Route Sync and General Comments
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I am a regular user of the BMW Connected App (Now called something else) as I have a K1600 with the 10.25" TFT and it works well. I however recently on a 4,000km trip around Europe used the MRA app on the handlebars too giving me a fair comparison of both (including Here -v- TomTom). My main concern is the new 'sync' feature, which I may be using wrongly but I saw as the new way to use offline. I am using v4.3.1 - 336 with an iPhone 11 pro using latest iOS. (THIS PHONE HAS NO SIM, so permanently offline!).
At each hotel, before the day's ride I used the hotel WiFi to sync the route for the day (in fact I was also syncing the whole library to see if it changed anything. As we set off it was good, but we had particularly inclement weather in Northern Italy and Switzerland, so routes kept changing, passes were closed, etc. This involved skipping waypoints and many diversions. Almost as soon as this happen the phone reported no internet and whilst it tried to recalculate the route it couldn't and incessantly reported a skipped waypoint a re-calculation until I dismounted the bike, connected by personal hotspot to my other phone and re-syncing. Surely this shouldn't work like this. I get I will lose any traffic information etc. as the data will not be up to date, but surely it should still calculate a route?
Another issue encountered was drift. The location pointer often drifted, sometimes quite a distance. Now we were doing many passes (Stelvio, etc.) so maybe it would be a challenge for many units, particularly mobile phone based, but I was wanting to see upcoming hairpins, not the side of the mountain beside it.
I general it performed VERY well though and certainly two/three of my group have either downloaded MRA now or will be which is positive. One other was using it on CarPlay and experienced some loss of functionality, (fuel stop indication, etc), but not knowing the integration on CarPlay I can't make comment.
For me, the Sync/Offline issue was the worst issue I had for sure
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@Nick-Hodge, yes, for sure your routes should have been available offline. However you will find them in the Routes menu as black bold face font routes. The ones that are not available offline will be greyed out. I suspect you have been looking for those routes in your downloads folder? That is not the right place anymore...
It is perfectly safe to use the "sync all my routes" option. The first time, depending on your amount of routes it can take a minute. But every next sync will be very quick because only changed routes will be re-synced. This way you will always have all your routes available offline.
I am not affiliated with MyRoute-App. The help I am offering is entirely voluntary.
I am just an enthusiastic user, and hope you will be one too!Most motorcycle problems are caused by the nut that connects the handlebar to the saddle.
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@Con-Hennekens No I got the 'dimmed' list of routes when offline, went to WiFi and synced them and they lit up. After that, if there was a deviation to the route it tried to re-calculate and at that point, I got in a loop of the message that waypoint (x) had been skipped (Revert) and then recalculating route. Then as offline it seems, the recalculation was not successful, and the messages just repeat (skip/recalculate/can't....) ad infinitem. It's like the programme can't find live route information so won't complete recalculation. Of course, this makes any 'offline/sync' feature worthless as it's rare not to have any deviation.
By contrast, the BMW connected app has the downloaded regional maps locally on the device and whilst offline you lose live data you can at least reach the destination.
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@Nick-Hodge, I don't mean no disrespect, just checking... Did you download all needed maps for offline use? It is normal that, when in online mode, offline mode is asked for and vice versa, but when switching to offline mode and all maps present, your route should be able to calculate. That is: when it is no track you are trying to navigate. Tracks can only be calculated online (HERE limitation). Keep in mind that "routes" you make through curvy options or roundtrip generator are factually tracks, not routes.
I am not affiliated with MyRoute-App. The help I am offering is entirely voluntary.
I am just an enthusiastic user, and hope you will be one too!Most motorcycle problems are caused by the nut that connects the handlebar to the saddle.
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@Nick-Hodge said in Route Sync and General Comments:
I general it performed VERY well though and certainly two/three of my group have either downloaded MRA now or will be which is positive.
That is a good conclusion.
We are currently investigating the location drift issue.
The issues you had are furthermore unrelated to the sync. The sync just ensures the route is available offline (as before) and any changes made will be automatically downloaded too.Where you by any chance navigating routetracks? Or selected track navigation for the route? You are correct that for routes it should work seamlessly. I personally do prefer simply forcing the offline mode when there's a big chance of no reception. I was in the Alps too last weeks and had no issues with all my synced routes on a phone that never used internet during the entire trip.
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@Con-Hennekens you make interesting comment and no, I made no separate effort to download the offline maps as I (maybe wrongly) thought the sync had done away the need to download the maps as that was cumbersome as there was no clue what map was being used. Connected app only needs to have the route opened and if you don’t have the map(s) needed for the route to run offline it tells you which you need and downloads it/them.
