Rv gps

[Wicked ace]

Okay, I'll chime in on this. In order to evaluate several phone GPS apps specifically for RV or big rig, we tried the two that I narrowed things down to.

The RV Life app with RV Trip Wizard and Sygic Truck app, both for Android.

The reason I chose to evaluate both of them is they both supposedly take your rig height into consideration. Both are subscription based apps. RV Life is $50.00/year and Sygic Truck is $100.00/year for the 18 wheeler subscription. They do have an RV subscription and is $70.00/ year, but, according to @Calbar it's not as refined. Here is what I found:



RV Life app using Trip Wizard:

First, you get access to a whole host of applications and websites with the membership.

The Trip Wizard interface is clunky and cumbersome to plan a trip on a phone. It was much easier to do a desktop or tablet, and internet access is required. However, if you know your destinations, you can enter everything in beforehand. It shows a nice, overall, map of your route when you first open the trip in the app.

You do have the option of downloading all the states in your planned for, for offline navigation, which is really nice. (Truth be told, I downloaded every state and Canadian territory so I would have to do it again, unless there is an update to the maps of a state.) Then, it gives you the option of RV safe directions or regular directions. If you choose RV safe directions, you stay within the app, if you choose regular directions, it will either launch your default mapping app, such as Google Maps on Android, or Apple maps on iOS. (Unless you have a different mapping app as a default.) I have to warn y'all that Google Maps shows a much faster ETA than RV Life, due to the fact it used regular car speeds instead of a programmed average speed (both apps have a setting for top average speed; I have mine set to 70 MPH). The other thing that Google Maps and Apple Maps does not take into account is bridge height. Which could mean that you are replacing a lot on your roof if you scrape it off on a low bridge or overpass.

The voice navigation could use improvement. For example, if you are routing on US Highway 550, it says it in a very mechanical voice, "US highway five hundred fifty." If you are routing on a state highway, say NM-60, it will say (in the same mechanical voice), "N M minus sixty." Wait, what? What is N M minus 60??? It took me looking (okay glancing) at the screen to decipher that one). At first, it was a source of amusement between my wife and I, then just became annoying.

The routing was good and I didn't have any issues with it, it does a good job of calculating travel time and actual arrival time.

The presentation of the map directions screen is good, I like that it shows turn lanes as you approach them. (Kinda hard to explain here and I don't have a screenshot of it.)

Verdict on RV Life with Trip Wizard: 7 out of 10. Would be my absolutely go to app due to all the extra you get with the RV Life subscription, except the voice navigation could be better and using the Trip Wizard planning piece was easier to use on a phone



Sygic Truck app:

Is expensive and, the subscription that @Calbar recommends is really for 18 wheelers, but you definitely know that it will only route you when you can fit. A good example of this is here in New Mexico, up north, Google maps can route you over a small dam. (Ask me how I know this!) It's a tight fit as it is only 9' wide, and has two, sharp, 90° turns, one at the beginning of the dam, and one at the end. For my, much smaller, hybrid camper and shorter F-150, it wasn't so bad, I would have been in a world of hurt if I was in my current rig because I would not have been able to make the sharp 90° turns, and would have had to back up almost half a mile to a point where I could turn around.

You can plan your route directly within the app by looking up addresses, and in some cases business names, and setting them as your destination. I didn't try a multi-waypoint route just a point-to-point route.

The problem here is you have to know your destination address. Finding campgrounds was a no go, but finding RV parks was good.

The map is not quite on par with Google Maps in presentation while driving but still very usable. It does give speed and time remaining (both of which you can customize to see other data points). The voice navigation was much better than the RV Life app, pronouncing most roads and correctly, and without the "minus" nomenclature. It was clear and more natural sounding as well.

It also includes offline maps which you have to download as well.

Verdict on the Sygic Truck app: 8 out of 10. The fact that you need to know the address of your destination is what brought this one down a little. Overall, the app was solid.



Final thoughts:

When we go full-time, I will probably use the RV Life app, even with the issues I have with the voice navigation. You do get a lot more with the subscription than you do with the Sygic Truck subscription, but with Sygic Truck, you do get the more polished voice navigation.

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Are you aware that you could import a map/directions from Google Maps into the Sygic truck app. From that basis Sygic would indicate trouble routes and redirect. Just sayin'

[MoonShadow_1911]

Are you aware that you could import a map/directions from Google Maps into the Sygic truck app. From that basis Sygic would indicate trouble routes and redirect. Just sayin'

No, I wasn't aware. That would be very handy! Looks like more testing it's in my future!

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[Calbar]

Okay, I'll chime in on this. In order to evaluate several phone GPS apps specifically for RV or big rig, we tried the two that I narrowed things down to.

The RV Life app with RV Trip Wizard and Sygic Truck app, both for Android.

The reason I chose to evaluate both of them is they both supposedly take your rig height into consideration. Both are subscription based apps. RV Life is $50.00/year and Sygic Truck is $100.00/year for the 18 wheeler subscription. They do have an RV subscription and is $70.00/ year, but, according to @Calbar it's not as refined. Here is what I found:



RV Life app using Trip Wizard:

First, you get access to a whole host of applications and websites with the membership.

