Magic Earth Pro - Navigation on Android and iPhone (formerly Route 66 Navigate)

Well, it's been a few weeks since my N6 trial finished. I initially bought another month's HD Traffic from Tomtom (£3.99) but it's got to my HD Traffic renewal time again - and I think I'm going for Navigate 6 instead.

The main reason is the Tomtom HD Traffic renewal is about £26.99 for the year. It's cheaper to buy Navigate 6 navigation (£11.99) with HD traffic (£7.49) for a year than just to get the year's HD Traffic with Tomtom.

There are some things I'll miss from Tomtom though:
  • Ability to program avoiding part of route.
  • Ability to block route immediately in front of you.
  • Ability to manually avoid traffic incidents
  • Adding via points as co-ordinates, address or postcode (N6 makes you select them from the map).
  • Route immediately returning to default when traffic delay expires.
  • Keeping track of things sensibly if GPS signal lost (e.g. tunnels)

Most of the things I'll miss from Tomtom are due to disappear when it's "upgraded" to use the same Nav4 / Navkit system as the new Go 400, 500, 600, 5000, 6000 units. Navigate 6 works so similarly to them I suspect that it may well be based on Tomtom's own Navkit development kit and basically be the same thing with a different skin on it.

I mainly use navigation for traffic avoidance during commuting. N6's more aggressive traffic avoidance seems to suit me, although it does give the odd strange diversion off main routes, seemingly trying to avoid the odd traffic light etc.

Regarding the differences in routing: Essentially, Navigate 6 looks for the absolute fastest routes it can calculate, including traffic, during route planning and offers you options up to the fastest 3 different routes. I haven't yet pinned down what criteria will cause it to redivert once on route and diversions often remain in place after traffic has expired (I've reported this to the N6 development team and they are working on a fix).

Tomtom initially plans the fastest route according to its historical road speed database (speed profiles / IQ Routes). If traffic is detected on the route it will then check for faster alternatives but it looks for several minutes clear saving (meaning that minor 1-2 minute delays are not avoided). In practice, it will miss some of the local diversions that Navigate 6 can work out, even if you manually program it to avoid incidents. Once the journey is in progress Tomtom keeps checking traffic vs key diversion points where it can re-route around the traffic. Small local diversions are detected very late, whereas Navigate 6 tends to pick them a long way in advance.

I note that Google's traffic service has been improved by incorporation of Waze indicent data, including a data feed from the Highways Agency. I'd be happy using Google Maps to navigate and avoid traffic for longer journeys but its pathalogical attraction to staying on main roads means I don't like it for use as a commuting aid, where I'm already familiar with the various routes. Waze itself has potential but there are currently nowhere near enough users near me to give early warning of traffic. If Waze one day incorporates Google's traffic flow data (or Google Maps incorporate Waze's routing), I'm fairly confident it can dominate the market in urban traffic avoidance - especially as it's free.

I still have Navigon with traffic on my phone too. The traffic indicents are accurate enough but currently limited to Motorways and primary A Roads - which again limits it as a commuting aid. Its ETAs are always hopelessly optimistic to the point of requiring illegal behaviour to keep up with them. Navigon does, however, pick up some road closures usually missed by HD Traffic (e.g. the A57 Snake Pass and other high routes in Derbyshire when it snows). For this reason, I sometimes use it to check my routes for traffic when I'll be navigating with Tomtom / N6.

Sygic's another navigation app with potential, using Tomtom maps, but crippled by hopelessly silly urban routing. There was talk of them using Tomtom's IQ Routes / Speed Profiles in future but that's gone very quiet of late. I've not used it since they incorporated Tomtom's HD Traffic but I gather you have to avoid indicents manually - so I'm not interested in trying it again.

I liked Co-Pilot Live Premium when I last tried it a couple of years ago, but again its traffic data is limited to major routes. It also didn't have automated dynamic traffic re-routing and required a button press to accept faster routes it found. That's a major no-no for me but I'd be interested to hear if they've sorted it out yet.
 
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Just an update on this, over the last few months Tomtom's HD Traffic has received a major upgrade. Where as it used to only reliably pick up traffic down to B Roads (most of the time), it's now reliably picking up traffic even on fairly minor roads. It's also detecting road closures more regularly than it used to (supplementing the journalistic information it gets from the Highways Agency and Transport for London). I first noticed the improvements while still subscribed to HD Traffic with Tomtom.

Navigate 6 has been a direct beneficiary of the improved traffic info but its routing algorithm does a much better job of finding routes through and around the traffic than Tomtom. It's much more aggressive fastest route algorithm will divert off main routes much more readily than Tomtom if there's congestion. The improved traffc information has made a fantastic difference. When it diverts around and through traffic, I can now be much more confident that it won't divert me into other trouble than when I initially used the app. Over the past couple of weeks it's literally saved me several hours that would have otherwise been spent sitting in traffic (verified by unfortunate friends and colleagues). Even when traffic's clear, routing is usually extremely sensible.

