Sending a Google route to your car

[Lancerlot]

Ahead of this weekend's drive, a couple of members have asked me about following the set route on their vehicle's satnav.

This is done quite easily if you have Apple CarPlay installed. You connect the Iphone to the car's PCM - either by a USB/Lightning cable if you have PCM 3 or wirelessly if you have a later version.

The first thing to do is to send the route to your phone.

In Google maps, click on the blue "Send to phone" strip and you get the option to send either by text or email - either is fine.When the message appears in your phone, click on the link and the route appears on your phone screen. In the car, choose Apple Car Play from the RH scroll menu, then click on Google Maps

Your route should now appear on your PCM (only the small version I'm afraid - there's no provision for full screen in CarPlay).

Make sure the little speaker icon on LHS is not crossed and you should have verbal directions too. You can exit the route at any time by clicking on the green directions box, top RHS. Due to the way Iphone handles digital data, extra stopovers are used along the route and each time one is reached, you get the message "You have reached your destination" and a blue box pops up offering the option to continue to the next point. Press on this to proceed. You also have the option to delete the last stopover, which is handy if you've missed one and need to resume en route to the next point. Regards, Clive

 

[ralphmusic]

Clive,

Is this a custom route?

When I've saved a custom route and subsequently clicked on it, I just get Google Maps' latest routing on the iPhone and on the PCM.

 

[Lancerlot]

It's quite a lot of work making a customised route appear correctly in the PCM because Iphone insists on using alternative, fastest routes or suggesting other options. (Ask Alan as we battled for several days to produce an Iphone version of his weekend drive!)

It's overcome by inserting a number of additional waypoints along the way. The problem then is you soon run out of waypoints as Google Maps only allow 8. I describe how this can be overcome in a feature I posted over in the Macan Register forum recently.

Regards,

Clive

 

[fmowis]

Plug your iPhone into the car's PCM using a USB/Lightning cable. Make sure CarPlay is enabled in your car's settings. On the PCM display, locate and select the CarPlay option. Once in CarPlay, find and open the Apple Maps app. Use the Apple Maps app to input the destination or select the pre-planned route. After setting the route, there might be an option to "Share" or "Send to Phone." Follow the on-screen instructions to send the route to your iPhone. The route sent to your phone will now be accessible through the car's satnav system. Follow the on-screen directions.

 

[Brisel]

If you want a specific route without the waypoints you will need to skip when approaching, you will need software capable of handling GPX files. The only phone app capable I can think of is TomTom. Apple CarPlay or Android Auto will not support these so you will need to keep your phone “separated” from your PCM. There are various software sites capable of producing the GPX files, such as Garmin, TomTom but I use Mappite which is free.

Just skipping the waypoints isn’t much of an issue if you want to stick to Google Maps, particularly if you have a co driver. I usually knock up as many sets as required for a decent run out and WhatsApp them to the group, bearing in mind whether there will be decent phone and data signal at each segment so they can load up the next bit.

 

[Brisel]

I don’t seem to be able to edit my post, so I will add that TomTom’s app is compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay according to their website https://www.tomtom.com/en_gb/navigation/mobile-apps/go-navigation-app/