Optimize fleets with context-rich navigation in your app
By: Bobby Sudekum
Ride-sharing and on-demand logistics companies need to fully control the navigation experience, providing context-rich, turn-by-turn navigation for fleets. Use our Navigation SDKs for iOS and Android to add custom instructions alongside navigation-related announcements so fleets have the context they need to make decisions in real time and don’t need to rely on third-party apps.
For example, it’s not just important for drivers to receive instructions about departing and arriving. Other critical information like which parcel or passenger the driver is picking up, which areas have increased demand, and added context from customers can make operations smoother and more efficient.
Examples of custom instructions:
- “Pick up Jane on the right, in front of LAX Arrival Door 3.”
- “Adding another parcel to your queue. Continue down Prince Street for 200 meters to drop off your first parcel.”
- “In a quarter mile, turn right on Central Avenue, then turn into the parking lot and continue to the end in order to pick up Zaire.”
- “Approaching a high-demand zone. Turn right on Market Street to receive a 1.5x increase in delivery fees for orders accepted in this area.”
On iOS, you can either implement a delegate method or observe a notification to find out when the Navigation SDK is about to announce a turn-by-turn instruction. When notified, you can introspect the RouteProgress or the text of the instruction itself, then pass back new text for our voice guidance to speak aloud. You can also announce custom instructions at any time:
On Android, you can implement the Milestone event listener to receive callbacks for when our default VoiceInstructionMilestone is triggered along a given DirectionsRoute. The VoiceInstructionMilestone will provide the given instruction from our Directions API, as well as a RouteProgress that can be used to create a custom instruction of your own (should you choose to ignore the one we provide).
Android also offers the ability to add custom milestones. With a custom milestone, you can customize the timing in addition to the instruction that will be provided at the time the milestone is triggered.
Custom voice instructions are now live in both the iOS and Android Navigation SDKs. Learn more about adding smart, turn-by-turn routing based on real-time traffic in your app. Reach out to our team with any questions.
Custom voice instructions for navigation was originally published in Points of interest on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.