GPS navigation software

Normally GPS Navigation Software comes in two types:
# Navigation with route calculation and directions from the software to the user of the route to take, based on a vector-based map, normally for motorised vehicles with some motorised forms added on as an afterthought.
# Navigation tracking, often with a map "picture" in the background, but showing where you have been, and allowing "routes" to be preprogrammed, giving a line you can follow on the screen. This will also be used for geocaching.

These two types of software are rarely found in the same package.

Terminology

Track

A track is a trace of somewhere that you have actually been (often called a "breadcrumb trail"). It will normally leave a trace on a screen, or a series of recorded points. A GPS unit (external or internal) will send details of the location, probably once per second. The software will have some selection method to pick up some of these details and record them, either by taking a reading based on a set time interval, based on a set distance, based on a change in direction by more than a certain angle, or a combination of these. Each point will have a date and time stored with it, and the points can be linked by a line, which is the track.

Retracing your steps is a simple matter of following the track back to the source.

Route

A route is a preset series of points that make up a set route to follow for your destination. Most software will allow the route and the track to be displayed at the same time.

Waypoint

Waypoints are used to mark particular locations, and are not linked to tracks or routes.

Platforms

Software can be used on a laptop computer [ [http://www.laptopgpsworld.com/pc-gps-software-general-discussions/37-list-laptop-gps-navigation-software-programs-reviews.html#post73 List of laptop GPS navigation software programs and reviews] ] with an attached GPS receiver, but for most daily use, this will either be on a PDA, a dedicated device, or a smartphone. These devices can normally be connected to a computer for uploading routing information or downloading tracks created.

Examples

* Garmin
* Nav N Go
* TomTom Navigator
* TomTom Mobile
* VZ Navigator

References