The Trip Wizard interface is clunky and cumbersome to plan a trip on a phone. It was much easier to do a desktop or tablet, and internet access is required. However, if you know your destinations, you can enter everything in beforehand. It shows a nice, overall, map of your route when you first open the trip in the app.

You do have the option of downloading all the states in your planned for, for offline navigation, which is really nice. (Truth be told, I downloaded every state and Canadian territory so I would have to do it again, unless there is an update to the maps of a state.) Then, it gives you the option of RV safe directions or regular directions. If you choose RV safe directions, you stay within the app, if you choose regular directions, it will either launch your default mapping app, such as Google Maps on Android, or Apple maps on iOS. (Unless you have a different mapping app as a default.) I have to warn y'all that Google Maps shows a much faster ETA than RV Life, due to the fact it used regular car speeds instead of a programmed average speed (both apps have a setting for top average speed; I have mine set to 70 MPH). The other thing that Google Maps and Apple Maps does not take into account is bridge height. Which could mean that you are replacing a lot on your roof if you scrape it off on a low bridge or overpass.

The voice navigation could use improvement. For example, if you are routing on US Highway 550, it says it in a very mechanical voice, "US highway five hundred fifty." If you are routing on a state highway, say NM-60, it will say (in the same mechanical voice), "N M minus sixty." Wait, what? What is N M minus 60??? It took me looking (okay glancing) at the screen to decipher that one). At first, it was a source of amusement between my wife and I, then just became annoying.

The routing was good and I didn't have any issues with it, it does a good job of calculating travel time and actual arrival time.

The presentation of the map directions screen is good, I like that it shows turn lanes as you approach them. (Kinda hard to explain here and I don't have a screenshot of it.)

Verdict on RV Life with Trip Wizard: 7 out of 10. Would be my absolutely go to app due to all the extra you get with the RV Life subscription, except the voice navigation could be better and using the Trip Wizard planning piece was easier to use on a phone



Sygic Truck app:

Is expensive and, the subscription that @Calbar recommends is really for 18 wheelers, but you definitely know that it will only route you when you can fit. A good example of this is here in New Mexico, up north, Google maps can route you over a small dam. (Ask me how I know this!) It's a tight fit as it is only 9' wide, and has two, sharp, 90° turns, one at the beginning of the dam, and one at the end. For my, much smaller, hybrid camper and shorter F-150, it wasn't so bad, I would have been in a world of hurt if I was in my current rig because I would not have been able to make the sharp 90° turns, and would have had to back up almost half a mile to a point where I could turn around.

You can plan your route directly within the app by looking up addresses, and in some cases business names, and setting them as your destination. I didn't try a multi-waypoint route just a point-to-point route.

The problem here is you have to know your destination address. Finding campgrounds was a no go, but finding RV parks was good.

The map is not quite on par with Google Maps in presentation while driving but still very usable. It does give speed and time remaining (both of which you can customize to see other data points). The voice navigation was much better than the RV Life app, pronouncing most roads and correctly, and without the "minus" nomenclature. It was clear and more natural sounding as well.

It also includes offline maps which you have to download as well.

Verdict on the Sygic Truck app: 8 out of 10. The fact that you need to know the address of your destination is what brought this one down a little. Overall, the app was solid.



Final thoughts:

When we go full-time, I will probably use the RV Life app, even with the issues I have with the voice navigation. You do get a lot more with the subscription than you do with the Sygic Truck subscription, but with Sygic Truck, you do get the more polished voice navigation.

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Interesting reading. I think you may have misquoted me for someone else in this thread though.

Rob

[MoonShadow_1911]

Interesting reading. I think you may have misquoted me for someone else in this thread though.

Rob

Okay, maybe it was @Wicked ace then... Hrm... My memory is starting to suck... Ugh!

I'll edit the post.

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[Wicked ace]

Interesting reading. I think you may have misquoted me for someone else in this thread though.

Rob

Okay, maybe it was @Wicked ace then... Hrm... My memory is starting to suck... Ugh!

I'll edit the post.

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It's not me either!

[MoonShadow_1911]

It's not me either!

Okay, I don't know! Someone posted on the forum about Sygic! I'll edit my post to say "someone"... Ugh!

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[MoonShadow_1911]

Are you aware that you could import a map/directions from Google Maps into the Sygic truck app. From that basis Sygic would indicate trouble routes and redirect. Just sayin'

Sygic does indeed work with Google Maps, however, it uses a desktop plugin for Chrome to do this. https://www.sygic.com/blog/2019/sygi...-work-together

The unfortunately, you can't use it on your mobile device. I did notice that Sygic shows up in the Android ShareTo section when sharing directions from the Google Maps app, but alas, it doesn't work. I do like the fact that you can import from a desktop version of Google Maps and it will check/validate the route. The only limitation the plugin has, according to Sygic, is there is a 10 stop limit; so you can only use 10 waypoints in the route, which isn't a big deal.

[Calbar]

Okay, maybe it was @Wicked ace then... Hrm... My memory is starting to suck... Ugh!

I'll edit the post.

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No worries.
Rob

[MoonShadow_1911]

No worries.
Rob

Lol! I am worried... My memory isn't what it used to be!

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[Calbar]

Lol! I am worried... My memory isn't what it used to be!

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I know that feeling all to well too!!