MyRoute app

[Mzokk]

Thanks for thst info. Im setting a local route to me in Bedale North Yorkshire so I can go out and test it in my car.

Does the gold option in MRA give much more functionality

Also, I guess I could run through app on my phone wjlhilst on my motorcycle maybe.

If you have a standard (Non payed) membership of the Route planner then you can only access the Open Street mapping and not the HERE maps that Garmin devices use. The Gold membership gives access to HERE mapping Tom Tom mapping, Michelin maps, Google maps and streetview which can be invaluable in route planning. You cannot use the navigation app without a subscription too it. If you want to test routes in the Zumo 396 you can do this from the comfort of your sofa using simulation mode. If you take a detour with a Zumo it should try to reroute you back to the magenta line if Auto Recalculate is on. On my XT I have it as prompted and use it sparingly. You should not have to restart the route on your device. But if you do, you can pick any of the Flag (Waypoints in Garmin naming and Via points in MRA speak) from the list after you press go. If you have gone past a flag (Waypoint/Via point) that you don't want to return to you have to manually skip it, Otherwise the unit will take you back to the route to the nearest shaping point (which depending on how you have set up the route might be in the opposite direction that you want to go!!) That is if you have shaping points and Waypoints/via points in your route, If you have used GPX1.2 from the MRA route planner and are navigating the route as effectively a track if you have a Waypoint/Via point the device will take you the next one if recalculation is on if not it will take you to the finish by "Fastest Time" if that's what you have selected in the settings for the zumo. Like everything these bits of software and devices have a learning curve and the more you use them the better. A good place to start is the extensive work jfheath put together here.

https://zumouserforums.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=1464

While it relates to the XT most will apply to the Zumo 396. and you will be able to shortcut the learning process for the device by using this excellent guide.

[jfheath]

I think that an important distiction is being missed here.

V1.2 from MyRouteApp contains only the Via Points, and no shaping points. BUT it does contain a complete plot of the route. This is not a track as such but it contains all of the points that make up a track as route point extensions. The Zumo will read these points and plot the identical route on the Zumo screen. Providing you do not allow the route to recalculate, then the plotted route will be identical to the one that was created in MRA.

Basecamp has the same facility. V1.1 from MRA contains the Via Points and the Shaping Points, but it contains no information about where to go between the route points. The route has to be calculated by the zumo when it recieves it, and it will use whatever routing preferences are set in the zumo - which may be different from the way that MRA calculated the route.

The advice about using either 1.1 or 1.2 with the track as well as the route and POIs is a significant aid to using the satnav - you know then exaclty which road you intended to follow, and if the route recalculates it will calculate to the next route point - via or shaping. With v1.2, there are no shaping points so the recalculation creates a significantly different route. For the Zumo, v1.2 is not a very good options.

Restarting a route - The zumo lists the Via Points at places where you can restart the route. So these are the the points shown as a hand icon in MRA.
MRA uses the term 'waypoint' to refer to any point on the route - which confuses the issue for Garmin users. Waypoints are something quite specific - stored locations / favourites / saved - like MRAs POIs - and are not diectly related to Via Points.

Via points appear as hand icons in mRA and as orange flags on the zumo map.
Shaping Points appear as teardrop icons in MRA and as small light blue discs on the Zumo screen.

[rbentnail]

You cannot use the navigation app without a subscription too it.

I did not know this. I suppose this may be why I can't figure out how to use MRA.

Does anyone know of current step-by-step instructions and tutorials for MRA? Everything I've tried is so incredibly confusing and out of date. It's extremely difficult to follow along when a tutorial screen is not the same thing as what I'm looking at on my laptop. And some of the "instructors", well let's just say they suck so badly. Telling me "you can..." without telling me how to is useless. I just want something to use with an Android tablet when traveling since I have yet to figure out a way to use Base Camp on the road without a computer.

[jfheath]

Does anyone know of current step-by-step instructions and tutorials for MRA? Everything I've tried is so incredibly confusing and out of date. It's extremely difficult to follow along when a tutorial screen is not the same thing as what I'm looking at on my laptop. And some of the "instructors", well let's just say they suck so badly. Telling me "you can..." without telling me how to is useless. I just want something to use with an Android tablet when traveling since I have yet to figure out a way to use Base Camp on the road without a computer.

