Blue Ridge Companion
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Blue Ridge Companion is not a travel planner, instead this is the app that goes with you along America’s Favorite Drive: your travel buddy as you explore the Parkway. While you explore the “BRP” this app tells you precisely where you are and what is around the next corner, in plain English.
Tap the text at the top of the map to hear a voice announcement of your latest location and upcoming Parkway viewpoint.
With Blue Ridge Companion there is no more guessing or estimating what milepost you’re at: the app tells you, to within 0.1 miles, where you are in rain, or fog, or dark of night, even when no network is available. The app announces your direction of travel, and alerts you to the next point of interest and which side of the road it is on. The built-in map is always there, and never consumes any of your monthly cellular data. Simply launch the app, and let it do its stuff – the “keep it simple principle” at your service.
Tap any of the overlay icons representing scenic stops, points of interest, tunnels, mileposts, or intersections to access the Turn-by-turn navigation button, and the Voice Announcement button.
The app provides precise locations and elevations of hundreds of scenic stops, points of interest, parking areas, tunnels, and each of the parkway’s 470 mile posts! You can even choose to display all the major road intersections along the parkway. All map overlay points are selectable, so you can choose to have Blue Ridge Companion launch your favorite navigation app to provide turn-by-turn directions to any point you select.
Access the Table View, Info, and Find-Me buttons by tapping once anywhere on the map. The buttons will appear across the bottom of the display.
Open the table view for a textual display of all the points of interest sorted alphabetically by name, by milepost, or centered on those that are in closest proximity to your location on the parkway. Tap a table entry to select it, then return to the map to view the selected point of interest centered on the map display.
Minimize the app by pressing the Home button once.
While on the parkway you can minimize the app and it will continue to provide helpful voice notifications while you are using other apps. When you leave the parkway with the app minimized it will automatically stop tracking your position to save battery power.
A few things to keep in mind while using this app on your mobile device:
Continued use of GPS running in the background can dramatically decrease battery life. Consider leaving your device charging while using Blue Ridge Companion in your vehicle.
GPS coverage can vary while traveling along the Blue Ridge Parkway. Tunnels and surrounding hillsides can occasionally block the line-of-sight satellite view needed for precise location positioning. The app will quickly recover from momentary loss of GPS position, usually with no impact to normal operation, but from time-to-time a missed announcement might occur. Reliable operation can be enhanced by providing your mobile device with a clear view of the sky through the vehicle windows, while avoiding extended exposure to direct sunlight that could cause the device to overheat.