Smartphone app that can navigate me on pre-prepared route?

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King Mustard

New Member
I have planned a route at home by using Google Maps, which starts and ends at home.

Since it's quite a long route, is there an smartphone app I can use that will give me voice guidance (turns and so on) on the route?
 

vickster

Legendary Member
I have planned a route at home by using Google Maps, which starts and ends at home.

Since it's quite a long route, is there an smartphone app I can use that will give me voice guidance (turns and so on) on the route?
A friend of mine plans through ride with GPS and uses OsmAnd for mapping and instructions, no
Idea how it works though!
https://osmand.net/
 

IaninSheffield

Veteran
Location
Sheffield, UK
Location
España
Google Maps is not advisable as a bike route planner or navigator in my opinion.

It is a reasonably effective planner in certain conditions (main roads, few minor roads, urban areas with good cycle infrastructure) but is ineffective in places with lots of minor roads and paths.

It is fabulous as an offline resource (you have to save your map(s), and will show your location as well as any places you have saved and therefore is a great back up for a main planner/navigator.

I don't rate Google Maps as a planner because as far as I know routes can only be planned and saved for later use on the my maps version.

For planning & going "now" regular Google maps will work on your phone as you want with voice directions, but you can't save the route and the next time you plan it, it may be different. There's also limited scope for adjusting the route to your preferences.

Other issues to consider;
If the area you are travelling in is not saved to your phone and you lose your internet connection you lose your ability to navigate.

Depending on where you are offline bike navigation may not be available (in my experience nearly always unavailable) although you can still plan a "car" route (if you have saved the appropriate map).
This is something that should be well tested before relying on the tech on a long route.

A search through these fora will give a good run down on what other options are out there.

Personally, I look at bike navigation in two parts - 1 is the planning, 2 is the navigation.

As mentioned above OSMand is a fantastic piece of tech, although a bit slow (to plan) and it takes a while to get used to. However, once used to it just works - and has the advantage of being usable offline.

Good luck!
 
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