Downloading and opening routes

RetiredWingMan

I have a couple questions about how route downloads and opening works. I have the option set to "Automatically save used routes and tracks for offline use"

If I open a route from the on-line list, when does it actually get saved to the download folder?
When I open a route from on-line, is it then saved to Downloads and the route is started from Downloads ... or on-line?
When I download a route and make it available for offline use, I then get a prompt asking if I want to Open the route or open Downloads. If I select Open, is it opened from the download folder (ie in offline mode)?
Do you always have to go to the Downloads folder to Open a downloaded route for off-line operation?

Thanks

Con Hennekens

@Doug-Robinson said in Downloading and opening routes:

If I open a route from the on-line list, when does it actually get saved to the download folder?

That seems to happen when a route gets actually started for navigation, and not earlier.

When I open a route from on-line, is it then saved to Downloads and the route is started from Downloads ... or on-line?

What does that matter? They are equal at that time.

When I download a route and make it available for offline use, I then get a prompt asking if I want to Open the route or open Downloads. If I select Open, is it opened from the download folder (ie in offline mode)?

On my device it says "Open Route" or "Downloads"
So I think the choice is quite obvious?

Do you always have to go to the Downloads folder to Open a downloaded route for off-line operation?

Yes, If you pick it again from the on-line folder, it downloads the latest version and copies it over the one in Downloads again.

You know, I am intrigued by questions like these, and happy to answer them. But it is a lot of fun to find the answers to these rather easy testable questions yourself

RetiredWingMan

@Con-Hennekens thanks but none of your answers address the issue. When working in offline mode, if the route was opened from the online folder and a recalculation is required, it may fail. At least that has been my experience with MRA Navigation in the past. I was simply trying to figure out if I always have to open routes from the Downloads folder. It's a pain if the recalculation fails and I have to pull over to fix it.

Con Hennekens

@Doug-Robinson, Yes, when offline you should load your routes from the downloads folder. There are some ideas to do that alternatively, but that is not for the short term.

If you are off-line, you will need to have the right maps downloaded as well, else there can be no calculation. Also the app must be in off-line mode, to force a local calculation.

Con Hennekens

@Doug-Robinson, Do you mean a situation in which you load the route online from the usual library, and go off-line after that? That would make your point 2 relevant indeed. Good question, there is only one who can answer that: @Corjan-Meijerink. I would assume a route loaded online from the library would be cached locally, even with the download option set to off. But if you experience problems with recalculation consequently that's obviously not how it works. I'll try to mimic this later.

Corjan Meijerink

@Con-Hennekens A online loaded route and switching to offline while navigating does not require that route to be downloaded for offline use.

When exiting navigation and you have no internet (and even offline mode enabled) the resume navigation prompt will also work!

The only issue is if you dismiss that prompt, don't have internet and haven't downloaded the route. Then there simply is no way to restart your route.

Con Hennekens

@Corjan-Meijerink, Thanks for the clarification! So if auto download of routes is set to ON you are always good to go, provided you have your maps off-line? Exactly how I imagined!

Corjan Meijerink

@Con-Hennekens Yes exactly! Because then in the "I have no internet" scenario - you can restart the route from your downloads as it is downloaded automatically

RetiredWingMan

@Corjan-Meijerink thanks everyone. It sounds like it has improved over the previous Navigation app. I guess it's always safer just to download and then open the route from Downloads.

Con Hennekens

@Doug-Robinson, Corjan just explained that it doesn't matter, as long as you have auto-download of routes enabled But yes, the App came a long way!

MarcM

@Corjan-Meijerink Voor mijn goed begrip als ik mag:

Dus, Navigatieinstellingen=>Functioneel=>Gebruikte routes en tracks opslaan voor offline gebruik:ON ....

De app weet dan waar je bent op dat moment ?

Ik heb dit nu eens getest door Wifi en 4/5G uit te schakelen ... ik krijg dan de melding: Geen internet verbinding, kan route niet berekenen, ga offline.
Wanneer ik dan op offline druk, krijg ik de boodschap: er kon geen route worden berekend met uw offline kaarten. Om het opnieuw te proberen, moeten we de offline navigatie uitschakelen ... ik kom dan in een vicieuze cirkel ....

Ondertussen nog een paar keer getest, wanneer ik de route stop, en ik dan manueel de "Offline modus" aanzet en naar downloads ga, dan start de route wel op ... Is het bedoeling om zo te werken dan?
PS wanneer ik nu "stop navigatie" indruk, reageert de app niet .... wanneer ik dan op statistieken druk, dan vraagt de app wel plots om te stoppen .... (iPhone 14 ios16.5)

RetiredWingMan

@MarcM I agree. If you want to navigate in offline mode you are better off downloading the route and starting it from the Downloads folder. Advantage is you don't need or use Internet. Disadvantage is that you don't get traffic aware routing when in offline.

Con Hennekens

@MarcM, There are a few requirements for complete offline use of the app:

you need to have maps downloaded for offline use
Downloading maps offline is always a good idea, because that potentially saves a lot of data traffic.
the route you start needs to be offline
That is, if you have no active internet connection, else it will just use that, even with offline mode enabled. If you set "auto-download of routes" to enabled, you don't have to worry about routes being offline, they just are once navigate them.
the app must be in offline mode
If you are not in offline mode, you will be asked if you want to. But then if you have no offline maps, you will be asked to go online.

I happen to know that work is being done to smooth the experience, but with these rules, it just works.