Use your Android phone as a Bluetooth GPS receiver

Want to use your Android phone as an external GPS receiver? Connecting your Android phone to a laptop running a mapping application such as Google Earth, inSSIDer or Microsoft Streets and Trips can be really useful for navigating, wardriving or mapping for OpenStreetMap.

To do this, you will need the following:

• An Android phone with GPS and Bluetooth.
• A computer with Bluetooth capability. A lot of laptops don’t come with Bluetooth, but small and cheap dongles can be picked up from just about anywhere.
• Software that can take advantage of the GPS signal.
• Android software that transmits the GPS signal over Bluetooth.

Finding the right software is the hard part. There are some pay apps available but I’ll tell you about two free apps that I found.

BlueNMEA by Max Kellermann (market link)

Simple, easy to use and gets the job done. It simply sends your location data over Bluetooth in the NMEA format. Nothing more, nothing less.

GPS 2 Bluetooth by cajax (market link)

Also simple and easy to use. It comes in widget form which makes turning it on and off a bit easier.

Both of these apps will work with any software that can accept a GPS signal in the NMEA format. Happy mapping!

Want to use your Android phone as an external GPS receiver? Connecting your Android phone to a laptop running a mapping application such as Google Earth, inSSIDer or Microsoft Streets and Trips can be really useful for navigating, wardriving or mapping for OpenStreetMap. To do this, you will need the following: An Android phone with GPS and Bluetooth. A computer with Bluetooth capability. A lot of laptops don’t come with Bluetooth, but small and cheap dongles can be picked up from just about anywhere. Software that can take advantage of the GPS signal. Android software that transmits the GPS signal over Bluetooth. Finding the right software is the hard part. There are some pay apps available but I’ll tell you about two free apps that I found. BlueNMEA by Max Kellermann (market link) Simple, easy to use and gets the job done. It simply sends your location data over Bluetooth in the NMEA format. Nothing more, nothing less. GPS 2 Bluetooth by cajax (market link) Also simple and easy to use. It comes in widget form which makes turning it on and off a bit easier. Both of these apps will work with any software that can accept a GPS signal in the NMEA format. Happy mapping!