The Evolution of In Car Navigation

When I was a child we had paper maps. These maps had to be studied and read to make navigating simpler. You had to know that you would drive from A to B to C to D and so forth. In the age of Google Maps, before phone navigation we had to print out the driving instructions for the entire trip. From A go to B via this road, and that motorway. It was like an Edit decision list but for driving.

Eventually we had car GPS that we could suction cup to the windscreen and it would give us driving directions. Simultaneously we had Google Maps apps, Waze, Tomtom and other solutions for the mobile phone and this is when we gained more freedom.

Downloading Spain, Switzerland and France

When I used TomTom I had to download the maps before a road trip. If I forgot to do this then I would end up without clear guidance. When I was in Swztzerland I used my data plan with Waze but when I drove from Switzerland to Spain I had no data for Spain and France, so it was essential to use TomTom for navigation.

Inclusive Roaming

Roaming that was free or at least cheaper revolutionised in car navigation because with a data plan you only need to download the part of the map that is relevant to where you are at that moment. If you commute between Lausanne and geneva then you only need that region.

Phone Holders

This summer someone kept arriving late because they didn’t know the way and used the excuse that they didn’t have an in car GPS device. When I got the Fairphone 4 I considered the options. The Car has Apple Car Play, not the Android version so either I can walk with an iPhone and a Fairphone and use the iPhone with the console screen, or I could get a phone holder and use that for GPS navigation.

With modern phones and their huge screen size they can easily be used for in-car navigation. I was happy with this solution for years. It was easier than reading a list of instructions and easier than using a paper map. It’s also dynamic.

Traffic Info and more

When driving we could listen to traffic information during the entire drive but you often have mediocre music, and the discussions are not always interesting. There were some amusing stories about animals by the road and more than provided a distraction on long drives. With Waze, Google Maps and iCloud we have traffic information as we drive.

It is useful to know whether you will hit a traffic jam but also for how long you will be stuck in it, as well as to know how soon it will end.

Console Navigation

Although cars and car manufacturers produce maps for their cars I prefer to use the free, or cheap apps that are available via car play because they are kept up to date permanently rather than updated every few months, or every few years and they have live navigation information such as traffic and more.

In reality our phones are key, so whether we have an in-built console or just a mobile phone the apps are the same.