Track or route? The small but big difference
A track is a recorded or imported sequence of points — the trace of a ride, without waypoints and without turn information. A route is planned: start, destination and, in between, shaping and via points that form the course. If both a track and a route are loaded on the map, TDM asks which one to navigate when you start.
For navigation this means: with a route, the planned waypoints go straight to the routing engine — with full turn-by-turn announcements along the planned course. A track is automatically “re-routed” at start: TDM places invisible pass-through points onto the trace at regular intervals (roughly every 500 m) and lets the router build a drivable route from them — so even a track gets real voice guidance.
Recalculation differs too: if you leave a route, TDM plans towards the remaining course or the destination. If you leave a track, TDM looks for a re-entry point a good way ahead on the trace (typically a few kilometres) and brings you back onto the track — after all, you chose that track for its course. And: a track has no via or shaping points — the skip settings have no effect there.
See also: From the TD Cloud or planned on the spot? · Off route: detection and recalculation · Entering a track or route
From the TD Cloud or planned on the spot?
A route from the TD Cloud — planned in TD or GSR — brings its complete plan with it: all shaping and via points arrive in the navigation unchanged. On first opening, TDM stores a local copy, so the route stays available without internet. (GPX files from third-party programs without waypoint types keep only start and destination — they are then treated like a simple A-to-B connection.)
A route planned on the spot in TDM comes from the search, a long press on the map or a POI. Every stop has a speaker toggle in the editor: on = via point (numbered, announced about 300 m ahead), off = shaping point (shapes the route silently; if it carries a comment, TDM announces it about 300 m ahead like a via point).
On the road, navigation treats both the same — off-route detection and recalculation follow the same rules. The noticeable difference comes purely from the waypoint structure: a carefully planned cloud tour usually has many shaping points that pin down the desired course; a spontaneous route typically has only a few real stops and gives the router more freedom.
See also: Your tracks & routes from the cloud · Track or route? The small but big difference · Shaping or via point? Priority and skipping
Off route: detection and recalculation
TDM continuously projects your position onto the planned course. Up to 60 m away you count as “on route”. Between 60 and 100 m lies a buffer zone — a parallel road 80 m away triggers nothing. Only being further than 100 m away for several seconds in a row counts as off route.
Then the “Route left” banner appears with two buttons: Recalculate starts by itself after a short countdown — tapping starts immediately. Ignore buys 60 seconds of quiet, say for a deliberate shortcut. The automatic countdown can be switched off in the settings (“Don't recalculate automatically”) — then the decision is always yours.
Recalculation obeys firm rules: at least about 5 seconds pass between two attempts; if you have barely moved, no new attempt is made; after failures the waiting time grows, and after many consecutive failures TDM reports once “Route calculation not possible”. A route that would begin with a U-turn is never slipped in — instead you get a notice that you are driving against the planned route. Without internet the offline engine keeps calculating, provided the region's offline map is installed.
Strategically, TDM first tries to bring you back onto the old course with a short connector — re-entry points from 50 m to 2 km ahead are examined, and the rest of the planned route stays untouched. Only when that makes no sense does it replan over the remaining waypoints or straight to the destination.
See also: Shaping or via point? Priority and skipping · Track or route? The small but big difference · No signal? Integrated offline routing
Shaping or via point? Priority and skipping
Both shape the route — but with different priority. A shaping point silently forces the course over a certain spot: no number, no stop, no announcement. A via point is a real intermediate destination: numbered, and 300 m before it TDM announces “In 300 metres you will pass …”. Via points carry the higher priority — wherever the router imposes limits or plausibility checks weed points out, shaping points are always sacrificed first, never your real stops.
New (1.0.108): the 300-metre rule. About 300 m before every via point and before every route point with a comment, TDM announces “In 300 metres you will pass …” (with the actual remaining distance, e.g. “In 120 metres” if the point is already closer when you start) and then reads the complete comment aloud – nothing is cut. At the same time the point is shown like a manoeuvre: top left its map symbol in the point colour (circle with via number, diamond, A for the start, Z for the destination), next to it the distance counting down and the name, below it the comment. The card stays at least as long as it takes to read and until the point is passed; an imminent turn takes priority and hands the card back afterwards. You set the comment in the route editor of Track of the Day 8, GS-Route or the web planner – or directly in TDM (speech bubble in the route editor; GPX element <cmt> on the route point); TDM also shows it in the route details. A shaping point with a comment is announced the same way and always stays on the map (diamond with a speech bubble in the point colour (orange if it has no colour of its own) – regardless of ‘Show shaping points’); it does not become a stop, and without a comment it stays silent. If the start point carries a comment you hear it when driving off; the destination’s comment on arrival. This rule replaces every other announcement at a route point – the former “Passing: …” announcement is gone. If a route point coincides with a manoeuvre, the route point with its comment comes first, then the manoeuvre with the distance still remaining at that moment.
The difference really matters at recalculation, and there are two separate settings for it: “Skip shaping points” (on by default) leaves out shaping points that already lie behind you instead of returning to them. “Skip via points” (off by default) does the same with real stops. A skipped point stays out for the rest of the trip. With both switches off, every recalculation strictly follows the planned tour — if need be including a return to a bypassed point.
That yields two simple recipes: if you absolutely must not miss a spot, mark it as a via point and leave “Skip via points” switched off — after every deviation TDM will lead you back to it. If you just want to get from A to B quickly and safely, switch via skipping on as well — recalculation then clears everything behind you and aims forward. It also works case by case: in Android Auto the next via point can be skipped from the menu. “Auto-shaping” is handy too: stops for which you enter a break time automatically become via points.
See also: Via points vs. shaping points · Off route: detection and recalculation · From the TD Cloud or planned on the spot?