I remember a time before Google maps when navigation meant buying paper maps from the petrol station and required a navigator. Then came the smartphone with its GPS magic powered by Google Maps, and our lives became instantly better. 

There are times when GPS is unreliable (like dense city centers), or you want to maximize your smartphone battery life, or there are times you simply don't want to give Google your precise location for privacy reasons. 

This is where an Android app called SmartNavi shines. SmartNavi uses steps to determine your location instead of an always-on GPS antenna. Without a GPS components, this app is more geared towards pedestrians, hikers, bikers, skateboarders or other non-car users. 

Your phone is a cornucopia of sensors and SmartNavi uses these to calculate your steps and then guesses your current location. At startup, the app connects to the internet and GPS to pinpoint your starting location but from that point on, no more cheating.

This means that even if you are walking in the densest downtown (like Hong Kong) or lose your internet connection, you will still be able to navigate. The app claims it can save 80% more battery (compared to Google Maps or Apple Maps) by not using the GPS antenna.

There is also the important notion of privacy. There are times you simply want to go somewhere without big brother looking over your shoulder (logging and then analyzing your travel patterns). Using the app is simple. You download it from the Google Play Store (Appstore); you open and set-up the app (first time) and then input your destination.

During the initial set-up, the app asks for your height. This isn't to profile you but to better calculate your steps.

Obviously, this isn’t the perfect app for everyone but it does meet a unique need for many smartphone users.