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I was a big Waze fan, but it's starting to look dated. My latest car came with Google maps as the sat nav platform and I've seen no need to switch to Waze in carplay.
Remember the days when SatNav used to spit the dummy out, because signal was mysteriously lost when entering the tunnel it has directed you to drive into?
Nobody had thought to code them to assume you haven’t been beamed into outer space and were probably still doing roughly the same speed or at least on the same road.
Things have certainly improved.
Really? Mines got full google maps built in. Linked to my google account and phone so i can send directions from any of my google devices to the car. It even knows if i'm driving an electric car or not and will route via charging stations and most efficient/quickest routes etc. Got speed camera notifications and speed limits, road obstructions/road works, diversions and live traffic and low traction warnings.What astounds me is that with today's technology, they still manage to make the built in sat navs so bloody useless
In the car, Google maps. It does everything I want, is simple to use and works well with voice commands to "navigate to". I've tried Waze and it was OK, but I keep coming back to Google. As above the native satnav in my Octavia is garbage.
On the motorbike a dedicated Garmin bike unit (Zumo XT). My Triumph has a satnav app which is almost unusable. There are plenty of Android auto head units for motorbikes now which run Google maps. If I was buying again, that's the way I'd go.
Sometimes I get to use waze for the spoken warnings but Google for the actual map - pretty much the perfect combo.
(Start directions in Waze on android auto and then open Google maps.... Waze keeps giving notifications verbally in the background)
Mostly Waze though 80% of the time.
my occasional commute is cross country and has loads of bits where traffic can be good or bad for no apparent reason and I find Waze to be very effective at getting me to my destination precisely as expected. some of the options are more effort / less relaxing than others so if I was in charge I'd like to be able to say this is the route I prefer, these are roads I really dont like, keep me on my preferred route unless thats slower by 15 minutes than the alternative and avoid the roads I hate unless its absolutely necessary.
first world problems tho right! I find it so much more relaxing knowing the time on the display is very very likley the time I'll arrive and other than not going down any farm tracks or across ploughed fields, theres no need for me to think about navigation at all
Do any of them have a decent "find me a supermarket petrol station thats not too far off my route at some point in the next 100 miles" to make it easier to avoid motorway service stations on longer trips? thats a feature id use a couple of times a year but never think to research in advance
Really? Mines got full google maps built in. Linked to my google account and phone so i can send directions from any of my google devices to the car. It even knows if i'm driving an electric car or not and will route via charging stations and most efficient/quickest routes etc. Got speed camera notifications and speed limits, road obstructions/road works, diversions and live traffic and low traction warnings.What astounds me is that with today's technology, they still manage to make the built in sat navs so bloody useless
Well yeah, you've got a car that's had it's infotainment system built around Android, not just some shitty inbuilt propriety shat nav system that the majority of cars come with
Well yeah, you've got a car that's had it's infotainment system built around Android, not just some shitty inbuilt propriety shat nav system that the majority of cars come with
I've got the worst of all worlds - a crap inbuilt sat nav system, and a car that refuses to stay connected to my phone for CarPlay (MG4).
On the back of this thread I tried Google maps via CarPlay today and "added a stop" at Wetherby services. I stopped and then continued on with the stupid ****ing thing trying to navigate me back to Wetherby for the next 15 miles until I had to (work out how to) edit the route on the go. Stupid piece of shit. Put me right off it.
I used the CarPlay in my MG HS with Apple Maps app once and thought it was great, 😉 , not had any use of others as I don’t go anywhere where it may be useful
I used the CarPlay/Apple Maps app once and thought it was great,
I'm going to try that next time. Ive been using Waze but it doesn't integrate with the dashboard turn by turn so hopefully Apple will be better... Google potentially has access to much more traffic/hazard data though so I would have expected it to be better...🤷♂️Not picking up that I had stopped though is a massive flaw and I won't be doing that again.
stopped and then continued on with the stupid ****ing thing trying to navigate me back to Wetherby for the next 15 miles
Dismiss previous stop. Easy.
