Is still a thing?

My on-board SatNav just died, so I'm suddenly in the market for an external replacement, but have yet to do any real research. So I'll put the question out there:

Is TomTom worth paying for, or do free Android Apps do the job just as well?

i.e. Does it provide a "better" service?

I use the Apple TomTom app. See my post below. I could write a long whinge about the TomTom app but in the end I'm a subscriber, I use it a lot and I'll keep paying for it. It works well enough with Car Play. It's OK for finding post codes and addresses (ignore hyperbole in post below), but in my experience very bad at finding businesses by name. It does speed cameras and other "safety warnings" The web-based planner does its job but it could be much, much better and the map used for web-planning is shite verging on the unuseable.

You get a free trial of the app, so give it a go.

Waze lets you know where the cops are hiding.

I haven't used anything TomTom in years, not since I had an iPhone 4 and the TomTom GPS cradle for it - and I vaguely remember having to slightly modify the cradle for the 4 when I upgraded from the 3gs.

Given that pretty much nobody uses TomTom anything any more, I can't imagine they'd have better service unless they're grabbing cop locations from Waze and broadcasting them now.

(Directions are secondary. Keeping me away from interacting with the police while driving as fast as I want is far more important. But Waze is good at directions too, it'll route you around traffic jams.)

"Is TomTom worth paying for, or do free Android Apps do the job just as well?"

For simply getting from points A to B in a car I use Google maps on my phone - It works well enough, is fairly well updated, traffic forecast is quite good. It's certainly better than my in-built car one which is at least 3-4 years out of date and with no real possibility of updating.

For my bike, however I do use a TomTom Rider, and this is certainly worth it and far better than a mobile phone + app would be because of

- being properly waterproof for all-weather riding

- screen is easily visible in wide variety of lighting conditions

- touchscreen recognises being touched by gloves, and buttons are also suitably large

- It has route options to find secondary roads that are more bike-fun and less trafficked

- I can also plan complicated multi-day trips / multi-stop routes on the website and load them to the unit, works generally well but the mapping website is rather clunky

So I guess it depends on the complexity of your usage requirements

Dont bother with stand alone gps nav.

Tom Tom on the phone with maps downloaded is ok enough, although is a yearly subscription.

I've been using Sygic nav since the year dot when it was called McGuider, can be had as lifetime sub for not much more than TT yearly and tbh, apart from the not as nice map presentation as TT it's just as good.

My personal fave was garmin-Navigon, had the most entertaining generated pronounciations; Arras in France was Are-Arse, Calais, Carlat Antwerp in Belgium was Arnt wer a pen. I never got to hear how it would have coped with Knnoke-Heist. the nav was ok too. sadly long gone and dead.

I second what Hedley said.

I use the TomTom GO app on Android. It only costs a small annual subscription (or monthly if you prefer) - so small that a standalone unit would be obsolete before you'd paid anything like how much it cost you.

The screen resolution is set by your phone's spec, so is much higher than a standalone. And you can route it through Bluetooth to give audio through your car's system.

Map updates are easier than on a standalone (but they are big, so you don't want to be away from WiFi when you do it). They happen quite frequently. And you have access to ALL world maps/territories.

You basically always have a top-of-the-range (plus a bit) TomTom.

I also like the TomTom MyDrive PC app (also Apple), so I can drag and drop plans of routes in the cloud and have them immediately sync with the TomTom app when it is fired up.

This is from my own personal experience, and I am not saying other providers aren't as good, nor that TomTom is perfect. And also personally, I have never experienced any routing problems other than recently, when a new access road was opened and obviously wasn't on the map yet (still isn't, so you're apparently driving across a field).

Update - the new road IS there now on an update that just came through.

Onboard my new motor. It's included free with OTA updates for 3 years.

Surprised they are still in business cause why would people use TomTom vs Android/Apple maps, gps, routting information?

HGV should not use those, as they are at risk of being trapped.

The only advantage I've found of the TomTom app on the iPhone is that you can download the maps so it doesn't use your mobile data allowance and means it works when there is no data coverage.

However, that's about it and in no way should anyone take this as a ringing endorsement of TomTom. For some reason the routing and re-routing in response to traffic is shite in the app compared to TomTom's dedicated devices and the TomTom app can struggle to find obscure things like roads, streets, towns and businesses. It doesn't admit this when you search for stuff; it just confidently guides you to somewhere you didn't want to go and tells you that you have reached your destination.

