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Navigator V and SmartLink

bobs_one

Member
Can someone explain to me what potential advantages I can get from using SmartLink with my Navigator - other than paid for traffic reports? Also, the SmartLink app warns you that running the phone GPS may chew through your battery quickly. So, why is the app using the smartphone GPS rather than the Navigator V to find where it is - doesn't that seem a bit weird?
 
Can someone explain to me what potential advantages I can get from using SmartLink with my Navigator - other than paid for traffic reports? Also, the SmartLink app warns you that running the phone GPS may chew through your battery quickly. So, why is the app using the smartphone GPS rather than the Navigator V to find where it is - doesn't that seem a bit weird?

Also, I Have tried the Smart Link weather App and unfortunately when you use the live weather radar
its Weather movement (Radar) is from 15- 30 minutes ago, Not current time or at this minute.
Alot of good that does when your heading into a storm, :scratch
 
I use the Garmin smart link with my NAV V. subscribed to every app but the live traffic cameras as its not supported in AL. My weather and traffic are real time. Shortly after purchase I was riding through Atlanta and I got an alert that let me know there was a traffic accident up ahead and offered alternate routing, clicked on alternate routing, avoided traffic jam all together. On that same trip ran in to T-storms, first with alerts then with radar. Pulled over in a parking lot checked the my radar pro on my iPhone 6 (different app) realized it was a heavy isolated cell, waited for it to pass, continued 30 minutes later. Got me there and back safe. I recommend it.
 
Bob, aside from the three Paid-Apps (Live Traffic $19.99, Advanced Weather $4.99, and PhotoLive $4.99, all one-time fees), from what I see there are only a few uses for using Garmin's Smartphone Link app. As far as using the phone GPS, I suspect that it's easier for the app to do that than be coded to interact so directly from every phone with the Nav-V, unfortunate but likely the reason, the phone is what is picking up the weather alert based on the phone GPS requiringit to base it's alerts on the Nav-V GPS would geneate more overhead and an additional potential failure point.

My understanding is that the Weather parts of the app use the closest Airport weather rather than the closest Weather Service which makes it less accurate than possible, but still makes it very valuable.

The app allows for a few free services like:

Search Contacts to use your phone contacts addresses, Google Searches, etc., and delivers them to the Nav-V versus having to manually enter addresses into the Nav-V (reduces entry error). I find there are plenty of physical addresses that a Garmin GPS simply won't find (frustrating) that force me to do a Google search and then manually enter those into my 390LM or my Touareg GPS (also Garmin like the Nav-V)

Parking Spot finds parking spots close to your destination and shows costs

Last Mile remembers your parking spot and shows your destination (it appears that you need to remove the Nav-V from the cradle to initiate)

There is also the ability to search via FourSquare (if that's your thing)

Here's Garmin's video outlining some of these things:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GPt_TPGey8&feature=youtu.be

For those that haven't read it yet, Dan Townsley of GlobeRiders wrote a great overview of the Nav-V on their site:
http://globeriders.com/article_pages/article07_gps/article07_nav5.shtml
I consider it should be a must read for any Nav-V owner or anyone considering one.

Personally, I can't wait to pickup my "new to me" RTW and start using it. I will be subscribing to the Paid Services as for me, they are valuable assets/tools that will improve my riding experience. My Garmin 390LM has the Traffic adapter and I find it very helpful. Far easier/safer to have the GPS re-route me around a bottle-neck, especially in a strange area than to try and figure it out on the fly.

I am unclear as to whether the Advanced Weather service will actually re-route you (automatically or with user-input like the Live Traffic service), or if it merely provides a warning and you have to re-route yourself.

Does anyone know how that part of it works (rangerreece or others)?
 
I use the weather app and when I look at the moving radar it is real time and shows exactly my location. The traffic and weather alerts have saved me lots of time and trouble on trips. Well worth it. Then throw in the ability to send scheduled status SMS or emails to defined contacts and it's just awesome.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
 
I forgot about the "here I am" feature. Also awesome. To my knowledge, the NAV V gives you reroute options, weather does not. Also to my knowledge, there is no auto rerouting per se, I've only seen the option for rerouting and a selectable choice. Which doesn't come up with minor delays.
 
I forgot about the "here I am" feature. Also awesome. To my knowledge, the NAV V gives you reroute options, weather does not. Also to my knowledge, there is no auto rerouting per se, I've only seen the option for rerouting and a selectable choice. Which doesn't come up with minor delays.
Correct. Weather does not, traffic offers but not auto afaik.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
 
I find the paid weather App (one-time purchase of $5) that provides a weather radar overlay to be quite valuable. It's the only app I've purchased. As for battery life, I've never found it a problem with my iPhone, even on long rides (500-600 miles). That said, I also have a cable to charge my phone from the bike's auxiliary power outlet (and just today I received a battery case that doubles my iPhone 6's battery life.
 
Thanks guys, that confirms my impression, Weather App does not provide re-routing (user-intervention or otherwise), while the Traffic app provides "user-intervention" re-routing (selectable choices by user).

My 390LM with the Traffic adapter handles traffic situations that way. On the 390LM I have seen optional routes offered that provide time savings as low as 1 minute. Guess I'll get to see how similar/different the Nav-V is when I pickup my RTW next month. Once I pick it up, for the ride home (1,200 miles) I'll be riding the RTW and my wife will be travelling along on 4-wheels so I'll have her us the 390LM to see how close they are in reporting traffic, etc.
 
Send SMS via Smart Link?

Then throw in the ability to send scheduled status SMS or emails to defined contacts and it's just awesome.

I've just started trying to use Smart Link and Tracker with the Nav VI on my '20 RT, but on arriving home I couldn't get the link online to show my route or where I'd been. And I don't see a way to send an SMS using this app. The Tracker app on the Nav VI only takes entries for email or someone's Tracker ID. So I'm curious as to how you can send a scheduled status SMS. What am I missing here??:dunno
 
Then throw in the ability to send scheduled status SMS or emails to defined contacts and it's just awesome.

I've just started trying to use Smart Link and Tracker with the Nav VI on my '20 RT, but on arriving home I couldn't get the link online to show my route or where I'd been. And I don't see a way to send an SMS using this app. The Tracker app on the Nav VI only takes entries for email or someone's Tracker ID. So I'm curious as to how you can send a scheduled status SMS. What am I missing here??:dunno

I've made numerous attempts to use their Tracker app, all without success. A couple of years ago I contacted Garmin directly about this app and the representative described it as a work in process. Evidently it's still that way. I'm hoping that with the frequent updates to Garmin Express they'll finally complete a functioning tracking app.
 
I've made numerous attempts to use their Tracker app, all without success. A couple of years ago I contacted Garmin directly about this app and the representative described it as a work in process. Evidently it's still that way. I'm hoping that with the frequent updates to Garmin Express they'll finally complete a functioning tracking app.

Many of Garmin’s apps are “works in progress”...until they aren’t. BaseCamp, anyone?

If it’s tracking you’re after, and you’re depending upon cell phone gps, IMHO a better bet is to download SWConnect for iPhone or Bubbler GPS for Android, then set up an account at Spotwalla.com. Spotwalla is a free service, tho Jason Jonas (who owns and operates the site) sends out a request for donations once/year. Spotwalla also accepts feeds from SPOT or Garmin InReach devices if you are a user of those devices, and IMHO does a far better job of presenting, sharing, and managing tracks than the native apps for either device family. YMMV, of course.

Best,
DeVern
 
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