New Motorhome Navigation app is coming

[Nomadics]

A new Motorhome focused navigation app will soon be available as part of Campercontact,

Motorhome specific navigation. Directly in the app and on your onboard infotainment. Designed around the things that matter when travelling by motorhome.

What you can expect:

• Navigation designed specifically for motorhome travels
• Routes that take your vehicle’s height, width and weight into account
• Guidance from your current location all the way to your Campercontact destination or stops along the way.
• Navigation directly on your phone
• Support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto

What does the Funster community think?
Much needed feature rich tool, unnecessary competitor app to Jim’s home grown app, will you be giving it a go out giving it a wide berth?

 

[Nomadics]

Whilst I tend to use the built in MBUX navigation for oversized vehicles, I am open to alternatives, having tried Sygix, and others previously, but keep returning to the Merc offering….. so far.

 

[Fragle]

A pair of eyes and common sense is all that is required beyond a basic navigation system.

It will be a waste of time and money. I’ll await the first “but the navigation sent me this way “

Basic is all I use. I come from a background of very large and dangerous vehicle driving tried most in the past including commercial vehicle specific.

Don’t waste your money

 

[barryd]

I just use google maps and my van is massive. In all the years motorhoming I have never felt the need for a motorhome specific sat nav. However and its a big however. I prefer to scrutinise my own routes. We spend a lot of time in the mountains so what I do is plan the route the night before on a laptop and if anything looks a bit dodgy I streetview it and tweak and adjust the route accordingly. When I am happy I just send the planned route to my phone and its ready to go in the morning.

People will say a motorhome specific sat nav will do all that for you but will it? I suspect I would still want to check it online first.

 

[Googlebot]

I use a car satnav, but then I am very alert to height restrictions and weight limits. I have had to turn around a few times, I wouldn’t not use a specific one, just never found one to be that good.

 

[blue-skies]

I'd most definitely use a really good one. I keep trying to find one!!!

 

[ontheroadagain]

It will be a waste of time and money. I’ll await the first “but the navigation sent me this way “

Our Garmin Camper sat nav is supposed to avoid narrow roads. Fortunately we have a PVC as this was its choice of route this morning

 

[dazandandrea]

Google maps or Waze.
Dont see the point in paying for anything else.

 

[richierni]

I use Copilot GPS on my samsung tablet. It does height, weight etc. and it's only about 25 quid a year.

I'm sure it doesn't always give me the best routes (it was terrible on Île de Ré) but it's never tried to take me somewhere I can't go. I'm willing to make that sacrifice not to have to scrutinise routes etc. But if you enjoy that sort of thing or are going to do it anyway then of course why bother with that sort of app.

 

[barryd]

Our Garmin Camper sat nav is supposed to avoid narrow roads. Fortunately we have a PVC as this was its choice of route this morning

View attachment 1248456

Ah yes. The proverbial goat track or road of death I call them on the scooter. Lots of them in Devon and Cornwall. I've seen worse than that one though. Lethal in the wet on two wheels if you lose concentration and hit the "central reservation"

 

[DBK]

A new Motorhome focused navigation app will soon be available as part of Campercontact,

Motorhome specific navigation. Directly in the app and on your onboard infotainment. Designed around the things that matter when travelling by motorhome.

What you can expect:

• Navigation designed specifically for motorhome travels
• Routes that take your vehicle’s height, width and weight into account
• Guidance from your current location all the way to your Campercontact destination or stops along the way.
• Navigation directly on your phone
• Support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto

What does the Funster community think?
Much needed feature rich tool, unnecessary competitor app to Jim’s home grown app, will you be giving it a go out giving it a wide berth?

View attachment 1248270

I'll give it a go if it isn't an extra on top of the CamperContact subscription. I suspect it won't be perfect due to mappy errors and the odd detour may be required.

 

[Fragle]

Our Garmin Camper sat nav is supposed to avoid narrow roads. Fortunately we have a PVC as this was its choice of route this morning

View attachment 1248456

But I put in the dimensions it said it was ok

 

[suavecarve]

I ll be passing this year, but absence of stopovers in north and eastern Germany next year dictates the singular complimentary app to Jim's will be camper contact.

