Will GPS on a USA iPhone work in Europe?

J

Jailbird1818

macrumors member
I have to travel to Europe (Switzerland to be exact) for work. I was there before (pre-iPhone) and while walking arround I was realy wishing I had a GPS so I didn't have to worry about getting lost.

Now that I have to return to Switzerland for 6 weeks, now with my iPhone, do I have to take along a seperate GPS device or will the iPhone's GPS work? I thought I remembered seeing somewhere that the iPhone's GPS was only for the USA. I tried a search and couldn't find anything solid. Thanks for any help!

-JB
 
Strictly speaking it will work, but if google even has maps, downloading them via roaming data might be prohibitively expensive. Personally, I'd take a separate device with on-board maps.
 
It will work provided that you have access to data if you plan on using the Maps app since that needs a data connection to load the map details from Google. However, roaming data doesn't come cheap at all, so it might be a better option to use another GPS device.

If you're using an app that happens to store map information or you're just interested in your approximate latitude and longitude coordinates then data usage shouldn't be an issue.
 
There's a jailbreak app called xMaps which is said to have the ability to download portions of google maps you want, though I haven't looked into it myself so there might be some catch.
 
it worked in Japan :D

what i did was find a wi-fi spot, then zoom out a lot, that way it would keep the larger map saved then you can use the gps to know the general way you are moving

it worked well, and it was free ( MAKE SURE TO TURN ROAMING OFF !!!! )
 
Jailbird1818 said:
Thats a realy good point, I didn't think of that. Any suggestions on what unit would have Swiss maps?

-JB
Click to expand...

Any of the major manufacturers can supply GPS cards for Swiss. Do be aware that in Switzerland it's illigal to use GPS devices in cars that can warn of speeding cameras.

If you are to rent a car just rent one with GPS.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Back
Top