CycleGPS

Cycling application designed for cycling navigation

Cycling application specially designed for road cycling. Still beta version. Send support requests to cyclegps@benbar.eu

Create a GPX or KML file using Google Maps, Google Earth, Garmin Connect or any other service or software and let CycleGPS guide you.

Quick tutorial with Google Maps and Google Earth :

1) Create your itinerary using Google Maps : driving directions between start and destination, then drag the route exactly where you want to ride

2) Add the itinerary to "your maps", then export it to KML. At this point, you can load the route in CycleGPS but you will not have any directions.

3) Open the KML in Google Earth and add placemarks (yellow pins) on where you want to create turn instructions. Add the instruction in the name of the placemark. Make sure the placemarks are in the correct order. You can use Street View to write more meaningful directions like "at the big tree, take the second right on D23 towards XXXX". This is great when you ride.

4) Save your KML file

5) Load it in CycleGPS (3rd icon from the right). It can load files from DropBox, Google Drive, or your SD card (you can transfer the file via Bluetooth)...

6) Once loaded, you can see the track and your turn instructions on the map and the app should be looking for your current position

7) Hit "Start navigation" and the app will start reading the instruction once you approach the placemark (the warning distance and speed factor can be tuned in the settings). It also monitors your progress on the route and warns you if you are going off-track

8) You can see the list of instructions by hitting the 1st icon from the left and change the order or text by touching the pencil. You can also save it back to the KML file by hitting the floppy disk.

9) The app only reads out the first non-visited direction upon approach, this is to allow for loops and crossings. If you do not follow the route precisely and you "jump" a placemark, you can advance manually by ticking the placemark before the next one. The app will then follow from there.

The app uses the Google Text To Speech engine, it supports French, English, German, Italian and Spanish. Though you may have to download the language pack to be able to use the app off-line (Settings -> Language and Input -> Text-To-SPeech output -> Google TTS settings -> Install Voice Data), otherwise you will need an active internet connection.

Check out the settings to tune the app to your preference.

Thanks to the cache of the map, you can use the app completely off-line and tun off both WiFi and mobile Internet. Even if the map tiles are not loaded, the app will still read out the instruction and warn you if you are going off-track. On a Galaxy S2, with WiFi and Mobile Internet off, I managed to ride for 4 hours and only use 25% of the battery. GPS is cheap ;)

I personally keep it in my back pocket with a single earphone in my right ear and rely on the voice guidance, works a treat.