Magic Earth sat nav app (Android and iOS)

[Pudsey Bear]

Probably.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

You and tech just don't get on.

 

[Canalsman]

Another gripe. It's easier to stick in way points on magic earth so a plus point there but it has a habit of begining the navigation before you press start. Pia if you are still plotting and pause for ten seconds or more.

You can disable the auto start option in settings.

 

[Canalsman]

One thing I discovered yesterday is you can't use magic earth with the screen turned off. I tried to use it on the bike using headphones but it didn't work when I turned the screen off. So Google maps better for the bike. I'll try it today though and leave the screen on. Saves battery power that's all.

Yes you can. The battery setting allows you to run it with the screen turned off.

 

[Canalsman]

Well it let me down today or maybe I cocked it up. I knew we weren't going far (in the motorhome) and carefully planned the route. The truck option can't be relied upon either although sometimes it's right. Anyway a few miles in I knew it was wrong and pulled over. It had me going somewhere completely different. Reverted to Google maps which got me here but drove me nuts as it's back to just showing an overhead map of the route rather than the 3d road ahead and it doesn't move.

Will try again as if might have been my fault.

Reckon so!

 

[barryd]

Reckon so!

Yep more persistence required. I still like it. Google maps drove me mad this afternoon on the bike. Just gave up at least twice.

I know we talk about progress but the best sat nav I ever had was the TomTom one from 20 years ago. I still have it somewhere. Loud and clear, easy to use and the golden nugget of usefulness was it had a headphone jack and worked perfect on the bike with wired headphones. Battery gave up though and the charge point needed a paper clip in it to work.

 

[Canalsman]

Yep more persistence required. I still like it. Google maps drove me mad this afternoon on the bike. Just gave up at least twice.

I know we talk about progress but the best sat nav I ever had was the TomTom one from 20 years ago. I still have it somewhere. Loud and clear, easy to use and the golden nugget of usefulness was it had a headphone jack and worked perfect on the bike with wired headphones. Battery gave up though and the charge point needed a paper clip in it to work.

Me too.

Still using it and pleased to have something modern in its interface.

My only negative thus far is that I often travel via way points, for example to fill with water, and I am used to having individual ETAs.

 

[Thistle]

I’ve been playing with it on my iPad, I put in loads of different destinations then toggled between car and truck to see if it uses a different route, so far not found a single one even though I know some of the routes definitely have annoying things like low bridges and I do not want a convertible van!

I even set the van height to 4.5M and it still wants to take me under the railway bridge at Tywyn!

 

[barryd]

Me too.

Still using it and pleased to have something modern in its interface.

My only negative thus far is My only negthat I often travel via way points, for example to fill with water, and I am used to having individual ETAs.

you can do this. When you navigate your route just pin points along it with your finger and it sorts them into the route. not figured out if you can add it by any other means. Mind you, that might have been what fubared my route here.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

You can have waypoints on G maps too, I only noticed it on Thursday but used it all day on Friday to give me a more preferred route home.


The preferred route home is to go the other way to be honest but Liz still likes her kids for some reason.

 

[barryd]

You can have waypoints on G maps too, I only noticed it on Thursday but used it all day on Friday to give me a more preferred route home.


The preferred route home is to go the other way to be honest but Liz still likes her kids for some reason.

View attachment 135207

Oh yeah you can have loads. The problem is they are a nightmare to do on the phone as they get mixed up in order. Easier to do on the laptop and then send them to your phone but useless on the bike as you have to press continue at each one which of course you can't do at 50 mph with the thing in your pocket. They are easy to add in magic earth but I'm not sure this is where I went wrong yesterday. Will try again in a couple of days time.

 

[Pudsey Bear]

I did it fine last week Barry, and they stayed in order over 7 way points.

 

[barryd]

I did it fine last week Barry, and they stayed in order over 7 way points.

I think its mainly walking routes it has a problem with (Google maps). Easy to do on the laptop but a right PIA on the phone (as are most things). The fact remains though they dont auto continue so useless on a bike.

 

[guerdeval]

I still cann’t get it to talk to me, I’ve downloaded 2 female voices but despite the usual not getting a word in they just stay silent

 

[matbic]

I’ve been playing with it on my iPad, I put in loads of different destinations then toggled between car and truck to see if it uses a different route, so far not found a single one even though I know some of the routes definitely have annoying things like low bridges and I do not want a convertible van!

I even set the van height to 4.5M and it still wants to take me under the railway bridge at Tywyn!

So you could update the map!

This is a great advantage of Magic Earth it is based on Open Street Maps and it regularly picks up changes. It’s quite easy to do. Have a look at: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Beginners'_guide

You can add missing data such at bridge heights and road widths. If we all did this it would be amazing!

 

[Canalsman]

I still cann’t get it to talk to me, I’ve downloaded 2 female voices but despite the usual not getting a word in they just stay silent

Do you have the sound muted on your device perhaps?

 

[Canalsman]

I’ve been playing with it on my iPad, I put in loads of different destinations then toggled between car and truck to see if it uses a different route, so far not found a single one even though I know some of the routes definitely have annoying things like low bridges and I do not want a convertible van!

I even set the van height to 4.5M and it still wants to take me under the railway bridge at Tywyn!

I just checked on the website that I linked earlier. Tywyn railway bridge is not recorded as a low bridge, that's why.

Try the eastern railway bridge in Aberdyfi on Copperhill Street. That's also 10 feet clearance.

I'll see if I can update OSM...

 

[Canalsman]

I’ve been playing with it on my iPad, I put in loads of different destinations then toggled between car and truck to see if it uses a different route, so far not found a single one even though I know some of the routes definitely have annoying things like low bridges and I do not want a convertible van!

I even set the van height to 4.5M and it still wants to take me under the railway bridge at Tywyn!

I've just added this height restriction. It may not be updated immediately, it says a few minutes but I'm sceptical about that!

 

[Canalsman]

I’ve been playing with it on my iPad, I put in loads of different destinations then toggled between car and truck to see if it uses a different route, so far not found a single one even though I know some of the routes definitely have annoying things like low bridges and I do not want a convertible van!

I even set the van height to 4.5M and it still wants to take me under the railway bridge at Tywyn!

It works!

 

[Canalsman]

I know how to fix errors on OSM now. Happy to fix any that you may find...