Phone or sat nav?

[pepperami]

I was thinking about my little trips away.
I'm thinking, do I take my sat nav and my phone or just the phone.

If I take just the phone and use the sat nav application, I save a tiny bit of weight and it's one less thing to worry about.
However if I take my sat nav as well, I won't have to worry about having my phone clipped to the handlebars, and I won't need to disrupt the sat nav when I want to take photos.

Is the phone app as good as a proper sat nav?
What navigational app do the mighty BCF recommend?
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I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[The Shaggy D.A.]

I like Waze, and Here Maps. I prefer both to a dedicated sat nag in the car, however phones are shit to view in daylight.
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[RhynoCZ]

Sat nav in car.
Phone on the bike.
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'87 Honda XBR 500, '96 Kawasaki ZX7R P1, '90 Honda CB-1, '88 Kawasaki GPz550, MZ 150 ETZ
'95 Mercedes-Benz w202 C200 CGI, '98 Mercedes-Benz w210 E200 Kompressor

[Tracer1234]

Interesting thread, Any decent Apps, for suggesting decent good routes, similar to Tom Tom Rider.
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Riding: Yamaha MT-09 Tracer Occasionally Riding: 08 Suzuki SV650, Potato: 2011 Yamaha YBR Custom.
Used to ride: 2015 Yamaha MT-09 Tracer (smidsy) 09 Triumph Street Triple (P/X'd) 08 Yamaha YBR (Sold)
CBT 04/14. A: Mod 1 & 2 13/04/15

[Polarbear]

I'm a dedicated satnav person, especially on the bike.

However I have been told many times in no uncertain terms I am a technical (and moral) dinosaur so make of that what you will.

I have a Tomtom Rider for the bike. Wifie has one of those fancy Garmins that does all the traffic routing for the car.

I have used both my tablet and phone in a car with google maps and it worked OK but I'm never sure if I'm using data or getting charged with them.
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Victory Cross Country American tractor.

[asta1]

I asked the same question on here when I got my bike and was looking for nav mounts. The advice then was to just use a phone with verbal instructions via headphones and not bother with the visuals at all. Tried it and now a year later I still haven't bothered to buy a mount.

Google maps ftw. Reasonably clear instructions, turns down spotify whilst the instructions are given, doesnt hurt battery life much, free. Sorted.

Possibly wouldn't rely on it for a full on Euro jolly, but it's got me to assorted light industrial units in shit locales for work, showed me the way home from Wales and the lakes, even got me to Cornwall and back.
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[Stoker]

If you've a rooted android phone and are ok using Lucky Patcher, treat yourself to a free copy of Co-Pilot, and use the voice directions. (I hate trying to look at screens whilst on bike).
Whilst you're at it, might as well activate "ActiveTraffic" and "Safety Alerts and Warnings" too

[chickenstrip]

I'm not very good with smart phones, but was quite comfortable using a sat nav. But for the UK, I'd just take my trusty road atlas that has seen service since....oh, probably prehistoric times. They've built new roads since I bought it

Actually, now I'd probably just use the sat nav to find hotels. Pretty much know my way round the UK between towns by now.
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[davethekwak]

[natefz6]

For me its Waze all the way. (Owned by Google so like google maps on steroids and free)

I find its really good at getting you round traffic problems in real time. Its updated by other users using the app (automatically for traffic manually for incidents), from information taken from cell tower usage and other traffic monitoring inputs. It can end up taking you through some very off the beaten track rat runs but has always done me well so I have lots of faith in it. In London its been a god send, more than I can say for many of the ones I have used in hire cars. The app continues running in the back ground unless you select to quit or force close it so no real problem with stopping taking a photo and then starting from where you left off. (if you leave it running it will chew your battery). Plays nicely with other apps for interrupting audio etc if you are listening to tunein/spotify/google play/ mp3 etc.


