Second drive with track navigation (iOS)
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Another day, another drive
Again, using track navigation.
Experience:
I tested the behaviour on detours a bit more: this works the way I like it, i.e. the app doesn't complain, doesn't keep telling me to "turn around when possible", it just goes with the flow and puts me "back on track" further down the road. Very nice.
Experience:
Not so nice was the behaviour when restarting the navigation (I did this on purpose, not because it was needed). I was driving the a track using a different app and while driving, I reloaded/restarted the same track navigation in MRA Nav Next. At first I thought this worked as I expected (i.e. it would notice I was on the track and just pick up from there), but in actuality, it was trying to route me to the start of the track.
Suggestion:
Please provide the option to select if I want to start the track navigation from the beginning or from the nearest point on the track. Alternatively/additionally, if it is detected that I'm on or very close to the track, just start navigating from that point. Experience:
On my way home, I tried A-B routing just to test this functionality as well, by just entering my home address. The quickest road back home was using the motorway, but I ignored the instructions and kept to the secondary roads on purpose. Once again, nice to see that the app just went with the flow without complaining too much. Obviously, it tried to get me back to the motorway a couple of times, but it didn't keep "pushing" once it was clear I made a different choice (i.e. I had committed to a different route without an immediate obvious point to turn around. I liked that the app didn't try to make me do a U-turn, ever.I was going to mention the need for a night/dark mode here, but I just read that this is already going to be addressed.
A minor thing I noticed display-wise: my phone is set to English as the preferred language, whereas the region is set to Netherlands. I also have "24-Hour Time" (in Date & Time) is on. Based on these settings, iOS itself, as well as every other app I use that displays time, uses the 24h format. MRA Nav Next does not, it uses AM/PM, I'm assuming based on the "English" language setting. Please honour the OS settings for these formats.
One more thing: I did notice my phone was quite warm after use (with only MRA Nav Next, I didn't count the situation where I used 2 navigation apps at the same time). I don't remember it ever being this warm with the navigation app I normally use. While it didn't get warm enough to cause issues and I always drive with the phone connected to a power supply so battery usage isn't an issue, the temp could become an issue when the ambient temperature is higher.
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@Herko-ter-Horst I really enjoy getting feedback about the track navigation!
Happy to hear that you enjoy the rerouting back to track. You describe the exact issue track navigation can have. The idea is to drive the exact track but it should not force you to which makes recalculation with track navigation very difficult. I'm satisfied that a track navigation user is happy with the implementation.
The negative experience you had is indeed exactly something that can happen with track navigation. In route navigation, you would be able to select a waypoint to resume from, this now isn't possible with track navigation and therefore very difficult to solve.
Nice that the A-B highway experience was good too!
Night mode, will be implemented for sure!
Concerning date notation - thanks for sharing
Battery usage / heating, that's interesting! What device are you using?
@Herko-ter-Horst you're the best for providing such great feedback! Thanks
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@Corjan-Meijerink said in Second drive with track navigation (iOS):
In route navigation, you would be able to select a waypoint to resume from, this now isn't possible with track navigation and therefore very difficult to solve.
Isn't a track technically only a single array of gps coördinates? How about allowing the user to tap on the track by which the app can determine the closest GPS point in the track and start the track following from there?
Manks bu'j te bange.
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@StefanHummelink In theory yes
In reality there are quite some more aspects to take into consideration (such as the required track information from your current location to the loaded track). -
@Corjan-Meijerink said in Second drive with track navigation (iOS):
The negative experience you had is indeed exactly something that can happen with track navigation. In route navigation, you would be able to select a waypoint to resume from, this now isn't possible with track navigation and therefore very difficult to solve.
It seems to me that driving to the nearest point on the track shouldn't be that difficult to solve given that you have already implemented a way to get back to the track when the user makes a detour. Can't you just treat it as if the user had made a detour from the track to their current position and now wants to get back to it?
Battery usage / heating, that's interesting! What device are you using?
iPhone SE 2020. Not sure if there was (excessive) battery usage as I always use the phone plugged in when navigating.
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@Herko-ter-Horst There you kinda illustrate the core of the issue. We do not have full control in how your are rerouted back to the track
We can configure it to a certain degree but this is mostly internally determined by HERE.When using waypoint navigation we do have full control of the rerouting process as we can instruct HERE what the next specific waypoint is. Rerouting back to a track does not allow this kinda of configuration (sadly). Exactly this is why the issue would be so difficult to solve.
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@Corjan-Meijerink I don't think I'm suggesting anything that requires full control. I don't want/need to pick a specific point to return to myself. So I wonder if there isn't a way to basically trigger the same functionality that's currently being used for detours, but starting from any location.
From what I deduce from the behaviour I've observed, on a detour, the app/algorithm knows about the track (obviously), the location where the user deviated from the track and the user's current location. From that, it is able to calculate a route back to the track.
It seems to me that the only piece of information missing in the scenario where you want to go to "nearest" point on the track from any location, is the position that the user left the track. I feel this could just be assumed to be the start of the track, if this information is needed.
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@Herko-ter-Horst Ah yes, we already do that (kinda)! As soon as you start the track navigation we trigger a "return to the nearest point on the track"
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@Corjan-Meijerink If that's what's supposed to happen, then that didn't work for me on this drive. When I started the app, loaded the track and started navigation, It just tried to route me to the start of the track, not the closest point (I was actually on the track at that time).
If the behaviour worked as you said, that would already be enough for me (I tend to navigate to the start of a track on my own anyway). It's just for those occasions where you accidentally or on purpose close the app (or it crashes) while on a drive and then need to resume where you left off.
It would be even more awesome if users could choose between those 2 behaviours when starting track navigation: take me to the start of the track or take me to the closest point (which could theoretically also be the start).
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@Herko-ter-Horst Thanks for the ideas, we'll see what we can do about it in the future updates
For now, keep giving us this excellent feedback! I really appreciate the time you take to share it with us.
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Referenced by
Corjan Meijerink
