The question in the title of this article is without a doubt being asked by millions of happy users of TomTom navigation and owners of Android phones and tablets. It makes no sense at all. One of the best navigations on the market and the fastest growing mobile platform in the world, it’s a natural match. Isn’t is?
TomTom navigation not on Android – possible reasons
Technical problems
There has been zero reports that there is be any technical issues with porting the TomTom navigation to Android. And even if there were, no one would believe. There are so many gps apps available for the Android from so many companies (even the smaller ones) that I’m 100% sure the technical side is not the problem. Just so we get this possible reason out of the way.
TomTom not interested in Android platform
Theoretically the bosses at TomTom in The Netherlands could have assessed the market and decided that Android is not going to make it so it does not make sense to invest into it. I think we all know this is also not true. And I believe they saw the charts that predict the growth of the mobile devices in the next few years and the market share Android is going to take.
The TomTom deal with Apple
Now we could be on to something. If you remember as far back as 2009, there was a lot of buzz when Apple announced the deal with TomTom, the news on engadget was that this will finally bring “real” navigation to iPhone. The bond is obviously still strong. The TomTom apps in iTunes are available for most of the world. And the news from February 2012 posted on bloomberg.com talks about something interesting:
TomTom, Europe’s biggest maker of portable navigation devices, rose to the highest in seven months after Rabo Securities raised its recommendation, citing strong automotive sales and a potential Apple mapping deal.
I don’t know about you, but this seems like a clue. There is nothing confirmed yet and there was a TomTom Places app for Android launched in November 2011 but if the TomTom and Apple will actually become more involved, this could be the reason why there is still no app for Android available.
We have to wait and see if speculation about the TomTom cooperation with Apple will actually stop TomTom coming to Android.
But there is another piece of news in case you missed it – TomTom Navigator 7 is available for the Windows smartphones. Is this good or bad news for the potential Android app? Only time will tell. If they did the navigation app for the Windows platform, they could just as well do it for the Android, right? Let’s stay optimistic.
I hope this is not true. If Tomtom partners with Apple they can still make apps for Android.
I’m a fan of tomtom, I’ve used the standalone device for years. But if they don’t do it for the android soon, I’ll buy competition. It is just stupid to have to use another device if my samsung galaxy 2 is more than capable. So wake up tomtom or lose the clients.
TomTom have built Android based systems for carmanufacturers Renault and Mazda that are being built straight into the dashboard. The Renault system is called R-link and features a dedicated appstore as well. They also released business apps (called worksmart) on Android and iOS. And the already mentioned Places app.
After this, developers are now working on gps apps for smartphones, that will probably be released somewhere in the next few moths I guess. No technical issues, though android phones do have different hardware formats, which make it a little more complex than an iPhone app. Another thing, apart from scarce developers, is that they needed to think through the pricing strategy for the long term before launch.
Hello people, I’m from Canada, new into Android, but I like TomTom. I had it installed on a couple of Windows Mobile HTCs on Sony XPeria phones in the past and I loved it!
Now tell me something, iPhones/iPads in their core are a linux/unix OS, Android in its core is a linux/unix OS and even Tomtom stand alone devices are in their core a lunix/unix OS. Can’t someone “hack” the TomTom for iPhone/iPad and make it work for Android? I see no harm in doing that because people would still need to purchase the app for Apple devices from TomTom. Whatt hey do with it afterwards is up to them. If they render it unusable, they’ll have to pay for another copy.
Just something to think about…………….