Closest to Blackberry Traffic

[avalpert]

I recently moved to Android and the one app I am having trouble replacing from my blackberry is Blackberry Traffic. In particular, I haven't found a good navigation app that uses real-time traffic to provide best route and an alternative and updates on the fly.

Does anyone know of something out there that compares? For now I am actually keeping my old blackberry in my car and tethering it to run the app when I want it but this can't be the optimal solution.

 

[Member282753]

Google Navigation? ALK CoPilot? Navigon MobileNavigator? Many options...

 

[avalpert]

Does google navigation use current traffic? Because my few test runs with it seemed to suggest otherwise - it definitely did not pick the best routes.

 

[Member282753]

IF you have the most current version, then it does take current traffic into account when calculating a route and the two optional routes. You can go to Google Maps on the web and turn the traffic layer on to see all the roads in your area of interest that have traffic coverage.

 

[xXxMissyxXx]

I just got the galaxy s3 and I found that MapQuest works well. Its better than google navigation and waze. When I tested google navigation it told me to exit the highway just to get right back on it. Its not very accurate and it doesn't show estimated time of arrival. If it does you have to click to find the option. Its hard to read when driving etc.

I miss my blackberry traffic. I wish blackberry traffic would make an app for android, I would definitely pay for it.

 

[mikedt]

If you're in the US, I've heard good reports about Waze. It's completely useless in China though.
Free GPS Navigation with Turn by Turn - Waze
Does real-time traffic, on the fly re-routing etc.

 

[lionrain]

I heard Waze was good as well, but I have heard stories of people getting lost because of it. But its worth a try, you could always just go with good ol' google navigation as well.

 

[mikedt]

I heard Waze was good as well, but I have heard stories of people getting lost because of it. But its worth a try, you could always just go with good ol' google navigation as well.

Think I'd get a bit lost with Waze...

 

[Tre Lawrence]

Scout by Telenav is an option

 

[chrlswltrs]

Personally I have found Google Navigation to be really accurate. Estimated times are always really close to accurate if not spot on!

When calculating a route it takes traffic into account automatically. Combine that with Google Now = winning!

 

[mscrivo]

OP, did you ever find an alternative for BB traffic? I don't think people who haven't used it, realize how good that app is. I've tried both Google maps and waze on my nexus 4 and neither one comes close to providing the functionality of bb traffic. Google maps is really pretty, but is absolutely useless for finding the fastest route based on live traffic conditions. Waze is slightly better, but still is poor at finding an alternate route. It is really good at showing you upcoming traffic jams and accidents though. The beauty of bb traffic was that it would show you the direct route and how much time it would take and then below it the less traffic route, and the less traffic route would find roads I wouldn't even think about like service roads off the highway that often reduced my commute by 10 mins or more sometimes. It's time estimates were also extremely accurate, often with an error margin of +/- 5 mins. It did all this elegantly in a way that fit on the 9900's tiny screen and being easily readable from a distance of one to two feet. I should also note, that this is in Toronto, ontario as it may be relevant to how accurate traffic data is.

 

[Member282753]

In what way is Google Navigation useless for routing around traffic?

 

[Tre Lawrence]

Funny, because the most popular threads on Crackberry have to do with sideloading Google Maps.

Different strokes and all...

Scout by TeleNav, TeleNav Mapquest, Gnav and more are all free.

 

[mscrivo]

In what way is Google Navigation useless for routing around traffic?

As I said, being in Toronto might have something to do with it, it might be better in other areas, but I can give you a specific example. If I ask google nav for a different route, it will only choose between the two major highways on my commute, one of which makes no sense at all to take because its so far. Whereas BB Traffic would find me really good routes with all kinds of sideroads. When traffic was really heavy on the main highway, the sideroads it suggested were a godsend. Google Nav and Waze have not ever suggested these roads on my commutes in the past 3 weeks of testing.

I know it seems hard to believe, that an old BB app could be better than anything you could find on Android or iOS, but in this case it was really true, and unless you had experience using it yourself, you probably won't believe me. Tre, I will try your suggestions out though, hopefully I will find something suitable.

btw, those people wanting to sideload google maps on their BB 10 devices, its because BB Traffic is not available on BB10 yet.

 

[CodeMonkey]

CoPilot has a traffic subscription that seems to be pretty accurate (in the UK at least).

Best traffic linked satnav I ever had was the Navigon software preloaded on my Nokia 6110 navigator - it had traffic included for no charge. I didn't see traffic jams for a year with that thing. I've not used their Android app but it may be worth a look..

 

[Tre Lawrence]

As I said, being in Toronto might have something to do with it, it might be better in other areas, but I can give you a specific example. If I ask google nav for a different route, it will only choose between the two major highways on my commute, one of which makes no sense at all to take because its so far. Whereas BB Traffic would find me really good routes with all kinds of sideroads. When traffic was really heavy on the main highway, the sideroads it suggested were a godsend. Google Nav and Waze have not ever suggested these roads on my commutes in the past 3 weeks of testing.

I know it seems hard to believe, that an old BB app could be better than anything you could find on Android or iOS, but in this case it was really true, and unless you had experience using it yourself, you probably won't believe me. Tre, I will try your suggestions out though, hopefully I will find something suitable.

btw, those people wanting to sideload google maps on their BB 10 devices, its because BB Traffic is not available on BB10 yet.

To be fair, I did hear good things about the beta.

 

[lovelydama]

I have to admit, I just switched over to Samsung Galaxy S3 15 mins ago and the first thing I'm looking for is an equivalent to Blackberry Traffic for this phone. BB Traffic was simple but yet totally awesome. I use it on a daily basis to both navigate me places, give me an arrival time to kids' schools, to appointments or simply to find the nearest McDonalds to my current location. I'm hesitant on losing it permanently. I hope the OP can tell me how to tether my old blackberry 9800 cause I can see myself doing this often.....

 

[Member282753]

I think the key to find a replacement for Blackberry Traffic is knowing who the traffic data source comes from. Then we can help you find a product from the same traffic data source supplier on another platform. I know that at one time Blackberry bought the defunct Dash Navigation but clearly their cloudsourced approach is no longer the source of data for traffic for this product because they haven't been in business for years. So, does anybody know where the traffic data source comes from?

 

[mscrivo]

I think the key to find a replacement for Blackberry Traffic is knowing who the traffic data source comes from. Then we can help you find a product from the same traffic data source supplier on another platform. I know that at one time Blackberry bought the defunct Dash Navigation but clearly their cloudsourced approach is no longer the source of data for traffic for this product because they haven't been in business for years. So, does anybody know where the traffic data source comes from?

BB Traffic's traffic info was crowd-sourced (see BlackBerry Traffic Now Available). Toronto had and still has a really large userbase of blackberry's, and that is probably part of the reason its routes and ETA's were so good in my case.

However, it wasn't only the accuracy of the traffic data that made this app so good. It was the way it presented the most relevant info to you. For instance, the dual view of the direct route and the less traffic route made you feel comfortable that you were actually taking the best route. There was no fiddling around in menus asking for the best routes, they were always displayed to you on the main screen and auto-updated if you took a different route. No other app does this, and I didn't realize the genius of it until I had to find a replacement for it.
http://blogs.blackberry.com/2010/12/blackberry-traffic/

 

[Member282753]

You might try the free Inrix app and see how that traffic content does for you. If the content is good then probably the only option you have for an app is the Copilot apps from ALK. They use in Inrix. MapQuest is free and also uses Inrix data but the app leaves a lot to be desired in terms of how they present the traffic information. Copilot presents the traffic in a way that seems most similar to the linear display that I see in the pictures from the link that you posted.