I have a similar usecase (offline GPS for biking). For that, I’ve repurposed an old, unsupported Android phone. I keep the phone permanently in Airplane mode. It plays music files and I can put Navit on it for offline GPS.
I use the old $20 Android phones that doesn’t connect to cellular networks anymore for my kid. And she can’t get on WiFi without a password, so checkmate social networks. It uses something like organic maps and redownloaded maps for the area
I definiteely understand your frustration. I have the same emotional reaction when looking for alternative devices. But really, a cheap phone is the best solution
I recommend using a custom rom with a funky UI (lots to explore!) so it'll feel different from your phone!
Like the other commenters have mentioned, if the premise is to prevent the child from going online, I am not sure if I agree with this approach...
But to answer your question as stated: it looks like the Sony Walkman models NWZ-Z1040/Z1050/Z1060 runs (ran?) android and has a GPS receiver, but no cellular capability.
I can't find any newer Walkmans that have GPS receivers, but you might want to look there. I know everyone is telling you to use a old phone, but I am sure that you can find a device to suit your needs. Good luck!
(If you are handy, you can also use an old phone, open it up, and physically destroy the antennas, although this might hurt the battery life if the firmware decides to crank up the transmission power to maximum, if it cannot "see" any networks or towers).
But for maximum street cred, I'd go with two devices: a 'vintage' mp3 player and a 'vintage' or rugged GPS receiver. The more obscure the better. Those things are cool now!
Edit: The Garmin iQue were also Palm PDAs that had a GPS receiver and a headphone jack. They also look pretty rad and turn-of-the-century :) But remember, at some point children establish their own tastes and identities partially defined /against/ their parents, so just because you might think that something is cool doesn't mean that they would.
Do you want to track your kid, or give them access to maps? If the latter, offline maps on any number of phones should work great these days. You could lock down the phone heavily so they can’t get access to anything besides music and maps, as well.
Kids will get around restrictions. I think the best solution is an iPod nano and Garmin etrex. The mp3 player with airtag glued isnt bad either, or put it in the internals speaker out.
We use a Garmin watch for location and comms with our kid. Works pretty well.
I was using a Shanling M0 music player, and it's pretty nice, but I've become lazy and don't like the chore of loading music on it. I have not found a good solution yet for a music(& podcasts) only portable streaming player.
Any reason for the wired headphone requirement besides resistance to change?
Because you should be able to find a good quality pair for well under $50, and that would open up your device options to a wide array of smart watches. On top of that I think your kid will enjoy wireless more than wired.
Otherwise I’d recommend an iPod touch, or any old smartphone. Just set them up with mobile device management so that you can lock out any features you don’t want your kid using.
You can even activate the cellular and keep it quite locked down. You could restrict basically everything: apps, web browsing, calls, texts, etc.
Kids drop things, lose things and tend to have less general awareness than adults.
I can't count how many times I've dropped my wireless earbud case and had the earbuds pop out and the case close. It's easy to imagine a kid losing one, both, or the entire set including case.
Wired headphones are tethered to the device when plugged in and easier to replace. Wireless earbuds turn the setup into 4 discrete items that can be lost (L, L, case, device).
Thanks for that suggestion. I thought that AirTag could not be used to monitor kid location though, as they will deactivate if far from the original iPhone.
They’ll work just fine, assuming your kid comes back to you frequently enough. Only downside is you’d only get a kid location if near someone with an iPhone.
So the GPS functionality is meant to communicate back the location over the internet? If all you need is offline music and GPS with maps, an old smartphone without a SIM card is the best option. If you need internet connectivity, an old smartphone is probably still the best option, but with a SIM card. Just lock it down if you're worried about various apps.
Another option would be to buy one of the dedicated kid s̶p̶y̶i̶n̶g̶ tracking devices and tape it to an iPod.
I don't know about the wired headphones, but maybe some cheap WiFi only smart watch will do? I don't know about offline navigation without a phone, but with modern smartphone tech surely someone has ported OsmAnd or whatever to a cheap Wear watch.
Now that you say it, I think our iPad doesn't have GPS indeed. The only app that required it and that we were using was the star map. Since we used the iPad at home it worked for us to just enter our position once manually.
