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Version: In Development

Trip mode

Once a route is planned, Trip mode turns Radar into a live sat-nav. It is free.

Starting a trip​

Plan your route, then press Start. Radar switches to active-trip mode:

  • The map turns to face the way you are going, so what is ahead of you is at the top of the screen. See below.
  • The map zooms in to a driving level, so a route you planned zoomed out to see the whole journey does not stay zoomed out for the whole drive.
  • The map auto-follows your GPS position, and your vehicle glides along between position updates rather than jumping once a second.
  • The card header shows a live "X km · Y min to go" countdown.
  • A next-turn banner updates as you approach each manoeuvre, for example "In 250 m, turn left onto A24".
  • Radar asks your phone to keep the screen on for the drive, so a phone on the dash does not go dark between turns. Not every browser allows this, and where it is refused the screen simply dims on its own schedule as before.

Heading-up, and going back to north-up​

Facing the direction of travel is how a sat-nav is normally read: a left turn on the screen is a left turn through the windscreen, with nothing to work out in your head.

There is one trade while the map is turned. Radar holds the map still to keep it pointing the right way, so you cannot pan or zoom it in heading-up. Tap the compass at the top right and the map springs back to north at the top, with panning and zooming as normal. Tap it again to face the way you are going once more.

The compass is only there while a trip is running.

The route card while you drive​

The card holding your route shrinks once the trip starts, so the turn banner, the time and distance remaining, and your next stop stay in view rather than being pushed off the bottom by the rest of the plan.

On a phone it folds down further still, to a thin strip, leaving as much of the screen as possible for the map and the road ahead. Everything else is tucked behind Route details: tap it for your stops, the hazards on the route, the elevation chart, the services along the way and the cheapest fuel, and tap Hide route details to fold it back down. Nothing is taken away, and on a computer it all stays on the card, which you scroll to reach whatever does not fit.

Voice announcements​

Toggle the speaker icon for spoken directions through your device's speech engine. You get a pre-alert around 250 m before the turn and the instruction again at the turn. Your choice is remembered.

Automatic re-routing​

If you come off the planned route, Radar works out a new one automatically, keeping your stops and destination.

Ending a trip​

Press End to return to the static plan view. The map goes back to north at the top, and the screen is allowed to sleep again.

Worth knowing about this first version​

Trip mode has not yet been driven end to end on a phone with real GPS on the road, so treat it as something to try on a route you already know rather than to lean on somewhere unfamiliar.

Your vehicle also sits in the middle of the map, which on a phone can put it behind the route card. The compass drops you back to north-up if you would rather see the whole picture.

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