Best map/GPS app for Apple Car Play while in the mountains

[Ottakee]

I just go the new iphone SE 2022.  We are going to be going on a trip next month that will include driving through Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana.   I have Verizon but I know that cell phone coverage can be very spotty through the mountains and in rural areas.

What is the best GPS/maps app to use?  I  would love on that is good with traffic and rerouting and shows road hazards, police, etc.  Most important though is that it is accurate and works.  Are there any you can preload routes in case I have no data and turn the car off?   Right now I have Apple Maps, Google Maps and Waze but don't know which one is best.  Then I need to learn to save locations as well on the chosen one because....again...poor coverage in some areas.

I will have paper maps for back up.

[theelfqueen]

We use Waze and drive in the Rockies regularly. 

[Pawz4me]

I don't know about the best GPS app, but FWIW -- If you're on interstates or state highways more than likely you'll have pretty good Verizon reception the vast majority of the time, and at most only lose it here and there for a few minutes at a time. You get off the main roads, and especially in a national park or national/state forest, and all bets are off. 

[kbutton]

We have dead spots in SW Ohio, but I am not sure of my provider (Tracfone). I know other people get them now and then too. 

While we have family that raves about Waze, I've found it to be a PITB in SW Ohio. Google or Apple maps seems to work better. Sometimes if I'm going to a park, Google will take me to a weird entrance, etc. That's my only beef with it. 

I am glad you'll have paper map backups! 

[prairiewindmomma]

We are up in the mountains a lot, and we have had good experiences with both Apple Maps and Google…..the real issue you need to address that you didn’t mention is what to do when you have no cell signal at all. Neither of those maps will update your location. In that instance, download Google maps offline. It’s entirely possible to drive for an hour without cell signal when you are headed out into state and National forests. 

[ScoutTN]

8 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

We are up in the mountains a lot, and we have had good experiences with both Apple Maps and Google…..the real issue you need to address that you didn’t mention is what to do when you have no cell signal at all. Neither of those maps will update your location. In that instance, download Google maps offline. It’s entirely possible to drive for an hour without cell signal when you are headed out into state and National forests. 

Yes. Paper maps are good! Ones you’ve looked at carefully before you go!

Seconding about Verizon. Very good in almost all places. I have lost the signal in National Forests on non-interstates, and in very large state parks, but that’s it. It’s the only reliable service in western NC where my kids go to summer camp. 

[Miss Tick]

When I make a trip with Google it sometimes asks if I want to download a map because cell coverage is spotty along the route. I've also downloaded maps when I travel to other countries for the same reason. If there is enough coverage for satellite it will show my location on the map even when it can't give directions. When coverage returns it slides right back into telling me where to go.

[athena1277]

Doesn’t it preload or something for your route?  I’ve driven through the mountains in TN, NC, and VA without problem several times with Apple Maps.  Last summer I went to an event at a camp in middle of nowhere TN (not the mountains).  There’s no cell service at the camp, but the directions worked the whole way there.  When it was time to leave, I had to drive a little ways (thankfully I kinda could find my way) before I could get directions the rest of the way home.

[Ottakee]

12 minutes ago, athena1277 said:

Doesn’t it preload or something for your route?  I’ve driven through the mountains in TN, NC, and VA without problem several times with Apple Maps.  Last summer I went to an event at a camp in middle of nowhere TN (not the mountains).  There’s no cell service at the camp, but the directions worked the whole way there.  When it was time to leave, I had to drive a little ways (thankfully I kinda could find my way) before I could get directions the rest of the way home.

When I am actively driving I was fine last year (android phone).  The issue was if we stopped and I turned the car off then I wouldn't have signal to reload maps/directions.   This year we are doing less backroads driving but there still will be some.

I will have to see about preloading Google maps for each of our stops/destinations.   I have SO much to learn on this new phone.

[KungFuPanda]

2 hours ago, Ottakee said:

I just go the new iphone SE 2022.  We are going to be going on a trip next month that will include driving through Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana.   I have Verizon but I know that cell phone coverage can be very spotty through the mountains and in rural areas.

What is the best GPS/maps app to use?  I  would love on that is good with traffic and rerouting and shows road hazards, police, etc.  Most important though is that it is accurate and works.  Are there any you can preload routes in case I have no data and turn the car off?   Right now I have Apple Maps, Google Maps and Waze but don't know which one is best.  Then I need to learn to save locations as well on the chosen one because....again...poor coverage in some areas.

I will have paper maps for back up.

West Virginia is “back home” for me. The maps are just wrong down there. I live in the Balt-DC area and I’m used to the gps just being right all the time. I used gps last time I was in Beckley and my memory worked better. My memory is not great. There are a lot of roads that stop at a main road then continue on as a different road after the intersection. The gps was lousy at handling this and the signal is never guaranteed anyway. Also, your GPS doesn’t know or care of a road is paved, so that can get interesting. I recommend traveling with an up-to-date road map just in case. 
 

I haven’t been home in almost three years, so they could have made improvements when I wasn’t looking, but I suspect that Google doesn’t update the rural areas quite as often as it does the cities and suburbs. 

[prairiewindmomma]

Re: preloading without downloading, I was hiking today in a national forest and I had my final destination input into Apple Maps with Apple play. I lost my signal about 30 miles from my destination. My map showed me on the Highway I was on when I lost signal, but I had to turn onto two different highways after that and wind through a lot of forest roads before I ended up where I needed to be. 

Then, when I went to leave, I had to retrace my steps and when my cell service came back I was where I was when it stopped, just headed in the other direction. Altogether, factoring in the windy narrow mountain roads, I drove two hours today without signal.

If you are sticking to interstates and just have the odd gap, it’s not necessarily a big deal, but if you are deep in the backwoods like I am often, it’s a very big deal. I can go outside and see one mountain range to my right, and another to my left, so my daily reality may be different than some/most. 

Edited March 23, 2022 by prairiewindmomma

[athena1277]

1 hour ago, Ottakee said:

When I am actively driving I was fine last year (android phone).  The issue was if we stopped and I turned the car off then I wouldn't have signal to reload maps/directions.   This year we are doing less backroads driving but there still will be some.

I will have to see about preloading Google maps for each of our stops/destinations.   I have SO much to learn on this new phone.

Turning off the car doesn’t affect your map if you are using it from your phone unless you close the app.  We make a lot of stops when traveling.  Ask my kids how many times Siri has said to “proceed to the route” from my pocket. 

[Ottakee]

21 hours ago, KungFuPanda said:

West Virginia is “back home” for me. The maps are just wrong down there. I live in the Balt-DC area and I’m used to the gps just being right all the time. I used gps last time I was in Beckley and my memory worked better.

@KungFuPanda I have memories of Beckley West Virginia.  We were traveling through there about 1992 and needed a place to stay.  Since this was before internet, etc. it was even more difficult.  We ended up at the Charles House Inn in Beckley.  It had not been updated in decades.