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A Google Maps question

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  • Sep 30th, 2015 9:22 pm
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Deal Addict
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Dec 9, 2002
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Kitchener

A Google Maps question

I want to make a custom route for a motorcycle trip in google maps and then have my phone nagivate me along the route. Is this possible? I was able to make a sample trip in My Maps for google but bringing the map up in my saved places on my phone only shows me the blue line of travel. I'm not sure how to instruct Google Maps on my phone to begin navigating along the route.
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Jun 12, 2007
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As far as I know, the only way to navigate a custom route generated by Google maps (pc) is to export the custom route into a compatible tomtom or garmin dedicated GPS.

Higher end garmin gps allow multipont routing. Im not sure which tomtom gps supports multipoint
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Mar 20, 2009
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With Google Maps you must have an internet connection in order to calculate a route and begin navigating, but it can continue to the destination without an internet connection as long as you are navigating the same route with no "recalculating". In order to allow this you must cache the map area you need on your phone by selecting the area and then entering "Ok Maps" (see https://support.google.com/gmm/answer/3273567?hl=en). You will not be able to get real-time route or traffic updates of course without an internet connection. If you have a cellular data plan you can keep up your internet connection, but it does use a lot of data.

Another alternative is to use Nokia HERE for offline navigation. It lets you download the maps and navigate using GPS while staying entirely offline. The maps are good and up to date, as they should be since Nokia is one of the two major providers of maps to all the GPS companies, but not as detailed as you would get online with Google Maps since they are optimized for compact size.
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OPs asking for customized routing.

For example, Chicago to LA via Google nav or Nokia here will assume a->b via the interstate.

What if I want to follow the old alignment of Route 66 from Chicago to LA?
Hwy66 doesn't exist anymore, its a bunch of backroads. You have to know exactly where to turn to get on the next backroad

Some higher end garmin and tomtom gps units have the ability to load the custom route with full navigation (i.e. road closed to construction, detour off and GPS automatically reroutes to get back to the customized route/hwy66 vs calculating a fresh route to LA)
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There's more than one way to handle that. I have some GPS units that allow custom routes with multi-point routing, but often the easier way is just to look up each waypoint and save it as a destination. Then navigate to the first one. When you get there, select Navigate To: Recent Destination, and pick the 2nd one etc.

My TomTom does allow custom routes to be imported, but it's complicated and I can't be bothered. I just use the sequential destinations method.
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Now that I think about it, there's a third party app that overlays on top of Google nav.

You import your custom route into the app and it automatically loads Google nav with each new next turn so you don't have to do this manually

The app was discussed here on rfd, I'll have to search for it when I get off work
Newbie
Sep 25, 2015
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Toronto, ON
Try the app "Maps-me"
I think it could help you...
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Thanks for the tips people. Will be nice when Google offers full offline maps with voice nav and the ability to do these kind of custom maps in the mobile app itself.
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In the Google my maps app, open your saved map, you see the blue line for your route.

Click on the blue line and the "navigate" button will appear in the lower right corner. Click on "navigate" brings up Google nav.

But Google nav just calculates the direct route to where you clicked, not the route you saved.

So I save a route Toronto to Chicago downtown to salt lake city in pc Google maps.

I open the saved map with "my maps". It shows my custom route via downtown Chicago.

If I click on my destination in salt lake city, I can use the navigate button to start Google nav, preloaded with my current location as the starting location and salt lake city as my destination

Unfortunately, its straight routing Toronto to salt lake city along the interstate. Its independent of my saved route as bypasses downtown Chicago
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Nokia Here maps and Maps.me apps are, IMHO, the 2 best app for offline navigation.

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