I learnt early in my touring experience that navigation is huge, maybe because I had so many problems keeping my phone charged. They make them so cheap these days that the internal wires break. What a pain! For years I worked around the charging problem by using the type of cord that has magnetic adapters. I siliconed the appropriate adapter into the port of my phone, then just attached the USB cord via the magnet to charge the battery.
I worked around this by buying off eBay a cheap, used, military grade phone that I dedicated for bike navigation. OsmAnd also includes contour lines and hillshades layers. It does what I need it to do and no more.
Do I really need to know how far over I leaned the bike on my latest ride? Do I really need crash detection? But the main reason I like OsmAnd is for the free maps. The other main app I use to navigate is Google Maps, now called just Maps. Just Google it, then press the navigation arrow icon and it loads in Maps and guides you there. Easy peasy. As much as I like OsmAnd, you need a specific address for it to find your destination.
You can, however, press and hold on the map to choose a specific point of destination. You can use Maps also offline, but like OsmAnd, you have to download offline maps before leaving home. The search feature, however, does require cell service. In the upper right hand corner, press your identity icon, then select Offline Maps from the menu.
I name each map so I can keep track of them. They will expire if left unused for a certain amount of time, but you can update them all quickly and easily every once in a while when you are in a Wi-Fi zone. I downloaded maps for all the provinces I planned to tour before heading across the country. This was important since I was often not in a region with cell service. The only other navigation app I use is Waze , and I only ever use it around town, frankly. Not that I ever speed.
