TomTom released its Android app today

Just thought this would be of interest to some...

$80 vs Google Maps/Navigation for free is a fairly tough ask when it works so well. I see that's Europe. $52 for me for Australia.

True Google doesn't have offline navigation which isn't great if you're roaming and can't use data cheaply.

I presume that is truly lifetime updates? None of this 3 year lifetime stuff.

Edit: Not compatible with Galaxy SIII (stock rom). WTF?

This. Also Nexus 7.

According to TomTom, the app isn't compatible with smartphones that use a screen resolution of 1280x720 pixels. Support for that resolution should be released before the end of the year. The app should work without a problem on all Android phones with 800x480 displays.

It seems some people received a Galaxy S3 incompatible warning, while other have not. Some even managed to get it running on their S3. TomTom has not yet provided any explanation as to how or why this seemingly random phenomenon occurs.

Compared to Google maps, TomTom would be a bargain at $200.

IMO, this is a big deal for Android, as this is one of the biggest apps to come along and further validate it as a legitimate first-tier software platform.

The use TomTom has for me during my trip is more routing options. On days I have more riding time to get to my destination, I flip it to "winding roads" mode. This also exposes the benefit of offline modes, as a lot of these winding routes have been in very limited cell reception areas.

Google Navigate (and iOS 6's navigation) offer best time routing only, with usually one or two slight alternate routes. For road trips, this means boring, but fast interstates. Not the greatest when on a two wheeled adventure

I'm not thrilled with the TomTom interface, but the data and routing has been solid so far. Prior to using smartphones for navigation, I used Garmin products in the past.

TomTom's last update for iOS added the ability to customize the menus by moving items around and hiding unwanted ones. This goes a long way to improving the UI and, for me, putting things in more sensible locations in the menu hierarchy.

I currently have the North American app which I bought on sale for $40.

Duh. That rules out the current "reference platform" for Android (Galaxy Nexus), the Google Nexus 7 tablet, and the most popular smartphone on the planet, the S-III.

Smart. Getting there, I guess, but not quite.

Cheers

They really should have concentrated on making the app resolution independent, because this is going to cause them (and customers) all kinds of headaches going forward.

Yes, the biggest drawback of Google Maps is that you can't tell it to avoid certain routes, or prefer a certain road. Eg. If I know a certain route will be a nightmare it is very hard to force it to avoid that route, you end up needing to navigate to one place and then create another journey when you get there.




It's £30.99 for UK & Ireland which is a good deal, or £39.99 for Western Europe which would cover everywhere the typical UK driver might go.

Interestingly, the TomTom Android app doesn't look anything like the iOS version. Not in either landscape nor portrait while navigating nor using its menus.

The pricing on Android seems to be better than regular price on iOS as well. Maybe it's an introductory pricing. Engadget also mentions a TomTom North America app which I've never seen on iOS - we only have Canada+US, with Mexico in its own app.

Not true.
A few other navigation app efforts were sorting out map caching, so Google pretty much had to join in. Check your settings for options.

I haven't used it yet, but it's there.

You can cache the map but you can't get directions unless you have a connection. I have been finding having the map cached does make it run faster though.

Unless you have the entire map datum on your device plus the navigation engine, then the solution isn't really "offline." If you have to pre-plan your route, then cache the data, that's not quite the same thing and nowhere near as versatile. I reroute at least 50% of the time I'm using GPS navigation.

So do I... but never on purpose!

You have to be crazy to drive in Guadalajara, but that's no problem, because you'll be crazy about twenty minutes in even if you were perfectly sane to begin with.

The only thing that makes it possible is that when (not if, but when I miss a turn, the Tom Tom quietly recalculates a new route for me. Someone who has spent years driving in Guadalajara can drive "seat of the pants", but I can't. Even with the Garmin that I had before getting the Tom Tom I couldn't.

For example, going into a Glorieta (known as a Roundabout in other parts of the world) the Garmin would tell me "Turn left on Calle Perez". Well, that Glorieta might have seven exits, NONE of them signed. Good luck with that. The Tom Tom, by contrast, puts up a full-screen diagram of the Glorieta on-screen, with an arrow-headed gold line showing the route through it, and an audible instruction along the lines of "Enter the traffic circle, take the third exit onto Perez street", and displays a triangle indicating where my car is positioned within the circle at that moment.

Before the Tom Tom, driving in Guadalajara involved screaming fights with SWMBO, who would be telling me "Get in the right lane" while I was explaining to her that the madman driving the bus overtaking us in the right lane had a different scenario in mind.

Both the Garmin and the Tom Tom sometimes tell us to make a left turn across a divided road, or to turn against traffic on a one-way street. I have learned to just relax and go with the flow, always allow an extra half hour to get to my destination, secure in the knowledge that if I just do what it tells me as best I can, I'll get there eventually.

I have actually worked out a contingency plan for getting out of the city should my GPS ever fail me in mid-drive, involving paying a taxi driver to let me follow him to the airport, from which I know how to get home.

I don't go into Guadalajara if I don't have to.

tanstaafl.

Ah, so! Thanks for the info.

I'll have to pick your brain about this sometime. It's looking increasingly likely that I'll be moving to GDL for my next term. It's a couple years away at this point, since I'll have a home assignment and then language school first. We'll be there in March for a visit though.

You actually use the Garmin and Tomtom at the same time? That must be truly .

I can just imagine, one in English, the other babbling in Spanish. Oh my!

No, nothing so fun as that.

The Tom Tom replaced the Garmin, and I both of them are in English.

The Tom Tom was the cheapest model, actually a discontinued model purchased from (I think) J&R (Amazon, maybe?) for about $70. The Garmin has better (i.e., more complete and up to date) maps, but the UI of the Tom Tom is so superior that the Garmin now just gathers dust in a drawer. Somewhere. Not even sure I could find it now.

Of course, things change, and three years later perhaps the new Garmins are better than my old Tom Tom, or even the new ones. I dunno, the Tom Tom serves my purposes very well.

tanstaafl.

And we'll (SWMBO and I) will be expecting you to drop by for a visit. We're less than 40 miles South of Guadalajara.

tanstaafl.

garmin: in 300 feet turn left.
Tomtom: no, it's 200 feet and a turn to the right.
Garmin: it's a one way street, Turn left!
Tomtom: Don't listen to him, that is so last week, he needs an update.
Turn right in... Err... Recalculating...

I spend a lot of time swearing at my GPS, I've always thought it'd be cool if it swore back at me

Tomtom has an Ozzie Osbourne voice...

One thing I liked about the Garmin was that when it went into recalculating mode, it didn't have some bright, pixie-like voice saying something like "One moment please while I recalculate your route...".

Instead, there was this woman's voice, infinitely patient but clearly exasperated, saying just "Recalculating." But you have to hear it. It's "Reee-calculating" in a tone of voice that obviously implies that she is little put out at the extra work you are making her do because you were so incompetent as to miss the last turn.

Someone with a sense of humor did that one. Bet she didn't last long there...

tanstaafl.

Heh.. that same babe also has an interesting emphasis when she says "Route Cancelled".. kinda like a scolded child who knows she was right all along.

I tried out several of the languages on my old Garmin and by far the bitchiest was the French voice.
Tournez Adroit! (you filth!)
Might fit well if you're into exotic dominatrixes.

The sexiest and most easy to listen to was the Swedish gal.