S4s is next useless in Germany for reviews. P4N is ok, but CC is way better than both.

Intrigued to how they work the navigation.

Perhaps the first copy of many of Jim's app by future competitors

 

[Stoosal]

I use Copilot GPS on my samsung tablet. It does height, weight etc. and it's only about 25 quid a year.

I'm sure it doesn't always give me the best routes (it was terrible on Île de Ré) but it's never tried to take me somewhere I can't go. I'm willing to make that sacrifice not to have to scrutinise routes etc. But if you enjoy that sort of thing or are going to do it anyway then of course why bother with that sort of app.

I’ve used Copilot for a number of years. Unfortunately they have just ‘updated’ the app and removed the option of selecting/grading the road types you wish to use. I used it for several types of vehicle where I preferred to use different road types eg motorhome and a scooter! It now decides to take you down roads often unsuitable for the chosen vehicle type rather than selecting a route using the selectable road type. Useless now. Might try this new one as Copilot no longer seems to be my chosen sat nav.

 

[richierni]

I’ve used Copilot for a number of years. Unfortunately they have just ‘updated’ the app and removed the option of selecting/grading the road types you wish to use. I used it for several types of vehicle where I preferred to use different road types eg motorhome and a scooter! It now decides to take you down roads often unsuitable for the chosen vehicle type rather than selecting a route using the selectable road type. Useless now. Might try this new one as Copilot no longer seems to be my chosen sat nav.

Oh wow that's not good, just checking and in routing profiles I can see the option to select car, caravan etc. and the ability to create your own profile but I remember settings to do with prefer, avoid, strongly avoid etc. for different road types. Is that what they've removed?

 

[Stoosal]

Oh wow that's not good, just checking and in routing profiles I can see the option to select car, caravan etc. and the ability to create your own profile but I remember settings to do with prefer, avoid, strongly avoid etc. for different road types. Is that what they've removed?

Yes…..I found it very good but it has been replaced by the usual Practical, fastest, shortest selections. I’ve checked on a few routes I use and it is sending me down roads that I would avoid whereas the older version avoided them using the ‘prefer’ selected roads.

 

[richierni]

I guess as paying customers we could find some sort of support address to ask them why, maybe ... Will see what I can find.

 

[Stoosal]

I guess as paying customers we could find some sort of support address to ask them why, maybe ... Will see what I can find.

There is….i can’t remember where it was but I’ve asked the same question and given two routes as examples of where it doesn’t work for me (motorhomes?). Somebody is supposed to get back to me but not going to hold my breath! Other parts of the app don’t work eg help page or submit review so there is obviously some niggles in the update.

 

[sueandjohn]

I ll be passing this year, but absence of stopovers in north and eastern Germany next year dictates the singular complimentary app to Jim's will be camper contact.

S4s is next useless in Germany for reviews. P4N is ok, but CC is way better than both.

Intrigued to how they work the navigation.

Perhaps the first copy of many of Jim's app by future competitors

Mmmm my thoughts were moving in that direction too

 

[dunnah01]

They all seem to work on the same mapping software so end up with the same problems. I don't really trust any of them beyond the big picture route which even then is often clearly not the best and needs a couple of extra add stops to route me on big roads

 

[Truckosaurus]

I suspect that the route planning will only be as good as the data available to it, which is probably not easily available as otherwise other apps would be using it - so the 'motorhome friendly' route is probably just going to keep you onto the bigger A-roads for as long as possible (which you could do yourself if you glance at the map before setting off).

 

[JHuwJ]

I asked ChatGPT about helping with MH routes and this is what it said:

Good morning. Yes — quite effectively, provided we treat it as a motorhome-specific route assessment, rather than relying on an ordinary car route.


For your sort of use, I could assess a proposed route against the actual characteristics of the vehicle: 6.38 m long, 2.05 m wide, 2.65 m high and just under 3.5 tonnes, and also take account of your preference to avoid narrow roads, awkward village centres and exposed roads with steep drops.


