Tomtom navigation app for Android review – simple but efficient ?

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 .