Sygic now offers monthly map updates. Why is this a big deal?

Our maps are being updated so fast that we had to develop a completely new technology to keep pace. We are now one step closer to our goal: real-time updates of offline maps.

When was the last time that the offline maps in your built-in navigation system were updated? Last year during your regular service – or did you forgot to ask the technician?

Our maps provider, TomTom, collects 61 billion GPS data points every day. These data are reflected in 1.5 billion map changes each month, which result in a stunning 570 changes every second.

At Sygic GPS navigation, we update our offline maps three times a year. With this latest update, these revisions will be made more often – once a month. Before we dig more into detail, let’s explain exactly what we mean by map updates.

Our maps consist of two layers – static and dynamic:

1. The dynamic layer is updated online, so refreshed at short intervals, and includes Live Traffic updates and reported road closures.
2. The static layer is updated several times a year and includes the road network, addresses, interesting places, traffic regulations, speed limits and stationary speed cameras.

In this connected online era, having a non-instant update of anything might seem a bit odd and maybe even funny, but in the world of offline maps, where the process of integrating changes is hugely complex, rolling out fresh maps each month is a big deal.

You might be inclined to think: “Yeah, but I use my online navigation and it works just fine!”. That’s true, provided you have stable 4G connectivity with no latency and you are not going through a dead zone.
It’s also worth considering the peace of mind you get from being independent of your telecoms provider’s service or free of a limited data plan.

This new feature was requested by our community and allows you, our users, to update your offline maps twelve times a year, instead of three, so that you can be sure that the static layer in your navigation is always up-to-date.

This switch to monthly map updates is our first step towards real-time updating of offline maps. We are currently developing technology which will update these maps each time you go online, thereby ensuring the maximum precision possible.

You can activate the new feature by going to your Sygic GPS Navigation, tapping on the menu (the three bars in the upper left corner), tapping on Sygic Store, selecting Monthly map updates and activating a one-year license.