Komoot

[quilkin]

Looking for people using Komoot and having success with it. After many years of using Locus Maps with the 'brouter' routing engine, I was looking for a change for various reasons. So I signed up to komoot and purchased their global mapping option.
But on the first real use I came across several issues. I used their web feedback form about a week ago and had zero response.
I can list the problems in a follow-up post but wondered first if anyone had been having issues and managed to contact them successfully.

[pdm]

I started using komoot a couple of months ago after getting (another) elemnt.
There are, as you say, a few minor issues with it. Also had no response to reported glitches (yet); it was/is apparently developed in Germany - perhaps they have some teutonic reserve in their response rates .
Have managed to work around most of the glitches I've come across.
Most of the time route planning is quick and painless: Select start and end. Then include route points/cafe stops for it to follow the roads I want. Save and it can automagically be transferred to my GPS confuser from the Elemnt phone app.
I also use ridewithgps (free version) but prefer the routing engine on komoot; RWGPS it quite aggressive toward preferring tracks and very minor road detours.

[jfparis]

Using komoot with Elemnt computer. Never had any major issues with it. (the random error from time to time when too many routing points)

I remember reaching out once with a routing issue (system was getting confused with central london cycleways). They answered my queries and we exchanged a few email until it got fixed

[quixoticgeek]

I gave komoot ago. I use it some times, tho not all the time. I like the fact it actually tells me when there are ferries, tho like all route planners I've used, it would be nice to have a "avoid stairs" option. Not something you'd expect to need on a cycle planner...

They also tried to route me down the a14 near Cambridge... When I mentioned this to their twitter support, the response was *shrug*

But, by far their biggest screw up is a couple of days before one of the worlds best known ultra races, that they are a sponsor for, they rolled out an update to the app, which bricked it for a number of people who didn't have the very latest version of android. It also bollocksed up all offline maps, so users had to download them all again, often on mobile data...

Their support was pretty good with this one, I had a good email exchange, and they eventually sent me an older version to install, which was quite a faff. The fact they thought it was a good idea to push an upgrade out in the week before a flagship event they are sponsoring is a major fuck up that really shouldn't happen. As someone who's job role often involves deploying things like this, a basic awareness of the commercial impact of a roll out is an absolute must. (Same reason you don't deploy the day before Christmas...). Their support was good, their manglement decisions are questionable.

I love the fact they give you a road type, as well as the surface, and understand where ferries are. I just wish they were better at knowing what's really shit to cycle on. *cough* A14 *cough*

J

[quilkin]

Thanks for your responses. For the record, here is a list of the problems I have had. If anyone can help with any, or give me a working contact link for their support team, I would be grateful.
- The screen does not turn off automatically when using voice guidance, thus wasting battery.
- A downloaded map (to save using internet while on the road) shows basic route OK but no detail - what to do if a road is closed? (That happened 4 times the other day, on a 120km trip),
- How to see height profile during a tour? How to see how far still to go? How to see a map scale?
- Why, on the same 'tour', did it choose a main road while there was a perfectly  good cycle path alternative (less steep, and tarmac surface - and not so new that it wouldn't be on OSM) and yet also choose a footpath down and up a steep rocky slope for 2km, when there was a quiet road alternative which was only 2 or 3 km longer?

As you can tell I'm pretty frustrated and feel as though I have wasted money and learning effort.

[zigzag]

i have planned a few routes on komoot before, but found their road surface data unreliable (gravel roads shown as paved, which can be a problem for a road bike). this was three years ago, maybe the maps and surface information has improved (i haven't used them since).

[quixoticgeek]

New annoyance.

Unless you're at your desktop/laptop computer, there is no way to get a GPX out of komoot, meaning if you need to get a GPX out of komoot when out and about, tough. Doesn't work in the app, and the link on the mobile website just doesn't work.

Had to turn round and go home last week because I couldn't get the GPX out of the komoot to load into my device

Komoot's twitter person couldn't even understand my rant let alone give a sensible solution. I'll email support when I can write a polite enough email.

J

[bludger]

Ah but there is! On android at least.

Download Komoot to GPX https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spark71.komoottogpx&hl=en_GB It works really well, I've used it a lot for several months. You can convert a komoot route into a garmin-ready version really easily.

[quixoticgeek]

Ah but there is! On android at least.

Download Komoot to GPX https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spark71.komoottogpx&hl=en_GB It works really well, I've used it a lot for several months. You can convert a komoot route into a garmin-ready version really easily.

