UKSaabs

Can anyone recommend a sat nav app that will work on iPhone and iPad and which allows navigation via places? Also needs to work for Europe.

It would ideally be free or at least not too much money to get.

I currently use Maps but cannot enter any option to go via a place so I end up trying to navigate in little chunks rather than being able to input and navigate the whole route.

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Some days the supply of swear words is insufficient to meet my demands!

Google Maps app does this. You can add stops en route plus if you turn on traffic it will find the best route depending on the conditions. Not to be confused with the standard Apple map app.

The Tom Tom sat navs are the best and if your going to navigate your way in Europe this would be the best option

Google maps are good on the phone but you really dont want to have that running if you are investigated in collision situation

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I am Jeremy and I drive a Saab !

I have to disagree, I spend all my time driving in Europe & normal sat navs are next to useless in my experience. I have Waze, Navmii & tom tom installed on my phone, all work great in the UK and are "OK" in big cities in Europe, but once you get out of the city they seem to be awful, with the exception of Navmii which in my experience is the best once you get use to the interface.



Why not? Is there some law or rule about using it? I use google maps for 99% of my sat nav in mainland Europe & it's never failed to find an address or get me where I needed to be.

I use google maps on my phone. It just sits in the cupholder and is not touched. The thing I like about Google maps is you can force it to take you to exactly the right point on a map by using streetview rather than a generic postcode that can take you to the back of a building etc.

However, I don't get too many calls and messages that would interfere with the phone whilst in nav mode. If I did I probably would use an old phone dedicated just for using as a sat nav

I use Waze now. Mainly because the Kenwood sat nav keeps crashing. A newer model might be OK, but I'm thinking of changing to a Pioneer head unit with Apple CarPlay and using Waze through it.

We used Waze (on the phone) for our recent holiday in France and Germany and it got us to everywhere we needed to get to. Most were small hotels in obscure places.

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Everything will be OK in the end. If it's not OK, it's not the end...

I primarily use Google maps on my Android head unit but I've also put Here Maps when the Mrs is driving on her own since it has offline maps and she's worried about her data. Wouldn't recommend Here Maps as it has a habit of coming up with some slightly barmy routes with few alternatives. I'm currently looking to change it.

Depending where you want it to work, a stand alone Sat Nav unit might be the best option because it doesn't rely on an internet connection and I can think of few worse problems than losing navigation in a mountainous area, which is where phone signal tends to a b a problem too. I have a Garmin and it has free map updates, four per year, as well as traffic information.

If you are planning total reliance on any Sat Nav system I would advise against that. You need to have a good idea where you are going and use the Sat Nav for the fine detail. The best advice is to be wary of directions that seem to be going down narrow roads or in a direction you don't expect.

The advantage of a separate satnav, either as a unit or on a phone, is that you can sit at home in the warm and plan the next days route, rather than sitting in the cold in the car doing it before you set out in the morning.

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Everything will be OK in the end. If it's not OK, it's not the end...

There's plenty of free Sat Nav apps around that have offline maps. Even google maps can be set to download 'offline maps' for a given area. Or once you've set a route, download offline directions. I've used Google maps for years in poor signal areas around Wales and Scotland and never had an issue.

Must admit I've never used the feature but Google maps has a send to feature. So you can plan on your phone/ laptop and send that route to your car.

I was surprised when we were in Calgary last year. In the hotel I downloaded the offline Google map for the area on my tablet which is only Wi-Fi. Somehow it still tracked where we were with the map car moving along the roads as we drove around.

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Alan

'03 9-5 2.3t Vector Estate Auto Noob Stg 1
'01 9-3 2.0t SE Vert Auto
'81 Triumph TR7 DHC

Even though there's no cellular modem in your pad, I presume it must still have GPS?

Which android head unit do you have?

Is it any good?


I've been looking for one for a while, but can't find one with believable reviews. They all seem to be made in China with a 10yr old processor, and have a mix of 5* reviews saying it's amazing, and 1* reviews saying it's slow, crashes and that tech support is non-existent.

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'75 96 V4 Anniversary Restoration Project
'09 9-3 Turbo-X Wagon No. 38
B204 Haynes Roadster Project

I went for an Eonon, it's Android 6, it's slow to boot but once up and running does almost everything I want it to (I'm panning to change it for an Android 9 unit at some point). Sound quality is very good with the right loom. Steering wheel controls I managed to get to work intermittently but since I've always got openSID up they also change that display, so I've given up on them.
Not really supported on Android 6 but I managed to get voice dial/commands working albeit with a slight workaround. Full support is as of Android 7 or 8 I think...

The Chinese brands are all selling basically the same hardware with a slightly different packaging and firmware but I think Eonon and Pumpkin (at the time I last looked) were among the better offerings in that price bracket.
They're cheap, they are what they are! After sales care is sketchy but they have eventually responded to two queries I had and offered up a patch/update which fixed the issue I had.

Here's my thread on STT http://www.saabtechtalk.com/forum/index.php?topic=3618.15
And this has been a very useful forum if you've not come across it before https://forum.xda-developers.com/android-auto/android-head-units

Thanks for the input guys, I have reloaded Google Maps on iPad and iPhone as that seems to be well recommended. As the two are synced all the favourites etc appear on the other one whenever I add something. I can also tether the iPad to the iPhone if I have 3G or 4G coverage. I have a very large data allowance so don’t have to worry about cost (one of the benefits if being a Vodafone pensioner).

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Some days the supply of swear words is insufficient to meet my demands!

That is fine for devices with GPS but iPads without 3G connectivity don't have it. I find a phone screen too small for navigation and an unpowered device seems to get through the battery faster than I am comfortable with. I find the stand alone device to be about the right size and easily powered. There are additional reasons for not using a phone as a navigation device, particularly in the UK where the government don't want us using them while driving. I know that using maps is legal but using a device that isn't a phone removes temptation, and the possibility of prosecution.

The last Tomtom I had had a phone connection. It could be used for phone calls, voice recognition etc. But it was a long time ago and I don't remember the details.

I'm seriously looking at a CarPlay device. Built-in head unit, but it mirrors the phone screen when required, and has a hands free phone connection. I'm not sure how that plays out in the world of car phone legality.

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Everything will be OK in the end. If it's not OK, it's not the end...

All fair points. I was just pointing out that cellular devices are as reliable to use in poor [cellular] signal areas.



These do look like a great option for Apple users and seem to have Android support too. And are priced in the same region as the Android HUs.
Most of the Android HUs (Mine included) have mirroring for Android and Apple handsets, albeit currently via AirPlay not CarPlay for Apple. I discounted mirroring since I can create a much more car friendly interface using the available skins for Android and still have all the hands free functions I need through bluetooth.

For the past 4yrs ive been using the Garmin system that was integrated into my new Mercedes.
Now thats gone back i started to use NavMii on a spare old Samsung Galaxy i had laying around. I used this as i had used it in the past and thought it was quite good. Then a few work mates said just use Google Maps app.
So i did, and downloaded an Offline Map for the entire south of UK. Was only 700mb. And wow its utterly brilliant. !.
I absolutely love it, and wish i had used it a long time ago. Particularly like the spoken english which is just perfect. You would think someone is actually reading it out to you. Where as my Garmin was a bit robotic.

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