappears and does nothing. A system check shows it not responding. I am running a Macbook Pro 2.33 with OSX 10.5.6.
@fabregas
Granted and understood. Though 3d did claim one couldn’t even compare xGPS and Google Maps. That’s ridiculous. Google has many more features (ie. traffic, ability to search on the fly, etc) and… get this …it WORKS!
Childish to me, is backing something that clearly is not up to par, because it’s simply exciting to see where it goes. So where has it gone in roughly two months? What have we gotten in this update? A sleeker UI. How bout getting me to point B without knowing the address?
And it’s not really apples to oranges when people are said to be throwing more than $20 at xGPS’s development. For a sahweeeet new UI? Look… I seem like I have a horse in this race. I don’t. But what I also don’t have is an understanding as to what the big deal is with xGPS. I was excited too, yet very disappointed this morning.
The G-Map/”Google maps pasted over” thing seemed valid a version or two ago, though it’s changed. It’s improving too. I’ve eaten my words over it and could again with xGPS, hopefully. But for now, xGPS is not nearly up to snuff.
Did I mention G-Map has 3 views too?
Also, the zoom level doesn’t go down to the same point as google maps, when it used to in previous versions. Before I could view individual land plots, this was very useful in finding locations in a country that labels houses according to when they were built in the area, not a serial number on a street.
Severe, theres another market sector you’re missing here. Ipod Touch users. I don’t have an Iphone, and don’t really want one. VOIP does well enough for my needs. I would rather have the 32gb capacity at hand than telephony capabilities. Not to mention, in my country, Iphones came out at 800usd with a 2 year commitment…AND a clause in the contract prohibiting VOIP usage. No thanks.
I have been happy with the system and this groups developments, if you’re not, go elsewhere.
Tested:
Manager and Xgps both do not go down to the same zoom level as google maps….
“..if you’re not, go elsewhere.”
Yea, man. That helps people with the answers. Let’s all agree and offer no opposition.
iPod Touch? G-Map is offline. No internet required. Just GPS.
“Tested:
Manager and Xgps both do not go down to the same zoom level as google maps….”
…and satellite, and street view, and…
Out of respect to the forum and the devs, I’m done here. [don't provoke me.
]
Keep it up guys.
@severe
I get your point and its valid. You have to understand that if you are a heavy GPS user, this app will not work for you. It is difficult to use, I agree. If you are a user like me, that would use it once in a while it may suffice. The stock google app while cleaner, is terrible to use while driving. You have too keep looking ahead or reading the tiny print and pressing the next button, while also driving …not very good.
I’ve tried searching for this “G-map” app now. So far I haven’t found any non-Iphone GPS support nor have I found maps outside the US. Sorry, I’m in Japan, these deisgners are in France, and its been translated in multiple european languages…meaning….G-maps is looking pretty useless to most of the world.
And my comment about zoom levels was not ammunition for you to start firing away with. It was a development issue that they forgot to implement levels that were present in prior versions.
As to provoking you…get a life….hold yourself back…its not our job to placate you.
@ severe
I agree with you completely, until xgps gets offline routing and the ability to actually search for something without knowing the postcode and everything xgps is useless to me atleast. The only improvements in this version is the stephen hawking voice and a sleeker ui, no functionality improvements at all.
The thing with gmap is that it only supports the US so theres nothing else I can use down here in Australia. Those who say you can’t compare gmap with xgps because its free are rediculous, the facts are that xgps isn’t worthy of being paid for as of now. It simply can’t be used as a proper gps solution, especially for those without a data plan
I am also looking forward to seeing if sygic’s gps app gets allowed into the app store, it looks like a really good gps app, with a sleek ui like a dedicated gps unit and it uses tomtoms maps. Did I mention it also has voice navigation?
Until then however, xgps is all I’m stuck with and I hope the devs can improve it to become a proper gps solution, good luck to you guys and keep up the hard work. You have the ui now lets get on with the functionality!
The map manager freezes sometimes at around 90% or sais map data is corrupted. xGPS itself seems to be solid but the Map Manager is very frustrating and especially that the zoom levels selected to download and the zoom levels in the manager dont match.
Please fix the Map Manager !
where can I find the downloaded maps?
many many many bugs.
application is closing mostly randomly and if i lost wifi conenction it just close without any warning (paritialy downloaded maps)
Great release!
