Android GPS nav app with turn-by-turn and custom routing?

November 24, 2012 5:02 PM

Suggestions for an Android GPS nav app with turn-by-turn directions and easy custom routing?

Is there an Android GPS navigation app that has--
*Turn-by-turn voice directions
*Can easily accept manual edits (custom alternate routes)
*Can save custom routes
*The app doesn't need to be free, but I don't want an annual subscription plan (occasional paid downloads for specific area maps would be okay)

I love how I can easily create a custom route on Google Maps web, save it to my account, and sync it to the Google Maps app on my phone. But it's impossble to convert the custom Google map to the voiced turn-by-turn Navigation app.

MapQuest's app does great turn-by-turn directions and supports custom routes, but editing a custom route is cumbersome (I have to figure out specific addresses as waypoints instead of just dragging the route line or dropping a dot); worse yet, once I wrestle a custom route into the app, there's no way to save it for future use.

Any suggestions? Off-line mode and lane assist would be great bonuses, but I'd rather find something that can handle the above points first...

Thanks.

posted by Ky to Technology (6 answers total)

Surprisingly, Nokia is the only one doing this right at the moment.

On the bright side, you can buy any used Symbian Nokia that has free Maps or any Nokia running Windows Phone and use it as a dedicated GPS device without a SIM card. You can download the map data ahead of time using Nokia Maps Loader and use wifi to get the phone online whenever you want to update the custom routes or the phone's firmware. Anything after the C6-01 will run the latest version of Symbian, which most people find tolerable for phone use, although it doesn't really matter if you're only using Maps.

You should be able to find something on Craigslist or eBay from somewhere between $70-$150 depending on what model you prefer.
posted by wierdo at 6:00 PM on November 24, 2012 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Wow! I'm rather amazed the large app market hasn't addressed this properly--must be technical issues? I mean, for Google to not do this for Google Maps/Navigation despite years of requests, though I suppose most people rely just on auto-nav. There are workarounds for actual GPS units too, but...

Thanks for the tip; I'll look into that.
posted by Ky at 7:36 PM on November 24, 2012

Waze calls themselves 'social' driving. I've used it for months now, and have only good thing to say.
posted by Fferret at 6:18 AM on November 25, 2012

Response by poster: Waze doesn't do custom routes with the ability to save them. Reasons for avoiding specific auto-routes may not be only traffic.

However, in looking for the Waze app, I discovered Waypointer, which may just fit the bill (allow custom route import into Google Navigation). At $1.29, that's low risk to try, so I'll try it out and leave remarks here in the next week or two in case someone finds this thread by search or something.
posted by Ky at 9:24 AM on November 25, 2012

Response by poster: Report: Waypointer does not work. I disabled filtering and selected a KML file I had emailed myself from a custom Google Map, but that didn't work, so I checked "avoid highways," but that still didn't work.

Now to look for something else. :/
posted by Ky at 4:58 PM on November 30, 2012

Best answer: Leaving this here for posterity.

I've figured out a way to simplify customization of MapQuest's (v1.5.2 for Android) custom turn-by-turn map/navigation app and "semi save" it.

Especially for a destination you're going to visit more than once but not often enough to make it a daily routine, make sure to add it to Favorites.

Add waypoints as favorite addresses:

I don't know why that didn't occur to me before, but this obviously only works in areas where there are addresses.

Make a strategic touch point (long-press to drop a waypoint, wait for the little popup, press the address listed--make sure you're selecting on the correct side of the road). This should change the window to Touch Point with the address you selected; choose Add as Favorite and rename to something obvious (e.g. "to Bob from home #2).

Choose your destination from Favorites, then from the Actions menu > Edit Route. At the BOTTOM of that edit window, press the three-dot submenu thing and choose Favorites again; then press your custom waypoint that was saved as a Favorite--"Add to Route" should be an option. Then just press that. Rinse and repeat as necessary.

This is still slightly awkwad but works out way better than my original usage, so I don't feel I need to find another option at this time. :)
posted by Ky at 11:15 AM on December 1, 2012