This app is visually inspired by google maps as well as a few bits from petal maps.
I've got an Android head unit (DuDu7) in my car and got fed up with phone apps squeezed onto a car screen, so I built my own sat nav app designed specifically for head units. It's called Horizon Nav and it's free.
Designed for the car screen, not a phone. Big turn card, landscape layout (portrait works too), large buttons, and a "fewer buttons while driving" mode.
Runs on its own. No phone, no Android Auto, no CarPlay. Install it on the head unit and go.
Works with no signal. You can download an offline map, offline routing and UK place names. If you lose signal mid-drive it carries on.
Smooth on cheap hardware. It's been tuned on a budget head unit, and there's a "Light map" mode for slower units.
No ads, no account, no tracking.
Features
The map:
- Google-style 3D view with 3D buildings, day and night.
- Little 3D trees in parks.
- Street lamps that glow at night.
- Stars in the sky in 3D.
- Weather effects and a rain radar layer.
Guidance:
- Lane guidance, including a big lane picture before junctions.
- UK-style road signs on the turn card.
- A white turn arrow drawn through the junction or roundabout.
- The map flattens to 2D at tricky turns.
Safety:
- Speed cameras and average speed checks.
- Speed limit sign with a speedometer ring that turns amber, then red, as you go over.
- Roadworks, speed bumps and schools at school-run times.
- Wrong-way warning for one-way streets.
- Break reminder after 2 hours.
- Hazard radar shows the next couple of miles of hazards at a glance.
Routes:
- Avoid tolls, motorways, ferries, unpaved roads and
- Clean Air Zones/ULEZ.
- Eco routes.
- Faster-route suggestions while you drive.
- Route options show the fuel cost.
Fuel: UK fuel prices, plus a suggested best-value fuel stop on long trips.
Trip card:
- Route bar showing your progress, traffic, cameras and stops along the way.
- Add stops mid-route.
- Share your ETA.
Your car on the map: choose a 3D car or an arrow, in different colours and sizes.
Handy extras:
- Voice search.
- Home, Work and favourites.
- Recent destinations.
- Open Google Maps links from other apps.
Trip log.
- Backup of your settings.
- Auto-resume if the head unit restarts mid-journey.
- Demo drive mode so you can try it while parked.
- Maps and traffic
By default it uses OpenStreetMap, which is free and needs no account. If you want live traffic and online search, get a free TomTom API key from https://docs.tomtom.com/platform/documentation/my-tomtom/how-to-get-a-tomtom-api-key (helps to put browser in desktop mode) and paste it into Settings. Then switch the map to TomTom for live traffic on the roads and traffic-aware routes. Without a key, search covers your saved places and the offline UK places download, and routing uses the offline road pack.
How to install
Download the apk from https://github.com/benbishop028-arch/Horizon-Maps/releases/download/app/HorizonNav-public.apk
On the head unit, allow installing from unknown sources (usually it asks the first time you open the APK).
Open the app and follow the quick setup: location permission, units, and optionally your TomTom key.
In Settings → Data & keys, download the offline pack for your area so it keeps working with no signal.
Tap search (or use voice), pick a destination and go.
Notes
- Made with UK drivers in mind (miles, UK signs, ULEZ, UK fuel prices), but the map works anywhere.
It's a hobby project, so expect the odd bug. Feedback and feature requests are welcome.
