Is Tomtom A Good Navigation System

[Rode Neagle]

TomTomNavigation for Automotive is the leading in-dash navigation system for OEMs. It delivers a high-quality end-user experience and can be implemented across a broad range of brands, car lines and regions.

Cloud native, TomTom Navigation for Automotive takes advantage of hyper-fast routing, search and fresh maps. When no data connection is available, the solution switches to its onboard software for maximum reliability.

Hybrid: onboard and online

Online map-agnostic navigation offers hyper-fast search, routing, real-time information and map updates. Switches to onboard maps when there is no data connection.

Never without map and guidance

Reduce data consumption

TomTom provides a wide range of geotechnology solutions developers can leverage in building software that solves human problems. One such solution is the new Navigation SDK, aimed at bringing decades of experience in perfecting GPS navigation into our hands in the form of easy-to-use SDKs available on different platforms, including Android and iOS operating systems.

One of the major considerations for developers when integrating external services or adding packages to our applications is the impact of bundle size. The size of the applications we build and ship can have significant effects on performance especially for mobile applications where an end user has to download the whole pre-built binaries.

Navigation configuration is used to customize the Navigation experience to suit your needs. This is the entry point of the integration where we can specify the navigationKey, routingService, and locationEngine parameters. Using the iOS SDK, an example of the configuration would look like this:

We can also specify the frequency of ETA updates and the distance and time setting for arrivals. Using the initialized configuration, we can create a navigation object which will enable us to perform some actions like starting and stopping navigation, updating the route, that will enable us to perform some actions like starting and stopping navigation, updating the route, and reporting specific events and reporting specific events that happen during navigation.

Returning to the example of a food delivery app, part of the business requirements might be to allow drivers to pick up multiple orders at once. This means that at each drop-off, the navigation system will need to re-route to the next drop-off location. We can achieve this by defining a set of route plans ahead of time and then using the update method on the navigation object to change the current route plan to the next drop-off location.

Additionally, the Continuous Replanning component is also fully customizable, meaning we can define configuration options like automatic or manual replanning mode or even disable continuous replanning entirely, depending on the kind of behavior we require.

We can also specify the time interval between route replans and the minimum time difference between routes before deciding to use an alternative route, and specify other configuration options like the route replanning policy and providing a custom better route selector.

On the other hand, unplanned journeys, also known as free driving, is navigation without a route. In free driving, we can get details about the current location, such as speed limit, country code, road characteristics, and so on, by setting up a location context.

The navigation module uses text-to-speech (TTS) functionality for generating voice instructions. Using the TTS engine, we can generate voice synthesis for messages. On the iOS SDK, initializing a TTS engine using the default SystemTextToSpeechEngine would look like this:

In this article, we explored the new TomTom Navigation SDK at a high level. The Navigation SDK is a feature-rich toolkit that enables developers to build many different geotechnology solutions. The modular approach to designing the SDK makes it easy to integrate specific features without compromising on factors like bundle size.

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What's good?

Small touches here and there, such as a pop-out menu with shortcuts to volume, 2D/3D map toggle, and day/night map mode toggle, make the app easy to understand and interact with while driving. I do miss being able to input destinations and addresses by voice, but it may be possible that certain Android input methods that support voice may work with the app. My phone's default keyboard's and Swype's voice input functions did not work.

After installing the TomTom app, you'll have to first download the map data that is used for navigation. TomTom stores all of the licensed map data locally on your phone's SD card or internal storage, so that it can continue to operate if you go off the grid and lose your data connection. This is also advantageous to users on a limited data plan. The maps require a Wi-Fi connection to download and I found maps of the U.S. and Canada occupied about 2.26GB of storage space.

TomTom's IQ Routes pathfinding algorithms, which we've praised many times before, are still quite good at picking paths from points alpha to bravo. Routing modes for Fastest, Shortest, and Eco routes are available for motorists and Walking and Bicycle routes are there for everyone else. I also like the option to avoid highways or stick to roads with speed limits below a certain speed, which is great for those just learning to drive or uncomfortable at speed, but also good for maximizing range on vehicles like EVs and certain hybrids that quickly lose efficiency and range above, say, 50 mph.

Spoken turn-by-turn directions are available in a wide range of languages. However, spoken street names aren't available in all of these languages, only American English, British English, Canadian French, and Mexican Spanish.

TomTom's HD Traffic service is available as an in-app purchase. We've seen this system in action on TomTom's Live series of GPS devices and praised its ability to deliver traffic data bordering on prescience on busy highways and reasonably accurate traffic data even on major surface roads.

The final piece of the puzzle is destination entry, which is how you tell the TomTom app where you're going. There is integration with contacts stored on your phone, so you won't have to take time to re-enter or import new favorites. You'll also be able to search the Internet for destinations via the Local Search function if you have a network connection. (Curiously, the app kept telling me that there was no network connection available during my testing, despite the fact that I had a functioning Internet connection. So, I was unable to test this portion.) Additionally, there's a Point of Interest (POI) database that's downloaded with the map data and stored locally, containing the addresses and phone numbers of thousands of businesses.

What's annoying?

For starters, TomTom's maps aren't infallible. I encountered at least one map inaccuracy per trip routed. These inaccuracies were usually minor. For example, the speed limit on the segment of I-280 within San Francisco city limits was given as 35 mph when it was actually 65 mph, triggering an excessive speed warning every time I went that way. On a few occasions, the app instructed me to turn at intersections with longstanding turn restrictions.

Of course, no navigation app or hardware that I've tested has 100-percent-accurate maps, but unlike with an app like Waze or even TomTom's own Map Share-enabled PNDs, I was unable to make corrections to these road segments to prevent future route inaccuracies for the rest of the TomTom community and, more importantly, my own future routes. I'd like to see Map Share make an appearance in the next update.

On my first few attempts to navigate to a contact stored in my address book, the app asked me to double-check every chunk of the address entry, from the state to the street name to the street number, making me wonder why I didn't just key the destination in myself. My next attempt at navigating to a contact happened shortly after hopping off a flight from San Francisco to Atlanta, where a similar issue occurred.

To be fair, I later learned that this issue only popped up when requesting contacts that are out of state or before the app has had a chance to really nail down and lock into your current location. Navigating to contacts in the same state or city (particularly after giving the app a few moments to breathe after the initial installation or after dramatically changing parts of the country) was a seamless process and should be for most users. Tap, confirm, and go.

Finally, I noticed that the app doesn't work on my Google Nexus 7, possibly because of the tablet's lack of a wireless data connection and phone function -- which would be ironic because the TomTom app's strongest selling point is that it can work without these things -- but the omission also possibly has something to do with the Nexus 7's high-resolution screen. Whatever the reason, incompatibility with one of Google's flagship devices is not a good sign.

Is it worth the money?

At $49.99 for the version of the TomTom app that includes maps of the U.S. and Canada, this is no impulse purchase. No doubt, most of you are already turning your nose up in disgust at being asked to pay that much for an app! However, consider that quarterly map updates are free for life after purchase, and there is some value to this purchase. HD Traffic is an in-app purchase for $2.99 for one month or $19.99 for one year (a $15.89 savings), which will only really be useful to commuters and navigators in areas with heavier-than-average traffic.

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