Downloading maps was an advantage a decade ago. Everything does that now.

Time to ditch TomTom.

Also, "mobile data allowance"? What ancient plan are you on that mobile data isn't unlimited now?

Mobile data plan - long story related to company phone and my being a lazy git.

I know you can download bits of Google maps, but I don't think you can download the whole country, can you?

" I don't think you can download the whole country, can you?"

I believe it's only limited by how much storage you have available

Try when you're abroad, in some country where data roaming is quite expensive... or in some remote place where mobile coverage is not so good.

"ou can download the maps so it doesn't use your mobile data allowance and means it works when there is no data coverage."

In Google maps you can download areas of the map to work offline. I would presume other apps allow that too.

Why use a real GPS?

a) no spying / tracking from either Slurp, Inc., or FruitCo we know better tm

b) leave with vehicle, every other driver in the house can use it and get the same data (example: a recycling center run needs to be performed, anyone else can do it because it is pre-programmed into the GPS)

c) no battery life to worry about with continuous screen time

d) smartphone needs to plugged in and set into a mount to avoid battery issues, GPS is always there

e) for the GPS on my motorcycle, smartphone is a complete fail in comparison as I get full touchscreen functionality, with any glove I choose, to allow rerouting, search for fuel or food, change destinations, look ahead to road path, etc. Add in full weather resistance / waterproofing, much brighter screen that doesn't overheat, a doubt-free handlebar mount, etc.

f) Google / Apple Maps depends upon data connection. If you can trust your data connection... you haven't traveled far enough . Downloading maps an option, as is installed apps w/maps, but just...why??

It doesn't get interrupted by incoming calls that for some reason phone believe are more important than driving... plus Android Auto is one of the worst application I've ever seen.

that ceased.

Mine still does.

Yeah, and my "Bag for Life" wore out so I guess I'm living on borrowed time now

There was a fuss about stopping lifetime updates, but it was misinformation. My ancient TomTom still gets updates, though I've had to cut Western Europe down to UK because the maps are bloated and won't fit anymore. When on trips with other people it always used to offer the better route than Garmin.

I always used proper SatNav units and not phones because, frankly, the phones were crap at it. But the TomTom has been languishing in a drawer for a few years because I've not had a car without built in SatNav for so long.

Mine still updates.

Plus unless you have downloaded all the maps to your phone you risk issues when you lose signal.

Mine also has the traffic feature, which seems to be pretty flawless on (2G?) - until they kill the 2G network, that is!

Mine was sold with "free lifetime updates". When I tried to update it I discovered that meant free "software updates" but "map updates" have to be paid for and are too expensive to be worthwhile.

And then a while later the software updates stopped, because "lifetime" apparently doesn't mean what I thought it did. It's a great device but the way it was marketed was an utter scam.

I still use my seven-year-old TomTom GO. It works pretty well, it still gets map and firmware updates, it has a much better windscreen mount than any phone bracket I've been able to find, and it doesn't constantly report my location to Google or Apple. If it broke, I might even consider buying another.

I drive *a lot* in France, its quite a big place and mobile internet connectivity can be patchy. Google maps dont like Edge mobile connections.It doesnt like 4G->Edge->3G->none in quick succession.

Data allowance; try that with a UK sim in EU, you'll burn fast through that allowance and hit the EU roaming surcharge on a 650 mile journey (thanks Brexit)

I've used Google Maps and was an early Waze user. I dumped Waze shortly after Google took over as it became incapable of spotting holdups and suggesting new routes on my daily S. M'cr->Liverpool->S. M'cr commute. TomTom managed though.

TomTom I have found (Android app) is consistently more accurate with initial predictive and actual arrival times, holdups, rerouting.

The journey planning bit is probably the weakest but (I'm more used to Copilot for that) but at least its predicted journey times are (for my use) are almost to the minute. Copilot, just dont ask, wildly optimistic and just keeps adding 10mins if you've not arrived yet.

Pretty sure this is a news story from the 90s, before the advent of Google Maps.

Previously called Nokia maps and now owned by VW & BMW I beleive.

Downloadable Maps, Free and NOT Google