Unable to access my legacy TomTom Android app

maxdot · Lifetime Member Joined: Jan 11, 2011 Posts: 57

Hi
I bought the wonderful original TomTom Western Europe app for Android in December 2012. It has been installed on two devices - a Lenovo TB3-710F and a Motorola Moto G3 both running Android 5.0.1. They have worked well and been more than appreciated - until recently.

Now, on both devices, when I try to open them I get the message:
“The Google Play licence of your application is not valid. Please contact Google if you think this is a mistake. NOTE A network connection is required to verify your Google Play license”

Both devices have a network connection but however many times I try to launch them, the same infuriating message comes up.
I have contacted Google who tried getting me to uninstall all updates to the Google Play Store app. When that produced no improvement they recommended that I contact TomTom, as the developer, directly. So far no reply from them!!

As an experiment I have also tried (on the Motorola MotoG3) uninstalling the app and reinstalling it. But now when I launch the barebones app, I get the message "Unable to Connect to TomTom. Try again later”.
Does anyone else have this problem? Does anyone have a solution?
Yours in desperation
Max

Privateer · Posted: Wed Sep 01, 2021 9:46 pm Post subject:

Hi Max,

Sorry, iPhone user, but I agree that the legacy TomTom app is in many ways much better than the current TomTom app.

If no Android users come to offer support, the best that I can suggest is to contact TomTom via their forum:

https://discussions.tomtom.com/en/categories/tomtom-navigation-app-for-android-1

Regards,
_________________
Robert.
iPhone 6s Plus, iOS 14.0.1: iOS CamerAlert v2.0.7
TomTom GO Mobile iOS 2.3.1; TomTom (UK & ROI and Europe) iOS apps v1.29
Garmin Camper 770 LMT-D

maxdot · Lifetime Member Joined: Jan 11, 2011 Posts: 57

Wouldn't I just love to be able to contact Customer Services but there seems to be no way to do so - no Chat let alone telephone line; just a page offering forum discussions and FAQs, nothing personal at all.
I did get a reply from a "Revered Pioneer' that seems to indicate that the legacy app is no longer available and telling me to download the new one. But I already have the app on my tablet, with a lifetime license paid for and no need for any intervention from TomTom. Which worked perfectly well last month. Surely TT can't have decided to terminate unilaterally every user of the legacy app?

Privateer · Posted: Fri Sep 03, 2021 6:47 pm Post subject:

maxdot · Lifetime Member Joined: Jan 11, 2011 Posts: 57

Exactly. And I will certainly try. I just wonder how many of us are out there?
BW

Privateer · Posted: Sat Sep 04, 2021 10:34 pm Post subject:

I don't think that there will be many out there that still use the legacy TomTom Android app, especially if it doesn't have working traffic.

I like the legacy TomTom iOS app because it can handle customer POIs and show them on screen. There are things that I like that still haven't been ported over to the GO app in over 5 years of development such as constantly showing the distance to the next 'driver action' whereas the GO only informs you in the last 2 miles which isn't good enough. The legacy's GUI while rather dated has better colour contrast so that you can see the information better.

However, I have gotten used to the newer GO app primarily because it has decent routing and very good traffic. As far as the custom POIs are concerned - well that is extremely important to me as the built-in ones are not accurate but I use a third party POI managing app that works well, the only disadvantage is that the POIs don't appear on the TomTom screen. BTW, the iOS version of TomTOm GO still can't use MyDrive POIs.

Regards,
_________________
Robert.
iPhone 6s Plus, iOS 14.0.1: iOS CamerAlert v2.0.7
TomTom GO Mobile iOS 2.3.1; TomTom (UK & ROI and Europe) iOS apps v1.29
Garmin Camper 770 LMT-D

maxdot · Lifetime Member Joined: Jan 11, 2011 Posts: 57

Hi
By “don’t appear on the TomTom screen” do you mean you can’t see them on the map in overview like when you’re shown the whole of the route, or, rather, during actual navigation? What would be the name of your 3rd-party POI managing app be. Sounds interesting
Thanks
Max

Privateer · Posted: Sun Sep 05, 2021 11:15 am Post subject:

Hi Max,

The custom POIs stay in the third party POI manager when you can create new ones, edit and delete existing ones, and move and copy POIs to other lists (i.e. categories). You can select which lists (and thus the POIs of that list) are shown on the screen of the POI Manager app.

You can tap on the POI or search the lists to find the POI that you wish to navigate to. Once you have selected a POI you then hit the 'Navigate to' button and the POI Manager will then ask you to select which SatNav App you wish to use. The POI Manager will then launch the appropriate app (if not already running) so that it is navigating to the coordinates of the POI as the destination. You will notice that as the POIs are kept in the POI Manager, they are independent of the SatNav app, so you have a choice of which SatNav app you use every time as all have access to those POIs.

Unfortunately, the POIs do not show on either the map or the navigation screen of TomTom. The other disadvantage is that the recent destination list shows the approximate address of the POI and not the POI's name.

The other problem is that the POI Manager is only available for the iPhone and isn't available for Android. the POI Manager app is called POIViewer.

I do have a suggestion for Android though: Do you have the WhatWords app? If not I recommend it anyway as it's a potential lifesaver.

I think that What3Words can save places (like POIs) and can launch the SatNav app of your choice to navigate to a particular location. This is possible on the iPhone and I think that it's also possible on Android.

Regards,
_________________
Robert.
iPhone 6s Plus, iOS 14.0.1: iOS CamerAlert v2.0.7
TomTom GO Mobile iOS 2.3.1; TomTom (UK & ROI and Europe) iOS apps v1.29
Garmin Camper 770 LMT-D

maxdot · Lifetime Member Joined: Jan 11, 2011 Posts: 57

Hi Robert
Thanks so much for your long explanation: It's certainly a work-around but doesn't come near to being as practical as the original TT app which displays a map with all the POIs you've chosen to display. Depending on your screen size - pretty limited when it comes to my original GO Live 825, much better on my 7in tablet - this makes planning a tour in a specific area, or branching off from a journey to take in nearby features en route, a whole lot easier.

I'm still locked in a battle with TomTom about arbitrarily cutting off my access to an app I've paid for, which sits on my device with no need for any intervention on their behalf.Personally I classify that as theft, pure and simple. They counter with the argument that they can no longer offer support or updates. But, as they well know, they have not done either since the introduction of the GO app in 2015, so there's absolutely no justification for doing so now. We'll see, but I'm none too optimistic they can be named and shamed into changing their policy!!

As a tentative replacement, I'm trying the Magic Earth app, which does allow the import of 3rd-party POIs, is completely free and gives interesting alternatives in route planning. But gosh, getting my head round a new UI is quite taxing. Old dogs do indeed have trouble with new tricks
Regards
Max

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