Useful apps while touring?

brownelvis said:
I use the android app when I tour in the states but didn't realize iphone had this feature and android didn't.

I e-mailed Tomtom and they told me that the app wasn't meant to be used on a motorcycle and asked for proof the iphone app had the winding roads feature. I replied with a copy of their iphone app manual straight off their own website with instructions on how to use the winding roads feature but haven't heard back from them since. I also posted on their forum and got no reply.
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Can you PM me the email address? I want to harass them about it, too. :P
 
I had an absolute ball today with Winding Roads.....never ever would have found some of the gems. Grinning ear to ear.
They better not pull that feauture.
 
Good idea
I just noticed that MotionXGPS Drive allows map uploads - that might be a killer app then.
 
I complained to TomTom about the Android app and they said they'd forward my request to the Product Management Team. Doubt anything will happen. I encourage others to make the same request.

Sent from my HTC Desire 601 using Tapatalk
 
So this thread has also informed me about this winding road Tom Tom feature which seems perfect for how I ride. Question for the iphone users, is the disk space and price really worth it considering the free options (minus winding road)? I also looked at the screenshots in the App Store, and was underwhelmed with how "dated".
 
I deleted a bunch of apps I wasn't using to free up space, and bought the USA info for 25$. I haven't had a chance to try it yet. Sometimes a more modern interface is less practical, like iOS 7 and Windows 8.
 
I also looked at the screenshots in the App Store, and was underwhelmed with how "dated".
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very dated look for sure - looks like a regular GPS unit. If it were not for Winding Roads I'd say forget it but NOTHING has Winding Roads and TomTom thought enough of it to bring out a dedicated GPS Motorcycle unit.
rider_prodimg_en_gb_tcm131-54190.jpg


http://www.tomtom.com/en_gb/tomtom-rider/

Winding Roads will change how you ride the twisty areas because it will find places that would take you hours of poring over maps.

Now the App afaik does not allow you to program in the route the way the dedicated GPS does but for that MotionX is the ticket.
 
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Us Android guys would appreciate if you Apple guys would request they add Winding Roads to Android, too.

And yes, TomTom looks super dated. It's like a GPS unit from 2005.
 
I tell you I hated it at first but then I'd hit Winding Roads a make friends again.

I finally got used to the quirks and the voice nav is good.

I don't think MotionX Driver is on Android either
 
Tomtom told me their devs haven't gotten around to adding winding roads on android yet...apple has had the feature since 2012. A huge load of BS on tomtom's part to push overpriced tomtom rider units.

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I bought this last night at 99c, Pocket Earth. Allows for offline map storage from openstreetmaps which is interesting because I found some stuff in it that wasn't in either Google or Apple's layer. Uses OpenGL to render, so decently fast. Supports importing and exporting of GPS tracks and waypoints and other stuff like measuring distance between two straight line points.

The lite version is free so you can try it out but doesn't support offline downloading. Obviously you wouldn't be using an app like this for traffic monitoring. I'm actually pleased with this. Good to have given that one doesn't always have a cell tower in range.

Full version https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/pocket-earth-offline-maps/id481679745?mt=8

Free lite version to try but won't support offline mode https://itunes.apple.com/ca/app/pocket-earth-lite-offline/id512924747?mt=8
 
There's one called Offline Maps I've been using in Chicago for a week, too. Includes offline search but no navigation. Still pretty handy. Includes most of the train and subway stops, too.
 
Pocket Earth has navigation but it requires a network connection to create the route for you unless you are following a pre-saved route. I think it all depends on whether one has a cell signal and a data plan. If it ever happens that it is only one or the other (eg. you are touring) then both tools are good to have on device. The online-only ones and the offline-able world capable map.

The road maps from OSM are fine because for Canada and US they are sourced from the government (TIGER for US like Waze uses). Some European countries have very high levels of detail. And hey, OSM even has a map of the French Antarctic territory lol.
 
Another interesting maps app is PDF Maps. Apparently if you have special maps in PDF and other formats you can locate yourself with the GPS on top of it. The store for that app has some free maps like the Toronto bicycle lanes map etc and it's the PDF of the print version. User interface for that isn't Jony Ive level but the power comes from being able to use any map you want. Weirdly (not free) there is even a map showing all the racetracks in Ontario.
 
The open source maps Offline Maps uses were pretty good but I found that at least 2 places I went weren't in the map and one place that no longer exists (as of 7 years ago according to an employee at the new place) also came up. Maybe Chicago is just out of date.
 
Slight bit of hijacking, but thinking of apps - has anyone tried any of those "hotels right now" type of thing? Usually I book ahead, but wondering
if there was any price/benefit from getting rooms at the 11th hour.
 
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