Another bonus is it allows community updates so when a set of traffic lights changed to a temporary roundabout down the road from us it was up to date within the day. Oh it also does police and camera warnings

https://www.waze.com/

Down side.. its on your phone as mentioned visibility in sun light on most phones is gash so if I was using it in earnest on a bike I would be inclined to fashion some sort of sun shade to make it easier to see. Saying that I just set it up and stick the phone in my pocket and have never needed to look at it.

Regarding GSM Data usage it will download maps as it goes, I'm on 3 with 8 gig of data and use it abroad with "feel at home". It does not use that much data but I could not say exactly how much.
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"no I didn't steal it that's just the way I ride"

[owl]

[kawakid]

Just stop and look at your phone if need be or bring a map.

Tbh I can't understand people who can only follow a sat nav.

On the bike, i've taken to using address labels and writing the junction numbers/roads and sticking them to the tank.
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I've a twin and a 4.

[thepuma]

I'd say googlemaps is better than most stand alone satnavs. The traffic info is more reliable.

If you've got data roaming then you'll be fine with it.
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YBR125 (SOLD) - CBR250R(SOLD) - CBR650F(SOLD) Current - Street Triple
765 RS

[Bonnie Lad]

[chickenstrip]

If you need to get to a definite point in an area you don't know, sat nav and phones are definitely the way to go. But for touring and exploring? I found myself resorting to the maps more on my last tour, as I wanted to see if there were any little detours or interesting places nearby to explore. You get a much better sense of adventure that way than just being instructed to take this or that turning. I find tech. nav. methods are the enemy of being adventurous.
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Chickenystripgeezer's Biking Life (Latest update 19/10/18) Belgium, France, Italy, Austria tour 2016 Picos de Europa, Pyrenees and French Alps tour 2017 Scotland Trip 1, now with BONUS FEATURE edit, 5/10/19, on page 2 Scotland Trip 2 Luxembourg, Black Forest, Switzerland, Vosges Trip 2017
THERE'S MILLIONS OF CHICKENSTRIPS OUT THERE!

[Teflon-Mike]

Snowie & the Daughter are both Smart-Phne junkies; don't ask me what aps they use! Daughter changes her phone more than she does her socks I think! But she has had me on some wonderful wild goose-chases over the years, insisting her 'phone, knows how to get to a chippy, or a cash point, or a petrol station or whatever! Whilst Snowie attemted to 'proove' how wonderful these aps were, and lead us to a private house three streets away, and was jumping p and down, ranting "But the PHONE, says this should be a cash point!" Wouldn't have been so bad, except the cash=point was in the petrol station on the main road n the opposite side of the block, and she'd used it hundreds of times, and shouldn't have needed a ruddy sat-nav to tell her where it wasn't!

We fitted a Garmi to Snowies Super-Dream when she was on L's... mostly because her job was round the houses visiting the old-ducks to do their dishes, and she'd be given 20 different addresses to visit a day.

Fantastic little widget... took us on a tour of all the Mosques in Brum, once.... the niggle was eventually traced to user error.. she had it programmed for 'shortest route' and to avoid motorways (as she was on L's still) so it took us down EVERY bludy back-street and over EVERY ruddy road-hump, between Solihull & Smethic.. which is mostly Sparkhill, which probaly accounts for all the mosques TBH.. but still!

It's not simple Luddite-ism, BUT.. technology might save a little time... one-day.. if t works! Till then it seems to be wasting a heck of a lot!

On the bike, Ahrghhhhh! With the Seven-Fifty inspiring a 'Back-To-Basics' approach to biking in general; I sort of concluded that actually I take the bike to get away from all this kind of crap, so why take it with me, and make life 'hard' for myself trying to give the thing a power supply and see it in the sun! And crickey; if I'd wanted a nagging woman telling me where to go every two seconds, why the heck did I get a divorce!

Old-Skool, directions taped to the tank, just 'works'. As does a paper map in the panniers! A-N-D dead reckoning is a great way to 'explore' places and find stuff you other wise wouldn't!

