I’ve planned a complex route on mydrive, how the bloody hell do you get it to sync with a TomTom. You’d think it would be easy but oh no... not with TomTom. So now I’m having to do it all again on the TomTom itself.
Pop it on a blacksmiths anvil and smack it a few times with a 2lb hammer. That’s often what a feel like doing with techy gadgety bastard things.... raaarghhh
Which in the hands of an incompetent is equally as frustrating, especially if you only use the free App. Andy
Garmin and Tomtom are dinosaurs. The sooner they have some real competition the better. Overpriced units, difficult to use software for routing and the size/weight of units does not match up to the available tech. Seems to be discussion had on every motorcycle trip. There are enough motorcyclists out there that tour, or want specific routes for longer day ride outs to justify a bespoke unit and software.
I bit harsh. The number of motorcyclists using sat nav is minuscule compared to cars, walkers and cyclists. Certainly Tire is a dinosaur but the current owner of MyRouteApp has taken what was largely a back bedroom enterprise, forward a long way. The biggest issue is the dominance of organisations like Google who provide the most comprehensive route mapping that the apps use and want their pound of flesh and a pint of blood to use it. Clearly the apps are not that shit because many use them successfully. I toured with friends last year and their routes were great and compiled using Google street. I have friends who swear by MyRouteApp and rubbish Basecamp and friends who swear by Basecamp and think MyRouteApp is shit. I have been totally unable to get my head around either and think they are both shit. What is it they say ? You can please some of the people all of the time and you can please all of the people some of the time but you can’t please all of the people all if the time. Andy
There's a colossal learning curve with Garmin Basecamp, not so much MyRouteApp. No matter the brand of GPS device effective route plotting isn't a turnkey operation, you need to spend some time experimenting with and experiencing the relevant software to get the best out of it. From my experience with Garmins both Basecamp and MyRouteApp work very well. The latter, with the advent of the Zumo XT, now satisfies all my needs so I no longer use Basecamp apart from compiling complete tours into one file for distribution amongst others in a group. Would be willing to run another zoom session on MRA but a bit full on with work and house move right now.
I am just back from a trip in south east France. All done via basecamp (routes 1st done on google maps..) thanks to a friend spending many hours in putting waypoints on Basecamp. Then sharing the files. But, despite all three Garmin units being on identical settings, painstakingly checked..there was still some differences. For each days route, split in to two parts, he spent 3-4 hours on basecamp. He then had to check them all again and modify any bad waypoints. Around 4 years back I did a tour of the Pyrenees on the Spanish side. Tomtom rider thought that curvey roads setting meant turn off down every dead end road and gravel track in the area. Tomtom charge extra for the rider , it is supposed to be motorcycle specific. I have used motogoloco with a decent amount of success, now out of action as it piggybacks on gmaps ^^. It was probably the most simple, like basecamp careful waypointing was key. Its hard to fathom the cost of a typical sat nav for our use £350 up to 600? for the unit, when even a fairly cheap smart phone will run copilot europe (about £25) with good results or just plain old gmaps..At Garmin/Tomtom prices then much better software should be included. I did plot my route from Correze across to the Alps on my Samsung using copliot. A fairly complex route avoiding motorways and it worked well just a week ago. Route planning and input a fairly simple process. Main drawback is needing to take gloves off to operate the phone or wanting to search for fuel/food enroute. The software from a user point of view could (should) surely be simpler and quicker to use on basecamp. Each time I have tried there has always been some issue, either updates, maps not loading from sat nav, hours wasted for me. It does not seem beyond the realms of possibility to have a drag and drop onto the preferred road/route. Then click confirm.. If gmaps needs to be a paid for version to work, then so be it. I always use streetview anyway to check out the roads. Btw, I have lost count how many times my Garmin has made me turn off a perfectly good road on to a side road, that is longer or poorly surfaced, just to rejoin several hundred yards further on. No saving in distance (often longer), not faster, no logical reason. At the prices charged it seems fair to expect better.
MyRouteApp Gold (subscription or lifetime fee) incorporates Google Maps and streetview as well as HERE and TomTom mapping and, importantly, routing options. HERE is what Garmin use for their routing algorithm apparently. With these features, IMHO, it makes MRA a better and complete solution for route plotting. On your PC via a regular browser or on your phone with their app. The only downside is trying to plan routes in a location where you don't have access to the Internet. Sufficiently rare these days to not be a problem, in Europe at least.
That does look interesting, though a bit expensive. This bit though at the bottom of their offers page: “NOTE The Lifetime offer does NOT apply to MyRoute-app Navigation.” Not really sure what I am getting if that is not included?
There are two subscriptions. One gives you access to the MRA platform for creating, storing exporting routes etc. Users can do what they want with the resulting routes, including importing them to their satnav devices. For those that would rather use their smartphones, MRA provide a navigation app that interfaces with the MRA platform to navigate the routes that have been created. This is a separate subscription.
I was signed up as an annual subscriber but they emailed me during lock-down and offered lifetime for €99 to existing subscribers, it was a no-brainer. As Gary says, you don't need the Navigation option if you're exporting routes for use on your own sat nav.
