Connected app on my iPad II - ‘Off-road’ route creation.

Wapping

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In fastest route mode, I have noticed that if you click (I was using a finger) off a road, to place a shaping point, the app will mark the spot but the blue line will always stay on the road nearest to the point. This suggests to me that the app does not allow ‘Off road’ route creation, though I need to check further by creating an actual route to ride, that includes some points off the road, just to see what the instruction is when you get to the straight line.

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Although I don't ride offroad I did notice that myself, I think (and I could be wrong) that it's because BMW are using TomTom's mapping service/system.

Whats even more frustrating is that if I search for my local J&S Accessories in Oakmere on https://mydrive.tomtom.com it finds it, but if I do the same in the Connected App it doesn't. Comparing the map view it's clear that the BMW app is using TomTom's maps, but I assume an out of date version.

What I've noticed will happen is if you were to ride that route posted above, I'm pretty sure the instruction through the helmet comms would be something along the lines of "You are approaching your waypoint, it is on the left in 400metres" and it'll assume you want to just ride on past it without stopping.

I just had a look and the TomTom Rider 550 doesn't seem to have offroad routing options (that I was able to see) so this would seem to fit with what you're seeing. Which is a shame as I imagine alot of people who take their GS's offroad rely on following a GPS route.

The biggest annoyance for me is, theres been numerous cases where although I've not wanted to go offroad, I've wanted to navigate to an address which the Connected App/TomTom maps have no knowledge of so it's just kinda stopped leaving me to figure the rest out for myself, although I'm getting a little off topic now, apologies.
 
No off road mapping could be a deal breaker for me
 
Thank you both.

The app, at least in the stage of development it is now, is definitely centred around ‘on-road’ riding. That doesn’t bother me as, other than the odd farm road, I’ll generally be sticking to tarmac on my 1600. I don’t mind how bumpy or leaf strewn the tarmac is but I draw the line at complete goat tracks….. unless I am very lost.

As a rule, I don’t have and sound running whilst I ride. That’s just a personal thing but I might just fire it up so that I can hear (as well as see) what the instructions are when I get to the point where the straight line (direct route) into a field or wood occurs. Assuming that is there is an instruction at all.

During this ‘Let’s see how it works’ trying-out of the Connected app, I am finding it really useful to have my conventional Garmin GPS device running at the same time. Not just as a back-up but in order to see a map of the route, something that is not available to me with the 850’s small TFT screen and being without a cradle for my phone.
 
One of the things I noticed is that the routing can differ depending on what icon you have chosen believe it or not!
Triangle gives general, bike will take you off road and down some serious green lanes.
 
I invested in a QuadLock and I must admit I am finding the basic map view on the Connected App quite useful. When I originally got the bike I had no cradle and no headset so relying on the TFT instructions was a bit hit and miss. They can be slow to update sometimes. But with the map view on the phone it's definitely an improvement being able to just glance and see the general direction I should be heading in.

I've also done the comparison with having the Nav6 running as well and I do also find being able to see a map incredibly useful.
 
One of the things I noticed is that the routing can differ depending on what icon you have chosen believe it or not!
Triangle gives general, bike will take you off road and down some serious green lanes.

Well if that is the case with connect app in the cradle my prayers have been answered
 
Well if that is the case with connect app in the cradle my prayers have been answered

I'm not sure what icon is being referred to but I'm pretty confident in saying the Connected App doesn't have any mapping for green lanes.....

EDIT - I have a feeling the icons being mentioned are the route types (Direct/Motorcycling etc) in BaseCamp which is not applicable to this topic as the maps in BaseCamp are not the same as the Connected App uses. Although if I'm wrong I'm definitely curious about these icons as I've never seen them in the Connected app.
 
There is only one icon on the Connected app, that I have discovered, which is blue and triangular. I can’t make it plot an off-road route at all.

Is, as peejay suggests, PitaNaanRoti talking about something entirely different? If so, what? If he is, I can edit this thread.
 
I was just going by what the previous poster put, I don't have the cradle or the app yet
 
It would be good to confirm what the other chap meant exactly, in case we have both missed something. I did ask BMW about the mapping and some of the lack of features like offroad, traffic camera support etc and the answer was (and I'm paraphrasing) "We are limited to what TomTom allow us to access with the license we have to use their maps" which was both specific and vague at the same time.

There are 2 icons on the map view in the Connected app in the top right, one is a triangle and one is a bike, so maybe they are referring to these, but those icons only serve to center the map on either where you are, or where the bike is. It has no effect on routing.
 
I haven't had much experience with TomTom units but was always under the impression they were great for road riding and A-B travel but that was it.
 
I haven't had much experience with TomTom units but was always under the impression they were great for road riding and A-B travel but that was it.

I'd pretty much agree with that! Prior to getting the GS I had a Triumph 1200 Tiger and had a TomTom Rider 400 on it. There was no offroad mode (although it did take me on some dubious narrow tracks) and according to the TomTom website neither does the newer Rider 550 so I'd say that it's just not a market that TomTom are interested in and therefore their mapping doesn't include it which is a shame as the only unit I'm aware of that has proper offroad routing is the Garmin range.

Even the Calimoto app that I use has no offroad feature. It does seem like a market for bikers thats not properly tapped into.
 
So what happens if I load an off road track or route from basecamp onto the app? Does it re-route me? As I don't have a tft bike these are things I need to know before I buy a cradle.
 
So what happens if I load an off road track of route from basecamp onto the app? Does it re-route me? As I don't have a tft bike these are things I need to know before I buy a cradle.

That is a very good question, let me have a look and I'll tell you!
 
So, it's not good. I have all avoidances turned off in the Connected app. This is the route, it's partially onroad, and partly offroad. Imported into BaseCamp as a track and converted to a route:
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Then into Google Maps for good measure:
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Then into the Connected app, which it imports initially fine as a track:
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But as soon as I make a route from it, it removes all the offroad parts even though as said above I have no avoidances enabled.
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And while I think of it, apologies Wapping if I've inadvertently hijacked your topic :facepalm:
 
I would say that Wikiloc is a very well respected off-road routing app which a lot of mountain bikers use. So maybe there’s a compromise there.
 


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