Up in Derbyshire, I actually tried to 'ban' the daughter's i-phone.... yeah, may as well have asked her to stop breathing, or that hair-spray was being banned to save the o-zone!!! DID manage to stop her beatig me round the crash hat and pointing at fields telling me "Turn left TURN LEFT!" lol! But only after she had navigated us to, I think three closed down pubs; one deralict petrol station, one shut petrol station, and a chippy that was a deralict chinese take-away! And I found an 'open' petrol station, by gess work ad dead reckoning i five minutes, that elicited indignant retort "You KNEW this was here all the while, DIDN'T you?!" nope... though she still didn't believe me!

I really am not particularly enamored by Sat-Nav, really am'nt!

I don't need a widget to tell me how to find my way out of town to the motorway or main routes anywhere, let alone, telling me "OFF-RAWT" every time I take a short-cut round the houses, or "Recalculating" every time!

I can usually get to within maybe five miles of almost ANY destination in the UK, without ANY sort of avigational aid, just following ruddy street-signs! They ARE pretty darn good in this country! Only find GPS much use for those last 5-miles, to find a actual specific address....

But even then; couple of years back, ended up driving ronud the wilds of darkest Wales looking for a frigging hotel, with three women, telling e "Well, the sat-nav says were HERE!" when we were stopped at the side of the road, in the middle of fields, for the fifth time! On the 'phone to the Hotel, to be told, by woman i very nice sing-song voice (A little out of place in North Wales actually!) "Yearse, yooo our yoosing a sat-nav, aren-unt yooo? They doo it too ev-ery-one!"

S what navigational 'Ap' would I reccomend, for little trips away o the bike? Common sense! Road-Signs, and an AZ somewhere in the luggage! If you get lost? So what? All part of the adventure; call it 'exploring'!

Biking is supposed to be abut the 'freedom'! Relish it! Chuck off the chains! Don't take something with you to tell you what to do! Getting away fro that is WHY you are o the bike in the first place, isn't it?
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[Copycat73]

A dedicated sat-nav will do exactly what it says on the box...

does not need an internet connection , has a screen that's visible .. accessible controls and a mount that is fit for purpose..

manage with your phones .. but that's all you will be doin...
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[Matt S]

I download individual area maps from Google Maps via wifi, then use it off-line on my phone through my ear phones. No complaints and it's free!!

[Petemate]

In the car - Navmii for me every time. Doesn'y use data, also she doesn't tell you about 5 or 6 times just before and during a roundabout to take the exit - just the once on approach and leaving it. Just need to get myself a nice headset and keep the phone in my pocket for use on the bike. The phone (Apple 5c) tends to use battery a lot on the Navmii, but I have a power point on the bike and this keeps the phone on charge for when I am at meets taking lots of pics, so would be great when navigating.
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[Bonnie Lad]

[ThatDippyTwat]

[pepperami]

It's not getting oop North or to Welshland that's the problem, it's once I'm there, where do I go to get to the final part of my journey?
Being a stranger there means I need some form of navigation once I'm there.
I always have a pocket sized A-to-Z in my pack, but that means I need to stop and unravel my kit to get it.
Also it's not as detailed as I'd like.

I was in PC World last night and they had very few sat navs and no dedicated bike sat navs.
The spotty yoof who served me said that they are slowly phasing out sat navs as everybody is using apps on their phones .

I looked at bike dedicated sat navs last time I was in there and thought that they were way to expensive.

My last few tours, I have used my ordinary car sat nav, so it looks like I will continue doing that.
The old Hyosung had a good screen to stick the suction cup to and it always worked.
However if I'm going to take the Chinese pos for a tour, I'm going to have to find a way of mounting my sat navs to the handlebars.

Peppers the bodger will work it out
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I am the sum total of my own existence, what went before makes me who I am now!

[skatefreak]

tl:dr.

Phone in pocket, Google maps, headphones in and just listen to instructions.
Plenty of warning before turnings etc, never had an issue doing it this way...

[The Shaggy D.A.]

[chickenstrip]