Getting started

Set up NavGate on Android, understand its permissions, and build the current development source.

Updated 1 November 2026 Development manual

In this guide

What you are using

NavGate is an independent native Android navigation project. It connects place discovery, route planning, map guidance, and optional camera guidance in one journey. This manual describes development source, rather than a certified release or an app-store availability promise.

The website’s interactive phone is an illustrative local simulation. Its places, routes, camera imagery, times, and progression are examples. It does not request location or camera access, calculate a real route, or run the Android app.

Device and development requirements

Requirement	Current configuration
Android device	Android 8.0 or later, API 26+. OpenGL ES 3.0 is required by the manifest.
Tracked AR	An ARCore-compatible physical phone, Google Play Services for AR, and camera access.
Android SDK	Compile SDK 36; target SDK 35. Install the SDK needed by the current Gradle configuration.
Java and Gradle	Java 17 bytecode; Gradle wrapper 8.13. Use a compatible Gradle JDK in Android Studio.
Network	Online place discovery, map downloads, and online routing need their respective providers.

Take a first journey

Explore first
Open the map and search for a destination. Browsing and manually chosen endpoints remain available without location permission.
Choose directions
Open a place, select Directions, and check the start, destination, and Walk, Ride, or Drive profile.
Review the route
Read the estimated time and distance, inspect the turns, and preview a fly-through when available.
Start with a usable location
Allow location access for current-position guidance. Keep the map available and try camera guidance only on a walking route when its requirements are met.

Permissions have specific jobs

Location supplies current-position guidance and nearby context. Approximate or uncertain fixes may limit guidance.
Camera is used for AR and Live view. It is optional for map browsing and planning.
Notifications support active navigation notifications on Android versions that request this permission.
Spoken directions depend on a compatible installed Android text-to-speech voice.

Build from source

Clone the public repository, open it in Android Studio, install the requested SDK, and select a compatible Gradle JDK. The following commands build a debug APK; they do not sign or publish a store release.

From a terminalsh

git clone https://github.com/InsaneCoder789/NavGate.git
cd NavGate
./gradlew :app:assembleDebug

Prepare the optional place index

Offline place-name search uses generated data assets. To create the India gazetteer from its public GeoNames source, use Python 3.11 or later and run the builder before packaging that index into a development APK. This downloads data; it does not provide offline roads or maps.

From the repository rootsh

python3 scripts/build_india_index.py --download

Source basis

This guide describes development source reviewed on 1 November 2026. The Android working tree contains changes beyond the public revision; repository links are reference locations and may show an earlier implementation. An installed build may differ.