In short, it now utterly outperforms every other navigation app I've tried (Tomtom, Navigon, Sygic, Google Nav, Navfree, MapQuest, Waze) when it comes to automatically finding the best route through traffic. I find myself actually wanting to drive in the busiest part of rush hour to see what it will come up with.

I still have my doubts about HD Traffic's ability to consistently automatically detect road closures when the information isn't provided by a highway authority. I saw some examples of automated road closure detection in York and Bristol with the recent floods but it was by no means complete. I'm keen to see how it copes next time there's a decent snowfall that closes a few roads round here. I'll report back when it does. In the event of a closure, Navigate 6 still doesn't have a roadblock or avoid part of route function. This is a significant omission (HD Traffic can't catch everything) and I've complained to the developers about it. They responded, and I'm hopeful that one day these features will make it into an update.

Aside from the free trial, it's still cheaper to buy Navigate 6 and a year's traffic than it is just to get a year of the same service from Tomtom. Unless Tomtom significantly improve their Android app, I don't think I'll be going back.
 
Further update: the app has been updated again for Android and is now called just "Navigate".

The latest update now has a feature to manually add roadblocks during navigation, in case HD Traffic doesn't know about problems. This can be done either blocking the next xxx yards of the route via the menu, or selecting part of the map. They can only be added to the planned route and not anywhere on the map. They can't be saved and are effectively lost should you stop navigating, but the feature is enough to work around my main concern about the app's former inability to effectively rout around problems.

I'm very pleased, as I'd contacted the customer support team to request the feature. Pretty much every update so far has included features I'd requested, so they are clearly listening to their customers.

With the latest update, I now believe that this is the best navigation software available on a smartphone by some distance. It certainly is for routing and automated redirection around traffic. It's not on par with Tomtom or Navigon for multi-point route planning (via points need to be added on the map and not via a menu / search) but I would rarely use that feature anyway.
 
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Haha, I was just looking for this thread.

I have switched to Navigate. Easily the best and I'm not willing to spend loads on Tomtom.

With crazy levels of traffic in London today it has performed impeccably.
 
I've tried it out briefly. Seems ok but the UI and other elements aren't as polished as say Google Navigation. Directional prompts come in quicker succession on this though and it uses whatever TTS you have installed on your phone and as I use Ivona it's most welcome. I notice it has satellite layers but only at a zoomed out level which seems pointless to me. Does the paid version have normal level satellite layers?

Speed cameras etc don't bother me, I use my eyes to see those :p Traffic avoidance doesn't seem any different to others out there. We know Google now uses Waze's active user database. I'll use this tomorrow on a trip to Lymington, Yarmouth and Fishbourne and see how it plays out.

The mapping data was 560 odd MB to download and every 20MB it kept telling me to watch my data as I may incur charges. That was annoying...
 
If you download the maps over wi-fi there's no warning.

For daily commuting with live traffic on, it uses about 30mb a month. This is more than TomTom, which would be about 7-10mb over the same period.

As for testing, it really comes into its own when it actually detects some traffic to avoid. I recommend the automatic traffic redirection option. It seems to need about a 3 minute saving to redirect when you're on route but when it does, it couldn't be clearer to the user what's happening.

I'd suggest that Waze has the potential to offer similar traffic detection and routing if it had enough users. Whenever I've used Waze though there have been nowhere near enough other users to make the traffic live up to it's potential. Google's routing is too dumb to really take advantage of their own traffic data. The TomTom traffic in Navigate 6 is sourced from all TomTom live, units, licenced apps like this, anyone on Vodaphone or with an iphone that hasn't opted out. It's a lot of data and the algorithm can theoretically detect traffic congestion on any road. Add that to the traffic data they get from the HA, Traffic Scotland and TfL and it's pretty comprehensive. It doesn't get all the local authority data shown on. roadworks.org or Inrix though.

Edit: to see what it's capable of, find some nearby heavy traffic on the map and plot a route through it.

As for Satellite layers, I've never used them other than to have a quick look. The free trial is functionally identical to the paid version though.
 
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Good but "perpetual"

Hi,

I came across this thread by accident (AKA Google search) and got hooked up on Navigate 6. At first it does not look like much but I agree that once on a road it is impressive. Price looks good too but I have some doubts as per explanation of what "perpetual" license means. 66.com say "map downloads ... are supported for 2 years from the date of purchase." After 2 years it all still works, you just cannot download anything any more. Now, that got me thinking because it may mean that you cannot download any new maps (which would be ok) or that may include map updates too.

I have asked Route 66 about this and got a very carefully worded answer (below). What I gather from this is that "perpetual" licence is a concealed way of saying "offline maps with 2 years updates".