No. I can't help with that. But a good while back I made the effort to get to know the on-line mapping software and managed to get an offer on lifetime membership. So I have it and use it - but only occasionally. For me it has a few glaring omissions - ie things that I want to be able to do that MRA cannot. So my tool of choice is still BAsecamp. But on tour with only an ipad, I have used MRA to plan a route using the MRA online tool.

https://www.myrouteapp.com/en

This is the route planner - and although it is called MyRouteApp - it isn't the separate smartphone app that I believe that they brought out later. I know nothing about that except that there is an app that exists with a similar sounding name which requires a different subscription.

At the time, I'd already been through the process of trying to learn how to use MRA on their website. But it was not easy, and it made things more difficult because MRA uses terminology which is at odds with Garmin's. So I put together an overview. A couple of pages to describe what is what. This is the stuff that you learn at the start and then don't need to refer to it again. Most people that write how-to guides do not put themselves in the position of a first time user - it is very difficult to go back to that position when you already know it. You cannot unlearn stuff. But this was written from my notes as I found out about it.

Take a look. It is two pages in the series of pages on this forum that I created which are related to the XT1. Start at the link below - which is the chapter heading, and click Next/Back to flip between the pages. You may find it useful, or not. But I haven't seen this stuff written down anywhere.

https://zumouserforums.co.uk/app.php/ZXT-P72

[Mzokk]

You cannot use the navigation app without a subscription too it.

I did not know this. I suppose this may be why I can't figure out how to use MRA.

Does anyone know of current step-by-step instructions and tutorials for MRA? Everything I've tried is so incredibly confusing and out of date. It's extremely difficult to follow along when a tutorial screen is not the same thing as what I'm looking at on my laptop. And some of the "instructors", well let's just say they suck so badly. Telling me "you can..." without telling me how to is useless. I just want something to use with an Android tablet when traveling since I have yet to figure out a way to use Base Camp on the road without a computer.

There is a significant library of help files here.

https://www.myrouteapp.com/support

I don't dip into it much as I find the MyRoute app website for route planning to be reasonably intuitive. My background in navigation apps dates back to 2004 when I bought a Garmin Streetpilot 2610 and learned to use mapsource. I then moved to a BMW Nav IV (Garmin 660) and later a Zumo 340 and 390 (on two different bikes)learned to use Basecamp. I think that people struggle with Basecamp because its uni modal i.e each tool does its own thing not several things at once. I started to look for Garmin Alternatives when I received a Zumo XT as a retirement present from my wife in 2022. I don't like its routing algorithm (previous units with settings matched with basecamp) were pretty much WYSIWYG with basecamp not the XT. I got used to compensating for its foibles and uncorrected faults (RUT for example) by virtue of this forum and jfheath's excellent guides.

I use MRA for route planning and navigation now for these reasons.

1. I have a Honda Africa Twin so I can use the Honda's built in AA screen to run the routing app on my phone and therefore run the routes as I designed them rather than as interpreted by the XT. As I'm using the AA screen for navigation I can switch to Google maps or OSMand for navigation if I so desire.

2. I can alter/create routes quickly on my phone if I'm on tour. I carried an Ipad early on to alter routes but found it just as easy to use my phone and a decently scaled map of the area I intended to ride in(inch to 3 miles mostly). Map for an overview and phone to plan the route. This is much easier and quicker to do on the app than on the Garmin device. For example, I was touring in the England/Scotland borders area (leading a group of 6) and was able to change a wet route towards the lake District to a dry route via Northumbria national Park over a cup of coffee in Alston. Awkward with basecamp or an XT unit. Easy (for me) using MRA

3. I store all of my routes (Including those created in basecamp) in my MRA library. This means I'm working off the same database of routes no matter what device I'm using. These are synced with my phone so I have access to all my routes. For a tour I put the routes in a folder called AA this trip so that its the top of the list when I open the list on my AA screen.

I still use the XT Basecamp and POI loader for these reasons

1. MRA does not handle custom POI's as well as Basecamp and POI loader so I use these tools for that. MRA does not have proximity allerted POI's and I still have a use for that.

2. MRA does not handle tracks and track logs as well as the XT and Basecamp particularly for splitting and joining tracks.

3. I still load the tracks and routes I'm going to use to the XT and use it as a backup. This has proven wise having taken the decision to tour the north of Scotland during storm "Amy" in December when my wired connection to the AA screen was affected by water and I had to revert to the XT for navigation

The consequence of this is that I use MRA for navigation now and run a track of the route on the XT. The XT also handles proximity alerted POI's

On my old R1150GS I use my Garmin Zumo 390 or 340 and these units behave exactly as I want (Bliss).

I wouldn't buy any new Zumo device now. I only have experience of Explore for use with the XT and In my opinion its poor. Infact if used with an XT MyRoute app route planner is something like what explore should have been.