Sygic GPS Navigation is often considered a great alternative to Google Maps. The app can provide users with route guidance to a set destination, with all the options needed for such capabilities.
Also available on Android Auto, Sygic GPS Navigation brings together a Waze-style traffic reporting system. In other words, it allows users to report what is happening on the road, thus keeping the rest of motorists informed about traffic conditions.
Sending a report when the app is running on a mobile device is as easy as pressing a single button. On Android Auto, however, Sygic has taken a different approach compared to Waze.
The Android Auto integration that comes with Waze allows users to send traffic reports directly from the head unit. A report button is available on the main screen, and all reports offered on Android are also supported on Android Auto. This approach is very simple, but on the other hand, it could also distract the driver since users can interact with the screen for traffic reports.
Sygic attempts to address the distraction by limiting traffic reports to mobile devices. When the smartphone is connected to Android Auto and navigation is running on the head unit, the report function is exclusively available on mobile devices. In other words, even though the Sygic app offers in-car screen navigation, the report function is still running on the mobile device.
The parent company therefore hopes that traffic reports will be sent by car passengers and not by drivers. To do this, the app displays a prompt when the mobile device is unlocked during Android Auto navigation. Sygic asks users to tap an “I’m not driving” button in the app to confirm they’re a passenger. In theory, this helps to make the reporting function safer, in particular by discouraging drivers from staring at the phone screen.
Sygic supports several types of reports when the Android Auto experience is enabled. Users can report police, traffic, accidents, closed roads and school zones.
On one level, Sygic’s approach makes perfect sense from a distraction standpoint. On the other hand, it has an impact on how users interact with the application, and in the long term, it could lead to fewer reports being submitted. That doesn’t seem like a critical compromise, though, especially since the app puts distraction at the center of its experience.
These features come with the latest version of Sygic GPS Navigation, and as long as the mobile device is connected to a head unit, users should be able to send reports through Android Auto using their mobile phone.