For a particular route I could research things such as:

• Low bridges, tunnels and height restrictions, looking for anything uncomfortably close to 2.65 m rather than merely checking that it is technically legal.
• Width restrictions, including signed limits, narrow bridges, pinch points and roads where two vehicles cannot comfortably pass.
• Weight restrictions, including 3.5 t restrictions and bridges with local limits.
• Road classification and quality — distinguishing sensible N/D/A roads in France, for example, from tiny local roads that sat-navs sometimes choose as shortcuts.
• Difficult village centres, medieval streets, sharp turns and unsuitable access roads.
• Steep gradients, hairpins and mountain roads, particularly roads with exposed drop-offs that you would rather avoid.
• Motorhome restrictions, such as roads specifically prohibiting camping-cars or larger vehicles.
• Seasonal closures and roadworks where current information is available.
• Access to the destination itself, which is often where the real problem lies — the last 1–5 km to a campsite or aire can be much more troublesome than the main journey.
• Alternative routes if one section looks questionable.

I can also use current mapping, local authority information, street imagery where available, campsite access instructions, motorhome reports and other sources to cross-check questionable sections. For routes where the difference matters, I would normally distinguish between something like “clearly suitable”, “probably suitable but exercise care”, and “I would avoid this in your van.”


There is one important limitation: I couldn’t give an absolute guarantee that a road is passable. Temporary works, parked vehicles, vegetation, an undocumented narrow section or a newly imposed restriction can always intervene. But I can reduce the risk considerably by cross-checking several sources instead of trusting Google Maps or a sat-nav alone.


This could actually become a very useful part of the companion app. For example, when we choose the next destination, the app could have a “Motorhome Route Check” that uses your van dimensions automatically and produces something along the lines of:


Pavilly → Bellême
Recommended route: A150 → A13 → D…
Motorhome suitability: ★★★★★
Height issues: None identified
Width concerns: None on recommended route
3.5 t restrictions: None affecting route
Narrow sections: Final 800 m approaching campsite
Exposed roads: None
Avoid: Dxxx through village X
Confidence: High

I’m using ChatGPT to build an application that I can use in Europe and store places we have liked and wan to return to, places it recommends, places friends recommend, places in guide books etc.

I have also set up routes with tolls and partial tolls from Calais to NW Spain, North East Spain & Provence. The routes try to use Camping Car Park stops where possible and each daily route is transferred into Google / Apple Maps. I have also made sure I don’t end up going through Lyon centre or Eastern Rouen to avoid low tunnels. Any places of interest within 35 miles of the routes also show up so we can visit them if we want to.

Chat, as long as you have some patience, work’s well for travelling.

 

[Eurohomer]

Yes…..I found it very good but it has been replaced by the usual Practical, fastest, shortest selections. I’ve checked on a few routes I use and it is sending me down roads that I would avoid whereas the older version avoided them using the ‘prefer’ selected roads.

I find that there are other things in the newer CoPilot that irk me. One of the reasons why I bought CoPilot years ago was because it would reliably guide me along a route that I have chosen, with waypoints etc. I have discovered recently that it will no longer do that. In a couple of instances I have selected an offered route, added some waypoints to get the route I want and then discovered that it has changed its mind about the route, despite me not subscribing to any external services.

I tried the caravan and motorhome option a couple of years ago, that didn't end well! Reversing down a Spanish street. I didn't bother to continue with the subscription.

Now looking for a new guidance solution...

 

[richierni]

There is….i can’t remember where it was but I’ve asked the same question and given two routes as examples of where it doesn’t work for me (motorhomes?). Somebody is supposed to get back to me but not going to hold my breath! Other parts of the app don’t work eg help page or submit review so there is obviously some niggles in the update.

I got a reply from them, I asked why they had removed the road preferences in the latest version, they said:

Yes, if you are referring to the road preference settings, that feature was temporarily removed in a recent update. However, our development team is restoring it, and it will be available again in our next release.

After working for many years in software engineering I can say that it's very unlikely they planned that removal to be temporary! I guess they must have had a lot of complaints.

