Route planner app??

[thewanted]

I tried MyRoute today and really didn't get on with it. It stopped navigating all the time and I had to constantly watch the screen to make sure that I didn't miss a turn, which I eventually did and ended up not following the route I had planned.

I just found this website called MoreThan10 which seems very cool at first glance. It allows you to add more than 10 destinations in Google Maps, which means that you can really force Google Maps to take a particular route without worrying that it's going to recalculate based on traffic etc.

Edited by thewanted on Tuesday 3rd November 21:22

[stogbandard]

I’d love an app that can tell me if a road on a planned route has just been surface dressed and needs avoiding at all costs.

[VerySideways]

stogbandard said:

I’d love an app that can tell me if a road on a planned route has just been surface dressed and needs avoiding at all costs.

[blueg33]

I use google maps, you can drag a route to force it to use roads you want to use, you can go to street view and have a look at the road in question etc, If you use waypoints you can send the route directly to your phone.

It has been perfect for me arranging European Road trips over the last 10 years or so. No errors, the exact roads I need and pretty accurate timing

[wol]

I used to use the Michelin route planner, which was great at one point. Way points, fuelling stops etc etc. I haven't tried it recently though, currently using Waze which allows 1 (I think) way point in addition to the final destination.

[magpies]

blueg33 said:

I use google maps, you can drag a route to force it to use roads you want to use, you can go to street view and have a look at the road in question etc, If you use waypoints you can send the route directly to your phone.

It has been perfect for me arranging European Road trips over the last 10 years or so. No errors, the exact roads I need and pretty accurate timing

+1 I have organised run-outs and sent the info to others phones. Once you get used to how to 'force' the route down a particular road and remember to zoom right into the way points to make sure they are on the road, it is good.

[seefarr]

For all of our proper mountain drive days in Germany a few weeks ago I plotted them in GoogleMaps, did "share" which gives you a URL then saved that URL to a Google Doc so I could call them up from my phone when on the road. You do need to add an extra waypoint with "my location" at the start of the route when you call it up on your phone and you need mobile reception when you plot it, but otherwise worked really well.

https://goo.gl/maps/ZUC4TwDm3344gb83A

[thewanted]

seefarr said:

For all of our proper mountain drive days in Germany a few weeks ago I plotted them in GoogleMaps, did "share" which gives you a URL then saved that URL to a Google Doc so I could call them up from my phone when on the road. You do need to add an extra waypoint with "my location" at the start of the route when you call it up on your phone and you need mobile reception when you plot it, but otherwise worked really well.

https://goo.gl/maps/ZUC4TwDm3344gb83A

I'm definitely saving this link! I'm rather envious of your drive (and car)

[seefarr]

thewanted said:

I'm definitely saving this link! I'm rather envious of your drive (and car)

It was dream drive stuff for sure, we were so lucky. I've got a couple more routes in my Readers Rides thing from the same trip:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[mikey k]

tyre
it exports in just about every sat nav format and google maps.
You can also send it to google maps on your phone

[Red Devil]

tyre requires Internet Explorer to be installed, plus a Google API key if you want to use Google Maps. See here
The MyRoute-app Route Planner Basic version is free as well.

[TheLoz]

Reviving this thread to ask if anyone's found any good roadtrip planning apps that work with Apple CarPlay? The closest I've found is Rever but it seems to be rather motorcycle-focused...

[Wollemi]

TheLoz said:

Reviving this thread to ask if anyone's found any good roadtrip planning apps that work with Apple CarPlay? The closest I've found is Rever but it seems to be rather motorcycle-focused...

I have been looking at various route planning apps, particularly so I can plan a route and then share it with a number of people, foe example a car club run. So it needs to be something that is generally available. preferably free, and works on both iPhone and android. and ideally works wit car Play too.

Google maps, although not ideal, fulfils this reasonably. It works well on Apple Car Play, its free, everyone has it on their phone.

Things I have learned to use it successfully.

1. You must create the route by creating way points, not by dragging the plotted route which is fine for getting total journey times but the route will be replotted when you try to use it.

2. You need to download a offline map so you can use it when they is no data signal.


3. even if you have an offline map, you need to import the route when you have a data signal.

4. Once you've planned the route. just send it to yourself as a text or email, which you can then forward on to others.

Other observations are I don't see the point of Google My Maps as I don't see how to export a route from there to be followed in Google Maps sat nav.

TomTom is great as a sat nav but you can only plan routes and export them if you have a TomTom sat nav device, it won't work if you have TomTom on your phone, which is my preferred sat nav which I use with Apple Play.

A problem I have come across is when following a Google maps route using Car Play, it you take a stop mid route and then set off again, it tries to follow the route from the first way point, it's 'forgotten' that I've already visited those points. I need to work out how to remove visited way-points when I restart the route.


if any one has any more tips for using Google Maps as a route planner I'd be very happy to hear them.

[vonhosen]

I thought you can import routes to TomTom GO on android but not on iPhone.

[lorenburton]

Circuit route planner is one of the best app as user experience based.

[Red Devil]

We're petrolheads on here, not courier drivers.

[Wollemi]

I’ve been experimenting with Google Maps by creating a route with several waypoints and then sending it someone to try and follow.

The big problem is that you have to click the screen at each waypoint to either finish the route or as we need to continue. If the person fails to hit “ “continue” then of course the sat nav keeps trying to take them back to the that waypoint. It seems that once they have driven through it and passed beyond then there’s no easy way to tell the Google map app that you have in fact visited the last stop.

Or is there? I what to be able to give a route to occasional users of Google maps who may not (won’t) be able to edit the route to remove stops.

Any advice, ideas for how to place waypoints so they are not missed?

[plenty]

Wollemi said:

I’ve been experimenting with Google Maps by creating a route with several waypoints and then sending it someone to try and follow.

The big problem is that you have to click the screen at each waypoint to either finish the route or as we need to continue. If the person fails to hit “ “continue” then of course the sat nav keeps trying to take them back to the that waypoint. It seems that once they have driven through it and passed beyond then there’s no easy way to tell the Google map app that you have in fact visited the last stop.

Or is there? I what to be able to give a route to occasional users of Google maps who may not (won’t) be able to edit the route to remove stops.

Any advice, ideas for how to place waypoints so they are not missed?

I've also searched for any failed to find a solution for the above. Until Google upgrades its functionality there will always be a market for standalone apps/devices.

[Wollemi]

plenty said:

I've also searched for any failed to find a solution for the above. Until Google upgrades its functionality there will always be a market for standalone apps/devices.

I agree, TomTom paid for app is significantly better than Google Maps as a general purpose sat nav, although it doesn’t offer the function of being able to plot a route on a computer at home and send to the phone.

However, in my situation where I want to plan a route and then distribute it to a group of others, Google is the only option that doesn’t involve persuading everyone else in the group to buy a paid for app.

[plenty]

Wollemi said:

However, in my situation where I want to plan a route and then distribute it to a group of others, Google is the only option that doesn’t involve persuading everyone else in the group to buy a paid for app.

Very true. In our group we all have standalone TomTom and Garmin devices. Apps are ok but if you are a serious user you still can't beat the feature set of a standalone GPS. Many of us specifically still stick with pre-cloud TomTom units + TYRE as this still offers better route planning than anything developed more recently, not to mention mapping on old TomTom devices is superior to more modern units for fast-road driving.