On the back of this thread I tried Google maps via CarPlay today and "added a stop" at Wetherby services. I stopped and then continued on with the stupid ****ing thing trying to navigate me back to Wetherby for the next 15 miles until I had to (work out how to) edit the route on the go. Stupid piece of shit. Put me right off it.
User/idiot 😉 error, not the app. I never have an issue adding stops and then continuing the route
The Skoda one required you to perform some kind of Fibonacci coding sequence to enter a post code.
Yeah, I know this one. If you enter the postcode into the main search screen it'll only accept the first half of the postcode. You need to go to the next screen and then there's a button labelled [P. CODE] tucked away like a Shift key at the bottom of the keyboard. It took me bloody ages to fathom that out, I suspect it was originally designed for different territories and they couldn't recode it to understand UK postcode formats so they just Blu-Tacked it on elsewhere.
Google, because of the little car avatar.
User/idiot
error, not the app. I never have an issue adding stops and then continuing the route
Nah. How can it be user error. I stopped for half an hour and then carried on. I mean I selected Moto, Wetherby which was the actual shopping bit instead of the “services” icon which was the forecourt and I parked 100m away from the door but it refused to pick up a re-route, it kept telling me to come off at the next junction and showed the route going back up the other carriageway. Maybe if I’d ignored the next junction it might have cottoned on.. Still, rubbish. It possibly should have asked me even, if it thought I’d missed the stop…
Dismiss previous stop. Easy
Go on then, enlighten me…. I could not see any simple way of doing that. Admittedly I was trying to do this while driving but getting it to bring up the planned route where I could subsequently delete the stop wasn’t straightforward. I can’t actually remember how I did it now either… Maybe the CarPlay version is different…🤷🏽♂️
Google maps.
I just wish there was an app available that would let me put the destination nation in, but only start giving me the directions when 2 miles before the motorway junction I need to take.
I know my way out of Leeds pretty well so do not need any help with that, thanks. Annoying.
Which gets your seal of approval and why?
Neither. I use TomTom. I started using it around seven/eight years ago for my job, which was a logistics driver for British Car Auctions, and which involved me picking up vehicles from all over the country, driving them to a specific location, then either picking up another vehicle at that point, or being picked up and driven to another location where I’d pick up another vehicle. Approximately 500 miles a day, and neither Apple or Google Maps were anywhere close to being good enough, because they required a good network connection, and I can promise you, there are very large parts of the country with next to no mobile bandwidth, especially along the south of England.
I used to use CoPilot and Here, but my team leader ‘encouraged’ me to use TomTom because he got fed up with me getting to the rendezvous point late, and he thought it was the satnav I was using.
It was impossible to explain to him that we were coming from two different directions on different roads, so traffic conditions were completely different, so I just installed TomTom to shut him up, and I’ve carried on, because I’m used to it, I have a lot of locations stored, and I get regular map updates.
I don’t have any problems with Apple Maps, and I’ve used it on occasions, but TomTom ain’t broke, so I’ve no need to replace it. It’s a CarPlay app, so it’s there when I need it; I just plug the phone into the car’s systems and up it pops - BT doesn’t have the bandwidth for GPS usage.
I like how you can W3W a place send a link then just Google Maps to it. So many people are utterly useless with technology
I’ve been using W3W with TomTom for some time, it had a button at the bottom that said Navigate, tap it and the selected location went straight to TomTom, but W3W have now decided to join the subscription club, and that option is now only available on subscription!
I’ve contacted W3W, and they might have a change of heart, but there’s a workaround, c’n’p the location into the TomTom app, which is less than ideal, but that seems to be the way things are going.
At least I had the foresight to buy a car with no technology that can be turned into a subscription service!
Google equally good, but not on the heads up
Google appears on the ID7 head up. Not sure it controls the id light though like the built in does.
I like how you can W3W a place send a link then just Google Maps to it. So many people are utterly useless with technology
Why would you not just send a maps link and cut out the middle man?
The bit above from CZ about BT bandwidth seems weird as external GPS units back in the day connected to phones via Bluetooth and wireless CarPlay doesn’t use Bluetooth for data transfer. Carplay uses BT just for pairing and then switches to Wifi.
