Tomtom mobile app for smartphones
The leader of global navigation systems TomTom went lately into mobile devices : tablets and smartphones on Android or Apple products.
Already many dedicated GPS users have begun to give up on them and use their smartphone for navigation and travel . Today we will talk about the TomTom app for Android. This one is available in several versions on Google Play according to the set of selected maps (Europe, U.S. , or certain areas of these continents ) .
Display and graphics
The application graphics was made to look exactly like the dedicated ones from TomTom . Of course we can choose between different color schemes depending on our preferences in Settings \ Color map. Even car icon displayed on the screen can be changed and also the map display mode can be changed rapidly from 2 D to 3D and vice versa.
As information we can display in the main screen the name of the street we are on , the name of the street you are going to cross and adjacent street names . Zoom mode of the map in 2D and 3D can be adjusted manually or automatically . On the display can be shown different categories of points of interest from gas stations and to amusement parks, all of which can be selected in Settings \ Driving view and Show point of interest .
Warnings
Tomtom app for android includes acoustic warnings for exceeding the speed limit and also can warn us near areas that need attention such as schools , hospitals, etc. . Although we have seen software with better graphics (Copilot or iGO for Android) , Tomtom has a nice appearance, keeping to a minimum any detail, and choosing maximize on screen the route to follow instead of showing other details on the map .
Menu and commands
From the main screen we can access several buttons. On the left we have a wheel which when pressed allows us to choose quickly between 2D and 3D mode , also another button can stop voice guidance and to change between day or night color scheme . In the bottom middle we have the final flag type icon which when pressed allows us to create a new route , and under it there is placed the volume button.
In order to access the main settings we just need to press any area of the displayed map . Here we observe also the same simplicity as in graphics . We only have one menu page from where we can enter a destination, plan a more complex trip or to access additional settings of TomTom app for Android.
Search destination and route creation and options in Tomtom for Android.
We will not insist too much here . Searching an address is done the classic way by country / city / street and house number . Also we can search by geographic coordinates , select a point of interest , or simply choose a location directly from the 2D map .
Route planning menu allows us to select of advanced parameters for the route . After the destination beeing selected , Tomtom allows us to select between routing in fast mode ( Fastest Route ) , ecological (Eco ) or the shortest distance ( Shortest route) .
We can avoid unpaved roads , highways or areas with speed limits. If we don’t have a car we can create route mode fore a pedestrian or bicyclist . Selected route can be viewed maneuver by maneuver or it’s possible to run a demo of the track on the smartphone’s screen .
However, creating routes that contain multiple waypoints (usually needed on vacation or tourist trips ) can not be achieved so easily .You need to enter route settings ,and choose Route Via option , the enter the desired waypoint along the route ( wich can be an adress or POI ).You have a tutorial in this article .
You must repeat the steps for every waypoint , and there is no option to rearrange route or optimize to get the shortest distance or a low fuel consumption .
This is a drawback of this application for Android that we hope to be corrected by the manufacturer. But for now the route calculation is still fine due to IQ routes , one of the best routing management availble on market today .
Other options of TomTom app for Android.
We can mention that the guys from TomTom introduced here the IQ Routes engine that creates smart routes based on traffic data info and from previous driver preferences . We also have included live traffic service and the panels for highway lane assistance can be displayed on screen on time.
Conclusions
As a company Tomtom is clearly a leader on the navigation systems market . Once the acquisition of TeleAtlas has been done , map packs are constantly updated and services as Mapshare that allows users to make corrections to maps are really helpful in choosing and creating a route as accurate as possible . TomTom app for Android includes all these benefits provided by the manufacturer. Calculated routes are carefully optimized and using the planning menu the chosen route will definitely be optimal. So we can say that in terms of selecting an optimal route , Tomtom ranks in our top choices .
We can not say the same concerning the rest of the application. It is extremely simple , even poor on the settings and options area and planning a trip in several stages is very difficult to realize. The main screen focuses all attention on the route to follow, very useful on devices with a smaller screen . For smartphones with widescreen was useful the introduction of more info on the screen (speed, hours left untill destination , followed maneuvers ) as found on other top applications as Navigon or Sygic .
Another downside mentioned by many users is the battery exhaustion and lack of consumption management . So be careful not to miss the car charger when using Tomtom for Android. The price of this application indicates that this is a premium app , and purchasing a package containing all of Europe or the U.S. for example will leave a pretty big hole in our budget
In the end hopefully the Tomtom application for Android will undergo changes and updates that will cover many of the cons mentioned , and until then we will use it as it is right now .
I installed TomTom US & Canada for android on an Asus Memo Pad 173x. It works very well. I drove from Seattle through Vancouver and North Vancouver. The lane guidance and turn by turn are much better and Google Maps. It does NOT need wifi or data and works better than a hardware GPS. The Asus memo pad is a quad core so the program is very snappy. This is the best GPS I have ever owned, hardware or software! Since then I have gotten several updates and this is still the most reliable GPS I have owned. I like have a 7 inch screen so I bought a windshield mount for Android tablets. My most recent road trip from Dayton Ohio to Montreal Canada worked perfectly. I put all my stopping points into favorites in advance and I can change my mind on the order to visit at any point during the trip.