Tracks, routes & navigation

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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.

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 as you pass), off = shaping point (shapes the route silently).

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.

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.

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 as you pass it (within roughly 80 m) TDM announces “Passing: …”. 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.

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.