Navigation

Prerequisites

Before you can navigate for the first time, the offline maps and routing data need to be installed on the scooter. If you selected a map region in the Installer, this is already done – check Menu → Info → Maps to confirm. Otherwise, the one-time setup is described on Set up maps and navigation. Once the data is loaded, you don't need a mobile connection for navigation itself.

1.3+ Current offline maps label streets directly on the map. While a map or routing package is downloading, the status bar also shows an icon for the active download and its progress.

Navigation setup screen with maps and routing marked as ready, and a QR code linking to the instructions — Once maps and routing data are installed, the screen looks like this.

You set up a ride with navigation directly on the scooter, through the menu:

Park the scooter and open the normal menu. It is not available in drive mode; the riding shortcut menu does not include destination entry.
Go to Navigation and pick an entry:
- Enter Address: choose the city, then the street, then (optionally) a house number, one after another, from the address registry stored on the scooter.
- Recent Destinations: a list of places you've ridden to recently. Pick the right one, and you're done.
- Saved Locations: save your current location here to find it again later, and navigate to saved places.
Put the scooter in drive mode; the speedometer automatically switches to the map view and navigation runs.

As long as no destination is set, the map shows the hint "Set a destination to start navigation".

On the map while riding

While navigation is active, several areas on the display work together:

In the background, the map with your current position and the drawn route. Offline maps carry street names: main roads are labelled from a medium zoom in, side streets only at the closest zoom levels. The map switches automatically between day and night view, depending on ambient light.
Above the map, the instruction field with the next maneuver: an icon for the type of instruction (for example turn left, roundabout, continue straight), the remaining distance to the maneuver, and the plain-text hint. If a follow-up maneuver is very close, the one after that is also shown in a smaller preview.
In the top right corner, the remaining distance, the estimated remaining time, and the expected arrival time.
Below the map, a small plate shows the current street name. The plate's color follows German traffic-sign coloring: blue for motorways, yellow for federal roads, white for minor roads.
Next to it, a speed-limit sign can show the current limit for this stretch of road, if the routing data package includes that information.

Map view in day mode with a turn-by-turn instruction, street name plate, and speed-limit sign — Navigation in day view.

The same map view in night mode with a dark background — The same scene in night view.

Map navigation showing a roundabout maneuver and the route through it — Roundabout instructions show the route and the required exit.

Map view and route settings

How the map is drawn and how routes are chosen is set in Menu → Settings → Map & Navigation.

Map View: 3D tilts the map back so more of the road ahead is visible, and is the default. 1.3+ 2D is a flat top-down view.
1.3+ Orientation: Heading turns the map with you, North keeps north at the top. The entry only appears while Map View is on 2D; in 3D the camera always follows your direction of travel.
1.3+ Route: Fastest (the default) routes by travel time, Shortest by raw distance.
1.3+ Avoid Cobblestone: Off, Low, Medium (the default), or High. Low, Medium, and High allow increasingly larger detours around rough stretches; Off switches the avoidance off entirely. This needs compatible routing tiles that classify cobbles; older tiles ignore the setting. The entry is hidden while Route is set to Shortest, because shortest costs by distance alone and never looks at the surface.
1.3+ Map Updates: a single selector with Off (the default), Notify, or Download. Notify checks at most once a week, whenever the scooter comes online, and tells you when a newer map for your region exists. Download does the same and fetches it on its own, which uses mobile data.
1.3+ Check for Updates: asks right now instead of waiting for the automatic check, and shows how long ago the last check ran. It needs the modem connected, and it only appears once maps are installed.
Map Type and Navigation Routing: whether the map is drawn from local tiles or an online tile server, and whether routes are calculated on the scooter or by a remote server. The two are independent, so you can mix them.

Map and Navigation settings menu with map view, route, and update choices — Map and route behavior is configured in one menu.

Flat 2D map view oriented in the direction of travel — The optional 2D map view with heading orientation.

When there's no GPS fix

As long as the scooter doesn't have a GPS fix yet, it can't determine your position reliably. In that case, a full-screen hint appears in place of the map, with a loading indicator and the text "Waiting for GPS fix". As soon as enough satellites are in view, the display switches automatically to the map view. This can take a few seconds under open sky, and longer after installation, after a long period without use, or with a restricted view of the sky.

Ending a navigation

You end a running navigation through the menu: Menu → Navigation → Stop Navigation. The map stays visible, but the route, the turn-by-turn instructions, and the instruction field disappear. Menu → Switch to Cluster View takes you back to the normal cluster display.

What changed compared to scooterOS

Navigation on the scooter is a Librescoot original; the original firmware had no map or routing function on the display. A detailed overview of all changes is on Changes from scooterOS.