So I'm about to pick up a new Multistrada coming from a BMW S1000XR. The XR had the BMW Navigator 6 which was basically a re badged Garmin and I found it good for most things. The Multistrada comes with the Sygic app and Ducati Connect app. Having had a quick look at the Sygic app it's doesn't appear great for plotting routes on specific roads I want to travel and eats my phone battery. I like to tell the sat nav which way to take me by using way points not blindly follow it. Sygic has way points but when I was half way through plotting s route the app crashed!! Has anyone used it and if so how was it? I have reservations about a phone based navigation system as if I break or loose my phone mid tour I'm buggered but if I had a dedicated sat nav and lost or broke it I could as a last resort use my phone to get me round the rest of the route / home.
Phone based apps, you want Copilot. I have the western Europe version. Around £25. Very good, not as good as a Garmin. Features like find petrol are really useful in the middle of the Alps, without having to mess about with a phone. But not a deal breaker. You can plan routes on CP, force route, avoid roads etc. It also makes less bad choices than Garmin or Tomtom when you just “go to destination” without plotting a route. Imo. Most problems running sat nav on phones seem to be overheating and charging port issues. Or to be precise, “i phone” related. I use CP on a Samsung A8 and before that a high end HTC. Absolutely no problems. My wifes iphone will overheat just running Googlemaps in very short time. You will need a power connection unless short journeys. I can connect my Samsung to a Senna unit and can get directions prompts through that if I want. Plotting routes, I never got to grips with Basecamp and lacked patience to persevere after Many wasted hours. Motogoloco is discontinued due to a Googlemaps cost dispute, as it relies heavily on Gmaps. This seems to be what people recommend : https://mragoldlifetimeisbackgb.carrd.co/#one. Once tours/trips are back online I might buy this. Paid for route planning. The fact it is not free is probably why it works. Garmin have got away with murder imo with a substandard Basecamp for years.
Also does Sygic have the mapping data onboard or does it download it on the fly? If the former then data costs, especially touring abroad post Brexit could apply. My best mate and touring buddy uses Copilot, on my recommendation as I have it as backup to my Garmin. Mapping on board and it works well. Can't fault my Garmin XT mated with MyRouteApp. Seasoned Garmin Mapsource and then Basecamp user, it works well but the learning curve is steep. Frankly the developers never bothered to consider the user and had their heads up their arses. MRA is so much better, needs an Internet connection though which is where Basecamp scored but TBH that's so rarely a problem these days. MRA also stores your routes in the cloud so they are accessible on the phone app too. Having plotted on my PC I just save the route onto my phone which at the time asks me if I want to open it, I select the Garmin Drive app to do this which loads the route via Bluetooth to my XT the next time I power it up. No messing with cables or SD cards which is great.
My mate always used to take two phones on tour. They dont take much space tbh and maybe not a bad idea anyway on a big trip. Just make sure sim card fits both. Or chuck in a pay as you go in the spare phone. Mine is dual sim, Orange contract and Giffgaff pay as you go cards. Use depends on which country, landline or mobile I am calling. Nothing worse than having a network issue, running out of data or numbers/countries being blocked when you really want to make a call. Or needing internet and data to top up online when you have already run out of credit. Catch 22.
Garmin XT using MRA im extremely happy with this set up if I have issues with my sat nav I have my phone which has the MRA app installed connect that to my sena and away I go No problem with keeping it charged either as I have a USB connection in my tank bag
Basecamp used to have a "see in google earth" feature which Google has knobbled now. Does any of the other apps mentioned do this?
That’s it’s one big drawback mate, but I can live with that by switching between basecamp and google maps on my pc
Yep me too, I mastered Basecamp now so don't want to go through that pain with another, especially when I pay. Now I have to convert to KML and post on the google sight. All about the big OO spying but hey
MyRouteApp doesn't do the Google Earth fly through thing that Basecamp used to but I found that only really of novelty value. What MRA does do, with the Gold subscription version (not the free one), is have a Google Maps layer as well as the ability to drop into Google Street View from any of the numerous mapping layers whilst all the time using HERE routing which is the same as Google use. For me it's the all in one solution where I used to use Basecamp and ITN Converter for this. When Google changed the way that allowed apps to use their mapping and Street View (i.e. cashed in by charging) ITN Converter were forced to drop them. I use Street View for numerous things such as checking out road state, how scenic the route really is (Michelin mapping layer with green edged roads helps with this too), if petrol stations actually exist (Basecamp was so far behind with this I lost count of the places where I'd planned a fuel stop to only find it had gone years ago, either that or a news agent where you might be able to buy a tin of Zippo lighter fluid at best), hotel locations and parking facilities etc. etc. Now that MRA have recently added the ability to add intermediate way-points into a route along with delay times it covers everything and so much more that Basecamp ever did for me. Can't recommend it enough. Well worth the price of a lifetime membership at the frequently discounted prices.
Thanks for the input guys. If I thought the software would work and everytime, I would gladly pay £149. I just don't need another piece of part working irratic tech in my life.
But it's then inferior to Basecamp. Or does the free version do HERE routing? In which case they're probably on par apart from the fact that you don't have to keep updating the mapping data on your PC.
No HERE routing in the free version. Technically inferior, perhaps, but I find the UI a lot easier and more intuitive than BC. I just switch to Google Maps when I need to. No biggie.
Update. I still have copilot. But, have also downloaded Tomtom app. Why? Copilot is no longer updated. I want speed camera “up to date info” on my smart phone. I still think Garmin is better for a sat nav unit and operating system though.
Unless you've got exceedingly large ears then i'd say you need an intercom system to hear the directions
