Favorite Cycling navigation App for Thailand

[Kohsamida]

Just wondering what other cyclists find to be useful as far as mobile apps go for navigation on iPhone or Android.  I run all my cycling apps off an iPhone (not a dedicated cycling device like a Garmin).  I've always used Google Maps and think it's pretty good for getting around Chiang Mai but for some reason the cycling preference function does not work in Thailand so you're stuck either selecting car navigation or walking navigation. 

 

It seems that Google Maps rarely chooses the most efficient route for cyclists with either selection.  For instance, if a limited access highway is the most efficient route, it will pick that. Personally, I'm not fond of riding my bike on a super highway.  If you pick "walking", it will include one way streets (going the wrong way for vehicle traffic).  So, Google Maps leaves a lot to be desired as a cycling nav app, at least here in Thailand where their cycling function is disabled.

 

I've tried a bunch of different alternative apps and finally found one that is pretty decent so I wanted to share.  It's called Komoot.  The interface is clean and simple just like Google Maps and the database is very thorough, recognizing not only landmarks but businesses.  The base map is actually better than Google Maps for small device viewing on a bike.  I've only been using it for a few weeks but am pretty impressed.  The one thing I'm a little disappointed in is that it doesn't seem able to re-route if you make a mistake and go off course so you have to backtrack to get back on course.  Otherwise, I like it because it seems to map out the most efficient routes FOR A BICYCLE to get from point A to point B.

 

The app is free and they give you one FREE regional database (i.e.: Thailand) to download.  No annoying pop-up ads or other nonsense either.  I have nothing to do with the developers BTW; I'm just posting because I figure there must be others out there as frustrated as I was trying to find a decent nav app for cycling here in Thailand. 

 

If you have an app you really like, share it but I've really checked out a lot of them and find this one to be my unquestionable favorite.

[StreetCowboy]

Google maps has an option to avoid highways - on the PC it does, anyway.  I plot my routes on google maps in the weeks leading up to the ride, and then use Runtastic while out; in desperate circumstances I’ll switch to google maps for a slightly clearer and more flexible view.

What I don’t understand is why so many navigation apps use female voices; as if anyone’s going to take directions from a woman.

[Kohsamida]

22 minutes ago, StreetCowboy said:

Google maps has an option to avoid highways - on the PC it does, anyway.  I plot my routes on google maps in the weeks leading up to the ride, and then use Runtastic while out; in desperate circumstances I’ll switch to google maps for a slightly clearer and more flexible view.

What I don’t understand is why so many navigation apps use female voices; as if anyone’s going to take directions from a woman.

LOL...funny observation about female directions though I'm guessing some female riders will take exception to your comment ? 

 

Regarding Google Maps, I have the "avoid highways" checked but I guess it does not consider Chiang Mai's "superhighway" to be a highway because the app uses it anyway.  That's one scary road to ride your bike on.

 

I use the nav app for day to day errands going to places I'm unfamiliar with so can't really plan my trips out in advance, thus the need for a app that does it all on-the-fly.  Kommot seems to fit the bill so far.

 

I also run Google Maps in the background while using Komoot.  That way if I go off-course, I can use Google Maps to get back on course and then switch back to Komoot.  Perhaps there is a setting on Komoot that allows for re-routing and I just haven't found it, or maybe they will introduce it in an upgrade.  

[StreetCowboy]

It’s not just the road; it’s where you’re going on the road, and the individual junctions.

On Sunday, I’d planned a route leaving our suburb in a slightly different direction.

I always call out directions in case for whatever reason I’m not in the lead going through the junction....

”And the traffic lights, right; and then left onto the highway” .  Simple enough and roads that we both knew well; what I had not remembered was that at the lights we would be turning right and merging with two lanes of fast-moving traffic “Sorry about that; keep right ...” There was another slip lane at the next junction, and we were able to safely get on, and at the next junction, off the highway, crossing very little traffic, but things do not work out so fortuitously every time.

This week, friends have posted a newspaper report of a former Air Asia X  executive being knocked off his bike on a busy highway that I occasionally ride - admittedly on a junction that I don’t think is cyclable.

[Kohsamida]

22 minutes ago, StreetCowboy said:

It’s not just the road; it’s where you’re going on the road, and the individual junctions.

On Sunday, I’d planned a route leaving our suburb in a slightly different direction.

I always call out directions in case for whatever reason I’m not in the lead going through the junction....

”And the traffic lights, right; and then left onto the highway” .  Simple enough and roads that we both knew well; what I had not remembered was that at the lights we would be turning right and merging with two lanes of fast-moving traffic “Sorry about that; keep right ...” There was another slip lane at the next junction, and we were able to safely get on, and at the next junction, off the highway, crossing very little traffic, but things do not work out so fortuitously every time.

This week, friends have posted a newspaper report of a former Air Asia X  executive being knocked off his bike on a busy highway that I occasionally ride - admittedly on a junction that I don’t think is cyclable.

Yep, I'm not fond of heavy, fast moving traffic when I'm on a bike at all.  I haven't had a run in with a car or motorbike yet but am knocking on wood as I say that!  I have to say that car and motorbike drivers are very courteous and thoughtful towards cyclists here in Chiang Mai.  In the USA, that's not the case at all.  So, at least there's that ?

 

[StreetCowboy]

14 minutes ago, Kohsamida said:

Yep, I'm not fond of heavy, fast moving traffic when I'm on a bike at all.  I haven't had a run in with a car or motorbike yet but am knocking on wood as I say that!  I have to say that car and motorbike drivers are very courteous and thoughtful towards cyclists here in Chiang Mai.  In the USA, that's not the case at all.  So, at least there's that ?

 

In Malaysia also the drivers are generally outstandingly courteous.  But that relies on them seeing you, and not playing with their phones, which was probably the problem the Air Asia X CEO encountered.

 

I see far more good driving when I'm riding my bike than when I'm driving my car. 

In the UK, and probably the USA, I think car drivers are eaten up with jealousy of cyclists - 'I wish I was out enjoying myself, I wish I could filter through traffic jams instead of causing them, I wish I could sneak through red lights...'.

 

Heavy traffic is only a problem if there is no shoulder to the road, or if you have to cross it.  But that requires knowing the road, and the junctions, well in advance before you get there...

 

SC