These were routes, not tracks BTW. Are we saying we do still need to download the maps needed for offline?
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@Nick-Hodge yes Nick you must download the map. Advantage is also that the navigation Goes faster
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Indeed, downloading offline maps is definitely a requirement!
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@Corjan-Meijerink said in Route Sync and General Comments:
Indeed, downloading offline maps is definitely a requirement!
Hi, why not to add an automatic download opportunity for maps? Based on existing routes available? I would use it....
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@Nick-Hodge said in Route Sync and General Comments:
Connected app only needs to have the route opened and if you don’t have the map(s) needed for the route to run offline it tells you which you need and downloads it/them.
This is an interesting idea
I think it would be possible when starting a route, to automatically check if all needed maps are already available offline, and get a warning, or invitation to download them. On the other side, most users have a habit of navigating in their own and their surrounding countries / states, and have no real need for this automatic check. You could post it in the suggestions category -
@Corjan-Meijerink ok I misunderstood. I think it’s essential that some guidance is given of map(s) needed (as the connected app). I have no idea what region/district/oblast without research I’m travelling in and maps are large if a phone has restricted memory
Thanks for clarity though
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@Nick-Hodge said in Route Sync and General Comments:
@Corjan-Meijerink ok I misunderstood. I think it’s essential that some guidance is given of map(s) needed (as the connected app). I have no idea what region/district/oblast without research I’m travelling in and maps are large if a phone has restricted memory
Thanks for clarity though
Nick
in your first report your wrote „ I travelled 4000 km through Europe“
Now you wrote „I have no idea in what region I am travelling.“Sorry this is unbeleavable
Clear complete EU maps are 18 GB but for those 4000 km and region of countries you will be knowing before you start you need perhaps 3-4 GB for maps. When you travel from GB to the Alps you do not need Sweden, Spain, Poland,
At every time you can delete and install countries as needed if the memory on the phone is too small, which could happen as far as i know only on iPhones not able to add memory cards and her older version with 64 GB or less in memory space. -
@Peter-Schiefer My point Peter, was for example, France and Germany are large maps (4Gb on a 16Gb phone is a lot) broken into regions. I have no idea if I am in Rhineland-Westphalia, etc, etc. I know I'm in Germany, maybe Germany North West. My point is and I am a software developer, you shouldn't need to research getting from A-B by using other tools to identify the area you are in. I know where Rutland is in the UK, you may not). Opening the route on BMW's Connected App and it tells you exactly what you will need. No such think on MRA.
NOTE: This doesn't affect me personally now my understanding of offline/sync is clarified and I have a phone with 512Gb of space, BUT, we are trying to build a go-to, simple and accurate tool. Hence my further request.
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@Nick-Hodge
Nick, fun fact, I travel through west Europe about 50 years and I have bit a knowlogde of this geographie and the postion of the main cieties, but at all I was not so familar with the location of main cities in UK before I was traveling for business there.
Anf regard to I know where Rutland is, no I don‘t know.But I must repeat and this makes me a bit speachless. When I travel from UK to the Alps Italy, France Switzerland I collect informations regard the maps I need, the expected route I like to use and areas. So regard to the Bundesländer of Germany. You wrote „I do not know wher Northrine westfalia (NRW is the abbreviation) is“. But you have an idea with the overall map of Germany that you from London to the Munich not travel via Berlin, if there is no need but you pass for sample Cologne (my Hometown). Google Cologne and you will see that Cologne is NRW, you see you pass Frankfurt and you find Frankfurt is located in Hessen, you see Nürnberg and Munich and this is Bavaria, you do not need Saarland, Thüringen, Sachsen. Sorry a bit of work upfront is necessary for such a big trip.
Sometimes by some comments I ask myself, how did we survive in the past without Sat Navs. -
@Nick-Hodge I agree, some help with downloading needed maps would be very nice, for example I don't know what "Basilicata" means in Italy and if I need it or not. Maybe some graphical presentaion would be possible, on the map. Or, as you suggested, a message by MRA "Your route needs some additional maps, do you want to download it?"
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Bailikata, surprising me too is not the Vaticano.
But as mentioned before, You can google Basilicata and find that this is the area of the foot sole of the Italian boot. I get now a bit more informed too. You always will learning. -
@Peter-Schiefer For me that are problems very low priority, it could be an improvement but of course we can also improve our knowledge
