User feedback on using MRA Next with Apple Carplay

[Paul John Murphy]

I recanting post the following feedback on a UK motorbiking website (UKGSER.com

I am a satisfied/happy user of MRA for Route planning. However, or should that be a ‘but’?, I recently tried to use the MRA app on my phone on a recent trip in France. And the user experience was terrible.

i was running MRA Next on my iPhone XR and had it linked to the satnav in my BMW car with Apple CarPlay. In no particular order, these are some of the issues that I experienced:

a) The voice navigation instructions were barely audible, and I could find no way to turn up the volume.

b) The last few seconds of any navigation instruction were cut off, such as “at the roundabout take the…….”

c) When a navigation instruction was received, it did not mute the music/media playing. Rather, it just cut it off and I was forced to re select the media source etc to hear my music again.

d) on a couple of occasions I was forced to restart the navigation of my route a number of waypoints into the route. Initially, MRA would try to navigate me back to the start of the route. I then tried opening the route and, before starting the navigation, I found the next waypoint on my route and selected it my holding my fingertip on the waypoint on the screen. Initially, this seemed to do the trick. No! As soon as MRA got me to the chosen waypoint, in then tried to Route me all the way back to the start waypoint!

e) Using MRA via CarPlay ate my battery at an alarming rate. I tried switching my phone to ‘Low power mode’ but that made no discernible difference. Indeed, the power usage of MRA/CarPlay was such that the wireless charging pad in my car could not keep up with the power usage.

i have given MRA this feedback via the Test Flight link, but after a week, have still to receive a reply!

So, will I be using the Navigation bit of the app again? No, not until they address these issues to my satisfaction

[richtea999]

@Paul-John-Murphy
Exact URL:
https://www.ukgser.com/community/threads/user-feedback-on-the-‘navigation’-bit-of-the-app.362615/

[Jack van Tilburg]

@Paul-John-Murphy said in User feedback on using MRA Next with Apple Carplay:

Your comment is very recognizable and well defined.

But I'm curious about why you first publish on UKGSer and later here on this forum?
Here you could certainly have received a response from people with experience on this subject.
And I assume you know that the CarPlay version is still in development and has only been released in a basic functionality version?

[Drabslab]

@Paul-John-Murphy said in User feedback on using MRA Next with Apple Carplay:

Well, I am not working for MRA, just another forum visitor, but I could say the following:

i have given MRA this feedback via the Test Flight link, but after a week, have still to receive a reply!

The MRA team has been working (excuse me: typing) flat out for about a year. This is the summer, they have a break, a well deserved one, as far as I am concerned.

Besides, there are about 3000 beta testers involved in experimenting with Next. If you expect a personalised answer to your input I think that you will have to wait for a very long time (like forever) because this company has 6 staff members and does not have the resources to send personal replies to 3000 beta testers (and many others bringing in suggestions, complaints or other problems).

Otherwise, I am not aware that large companies send any personalised replies to feedback either.

So, will I be using the Navigation bit of the app again? No, not until they address these issues to my satisfaction

I would suggest doing things the simple and straigthforward way and test the MRA navigation without carplay.

I admit that I have no clue what benefits carplay (or android auto) brings but I can navigate quite well without it.

[Corjan Meijerink]

@Drabslab thanks for saying something nice It were some very, very intense last few months. We are just a 2 people development team

@Paul-John-Murphy TestFlight feedback is completely anonymous and we won’t ever respond to those. The automatic (and detailed user descriptions) feedback we get from TestFlight does help us!

I am very active on the forum but had some weeks off so my activity here will start to increase again. Even if I’m not on the forum, there are so many brilliant community members that are more than willing to help everybody out They did so amazingly too when I was gone.

To comment on your CarPlay feedback: we are trying to pick up on this! Coming update (between 1 or 2 weeks from now) will include quite some improvements and new features to CP / AA. Such as loading favorites, searching custom address or quick POI suggestions.

[Paul John Murphy]

@Jack-van-Tilburg I first posted to TestFlight, then copied my comments to the UKGSER website because that has a very active MRA community. I apologise that I did not raise my issues on this forum first. My bad!

[Jack van Tilburg]

@Paul-John-Murphy

Your comments were right. But also very well known here and at MRA and the status of CarPlay was always mentioned.
Given the fact that you are affiliated with Testflight, you have registered yourself as a Beta user.
When participating in this, it is clearly indicated where and how you should deal with test and usage results.
I see that as a "Gentleman agreement".
Apologies to me.......... I don't care.
You give an App a completely unjustified negative rating.
Based on your own ignorance.
Apologies would be in order in your topic on UKGSer.

[Drabslab]

@Corjan-Meijerink said in User feedback on using MRA Next with Apple Carplay:

thanks for saying something nice

yep, I lost my mojo for a moment but what the two of you have accomplished in a relatively short period of time is remarkable, and even I can't deny that

@Corjan-Meijerink said in User feedback on using MRA Next with Apple Carplay:

oming update (between 1 or 2 weeks from now) will include quite some improvements and new features to CP / AA.

Very good but remember, killing bugs affecting all users should take priority!

and, although none of my business, also take care of yourself, too much can be too much.

[Drabslab]

@Paul-John-Murphy

Jack puts it quite strongly but... i have to agree with him.

You are hammering a new tool that is partly still in beta, actually without good reason, ignoring that on most issues work is on-going to improve it while being a beta tester yourself.

You are rewarding a company with a very open mindset (allowing users to comment on a public forum, adding features on basis of user requests, ... ) with a very negative comment that will remain there forever to be misunderstood by many readers.

and yesterday you add on that forum

Had a response from MyRouteApp. Basically, they are all known issues. No mitigation or timeline offrted
Disappointed

Well, I am disappointed as well. People here know that I can strongly criticise when I think it is justified, but I do it here, within the context of the user community.

In addition, if by "response from MyRouteApp" you refer to this forum, then that is wrong, nobody here speaks as an MRA official.

[Paul John Murphy]

@Drabslab and others

I seem to have fallen foul of the MRA Police, or perhaps that should be vigilantes.

Excuse me for not hanging on every word that may or may not have been written and posted on this forum. I expressed my views and details of my user experience with the express aim of informing the developers of the Navigation part of the App of the problems I experienced. Does it matter that others have already expressed the same or similar views/issues? Or does it reinforce what others have already said?

Will I carry on using MRA as a planning tool? Yes

Will I attempt to navigate with it? No.

Will I come back and try the Navigation at some point in the future? Perhaps. But if I can transfer my routes from MRA to Garmin and get a far better navigation experience……..

Yes, I was using CarPlay. But we’re my problems purely related to that, or to problems inherent in the Navigation app? The latter certainly, with the issue of the power drain caused by the use of Here mapping. (But I learnt about that on UKGSER and not on this forum!)

Will I visit the MRA Forums again? Unlikely. Too much sniping.

Will I continue to use the UKGSER forum for help and advice on using MRA? Definitely. A much friendlier and helpful type of person inhabits that particular forum.

And, addressing Drabslab’s final comment:no, I was not referring to anything posted on this forum, but to an email received from an MRA representative.