I have a problem running the xgps manager on OSX 10.5.6 with the java 6 update. The problem is the 32bit SWT library:
Caused by: java.lang.UnsatisfiedLinkError: Cannot load 32-bit SWT libraries on 64-bit JVM
When I start it from the terminal using the Java5 VM then it starts but I can’t click any button.
Bom dia,
Ontem baixei o xgps 1.2 + 250MB de mapas (São Paulo capital). 25 minutos para baixar mais uns 15 para passar ao celular via o programa mais abaixo.
Abaixo um teste prático, mas caso queira mais informações de configurações etc acesse também este link apesar de não ter o teste prático que fiz:
http://www.blogdoiphone.com/2009/03/lan … #more-7216
Adicionei o source: http://cydia.xwaves.net no cydia
Baixei o software http://xgps.xwaves.net/
comuniquei os 2 via wirelles para transferência de mapas e tudo funcionou perfeito.
Tracei uma rota da Mooca até a Barra Funda.
Colocando apenas o nome da rua dava erro.
Colocando o nome da rua espaço nome da cidade traçou a rota perfeitamente.
Estava na Margina Tiete na pista local, e ao mudar de pista ele recauculou a rota perfeitamente.
Mas ao mudar bruscamente de rota entrando em alguma rua por exemplo, obtivemos algumas dificuldades ao recalcular rota.
O comando de voz é perfeito e funciona apesar ser
-inglês
-muito baixo o volume
-não funciona caso ligue no som do carro pela saída de fone de ouvido
Abaixo uma figura ao subir na ponte da Marginal e ir em direção a Marques de São Vicente em SP – Capital.
Fiz diversos testes com 10 ou 11 rotas diferentes e obtive sucesso em 6 a 7.
Então 70% de estabilidade está BOM para um software que não atendia em nada no Iphone 3g.
Um comentário legal: é possível salvar as rotas e isso facilitou muito.
Minha nota: 6 pelo fato do audio e pequenas dificuldades com traçar rotas.
Abraços, espero um teste prático de mais pessoas pq acho que ajudará na configuração de cada um.
Bruno Rizzo – brunomooca@yahoo.com.br
Don’t know if this is a fault of the xgps dev team or if it google, but downloading maps to the maps manager (not to the iphone) is slow making it close to useless. I have been downloading a 312 mb map for about 2 hours now – 37% completed.
Anybody with the same issue?
i donwloaded the map of luxembourg without problems using xgps manager and when i use it offline there is an error message saying that i need internet connexion
any ideas to solve the problem? my offline doesnt work
thanks for your project!!!
I can’t get xGPS Manager to work on Linux :’(
I’m using ubutu 8.10, I have java installed.
Any ideas??
Excelente app ou melhor GPS. Aqui no Brasil funcionou bem todos os aplicativos. Não tenho o que reclamar.
Very good GPS! Here in Brazil works very well every functions. Congratulation!!!
Can someone tell me how to send a donation? Good job you guys!
WOW! I am very impressed!! Folks, please remember to donate.
For those of you having issues with xGPS Manager, depending on the size & detail levels of the region you’re trying to download these maps can be HUGE. xGPS Manager first cal culates the size and appears to be frozen while it does so. If you try a smaller region with less detail, you’ll see what I mean. It still takes a while but it will pop a confirmation screen. As far as the actual download goes, yes, it remains breathtakingly slow. Hopefully this can get addressed in future versions.
As far as the back and forth on the merits of the app, enough already. Leave the board to people who are trying to use the app and/or report issues.
db
I don’t know why everyone is having problems but everything works great for me. The Maps Manager works perfectly on my mac 10.5.6. Make sure your macs up to date and your java is up to date.
Also, xGPS works great for me and only becomes unstable after long periods in night mode, other than that this is fantastic.
And to the people who are complaining about offline route calculating, this is A LOT harder than you think to implement.
Many thanks to the team behind this. This is truly a revolutionary project in the right way. Good luck and many thanks!
@Balot – click the banner at the top of this page. After it loads, the donation options are on the right side of the page.
db
[...] [xGPS] [...]
Just installed and going to give it a whirl in a minute.
