Photo: TomTom
TomTom GO Navigation, which is currently one of the top mobile navigation solutions on the market, has recently been updated with a feature that all its rivals need.
The recently released version 3.5 comes with an option that lets users configure the maximum speed for the vehicle they drive. While at first glance this doesn’t look like such a big deal, here’s why this is a critical part of the navigation experience.
First and foremost, it’s important to understand who needs this feature.
TomTom’s new option isn’t aimed at people driving Bugattis, but at those whose vehicles might not reach the maximum speed for a certain part of the road. For example, there are EVs out there that can’t reach 130 kph (for our American friends, this is a little over 80 mph) on a highway or their drivers simply prefer to go slower to increase the range.
In plain English, this new navigation setting is only aimed at people who drive slower than the maximum speed limit.
By default, sat-nav solutions determine the ETA for a configured route based on the maximum speed allowed for every type of road you’re supposed to use. As such, if you drive below the limit, the ETA would eventually increase, making the original estimate seem inaccurate.
This is why TomTom’s idea comes in so handy. If you typically drive below the limit on a highway or if your vehicle is restricted to a certain maximum speed, you can now configure the values in the vehicle profile. The ETA will thus be determined accordingly, so you should get a clearer picture of when you’re expected to arrive at the destination.
Such an option should eventually make its way to other navigation apps as well, especially because all of them determine the ETA based on the speed limit for each road, but without taking into account how fast the vehicle can go.
Otherwise, TomTom GO Navigation remains the same navigation app that many users turned to when searching for a Google Maps alternative. It sports the essential feature package and a series of extras, including turn-by-turn navigation, real-time alerts, speed cam warnings, traffic information, and so on.
Probably the only shortcoming and the one thing that prevents more users from switching from the likes of Google Maps and Waze is the subscription-based model that it uses. Unlike its rivals, TomTom GO Navigation is not available with a free license, so users would have to pay for a subscription to be able to experience its navigation capabilities.
On the other hand, a trial version is also available, so if you want to see what the app is all about, and also try out the new option that went live in version 3.5 on iOS, you can do this without paying a single cent.
First and foremost, it’s important to understand who needs this feature.
TomTom’s new option isn’t aimed at people driving Bugattis, but at those whose vehicles might not reach the maximum speed for a certain part of the road. For example, there are EVs out there that can’t reach 130 kph (for our American friends, this is a little over 80 mph) on a highway or their drivers simply prefer to go slower to increase the range.
In plain English, this new navigation setting is only aimed at people who drive slower than the maximum speed limit.
By default, sat-nav solutions determine the ETA for a configured route based on the maximum speed allowed for every type of road you’re supposed to use. As such, if you drive below the limit, the ETA would eventually increase, making the original estimate seem inaccurate.
This is why TomTom’s idea comes in so handy. If you typically drive below the limit on a highway or if your vehicle is restricted to a certain maximum speed, you can now configure the values in the vehicle profile. The ETA will thus be determined accordingly, so you should get a clearer picture of when you’re expected to arrive at the destination.
Such an option should eventually make its way to other navigation apps as well, especially because all of them determine the ETA based on the speed limit for each road, but without taking into account how fast the vehicle can go.
Otherwise, TomTom GO Navigation remains the same navigation app that many users turned to when searching for a Google Maps alternative. It sports the essential feature package and a series of extras, including turn-by-turn navigation, real-time alerts, speed cam warnings, traffic information, and so on.
Probably the only shortcoming and the one thing that prevents more users from switching from the likes of Google Maps and Waze is the subscription-based model that it uses. Unlike its rivals, TomTom GO Navigation is not available with a free license, so users would have to pay for a subscription to be able to experience its navigation capabilities.
On the other hand, a trial version is also available, so if you want to see what the app is all about, and also try out the new option that went live in version 3.5 on iOS, you can do this without paying a single cent.
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