Adding SatNav to an EX 2016 model Jazz.

[Kenneve]

I'm looking to upgrade my old stand alone Garmin SatNav and I would like to know whether it's possible to add an App to the infotainment unit, to create an onboard SatNav.
Many thanks in advance for any ideas.

[JazzandJag]

It is possible to add various applications via an file name exploit providing the Connect firmware has not been updated to RC 7 or later. As your vehicle is 2016, this should not be a problem unless you have asked your dealer to update it.

I installed both Sygic and Google Maps navigation applications to my previous 2015 SE. Sygic is an offline app, not needing an internet connection, whilst Google Maps requires an internet connection. Whilst Google Maps was easy to install and use, it is a very basic app as version 8.4 is the latest that will work with the Android 4.0.4 operating system. Installing Sygic involved a lot of trial and error (and a few heart stopping moments when the system became unresponsive) but worked well once all the issues were resolved.

To install these or any other application a prerequisite is to install the unofficial Honda Permissions application which will enable you to give any further applications the necessary permissions to run whilst the vehicle is moving. There is a very long thread on the  xda developers forum concening this subject!

My overall thoughts are that installing Google Maps is a practical option, but  Sygic or any other offline navigation application requires specialist knowledge and some courage! However if you decide to try the Google app as a first step I will assist if I can.

[peteo48]

I'll be following this thread with interest. I've got a decent Tom Tom standalone with free updates but I could easily manage with Google Maps if I could get this on to the infotainment screen in some way. Not keen on dangly bits!

[Kenneve]

Many thanks Jazzandjag for your input so far. I have to confess to being somewhat confused.
My Android system is RC4 & 4.0.4, but I'm not sure whether i have a Sat receiver built in to the infotainment unit, certainly I have the sharks fin aerial.

The earliest version of google maps i can find is 8.4.1, is this OK.
I presume if Yes then i would download on my PC and copy to a USB stick to enable the Installation to the car?

What else to I need to enable the installation? Honda Permissions App? Where do I find that and what does it do?
Out on the road I guess we would be relying on Sat reception rather than WiFi.

If all of the foregoing seems like waffle, It's because it is, I'm lost!!
Regards Ken.

[peteo48]

One thought I did have after posting above (and please bear in mind I am a "low tech" kinda guy) is that a car manufacturer wouldn't make this easy as they would sell fewer cars with the extremely expensive sat nav option along with eye watering update prices.

[JazzandJag]

Hi Ken

I am in Wales at the moment and tried to send you a PM without success due to internet problems. I will try again when I return home in the week.

Regards

Nigel

[andruec]

Out on the road I guess we would be relying on Sat reception rather than WiFi.

Er, no. Those are two different things in this case. Wifi is use of radio signals to exchange data. A sat nav listens to signals from orbiting satellites but those signals contain very little data (just ID and transmission time I think) and the sat nav doesn't transmit back to them. The sat signals are only used to calculate positional data (by comparing the delays between transmission and receipt and triangulating).

More info here.

A bugbear of mine is the way Hollywood and TV studios have portrayed GPS as being a two-way process. I dislike the term 'GPS tracker' especially when they imply that the satellite is doing the tracking or that it can work in the absence of a mobile signal (which it can't - the GPS 'tracker' has to use a mobile signal to send the calculated positional information to whoever is doing the tracking).

Some navigation software continuously downloads maps from the internet, instead of having the maps stored on the device. Out on the road if you're using satellite navigation software that requires you to be online you will have to set your mobile phone up as a wifi hotspot so it can then act as a relay between your sat nav and the internet. If the software you are using has the maps stored on the device it will not need wifi.

[Kenneve]

So, if Google maps is downloaded to the car, then I don't need the mobile phone to act as a hotspot.
The Sat receiver just tells the car where it is on the map?  Do I have a Sat receiver on board on my EX model?

[ColinB]

Do I have a Sat receiver on board on my EX model?

This has come up before, and the consensus was “yes”. See this thread:
https://clubjazz.org/forum/index.php?topic=9641.0

[andruec]

So, if Google maps is downloaded to the car, then I don't need the mobile phone to act as a hotspot.

Correct although Google maps can only download a particular area of the UK so you couldn't go hundreds of miles away using sat nav.

The Sat receiver just tells the car where it is on the map?

Yes.

[John Ratsey]

So, if Google maps is downloaded to the car, then I don't need the mobile phone to act as a hotspot.

Correct although Google maps can only download a particular area of the UK so you couldn't go hundreds of miles away using sat nav.

Would OpenStreetMaps https://osmand.net/ work on the Jazz? It's what I use on my phone to avoid mobile data charges when I want to look at a map. However, I've not tested the navigation capability.

[JazzandJag]

Hi Kenneve

PM sent

Nigel

[Kenneve]

My grateful thanks to JazzandJag for all the help he has recently given me. We discovered that we live quite close and he has been able to talk me through the installation procedures for Google Maps and also solve one or two problems as they arose.

It's apparent that using my I-phone as a mobile hot-spot is not good enough, I didn't initially realise that a Wi-Fi link was required, but a test using his mobile broadband device proved that everything works as it should.
I am bit disappointed that we need this additional device and also the fact that details like current speed etc are not shown.

I am now in 'which way to jump' mode, whether to continue with Google Maps and purchase the device, whether to update my existing Sat-Nav, or simply stay as I am with my existing Garmin 1300 unit.
Decisions Decisions