Given TomTom gives lifetime map updates cost comparison is not that much favourable for N6. Take Europe example (prices I get)

N6: 20 Euro per 2 years (maps) + 15 Euro per 1 year (traffic). Effectively this is 25 Euro per 1 year (maps+traffic).
TT: Maps ~42 Euro for life (assume 10 years) + 19 GBP (~23 Euro) per 1 year (traffic). Effectively 27 Euro per 1 year (maps+traffic)

This is very comparable. Of course there is nothing to stop someone using 1 year old maps in N6 and lower the cost by renewing after 3 years instead of 2. Calculations aside TT app has some serious issues and N6 is way better usability-wise. From that perspective it is still good and I much prefer it over TT.


Below is the answer from 66.com:

"...
Whenever we receive new map data from the map provider, we will make it available in our app within a new map release.

Whenever a map update becomes available, you will receive a notification, provided that you have an Internet connection available on your phone.

Please note that you will not have to pay for new maps after two years from the purchase of the navigation perpetual license.

Already downloaded maps will be available for the duration of your license, as your license is attached to the email account used when purchasing the license.

After this period new downloads are NOT guaranteed, but already downloaded content can be used for the duration of your license."
 
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I suspect that this is a reflection of Route 66's contractual arrangement with their mapping provider, TomTom.

They will probably have a contract that requires TomTom to give 2 years notice before ceasing map updates provision to Route 66. In practice Route 66 Maps and Navigation was launched for Android in 2011. Shortly after Navigate was launched all licened users of Route 66 Maps and Navigation were given a free upgrade to Navigate, including map updates. If it is a contractual limitation, Route 66 can't promise to supply Map updates beyond 2 years, even if they intend to provide them.

By comparison, TomTom's buyout of Teleatlas means they are effectively their own mapping provider. Map updates will just be subject to company policy and not a 3rd party agreement.

On costs, last time I checked, it was cheaper to buy Navigate and subscribe to traffic for a year than to get a years traffic subscription from TomTom. I wouldn't bother to use either over the many free alternatives if it wasn't for the superiority of the traffic data and related routing. Therefore costs beyond the end of the traffic subscription (assuming both have a perpetual license) are irrelevant to me.
 
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I prefer Navigate 6 regardless of the meaning of "perpetual". TT made an app that is next to hopeless compared to others - map panning and zooming is not vector, some wired problems storing maps on external SD card on some phones, sluggish menu, click-hungry interface. It is barely useful and only if you're not touching it too much but just drive. It is as if they got paid by someone (Apple?) to make a poor app. Also note how late they entered Android, how much was their initial announcement delayed and how seldom do they update the app. Something is not right here.
 
I don't think they sell very many at the price they are at. So they can't be bothered.

The Android Navigation market was very competitive when they entered. Google Navigation + Copilot dominated.

The iOS market had hardly any competition when they entered.

If you want to succeed on Android then it's all about price and the quality of the App. Tomtom simply can't compete, they probably believe the much perpetuated myth that Android users are cheapskates when in reality they are overpriced for what they have.
 
TomTom's current app won't last that long. Some time ago they announced they would be updating both their Android and iPhone apps to the navkit api used in their Go x00 and x000 range.

It looks like that the upgrade will just be something similar to Navigate for a higher price.
 
having just switched from iPhone to android i've been after a new satnav app as i used tom-tom on my iPhone before (i never paid for it) and want a new ap for my S5.

I've looked at tom-tom for £23.99 which seems fair but how much is traffic?

I've just installed Navigate and i'm yet to test it. Travelling to Solihull tomorrow to play golf so will use it then. I'm not keen on it's search function though. With tom-tom you could search for places near/around a city. Such as the golf course i'm going too, i could search Solihull, places nearby and select this. i've not found a way to do this on navigate. So unless you know the exact address you're stumped.

Edit: Pre programming favourites is a way around it for the golf course i'm going too. having more of a play it seems that this course just isn't in the database of Navigate! I'll drop them an email

Also is the mapping always in birdseye mode? I find this slightly annoying if so. i found it switches once you've selected a route
 
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Looks like the re-routing trigger may be less than I'd thought in Navigate. I had a "an alternative route has been detected that will save you 1 minute" re-route today. As far as I can tell, it had initially plotted a route avoiding traffic and the main route became clear during my journey.
 
I used it over the weekend properly.

Things I like.
1: Fast routing.
2: Choosing alt route option is seamless.
3: Voice tells you that you're "currently on the fastest route".
4: Voice tells you that there is xx minutes delay on your route if there is any.

Things I don't like.
1: Satellite layer is only at a zoomed out view, pointless.
2: Does not show or speak junction numbers.

There are other minor gripes but I'll need to use it more to decide whether they're worth mentioning. I think think Google Nav is the better of the two though.
 
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