Ok so i've laid out this sweet route that i'm supposed to be taking to get up to Vancouver in Google Maps.
How do i get my Android phone to use this route? I have a Garmin GPS with me as well, but looking at the procedure used to convert google maps into a GPX file, i'd need a rocket surgery degree.
Swank Force One wrote: Ok so i've laid out this sweet route that i'm supposed to be taking to get up to Vancouver in Google Maps. How do i get my Android phone to use this route? I have a Garmin GPS with me as well, but looking at the procedure used to convert google maps into a GPX file, i'd need a rocket surgery degree.
GPSbabel will convert kml or kmz into a gpx file you can use with garmin. its a free program, just google it. i'm not sure about android, but i can sign into my maps through the google earth app on my iphone, and see waypoints and such that i've created in google maps. you can even look at the notes you've put into your map, so you could save hotel info in the waypoint for each hotel, so you just tap on the phone number and call to confirm reservations, cancel, etc. along the way.
When i try to save a map/route in Google Maps, it gives me a bunch of garbage and arbitrarily leaves out important sections.
This is on a PC on a full browser, not my phone. 
Nevermind, fixed that issue.
Now i've got the route in my phone via Google Maps, but can't get it to navigate the route.
(EDIT)
Well... ALMOST fixed the issue. It's not showing anything between Santa Barbara and San Diego. What the berkeley.
This is what i'm trying to get in my phone, and have my phone navigate me through: http://goo.gl/maps/YsTCM
ok, so you made the route in google earth then? put your route and all waypoints into a folder in your "my places" section in the bar on the left, then right click and select "save place as" it will bring up a file dialog box and allow you to save it as a .kmz or kml, pick .kml and name the file
then download and install gpsbabel from gpsbabel.org it will let you select your .kml and then convert it to another gps format. you can do GPX or even a garmin GDB if you want. then you can open the file in the garmin software of your choosing and send it to your GPS, which will be more useful i think in dispensing directions than a smartphone.
if you could get your junk to upload to google maps correctly, you'd be able to view it through the google earth app on your android, but i know for sure how to get from .KML to .GPX
Not that it helps much, but following that link with my iPhone goes right to the directions function lol. Quantum GIS works well for converting those types of files too (also free), it's a little complicated to just use for that though.
i see whats going on now, it seems that when you are saving to my maps, its not passing over the directions info correctly, or theres too much stuff on the map for it to handle. we have these issues sometimes, i think its google playing with stuff, some days .kmz files will retain all formatting and other days everything gets uploaded as a blue dot. FWIW, when you download even the broken map as a .kml, it has all of the routes in it, but its saved as a track rather than directions.
you might have to rebuild it in google maps, or your garmin software, i'm not sure. you could try just setting your destinations as waypoints and then picking the next one and telling it to take you there.
just print it out and follow it the old fashioned analog way...
Or sell the Garmin and get a Tomtom . Tomtom uses google based maps that users can edit and add waypoints from the receiver itself. Garmin just wants you to pay for their updates that are still wrong since the last update.
OSM maps is another option for the Garmin, maybe not as good as some of the others but it seemed pretty simple to use.
Now I know why I still rely on paper maps.
This is all greek to me. Dammit.
Garmin = plastic hammer and Tomtom = no lost 
i was ready to throw the TomTom that we took on our trip to Texas last summer out the window in Memphis... we were trying to find Sun Studios and had it programmed into the unit... it plotted our route.. then as we drive into the city, it went into "stupid mode" and wouldn't tell us the name of the next street to turn on, and wouldn't tell us to turn until after we drove thru the intersection.. the only screen it would display was the view from right behind the car.. that thing almost wound up in the street... but once we took the bridge over the river to Arkansas, it cleared up and worked perfectly again for the difficult drive to Dallas,Texas on I40..
In reply to novaderrik:
Weird was there satellite signal?
My 350XL will get stuck on the start up screen every once in a while but I just unplug it and restart and everything is right in the world. I use it daily too, maybe 20-60 trips a day
I still can't figure this out. Seriously blows. Buying a tomtom is not an option, I'm on the road NOW.
You'd think this would work since it's all google things.
Did you try re entering the route in google? My iPhone won't follow the whole thing either, for a while it works but then it gets to a certain point and skips back to the beginning. I'm not sure if just taking out the extra stuff that doesn't belong might make it work, I will try that later and see if that fixes it but I'm not sure.
I tried it this morning on a simple route from Grand Junction, CO to SLC, UT to Missoula, MT.
Wouldn't do it.
Wouldn't even do just SLC to Missoula. Seriously infuriating. It's going to really suck when i get out to the coast and come down it, and have to fight with either/both GPSs when i want to go from one city to the next, but want to take a specific route that i already have planned, but can't get into either device.
jere wrote: In reply to novaderrik: Weird was there satellite signal? My 350XL will get stuck on the start up screen every once in a while but I just unplug it and restart and everything is right in the world. I use it daily too, maybe 20-60 trips a day
yes.. it had a good signal... it just went wonky in Memphis for some reason. think it was the ghost of Elvis berkeleying with us after my travel companion ignored the "do not touch statue" sign at the little tourist info stand just as we came into town...
... it was fine in every other city- even thru the 5 layers of interstate hell that is known as Dallas, TX. it just didn't like Memphis.. at all... and as a result, neither did i..
If you add them all to a map one at a time it seems to all show up, I don't know if it will work very well on your phone or not though.
http://goo.gl/maps/DO2pT
Or this, I tried doing it a different way.
http://goo.gl/maps/vHkAc
Both of those ways ignore the route created by click 'n' drag, though.
I'm pretty sure this just isn't going to work.
Swank Force One wrote: Both of those ways ignore the route created by click 'n' drag, though. I'm pretty sure this just isn't going to work.
I think its just too many points in the directions for the phone to handle it. Those were the only ways I could get it to even mostly show up right on the computer with all the points, other than that only the directions between the first 5 points would work. On the map you made it will work though the first 3 on my phone but thats it. Unless making a .gpx file of just the points where you want to go would be helpful, I don't have any other ideas either.
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