Getting favorites from your Nuvi into the Garmin StreetPilot App

Boyd

According to Garmin, there is no way to import favorites into their StreetPilot app for the iPhone. Well, I found a way but it's a bit awkward and must be done one at a time. Basically, if you find a location in Apple Maps and route to it, you can send that location to the StreetPilot app. So the trick is to get your favorites into Apple Maps. I already had some favorites in Apple Maps, so those were simple.

A bit more complicated, I opened my Nuvi Current.gpx file in GlobalMapper (a powerful GIS program), reformatted it as a text file containing the name and coordinates of each favorite on a separate line. I'm sure there are other approaches, but this was straightforward with the software I already had. I then pasted this into an e-mail and sent it to myself.

On the iPhone, I could then copy/paste the coordinates into an Apple Maps search. This allowed me to send each point to the StreetPilot app. Here are the specific steps on the phone, assuming that you have figured out a way to e-mail the favorites (either addresses or coordinates) to yourself.

1. Copy either an address or geographic coordinates from an e-mail and paste it into the search box in Apple Maps.
2. A pin will drop in Apple Maps, tap the "bubble" that shows the address of the pin
3. Tap Directions
4. Tap Route
5. Tap the export button at the top right of the screen (looks like a box with an arrow pointing up from it)
6. Tap the Routing Apps button at the bottom
7. Tap the StreetPilot App
8. The StreetPilot App will open. Cancel the route.
9. Tap Where To > Recently Found
10. The favorite will be the first item on the list and will have a generic name based on the address. Tap it.
11. Tap the ( i ) button then tap Save.
12. Change the name as desired

OK, it isn't easy, but actually is faster than you might think from my description. :) Maybe someone else can find simpler way? There are some iOS apps that can open .gpx files. Perhaps some of these will allow you to export points directly to "routing apps" in the same manner?

alanb

Nice job Boyd! I am not an iPhone user, but I know this will be useful for those who have the StreetPilot App.

Boyd

Thanks. :)

Looking at this a bit more, most of my favorites were saved as coordinates, which is why I used the technique described with GlobalMapper. However, if your favorites are addresses, and if you can get those addresses into an e-mail to yourself, then it's even easier.

Addresses inside an email appear as "links". Tapping the link will find the address in Apple Maps. This eliminates the need to copy/paste and allows you to skip steps 1 and 2 above.

Boyd

Found a way that can be done completely within the StreetPilot app with a single paste operation using Where To > Local Search. For example, I e-mailed this to myself

Ace Hdw 74.98511698 W,39.45764800 N

In mail, I highlight and copy just the coordinates:

74.98511698 W,39.45764800 N

In StreetPilot, I press Where To > Local Search, paste, tap the Search button, tap the ( i ) button and save as a Favorite. The name defaults to the coordinates, so I have to manually enter "Ace Hdw".

But after some experimentation, this only seems to work properly near my current location. There's a button to change location, but that didn't seem to help. Will have to experiment some more, it may help to format the coordinates differently.

Boyd

Boyd said:

it may help to format the coordinates differently.

Yep, it was a question of the text formatting (not the "coordinate format"). I guess the search feature is more flexible for locations that are close to you. But this format works with Local Search for locations that are hundreds of miles away:

Ace Hdw N 39.457648,W 74.98511698

So this is a pretty straightforward way to create a favorite in the StreetPilot app directly from coordinates in your e-mail via copy/paste. :)