Independent referenceNavigation maps
How navigation maps grow old, and how they are renewed
Dashboard navigators and factory car systems carry their maps inside them. This publication explains, from the outside, how those maps are renewed: the makers’ own programs and Wi-Fi releases, what lifetime terms cover, and how the imitation update trade works.
Why maps need renewing at all
Navigation hardware ages slowly; the map inside it ages every month. A portable navigator or sat nav bought a few years ago still finds its position perfectly well, yet its picture of the roads falls a little further behind with each new junction, closure and speed limit change.
Makers answer that with releases: new maps and new software, delivered through their own computer programs, through the devices’ own Wi-Fi, or, for cars, through the carmaker’s dealers and update channels. Each of those channels has rules, and each has a matching set of imitations. Every genuine route starts on the maker’s own servers, and none runs through a phone line.
The pages here describe the mechanisms rather than giving instructions, which remain the makers’ to give. They are written for drivers who want to know what a device needs, what its maker provides, and why so many offers of “GPS updates” come from people who are not the maker at all: what lifetime really means, why old units stop updating, and the map update scams, pattern by pattern. It is worth reading before paying anyone.
The makers, one by one
Each profile covers the maker’s own routes for new maps, its terms, and the addresses that genuinely belong to it.
- GarminA free desktop program, Garmin Express, or the navigator’s own Wi-Fi on newer models.ComputerWi-FiLifetime terms
- TomTomCurrent GO models collect releases over Wi-Fi; older ones rely on MyDrive Connect.Wi-FiComputer
- MagellanSeven RoadMate models fetch maps themselves; the rest are served through MiTAC’s SmartGPS Eco site.Wi-FiComputer
- Rand McNallyTruck, RV and car units that take releases over Wi-Fi, and a retired desktop program.Wi-FiEnd of life
- Built-in car navigationThe carmaker decides: dealers, its own program with a card or drive, or mobile data.DealerCard or driveMobile data
The addresses the makers themselves publish
One per maker, checked on the maker’s own site. Any other address offering an “update” is somebody else’s.
- Garmin
garmin.com/expressThe maker’s page for Garmin Express; newer navigators update over Wi-Fi instead. - TomTom
tomtom.com/navigation/mydrive-connectThe maker’s page for MyDrive Connect; GO models with Wi-Fi use their own settings. - Magellan
magellangps.com/Map-Upgrades-SupportSeven RoadMate models update over Wi-Fi; the rest go through smartgpseco.com. - Rand McNally
randmcnally.com/map-updatesCurrent TND, T85 and OverDryve II units take releases over Wi-Fi. - Built-in car navigation
the carmaker’s own websiteA dealer, the carmaker’s own program, or a store such as here.navigation.com that the carmaker links to.
Four field guides
The mechanisms behind every maker’s system, explained without reference to any single brand.
- 1Why a navigation map goes out of dateWhat a map release holds, why roads drift away from it, and why every release is larger.
- 2How a new map travels from the maker to the deviceHow a map reaches a device: the five routes a release can take, from a USB cable to a car’s mobile connection.
- 3Lifetime maps, paid releases and the end of updatesWhat lifetime means in the makers’ own terms, and what keeps working after the last release.
- 4The makers’ own update programs, and the imitations built around themThe short list of genuine programs and addresses, and how a look-alike update site is spotted.
How these pages are written
Every explainer is built from what the makers themselves publish: manuals, product pages, terms and public statements, checked as of the month shown on each page. Where a maker has published nothing on a point, the page says so rather than filling the gap. Brand names appear only to identify the product a passage describes.
The pages describe what a program is, what a release contains and what a term means. Instructions stay with the makers, whose documentation always takes precedence. Errors can be reported through the editorial address on the contact page, and corrections are made on the page concerned.