Open Source Software for Mobile Phones

OpenLAPI is most commonly used to access Bluetooth GPS devices from mobile devices, whilst retaining a high level of source code compatibility with JSR-179. OpenLAPI also has a range of backends for emulating location in development environments, making it a popular tool for J2ME developers.

The emulator mode supports the following back-ends for determining location:-

• Access of hardware GPS device over bluetooth (if available)
• Emulate a moving device from an NMEA log file (recorder application provided).
• Emulate a moving device from a predefined trail in a Google Earth file KML.
• Emulate a moving device by picking random entries from a persistent store

And the software may be shipped as part of a MIDlet (Java application) to provide location awareness.

Locify is a mobile Java application which enables regular user to connect GPS, browse maps, save places of interest, record routes, use navigation and other location based features. Locify is a framework - you can build a location based application just using XHTML. Basic feature is, that you can append a location to the request to your server. Then you can return the user some location-relevant content. Also all Locif features is available to the web developer as well - you can send the user an KML file, use maps, navigation etc.

Locify Documentation

The Big Five application for Apple iPhone and iPod touch is a simplified gateway to your Web Apps. Manage your Web Apps in a simple list view and open them by simply tapping on the name. The Web App will be shown in a clean page without distracting additional buttons.

But Big Five can do even more for Web Apps by providing a programming interface (API) to device specific functionalities like getting the current geo location, accessing the photo library and camera, etc.

MGMaps Lib SDK is a lightweight Java ME mapping library. It gives an easy way to add mapping capabilities to your Mobile Java applications. Currently it supports slippy maps (with OpenStreetmap and other sources), searches, KML overlays and GPS positioning. The kit is currently available on Java ME and Blackberry platforms.

It is available under GNU GPL in addition to the commercial license. So it can be used for free in open source projects. Registration is required for downloading the source code.

LocationAPITools library is a collection of classes that simplify the development of location-aware mobile applications using the JSR-179 Location API on the Java ME (CLDC/MIDP) platform.

Tracker.py is a GPS mapping application aimed at helping hikers that want to track their position on a digitized map.

SharpGPS is a GPS library for .NET 2.0 and .NET 2.0 Compact Framework. It supports parsing of NMEA, relaying raw RTCM data either through custom protocol, or via NTRIP for enhanced accuracy. There is no depencency on Windows Mobile’s GpsApi, so this framework supports any device that runs either the full .NET Framework 2.0 or the .NET Compact Framework 2.0. This makes it easy to reuse your code across all platforms.

Flyer is an open source framework for Symbian and Maemo devices written in python. It allows Flash Lite applications access handset’s native capabilities such as camera, bluetooth, media recording and playback, GPS etc.

Sociallight Mobile is an open-source, location-aware mobile client built on top of the Socialight API.

Maptales Mobile is a J2ME / MIDlet client for logging GPS routes and places and uploading them to the maptales.com geoblogging tool. Plugins for other sites and GPX export are planned. Requires a Java phone and Bluetooth GPS.