Presumably it’s downloading and caching some local maps ?, and doing so automatically ?, which makes me wonder how big a region, does it keep data like restaurants, etc.... when does it dump the cache ?, how much memory used ?.

FWIW, I find Dynamic.Watch to be a better routing tool than RWGPS (of which I am a premium member). Besides that, you can use it to route on a mobile device with full capability.

J.

Have you looked at Komoot? Also really good. Great phone apps too.

Hi Cat - glad to help.

I’ve spent a bunch of time this summer figuring out bike navigation. We had planned a bucket list tour this year and that was part of it but that led me to buy a Hammerhead Karoo bike computer. While the thing has it’s problems, it is Android based and it is possible to sideload Android apps. It has a fabulous display and I had a need for better navigation and their nav, as of a few months ago when I needed it, was substandard (it’s better now). At any rate, I was able to sideload both Osmand and Komoot as well as Lotus.
Here’s the thing - Osmand has the best maps and you can download large geographic regions off line (think state, or EU country sized maps) plus you can add overlays that give you great topo understanding of the terrain. Osmand can do it’s own routing and will accept a gpx file as a route, but it cannot do turn by turn directiosn with street names unless you routed your tour on Osmand and on the exact platform you will be using. There is not a capability I’ve found to move native Osmand routes from device to device. So you can’t, say, do a route on your computer and then download it to your bike computer or phone and have it give you the street names in TbT directions. It will tell you to turn left or right but it won’t know the name of hte street. Osmand can operate off the grid better than any of the others because of it’s ability to download large sections of maps.

Komoot, on the other hand, can take an imported gpx file and turn it into TbT directions with street name cues. That’s a big advantage if you need to be on roads at all. Komoot maps cannot be regional maps and they are huge. You can download the map for the route you are going to ride and, if I recall, even some geographical areas but not to the extent that Osmand can. Komoot has a much cleaner interface, has the ability to get decent ride metrics, and also to see where you are on the altitude profile while you are riding - all really good.

Both Komoot and Osmand do turn by turn audio cues which is also a decent benefit.

The other piece I just came on recently is Dynamic.Watch as a route generator. This has all of the capabilities of RWGPS plus, and importantly for me, it replicates all of that on the mobile platforms. RWGPS has trouble routing and using the touch interface on mobile devices for generating routes using their web applications. Dynamic.Watch does not. DW can export all the file types you need, has a Garmin Connect IQ app that moves routes to and from the bike computer if you use a Garmin, can be imported into both Komoot and Garmin. If you have a dropbox or some cloud file service set up you can move files through that to any of the navigation apps. You can get premium capabililities for a one time lifetime fee of something like $30 or so and does not have the recurring annual charge that RWGPS.

So what I do is this: I build my routes on one of those two services (formerly RWGPS now I use DW), move it to the riding software platform that I want for this application. If I’m primarily needed high quality maps nad TbT is less important, then it’s Osmand. If TbT is more important and I want more vertical profile info, then it’s Osmand. If I have my Garmin unit, then I just pull it down on that unit directly when in WiFi. Sometimes on my Karoo I even run both Osmand and Komoot simultaneously - it takes marginally more battery power and I get different but important information from both. For example, when we did a ride in the EU over a wilderness trail that has a lot of topo issues but periodically came into more settled areas with car traffic, I used Osmand. When I ride a road bike route around home or exploring, I tend to use Komoot. If I’m on the road with someone else and I’m navigating, I use Komoot because I can tell them what street to turn on next.

So that’s pretty much what I learned the last few months and it served me pretty well. Check out Dynamic.Watch - I think you might find that pretty handy.

J.

Look at https://dynamic.watch

I think it is a better routing interface plus it is available on mobile touch based platforms that RWGPS is not. Also can link to RWGPS to make importing your routes easy. One time premium upgdrade fee of $29 for lifetime. Easy to export or share routes with Komoot or Osmand or other app.

J.