FFS. The fact that someone has had to make a 3rd party app to add a basic feature is just stupid.

J

[LateStarter]

i have planned a few routes on komoot before, but found their road surface data unreliable (gravel roads shown as paved, which can be a problem for a road bike). this was three years ago, maybe the maps and surface information has improved (i haven't used them since).

It is unlikely they maintain their own data on this but just use the OpenStreetMap "surface" tag (https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Key:surface?uselang=en-GB), in which case you can always make an edit where you find errors.

[citoyen]

How do people get on when following voice instructions on Komoot? Thinking of trying it to help with navigation on an untested route tomorrow. I know most of the roads, there are just a few unfamiliar bits I could do with guidance on.

As an alternative, I could sign up for the free trial on RWGPS - for those who have used both, which is recommended?

Only want to use it for navigation, don't need to record the ride.

(I would normally use my Edge 510 for this kind of thing, following the breadcrumb trail, but it is kaput and I haven't got round to replacing it yet.)

[quixoticgeek]

How do people get on when following voice instructions on Komoot? Thinking of trying it to help with navigation on an untested route tomorrow. I know most of the roads, there are just a few unfamiliar bits I could do with guidance on.

As an alternative, I could sign up for the free trial on RWGPS - for those who have used both, which is recommended?

Only want to use it for navigation, don't need to record the ride.

(I would normally use my Edge 510 for this kind of thing, following the breadcrumb trail, but it is kaput and I haven't got round to replacing it yet.)

It's ok, it's only as good as the underlying data, which is OSM, which is used by pretty much all of them.

"In 80m go straight"

FFS komoot, you sound like my parents questioning my "lifestyle choices". Only it's a totally straight road with no turnings, it's just you cross from this street to that street, so it tells you.

Sometimes it will tell you say go right, and you get to the junction and there are 2 roads very close together. Followed by her telling you you did it wrong.

On the whole it's no worse than any others, it has some niggles, but I may just be exceptionally picky.

J

[citoyen]

"In 80m go straight"

FFS komoot, you sound like my parents questioning my "lifestyle choices".

On the whole it's no worse than any others, it has some niggles, but I may just be exceptionally picky.

Thanks. Sounds like it should be good enough for my needs. Being picky is not a bad thing when it comes to navigation. Once, on a hiking trip, I came down the wrong side of a mountain due to using an out of date map... (the mountain hadn’t changed but the paths had)

[citoyen]

Really pleased with how it worked out using Komoot. Found it really good having the voice in my ear giving directions rather than looking at a screen, though it does have one or two idiosyncracies...

My favourite was "after 1.4km continue straight onto road"

Despite the quirks, there's no way I would have been able to follow my convoluted route today without some kind of navigational assistance, and I only missed a couple of turns, which I realised pretty quickly, so I'm calling it a resounding success. Will definitely use Komoot again.

[citoyen]

Oh and another good thing about Komoot - I imported a route I’d planned in RWGPS and it warned me that some of the sections were unsuitable for a road bike. On closer inspection, I could see what they meant! So instead of letting me go down a rough dirt trail that ended in an industrial estate, it took me down a lovely country lane with views of Dover Castle in the distance.

[chrisbainbridge]

Yes, I think that is my only problem with RwGPS that it doesn’t give a Road bike option.

[quixoticgeek]

Really pleased with how it worked out using Komoot. Found it really good having the voice in my ear giving directions rather than looking at a screen, though it does have one or two idiosyncracies...

My favourite was "after 1.4km continue straight onto road"

Despite the quirks, there's no way I would have been able to follow my convoluted route today without some kind of navigational assistance, and I only missed a couple of turns, which I realised pretty quickly, so I'm calling it a resounding success. Will definitely use Komoot again.

Yep, that's the sort of thing I mean.

The other fun one I've had with various systems when following directions are things like:

"Follow road for 10km"

You ride and you ride and you're thinking "I'm sure i should have turned by now" Eventually you stop and check your phone, only to find it crashed 5km ago and you need to go back 3km to the turning you missed...

Or the old cyclestreets voice guidance.

"in 10 metres turn left onto unnamed link, then turn right onto unnamed link then turn left onto unnamed link"

Then you realise it's going straight on through 3 sections of tarmac between 2 streets...

But a lot of that comes down to how the data is in OSM...

J