Wired connection used to be more reliable and phone needs to be charged anyway so it makes sense to use it on longer journeysh.
Go on then, enlighten me…. I could not see any simple way of doing that. Admittedly I was trying to do this while driving but getting it to bring up the planned route where I could subsequently delete the stop wasn’t straightforward. I can’t actually remember how I did it now either… Maybe the CarPlay version is different…
Just hit the X as if you want to cancel the navigation. It gives the option to exit or remove next stop.
This is on my phone though so would have to check it in the car.
The thing with going into a services (or any destination) you have to actually reach the coordinates it has as the destination.
Same with a street, you can't just enter that street, it has to be the pre determined point on that street
Approximately 500 miles a day, and neither Apple or Google Maps were anywhere close to being good enough, because they required a good network connection, and I can promise you, there are very large parts of the country with next to no mobile bandwidth, especially along the south of England.
You'd can download the UK map (or whatever area you want) and that issue is gone. Takes no time at all to do, and updates the offline maps automatically too
Apple or Google Maps were anywhere close to being good enough, because they required a good network connection .....[some other stuff] ..... BT doesn’t have the bandwidth for GPS usage.
Wrong on both counts I'm afraid - and the amount of data for GPS is pretty tiny.
In car satnav is crap & as above takes yonks to input a postcode but it is an 11yr old volvo, so stick with phone & Google maps. Sometimes throws a wobbly but mostly is good at avoiding traffic - used to drive 30k pa before satnavs so know my way around but now use Google maps all the time to avoid snarl ups especially with all the random HS2 road closures nearby.
I’ve contacted W3W, and they might have a change of heart,
Unlikely. What Three Words is evil and I refuse to use it on principle.
I take it back about W3W.
This is on my phone though so would have to check it in the car.
Thanks. Yeah I discovered it’s really easy on the phone app. You can also swipe up and it shows the route. I’ve yet to try it in the CarPlay version but it certainly wasn’t intuitive while driving and not having done it before. I’ll give it a go and see what’s what…
Ah, an ID7's HUD is probably a fair bit newer than my Vivaro Life Elite van HUD - that runs off the car's software, and just projects speed, speed limit and a direction arrow. It's ace.
The thing with going into a services (or any destination) you have to actually reach the coordinates it has as the destination
Pretty easy for the device to work out I’d stopped and was on my way again though. Or at least question it… “Resume nav to Moto or continue to next stop” etc. In fact thinking about it, I had my phone in my pocket and I went inside so… meh. If I find an easy way of accessing the route in the ACP version though that would suffice. I’ll try it tomorrow…
So it's easy enough to delete the added stop once you know how and a similar process in ACP to the native app so I'll give it another crack. I do like the satellite view and seemingly Waze notifications (well some of them) come through even though not using Waze for nav.
Carplay uses BT just for pairing and then switches to Wifi.
Are you sure about that? Pretty certain the unit in my Ford requires a wired connection for TomTom to function, there’s no wifi or AirPlay that I’m aware of. Newer vehicles may well have that function, but my EcoSport is a 19-plate, and shares everything with the Fiesta and Focus.
Unlikely. What Three Words is evil and I refuse to use it on principle.
Que? More so than Google? I won’t stop using it, the ability to find a location and navigate to it somewhere out in the countryside is a marvellous thing; trying to find a particular location in the depths of South Somerset or South Devon, when the satnav takes you to an empty stretch of road, you phone the person you’re going to pick up a car from, and they ask where you are, and you describe the T-junction and parish notice board you’re parked by, and he says, hmm, sorry, I don’t know where that is, it’s frustrating. There’s six of us looking at each other, trying to figure out what to do. In the end we carried on in the opposite direction, and eventually found the house half a mile further on!
Same thing on large business parks.
Well yeah, you've got a car that's had it's infotainment system built around Android, not just some shitty inbuilt propriety shat nav system that the majority of cars come withThe previous previous car was still on the basic map/navi package for Sensus, which was a bit clunky but worked perfectly across the countries i used it in (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, France, UK, Belgium). Only ongoing criticism was that the direction changes on voice were a bit late compared to the upgraded map package, or google maps on the phone.