 

[ChrisL]

I got a reply from them, I asked why they had removed the road preferences in the latest version, they said:

Yes, if you are referring to the road preference settings, that feature was temporarily removed in a recent update. However, our development team is restoring it, and it will be available again in our next release.

After working for many years in software engineering I can say that it's very unlikely they planned that removal to be temporary! I guess they must have had a lot of complaints.

I'm very glad to hear it will be coming back, it was the very feature that made it superior to other apps.

 

[Stoosal]

I got a reply from them, I asked why they had removed the road preferences in the latest version, they said:

Yes, if you are referring to the road preference settings, that feature was temporarily removed in a recent update. However, our development team is restoring it, and it will be available again in our next release.

After working for many years in software engineering I can say that it's very unlikely they planned that removal to be temporary! I guess they must have had a lot of complaints.

This is the reply I got.

In the recent update, the user interface for Road Class Preferences (manually preferring or avoiding A-roads, B-roads, etc.) was streamlined into our automated vehicle routing engine.
The Motorhome / RV profile is designed to automatically filter out roads that violate your vehicle's physical dimensions(height, width, weight, and length).



I’ve went back to them stating inputted vehicle size only limits roads where there is an actual restriction eg low bridge.

They certainly didn’t mention the reinstatement aspect. Fingers crossed they do as I’ve always found it very good for my different vehicle types.

I’ve played about with different route planning over the last few days using the new practical, fastest, shortest features. Whilst ‘practical’ does favour the larger road types it is still not as good as the previous preference settings and can take you on some pretty hefty additional mileage to avoid a short section of 30mph roads etc.

 

[richierni]

This is the reply I got.

In the recent update, the user interface for Road Class Preferences (manually preferring or avoiding A-roads, B-roads, etc.) was streamlined into our automated vehicle routing engine.
The Motorhome / RV profile is designed to automatically filter out roads that violate your vehicle's physical dimensions(height, width, weight, and length).



I’ve went back to them stating inputted vehicle size only limits roads where there is an actual restriction eg low bridge.

They certainly didn’t mention the reinstatement aspect. Fingers crossed they do as I’ve always found it very good for my different vehicle types.

I’ve played about with different route planning over the last few days using the new practical, fastest, shortest features. Whilst ‘practical’ does favour the larger road types it is still not as good as the previous preference settings and can take you on some pretty hefty additional mileage to avoid a short section of 30mph roads etc.

Does sound like they've eventually been forced into the reinstatement by complaints.

 

[Eurohomer]

I got a reply from them, I asked why they had removed the road preferences in the latest version, they said:

Yes, if you are referring to the road preference settings, that feature was temporarily removed in a recent update. However, our development team is restoring it, and it will be available again in our next release.

After working for many years in software engineering I can say that it's very unlikely they planned that removal to be temporary! I guess they must have had a lot of complaints.

Sounds like a typical 'Agile' development approach. Build the key bits first, then release the product to the customers, then carry on building the rest of the app, releasing bits of additional functionality as they pass testing.

I used to use TomTom about 25 years ago and saw them go this cycle 2 or 3 times over the years.

 

[Eurohomer]

Some friends of mine, who have been touring in sports cars, have suggested MyRoute app to me. It doesn't have great route planning options, but it will accept the route that you want to follow, even as a gpx import, and guide you along it.

I've not had much opportunity to play with it yet.

 

[richierni]

Sounds like a typical 'Agile' development approach. Build the key bits first, then release the product to the customers, then carry on building the rest of the app, releasing bits of additional functionality as they pass testing.

I used to use TomTom about 25 years ago and saw them go this cycle 2 or 3 times over the years.

I don't think it's the result of agile, they removed a piece of functionality entirely and are now restoring it.
From the response Stoosal got I suspect they were trying to simplify by "streamlining it into their automated vehicle routing engine." They removed the interface for the user to make fine grained selections and just wanted the user to select car, van etc. and use their coarser defaults for these profiles. Fewer variables.
Sounds to me like they didn't anticipate how much users valued the level of granularity provided by the existing controls.