iOS app routing questions and suggestions
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With the possible future demise of komoot I thought I’d give the suunto app routing a go and see how I managed. Using it on the mobile was pretty tricky but I found it easier on my Mac (using the iOS app). However I did find a few things tricky and had some unexpected behaviours.
Firstly, I generally found the routing pretty decent but sometimes it did make some odd choices. To correct these was reasonably easy when creating a route by adding a routing marker. I think the interface for this could be made a little easier because every time I was asked whether I wanted a poi or a planning point. Maybe start with a planning point and then have the option to change it?
Weirdly, I didn’t seem to be able to add these planning points when editing a route, only when creating a new one.
Also weirdly, these planning points came up as part of the turn-by-turn navigation on my watch which I totally didn’t expect.
Speaking of turn-by-turn (and ignoring the much discussed recent changes) I think it would be hugely helpful of it was possible to modify these when creating or editing a route. Sometimes you don’t want them (e.g. a small zig-zag on the map which in reality is just ‘keep going straight’), sometimes it would be useful to add them in where they weren’t automatically added. Sometimes they could be made clearer if the symbol could be changed.
A last suggestion would be the ability to select (or create) a planning point or possibly a section of the route and change it to freehand routing during editing. I could work out how to add a next point with freehand routing during route creation but not how to adjust an existing route with a freehand section.
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@far-blue I agree with your assessment of the app routing experience. It’s just a little bit too awkward for me to use regularly. It never seems to do quite what I want it to do. The whole thing feels a generation or two behind what others are currently doing.
My favorite routing tool at present is https://gpx.studio. It’s free and it just works. Of course you don’t get turn-by-turn when importing GPX routes, but that’s okay by me since I still find it less-than-usable. The solution then is to add waypoints at major turns where you feel you might need a reminder.