I can compare OsmAnd with TomTom (not Garmin) and lots of Android apps. In 
the UK I still need TomTom because it gives very good guidance on what lane 
to be in when you're in an unfamiliar place. It's not OsmAnd's problem: 
OpenStreetMap mappers for many UK places haven't described the lanes in 
detail - it's a scary job if you're not confident. So it depends on how 
good the OSM is in your area.

All route planners are susceptible to sending you down stressful or 
socially irresponsible (residential) short-cuts. OsmAnd is the best I've 
tested, followed by Waze with the "avoid difficult junctions" option.

OsmAnd doesn't route with live traffic data, but other services don't 
necessarily make wise routing decision using it anyhow. I was on the 
motorway and there was an accident ahead. Clever TomTom told me to turn off 
and go cross-country. I was then crawling through tiny country villages 
with all of the other TomTom users, eventually stopped by the TomTom-using 
truck which couldn't fit over a hump-backed bridge!

My biggest gripe with all route planners is not sufficiently accounting for 
driver stress. If  I want the easiest route not the fastest, in the UK that 
often means following the street signs and sticking to major roads rather 
that following anything approximating a quickest calculated route. For 
important journeys I've resorted to a crazy workflow: Look at OsmAnd's 
route, play with Google's routes for the predicted traffic, in Google 
MyMaps drag the route to avoid stressful short-cuts, paste that URL into 
the gpsvisualizer website to convert to .gxp, then use the TomTom Mydrive 
website to upload that route to my TomTom, which then delivers the selected 
route with lane guidance! It's ridiculous.

I gather that is't difficult to make money as a business in this area, 
which explains why businesses aren't responding to obvious user needs. 
Good-on OsmAnd!




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