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Topic: CoPilot GPS vs Waze (Read 183 times) previous topic - next topic
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CoPilot GPS vs Waze
When I'm driving a passenger car, I always have Waze running.  The one huge downside to Waze is that it doesn't have vehicle-specific routing.  Waze seems to have an affinity for the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut, which would be bad (restricted to passenger cars only due to very low bridges).  When I don't have local knowledge, I've had some interesting drives over the mountains in PA and MD.  ("Turn left on Mountain Road"....what could possibly go wrong?)

I wanted three things:

  • Reasonable Cost
  • RV-specific routing
  • Automatic re-routing around traffic jams

So I've been giving CoPilot GPS a test drive for the last two weeks (they offer a free trial period).  And I gotta say that, with some changing to the default settings, it's pretty good!

The Good

It does meet all my base requirements, and it runs on my Android phone, so that's a bonus.   I've been testing it while driving the LD (and while driving passenger cars in my area, just to get the most out of my trial), and the RV-specific routing is good!  It's also very quick to re-route when I ignore the instructions because I already know a better way.  It did re-route me (from one reasonable route to another) last week to avoid a backup on the interstate.

The Bad

CoPilot does not have notifications for transient situations, like the "vehicle on shoulder" warnings, or "police reported ahead".   I can live with that.  I am concerned that temporary road closures for construction won't be available, but I guess the local authorities will set up appropriate detours (see below).  There's also not a "current speed" indicator on the display (but you can configure warnings if you are X MPH over the limit.)

What's a bit more concerning is that the maps are not updated as frequently as Waze.  For example, the town lowered the speed limit on a road from 35MPH to 30MPH about three months ago.  CoPilot does not reflect this yet.  A section of that same road has been closed for two months for construction, and CoPilot doesn't know that either.  If I was in Waze, I would report this information and the maps would be updated, but I don't see a way to do that in CoPilot.

I also had a glitch in the navigation.  CoPilot happily told me "you have arrived at your destination", despite the fact that there were cornfields all around.   I consulted Waze, and it turned out that the large field to my left belonged to Stearns RV, but the driveway to get in was on another street. 

The Ugly

When you install the app, it will ask you if you want to try the experimental "online routing."  Do not do this!  I tried that on my 1st road trip, and this setting turns the app into a battery hog.  It drained my battery in 3 hours, even while the phone was on the charging pad.  I eventually had to switch from CoPilot back to Waze just so I could get guidance to my destination before the phone died.  (You can tell if you have turned the experimental version on by going into settings -- if there are only 1 or two options available, and a button to turn off online routing. you're in the experimental version.  Press that button.)

In the end, all the battery issues were taken care of by switching off the experimental feature, and changing some settings to minimize battery use.

While searching for a solution to the battery issue, I realized that CoPilot doesn't have the best support.  You can buy support "tickets", but that's an extra cost, and I'm guessing it is more focused on their fleet customers.  The documentation on the site was pretty good, although I had to stumble around until I figured out that I was using an experimental version.

Bottom Line:

$30 seems like a low price to avoid getting into a sticky situation while exploring!  Sign me up!
2003 MidBath
Re: CoPilot GPS vs Waze
Reply #1 –
For general routing I use a Garmin.  Being in California,   my go-to traffic site is CalTrans Quickmap.  Nevada has a similar website.   From your comments I think you are in Connecticut - theirs seems to be: Connecticut  road info.   Have you tried that one?   If so,  what are the problems that make it less than desired?
Joel & Terry Wiley
dog Zeke
2013  31 IB   Orwan   / 2011 CRV Tow'd LWEROVE
Re: CoPilot GPS vs Waze
Reply #2 –
I’m a diehard Waze user, use it in our two cars in the Bay Area, have used it in two rental cars in Europe, and my Lazy Daze.   Same interface and layout for all vehicles, especially helpful in rentals.

I’ve also been able to use it traveling to/from Alaska, and eastward to Newfoundland.    Waze caches its route, so as long as you don’t deviate, it works just fine offline.

I agree Waze does suffer from low bridge issues, have only run into it once, in Western Iowa, north of Council Bluffs.  But that’s it in my Alaska to Texas to Newfoundland travels.

I do wish you could download offline maps in Waze like Google Maps.

Missing the "current speed" indicator on the display is a dealbreaker for me, it’s far easier to see my current speed in Waze than on the speedometer, even better here in Canada where kilometers are displayed.
Dave

2017 TK
Re: CoPilot GPS vs Waze
Reply #3 –
Quote from: ccurvey  - 
When I'm driving a passenger car, I always have Waze running.  The one huge downside to Waze is that it doesn't have vehicle-specific routing.  Waze seems to have an affinity for the Merritt Parkway in Connecticut, which would be bad (restricted to passenger cars only due to very low bridges). 

Waze would also route you on any of the parkways in NY, which is bad as well for the same reasons, plus under some of the low clearance bridges (there's one in Patterson, NY I'm very familiar with) that are common in the northeastern US.

Waze's underlying maps are Google Maps.  I believe RV Life's RV Trip Wizard also uses Google Maps but does have some vehicle-specific restrictions programmed into the routing algorithm.  It might be worth a look.

We use a Garmin RV/trucker GPS, but for unfamiliar non-Interstate portions I'll "drive" the route using Google Maps' street view if it's not obvious from satellite view that the road is RV-appropriate.