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I really wish Google and Apple maps had better support for planning trips in advance. I live in an area where weather conditions in winter could make it potenti

I really wish Google and Apple maps had better support for planning trips in advance. I live in an area where weather conditions in winter could make it potentially deadly to blindly follow GPS instructions, due to road closures or steep grades that Google has no qualms about routing people through. So if I’m heading somewhere new in winter, I always make sure to plan the trip in advance on the desktop version of Google maps - making sure to stick to main roads wherever possible. The problem is that there really isn’t good support for planning and saving a precise route in Google maps (and I assume Apple maps as well). I can sort of hack it by setting a bunch of intermediary destinations along the way to force certain roads, and share that trip with my phone. But that’s clunky and even then Google has a tendency to want to change things on me at the last minute. I also live in an area where there is no support for downloading maps to use offline, so there is a risk of going out of cell service range and losing GPS support. Maybe I am asking too much of free software and should be using paid navigation software. Does anyone have any suggestions? Particularly something that has good map data in Japan?

kalleboo 7y ago
I don't think it has the detailed advance trip planning features you're looking for, but for general navigation in Japan I can't recommend NAVITIME enough. For years after the Kumamoto earthquake, Google Maps would still try to take you down closed roads. Meanwhile NAVITIME will even warn you of road construction where traffic has been constricted to one lane with alternating stoplights. Their data is fantastically detailed. It also has built-in rain/snow precipitation maps, and shows road closures from VICS data in realtime.
- freetime2 7y ago
  Thanks for the suggestion! Looks like NAVITIME makes a whole bunch of different apps of varying purpose and quality. For driving navigation, their "Drive Supporter" app seems to be the best option that I found. (I gave a quick test of their "Car Navi" app and for whatever reason it was off on my current GPS location by 500m - where their other apps didn't have this problem). It is definitely far less aggressive about routing me down narrow back streets than google maps - which is a major gripe I have with both google and apple maps. I tend to prioritize a safe, stress-free drive over saving a minute or two. It also has support for bike paths, which google does not support in my area (although you need to be vigilant as one test tried to route me down an unpaved road which is definitely not accessible by bike). I wouldn't say it's a perfect solution, but I can see the potential benefits over google. I'll give it a try for a bit!
Ndymium 7y ago
I don't know about Japan but I've used Furkot (furkot.com) a few times and it has worked ok. It can calculate how many days your trip will take based on how much you want to drive per day and suggest places to stop for sleeping/gas. Saving it for offline use is a premium feature, though.

kalleboo 7y ago

I don't think it has the detailed advance trip planning features you're looking for, but for general navigation in Japan I can't recommend NAVITIME enough. For years after the Kumamoto earthquake, Google Maps would still try to take you down closed roads. Meanwhile NAVITIME will even warn you of road construction where traffic has been constricted to one lane with alternating stoplights. Their data is fantastically detailed. It also has built-in rain/snow precipitation maps, and shows road closures from VICS data in realtime.

freetime2 7y ago
Thanks for the suggestion! Looks like NAVITIME makes a whole bunch of different apps of varying purpose and quality. For driving navigation, their "Drive Supporter" app seems to be the best option that I found. (I gave a quick test of their "Car Navi" app and for whatever reason it was off on my current GPS location by 500m - where their other apps didn't have this problem). It is definitely far less aggressive about routing me down narrow back streets than google maps - which is a major gripe I have with both google and apple maps. I tend to prioritize a safe, stress-free drive over saving a minute or two. It also has support for bike paths, which google does not support in my area (although you need to be vigilant as one test tried to route me down an unpaved road which is definitely not accessible by bike). I wouldn't say it's a perfect solution, but I can see the potential benefits over google. I'll give it a try for a bit!

Ndymium 7y ago

I don't know about Japan but I've used Furkot (furkot.com) a few times and it has worked ok. It can calculate how many days your trip will take based on how much you want to drive per day and suggest places to stop for sleeping/gas. Saving it for offline use is a premium feature, though.