Android crew, are you using waze or Google maps for navigation?

Yea I try not to, and very rarely use a satnav.

Only if I'm going into some unknown city centre that has a lot of turns, Milton Keynes for example, **** that place.

Most places are quite easy to navigate, had to go to Reading a few times in the last few years, no problems with that and I don't live anywhere near.

Just do some research on Google maps/street view prior.
 
[TW]Fox said:
It doesn't show it when using Android Auto, what would be the point? Your speed is already displayed in front of you.
Click to expand...
It's useful to see your actual speed rather than the understated one you get on your speedo. On motorways etc I set my cruise by the sat nav speed.

Waze always has it showing in android auto.
 
mid_gen said:
It's useful to see your actual speed rather than the understated one you get on your speedo. On motorways etc I set my cruise by the sat nav speed.

Waze always has it showing in android auto.
Click to expand...
Tbf I have just learnt real vs speedo speeds in my car, i.e. 78 = 76 etc...
 
Google Maps generally when I have data but I also own Sygic which I used for US road trips when in the desert with no signal. It has some nice planning features where you can program routes in a Web app and sync them but that is a premium feature.
 
Hello. Between waze and Google maps, is there any feature to avoid certain routes like the ring roads in Coventry . My daughter plans to drive there as a new driver and she's worried about the ring roads?
 
I use Google Maps for almost every trip to anywhere longer than a few miles to the gym. Its traffic data is generally so accurate it's saved me a few times. I love how well it predicts my arrival time too.
 
Thread bump! A new player has entered the game....anyone else tried Sygic?

I heard it about it a couple of years back but at the time it didn't support Android Auto, so I figured no point even bothering for day-to-day use. I was thinking about it again as one of it's key features is offline navigation, which is handy when I visit family in SA, and it turns out it now supports AA, and might potentially have some other nice features. So I downloaded it and decided to give it a try for the daily commute, and I'm quite impressed with it so far:

+ The UI looks similar to Waze, but it's a lot cleaner, less cartoonish.
+ To my eye, the actual map looks cleaner too with nicer, clearer road colours than either Google or Waze, road numbers formatted in UK style. Shows house numbers on urban roads which is handy for the last stretch if you're going somewhere specific.
+ It can navigate offline but still appears to have live traffic info as good as the others.
+ Routing seems like it might be better. I've only gone to work with it so far, but I've noticed it routed me along my preferred route, which is ever so slightly longer than the one which Google/Waze always suggests, but is along quieter roads and a much nicer drive. So pleased with that.
+ Lane guidance is clearer and a nice touch is that the guidance window changes colour depending on road (green on DC, blue on Motorway). The guidance window also shows you the 'next turn' after the current one, which I always think is handy if you're in a built up area.
+ Current speed / limit is displayed at all times, and it will give you a warning beep if you exceed by a certain threshold.
+ Speed camera warnings, and it seems to have the same options to report hazards as Waze. On my drive this morning, I didn't see any warnings on the map, so no idea if this is data shared with Waze, or if it only shows stuff reported by other Sygic users, and it's just not as popular.
+ Voice guidance is clear and detailed. An added feature is that it will warn you of sharp bends ahead (can be disabled). Which might not be much use day to day, but is +1 rally driver aura.
+ It appears to play nicely with Android Auto - supports split screen and app switching, Spotify media bar at the bottom, etc.

However, the absolute best thing I like is probably the simplest and most insignificant thing to everyone else, but something which really bugs me...the map handling. Google Maps always annoyed me because even when you're not routing anywhere, and had the map set to 2D/north up, it will still not centre the map over your current location - it will purposefully put the marker off to the side to allow room for the search destination/guidance pane, even when that pane is minimized, meaning you lose a large portion of the visible map around your current location. But it did at least have a sidebar button to allow quick switching from 2D to 3D when you had a route set. Conversely, Waze would centre the map nicely in 2D....but when routing, you had to go into the menu to change the view to 3D.

Sygic, on the other hand, has the best of both worlds. I set it to 2D north up for general map viewing (and it centres properly). And when I enter a destination, it automatically switches to 3D mode. Fantastic! Little things please little minds....

