Compatible Navigation Apps

[Stephen Mell]

@Hans-van-de-Ven-MRA-Master Why?

Why should the community not assist me?

I already have a Gold MRA subscription and a MRA Navigation Subscription.

[Drabslab]

@Stephen-Mell said in Compatible Navigation Apps:

@Hans-van-de-Ven-MRA-Master Why?

Why should the community not assist me?

I already have a Gold MRA subscription and a MRA Navigation Subscription.

Because the community doesnt know. Maybe so.e poeple have tested other nav apps, maybe not. Any nav app able to process gpx 1 files should do, but testing will always be necessary.

[Stephen Mell]

@Drabslab How can you possibly know whether or not a member of this forum has tried and tested alternative nav apps using outputs from the MRA app?

And why the unhelpful attitude?

[Drabslab]

@Stephen-Mell said in Compatible Navigation Apps:

@Drabslab How can you possibly know whether or not a member of this forum has tried and tested alternative nav apps using outputs from the MRA app?

And why the unhelpful attitude?

I am not of the opinion that i have been unhelpful. As i told you, any app able to digest a gpx formated route should be able to receive and and work with the gpx output of mra routeplanner.

In adfition, the same applies to gps systems such as garmin and tomtom

[Drabslab]

@Drabslab to my knowledge most people here use a dedicated gps device such as the tomtom rider orthey are using mra nav. I am not aware of anyone who downloads the routeplanner gpx to put it into another app.
Posdibly because thrre arenotmany of those apps around.

[sudolea]

@Stephen-Mell said in Compatible Navigation Apps:

... I already have a Gold MRA subscription and a MRA Navigation Subscription.

I then wonder why you would want yet more alternatives. Being a dedicated GPS device user myself, I wouldn't even consider MRA Nav to start with, so for me, any alternative would be in the direction of dedicated GPS devices.

(as a sidenote, I didn't think either that Drabslab was being unhelpful, as I too think that indeed any app capable of reading -or importing- a gpx file could do the job you ask. No pun intended, but it's a rare thing you're asking after all, isn't it ?)

[Steve Lynch]

@Stephen-Mell
So here’s my input.
I have tried and tested other apps.

OSMAND.
Full blown app tested for a month.
It is feature rich with a steep learning curve.
Personally I prefer the simplicity and full functionality of the MRA offerings.

Calimoto.
I have a full account as it does take you on those roads with the grass in the middle when you use the highest curvy setting.
I always import any Calimoto GPX files to MRA.

Tom Tom curvy routes in MRA
I also use the Tom Tom curvy routes directly in MRA as they also Route me on the roads with the grass in the middle.
I always insert waypoints on the TomTom track as I use a Garmin XT and I like to see my Route Points

MRA Segments
My personal view of Segments in MRA is that for the UK, it is useless, as even with the highest curvy settings it seems to route me on mainly A roads which in the UK are generally major dual carriageways.

[Herko ter Horst]

@Drabslab said in Compatible Navigation Apps:

@Stephen-Mell said in Compatible Navigation Apps:

@Hans-van-de-Ven-MRA-Master Why?

Why should the community not assist me?

I already have a Gold MRA subscription and a MRA Navigation Subscription.

Because the community doesnt know. Maybe so.e poeple have tested other nav apps, maybe not. Any nav app able to process gpx 1 files should do, but testing will always be necessary.

Why wouldn't the community know? If people have tested other apps, they can provide feedback on what works, what doesn't work, what's clunky, what's smooth, for their use case, can't they? Obviously, the only ultimate judge of what's best suited for your use case is you, but that doesn't mean you can't take on board other people's experiences.

@Drabslab said in Compatible Navigation Apps:

@Drabslab to my knowledge most people here use a dedicated gps device such as the tomtom rider orthey are using mra nav. I am not aware of anyone who downloads the routeplanner gpx to put it into another app.
Posdibly because thrre arenotmany of those apps around.

Maybe most, but certainly not all. And while there aren't dozens of suitable apps, there are a few.

@sudolea said in Compatible Navigation Apps:

@Stephen-Mell said in Compatible Navigation Apps:

... I already have a Gold MRA subscription and a MRA Navigation Subscription.

I then wonder why you would want yet more alternatives. Being a dedicated GPS device user myself, I wouldn't even consider MRA Nav to start with, so for me, any alternative would be in the direction of dedicated GPS devices.

Perhaps because not all apps offer the same features? Some are better at one thing, some are better at another thing. Depending on how you use your navigation device/app, you can select the one that best suits your needs.

I too have both a lifetime MRA Gold and lifetime MRA Navigation subscription. While I like MRA Routeplanner very much and use it exclusively for planning routes, I'm not an active MRA Navigation user, mainly because it doesn't allow me to navigate using tracks. Now if I was (mostly) a solo-driver, that wouldn't be an issue, as I could just optimise for MRA Navigation in the planning phase. However, more often than not, I drive with groups of various sizes, who have all kinds of different navigation devices/apps. The best way I've found to make sure we all drive the same route, is to prepare the route according to MRA RouteXpert guidelines (as much as possible), by making sure waypoints are on the correct roads, checking to see if multiple maps match, etcetera and then exporting the GPX and telling people how to use the track.

Me personally, I then import the GPX into TomTom MyDrive (delete the route) and sync the track to the TomTom Go navigation app on my phone. I like using my phone, as it's always with me, I don't have to worry about leaving it in the car or having a suction cup print on my windscreen that could tempt the wrong people to break into my car to find it, etc. It's just more convenient to me over a dedicated device (and the app gets more frequent map updates), although previously, I have used a dedicated TomTom device in much the same way. As I've mentioned elsewhere on this forum, the main thing missing with this approach is any notion of via-points for stops etc. However, for me this isn't important enough to lose the ability to navigate using tracks. If MRA Navigation Next should offer the ability to navigate using a track, with the ability to see and get notified in some way of (at least) via-points, that would seriously tempt me to switch.

In the past, I've also used Sygic, as the car club I was a member of at the time, was using that. I didn't like it very much, and it also doesn't allow you to navigate using a track.

I've tried OsmAnd, which as as has been mentioned above, doesn't deliver the most user-friendly experience.

I've also had a number of other apps installed very briefly, but I don't even remember most of them.

[Adrian 2]

Has anyone tried the newish TomTom Navigator app for IOS and Android?
Apparently it works with Apple CarPlay so can I plan on MRA and then import to TT Navigator?

[Herko ter Horst]

@Adrian-2 That's the TomTom Go app I'm talking about above.