Hi,
We used to use a driving app which you could overlay on google maps, which gave you the speed you were doing in Km per hour and it would turn red if you went over the speed limit.
My OH is trying to find the same type of driving app but this time he needs one that can 'shout at you', his words not mine! when you are speeding as his eyesight has deteriorated and he can't read the app so well.
Can any of you help point us in the direction of any particular app that may help?
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I mostly use 'Magic Earth' sat nav app on my phone, it'll verbally NAG you in a thousand and one ways if you set it to! - all sorts of warnings if you want.
Free to use, maps can be downloaded to phone, so don't need to use precious/expensive data when abroad and doesn't stop navigating when the phone signal disappears, set the speed to MPH or KPH as desired. Vehicle can be set to car-caravan/MH (Truck) with dimensions, weights, speed restrictions, etc. to customise routes. Integrates into car system if possible and operates just as onboard system does, turning off radio to give directions, warnings etc.
You don't say what vehicle you have, but mine has an electronic display dash which can be set to MPH or KPH, and 'reads' road speed signs and pings warnings at you if you exceed them, but that needs setting to 'on' on the dash menu! You may have the same.
I use Navmii if the vehicle doesn't have sat nav. It has speed warning and is accurate. I tend not to use it much as most cars have sat nav and I use road signs for speed warnings.
Quote: Originally posted by Monty15 on 20/7/2024
I mostly use 'Magic Earth' sat nav app on my phone, it'll verbally NAG you in a thousand and one ways if you set it to! - all sorts of warnings if you want.
Vehicle can be set to car-caravan/MH (Truck) with dimensions, weights, speed restrictions, etc. to customise routes. Integrates into car system if possible and operates just as onboard system does, turning off radio to give directions, warnings etc.
I downloaded it from the App store as it sounded useful for the MH, given we have to watch for low railway bridges etc. Nowhere to set the vehicle type or dimensions, however, so I’ll stick to my 1:50K maps & Google. Maybe i have to use the website rather than the app.
Quote: Originally posted by Fiona W on 21/7/2024
......
I downloaded it from the App store as it sounded useful for the MH, given we have to watch for low railway bridges etc. Nowhere to set the vehicle type or dimensions, however, so I’ll stick to my 1:50K maps & Google. Maybe i have to use the website rather than the app.
You need to go into app Set Up menu - Navigation - Truck. There you can set up all the relevant dimensions, weights, max speed etc. I know 'Truck' is not a intuitive category name, but it lets you do all the necessary settings for caravan/MH.
As a Sat Nav app, it's about the most customisable one I've come across, so many things you can 'tweak' to your personal tastes and needs.
Quote: Originally posted by DaveS1 on 21/7/2024
Just road and town name signs and a map. What else do you need??
Sometimes use the satellite option when getting close to final destination.
DaveS1
I can think of a host of things you may need! I've looked at countless routes that have potential for too narrow roads, too low bridges, too steep hills, no where to stop for a break, no where to refuel where you can physically drag the caravan through, etc. etc.
Often found that a bit of research (and often the route picked by a sat nav) shows that it's better to approach a campsite from a less than obvious direction, even though greater distance, because of more suitable roads! I'd rather drive further on larger roads than mile upon mile of single track roads with potential for oncoming traffic and passing problems. Straightforward A-B route planning on a map alone really is making life potentially very difficult for yourself, if not in some instances disastrous! You can certainly use a map for many sections of motorway and A-road on the assumption of safe and unchallenging passage, but anything else brings risk.
I've found most campsites are in relatively remote places, and accessed by some less than ideal roads, and many a campsite has been dismissed from contention as just too risky/hard to access (with a large caravan) in my research. I'm no shrinking violet when it comes to where I'm capable of towing the caravan, and done plenty of Welsh/Devon/Cumbria/Peak District lanes, but REALLY want to know what I'm setting myself up for, and a plain map doesn't do that! Maybe it's just me that seeks the more out of the way places, I'd certainly be inclined to shy away from sites that were 'just off the motorway' or in the 'environs of large towns' etc.
It probably doesn't help that I rarely have a passenger to map read whilst I drive, so the moving map with exact location marker and wittering instruction of a sat nav is really beneficial to me.
Sat Navs are flawed for sure, and need a bit of back up research, but back to the days of only having an old fashioned map to guide you, not for me thank you! - and yes, I'm WELL old enough to have had no choice but to use maps when driving, and I don't want to go back to those days, even though I'm more than capable of reading maps properly!
When not towing the caravan, I'm a lot more sympathetic to maps, and have driven a solo car down some barely passable tracks in Spain and on Greek Islands, but with the caravan, give me some higher technology!
Hi,
Thank you for your suggestions they have really helped, we have gone with the magic earth app.
We have a Vauxhall Vivaro long wheel base van, plus a small caravan and we
always use the sat nav with a back-up map (literally, as I have always wanted to be a rally car navigator since seeing the start of the Dakar Rally at Crystal Palace when I was little!).
Personally I find the display for Km/per hour on the dash very difficult to read as it is very pale, especially in strong sunlight. So it not about not taking heed of the signs, it's that we can't read the dash to match them up.
Also the sat nav tech can be great when it lets you know of delays and roadworks.
Thanks again and my OH says 'Thanks' too, he's into gadgetty stuff so this has been a bonus.
Quote: Originally posted by Fiona W on 21/7/2024
......
I downloaded it from the App store as it sounded useful for the MH, given we have to watch for low railway bridges etc. Nowhere to set the vehicle type or dimensions, however, so I’ll stick to my 1:50K maps & Google. Maybe i have to use the website rather than the app.
You need to go into app Set Up menu - Navigation - Truck. There you can set up all the relevant dimensions, weights, max speed etc. I know 'Truck' is not a intuitive category name, but it lets you do all the necessary settings for caravan/MH.
As a Sat Nav app, it's about the most customisable one I've come across, so many things you can 'tweak' to your personal tastes and needs.
Ok - thanks for your help!
(And it might have taken a while for that menu to load: it is there now but wasn’t visible this morning).
I used Google Map and it worked well for me for my two European trips to date.
I do not tow and my van is only a medium wheel base standard VW Crafter.
As for speed limit while driving, I can set and change it via the multi-function steering wheel in my van.
DK
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Depending on the age,you can change the digital display on a vivaro (and many other vehicles) between mph and kmh. Only digital, not mechanical Speedos.
I used to do it with my motorbike travelling to NI and back. With the bike it was a simple scroll and button push. The vivaro is a bit more complicated. This is for a 2015 vivaro. You can use this to turn back and forward between the two. Over here we tend to need this sort of thing on cars imported from the UK. Otherwise you get used to using the speed limit dots and mental calculations as , yes, the kmh figures are so much smaller.
you turn the key to off then:
Press the top button (for the trip computer) on the end of the wiper stalk.
Hold it in as you turn the key to on (but don't start engine).
The 0 in the speedometer will flash keep the button held in
The mph symbol will change to km/h - keep the button held in as it flashes (it will flash for about 10/15 secs).
It will stop flashing and be set at km/h.
Let go of button now.
Ww use the satnav in the car it's pretty good. We also have a map to look at the big picture plus a Michelin atlas for its good detail.
Our Hyundai shows the speed limit in mph on the dash in a small speed sign. It converts it, plus it changes to red if you go over! You can change to kph if you want to.
We have no problem switching the limit to mph in our heads, comes from serving with the RAF in Germany and countless trips abroad.
Older Car speedos used to have mph and kph on the dial. Not so much on the digitally generated ones.
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Topic: What driving apps do you use in France?
via mobile 21/7/2024 at 9:47am