So far, the only downside I can see of Sygic is that it is subscription based - but even so, I can't quite work out why. It suggests that you need to pay in order to use AA, but I used it this morning and as above, it exceeded Google/Waze in useability and worked fine on my car screen. The only thing I think you need to pay for is regular map updates, which of course Google gets as a matter of course. However, it's £13 for the year...I think I'd happily pay that to get around some of the things that have frustrated me about GMaps/Waze....and then have a navigation app I can use abroad which would support AA (assuming the rental car has it).
 
Conscript said:
Thread bump! A new player has entered the game....anyone else tried Sygic?

I heard it about it a couple of years back but at the time it didn't support Android Auto, so I figured no point even bothering for day-to-day use. I was thinking about it again as one of it's key features is offline navigation, which is handy when I visit family in SA, and it turns out it now supports AA, and might potentially have some other nice features. So I downloaded it and decided to give it a try for the daily commute, and I'm quite impressed with it so far:

+ The UI looks similar to Waze, but it's a lot cleaner, less cartoonish.
+ To my eye, the actual map looks cleaner too with nicer, clearer road colours than either Google or Waze, road numbers formatted in UK style. Shows house numbers on urban roads which is handy for the last stretch if you're going somewhere specific.
+ It can navigate offline but still appears to have live traffic info as good as the others.
+ Routing seems like it might be better. I've only gone to work with it so far, but I've noticed it routed me along my preferred route, which is ever so slightly longer than the one which Google/Waze always suggests, but is along quieter roads and a much nicer drive. So pleased with that.
+ Lane guidance is clearer and a nice touch is that the guidance window changes colour depending on road (green on DC, blue on Motorway). The guidance window also shows you the 'next turn' after the current one, which I always think is handy if you're in a built up area.
+ Current speed / limit is displayed at all times, and it will give you a warning beep if you exceed by a certain threshold.
+ Speed camera warnings, and it seems to have the same options to report hazards as Waze. On my drive this morning, I didn't see any warnings on the map, so no idea if this is data shared with Waze, or if it only shows stuff reported by other Sygic users, and it's just not as popular.
+ Voice guidance is clear and detailed. An added feature is that it will warn you of sharp bends ahead (can be disabled). Which might not be much use day to day, but is +1 rally driver aura.
+ It appears to play nicely with Android Auto - supports split screen and app switching, Spotify media bar at the bottom, etc.

However, the absolute best thing I like is probably the simplest and most insignificant thing to everyone else, but something which really bugs me...the map handling. Google Maps always annoyed me because even when you're not routing anywhere, and had the map set to 2D/north up, it will still not centre the map over your current location - it will purposefully put the marker off to the side to allow room for the search destination/guidance pane, even when that pane is minimized, meaning you lose a large portion of the visible map around your current location. But it did at least have a sidebar button to allow quick switching from 2D to 3D when you had a route set. Conversely, Waze would centre the map nicely in 2D....but when routing, you had to go into the menu to change the view to 3D.

Sygic, on the other hand, has the best of both worlds. I set it to 2D north up for general map viewing (and it centres properly). And when I enter a destination, it automatically switches to 3D mode. Fantastic! Little things please little minds....

So far, the only downside I can see of Sygic is that it is subscription based - but even so, I can't quite work out why. It suggests that you need to pay in order to use AA, but I used it this morning and as above, it exceeded Google/Waze in useability and worked fine on my car screen. The only thing I think you need to pay for is regular map updates, which of course Google gets as a matter of course. However, it's £13 for the year...I think I'd happily pay that to get around some of the things that have frustrated me about GMaps/Waze....and then have a navigation app I can use abroad which would support AA (assuming the rental car has it).
Click to expand...
Not used it in years, got it for the same reason you did with the offline navigation when abroad. Thought it was very good, not sure why I stopped using it to be honest!
 
Does sygic give you an audible warning for speed cameras all the time? That's the only thing I don't like about Waze it'll only announce it if you're over the limit a specific distance from the camera
 
tom_e said:
Does sygic give you an audible warning for speed cameras all the time? That's the only thing I don't like about Waze it'll only announce it if you're over the limit a specific distance from the camera
Click to expand...
I'll double check on my way home, but yes I think it did.

EDIT: Quick check of the setting suggest it does. You can also type what the text-to-speech should say (for a lot of notifications, not just speed camera warnings).
 
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