Map manager is downloading maps as we speak but seems to be taking an age to download what it was was 70mb or so, is this normal or is that more likely my connection causing the issue?
speed of downloading the map is not limited by speed of your internet connection “funny”. I am downloading now the map of whole Netherlands with zoom 1,7 (1500MB) for 6 hours with 4MB/s connection and still have around 50%:( .Is it alternative way to do it?? any idea? any other software ?
regards,
@piotr – dont think there is any other way at the moment, im sure i remember reading that a future release will have a differnt way of downloading the maps which wont require to download mahooosive files like that. Im tempted to set what I’m going to use most downloading over night tonight.
On a seperate note, what are people downloading zoomwise, not sure what the best to go for is? as the map manager suggests 0,17 as a default, should I just stick with that.
If you guys went to a resturant and a chef gave you a free meal, would you whine and moan because the sauce on your steak isnt spicy enough? Looks like it.
No I would not
but if taste is good and it looks even good, but when I have to stay rest of the evening in toilet coz sauce was to spicy than of course I will complain:)
The key is to download maps bit by bit. Some encounter this problems and some dont.
I have Java 6 the new mapmanager and the New xgps all fine but the mapman doesnt show me a map only a grey picture
Why can’t i see the world???
who was moaning? i was simply asking if google maps is slow to download from other people experiance, ive had problems with my isp lately too.
Just been out for a short trip and so far very impressed
I tried it this morning while driving to work. Its really neat! I really really enjoyed it. It’s so cool. I used my 3G network and it worked great! Must confess the Dutch (belgian dutch) street names and places sounded a bit silly with the american accent, but it was funny. So if you need any help with that concerning spoken (belgian) dutch or portuguese (of Portugal, my native language), don’t hesitate in contacting me. I’ll be glad to help. This is really a great project guys! congratulations!!!
Thank you guys beautiful app!!!
now we just have to wait Global Map Download Tool update for download OSM maps….
GM Yes Yes Yes. How do we get that process hurried up ?
I used GLobal Map Downlaod Toll with 1.1 and you can choose Maps or Satellite etc. If GMDT can be updated to work with the new db format then then we dont need xgps Map Manager (very buggy at the moment and no Satellite View ):(
This is a really cool ap with a great deal of potential. A few comments:
-the search places function would be a lot more useful if it worked like the maps program with the option for directions to the location as well as the maps view with all the found locations plotted out.
-the program would also benefit from a destinations option that worked like the routes manager. Select one of your favorite locations and calculate the route from the current location. Like the go home function. This should in theory already work if you have a route entered in, select it and then recalculate from the itinerary parameters. This does not work though without an error message saying new directions could not be found, which is confusing since if you go to routes manager and input the same destinatin andcalxulate from the current location it works. The recalculate directions should work by just running the same routine as I just mentioned.
These few tweaks and obvious bug pointed out in above posts would improve the functionality of the ap immensely. So far it’s pretty cool. Keep up the good work.
i think the released application version use a text-to-spech system, but with a English accent. this means that is possible to create other languages algorithms, be right? do you know when will be realeased a new version with more text-to-speech languages?
Have the devs gone into hiding ? I would not blame them but does anyone know when we can expect a response with them addressing the issues with the Map Manager.
Worked like a charm for me! Thanks plenty
voice does not work for me, although it’s turned on and the volume is all the way up. I’m using the iPhone 3G GPS and I’m in New Jersey. Any ideas? Is there a setting that I must have on?
Thanks
i really get angry at those who just say bad things about the app. this app works perfect for me, the bugs are there but for me are minor issues that will eventually be fixed. those who talk bad about the app are just plain dumb and egocentric, they think they know everything. i want to see if you would put all the time an effort on an app like this for free. you all should be saying thank you, an just say which bug is affecting you so that the devs can eventually work on it ad fix it. i have downloaded apps many times in the appstore that are pricey to say the least and are still very crashy and full of bugs but eventually get better. example beejive (15,99$) xgps is free!
Gents, disregard my comment about lack of voice. Although I had the ringer turned all the way up, I did not know that it did not affect other sounds until they were used in an app. The voice was turned all the way off, so I will test again tomorrow. My apologies for the the wrong info. [I noticed that Koi Pond had no sound, so I turned the volume up and noticed it was off]