Yandex.Taxi Application. Overview of the Yandex Transport application for Android Maps and their relevance

For Android and iOS only in March 2012, it offered residents of Russia and Ukraine a free navigation service with traffic jams. At its core, it was a slightly redesigned Yandex.Maps application, which only acquired a route guidance function. Yandex.Maps routes themselves were built before, so, taking into account other existing developments within the company, the developers had to put in relatively little effort to release the first version of the navigator.

At the time of our testing, Yandex.Navigator 1.51 was available, which in terms of functionality is not far from the first versions and is a simple navigation program with up-to-date detailed maps.

Pricing and Licensing Policy

For non-commercial use, the application is absolutely free. Maps and additional services (voice search, traffic jams) are also free.

System requirements

Only the Android 1.5 or later operating system is mentioned as system requirements. There are no separate requirements for the screen resolution or the required space in the internal memory of the smartphone.

Functionality

In order to immediately answer various questions about what the program can and cannot, we have collected information about its functionality in one table.

Yes, the functionality of the application is very modest and in many ways falls short of the bulk of navigation programs. However, Yandex.Navigator should perform all its main duties without problems.

Interface

The program interface is simple and concise. Almost all the space on the screen is taken up by the map. At the top, the operating system notification line remains visible, and if you touch the screen, a translucent panel appears at the bottom with buttons for search, return to your current location, favorites and settings.

In the settings, you can activate the 3D mode. In it, the map on a small scale begins to be displayed at a certain slope to the horizon, and with a sufficiently large approach, the outlines of houses become three-dimensional. They rise slightly above the surface, becoming, as it were, one-story.

Also, in the settings, you can select the type of the displayed map: scheme, satellite or folk (everything is like in other Yandex maps). The 3D mode for them will manifest itself only in the appearance of the slope and the horizon line on a small scale.

We also provide a screenshot of the settings menu. In fact, almost everything fit on one screen. Only the items "Clearing history" and "About the program" did not fit.

The only hot buttons on the screen are buttons for zooming, changing the map orientation and setting DPOI marks.

Brief summary

Liked: convenient and practical interface of the card.

Did not like: nondescript night color obtained by darkening.

Search and work with the map

Compared to all the other products we have reviewed, Yandex.Navigator has two fundamental differences: there is no typical address search, and universal search is supplemented by a built-in speech recognition function and a separate POI rubricator. In fact, before you is the Yandex.Maps search box, where you can type anything you want - be it an address or the name of a company / institution, and get a display of these places on the map.

Speech recognition works pretty well. Actually, during the entire time of communication with Yandex.Navigator, we used the virtual keyboard only once - to see how this type of search works and to take screenshots for it. The speech module itself recognizes the end of a phrase and immediately shows it to you, simultaneously starting a search for it in all categories. The result is then immediately displayed on the map. While driving in a car, when the noise level is high enough, the system sometimes could not determine the end of the phrase, but this did not create any problems. In this case, to manually start the recognition process, it was enough to press the “Recognize” button on the screen.

But, of course, loud music in the cabin made communication with the navigator impossible, so it had to be muted. It was also a little upset that the speech module does not know English. This is compensated by the fact that he almost always transliterates the phrase you uttered correctly and tries to search for it, which, in our practice, has always been successful. In addition to the Russian language, the speech module declared support for the Ukrainian and Turkish languages.

In an ordinary search box, there is a very nimble interlinear, which, as you type a word or phrase, gives the most suitable options. After selecting a street, the line does not disappear, and the cursor at the end of it intuitively prompts you that it is waiting for the indication of the house number.

It's a pity that after the object is displayed on the map, there is no way to see what kind of building it is and what organizations are located here. In browser Yandex.Maps, all this information is available, including a photo, not to mention street view modes, when you can virtually look around the area.

In addition to the search bar, users are offered a list of POI categories. When you click on one of them, all the corresponding objects are displayed on the map.

It is suspected that this feature is also implemented through a general search with one or more keywords.

Brief summary

Liked: speech recognition system, convenient search.

Did not like: part of the functionality that Yandex.Maps has (street view, photos, displaying lists of organizations at specified addresses) is missing.

Maps and their relevance

The application has two options for working with the map. In the first case, it constantly loads the necessary parts of the map as needed and caches them. It is very convenient and practical. You don't need to set aside a lot of space on the internal storage for storing maps. In addition, cached cards can be deleted through the menu, thereby freeing up the necessary space.

Of course, before a long trip, in order to save traffic in roaming, you can cache the desired area of ​​the map yourself, for this you just need to view it in the application at the required scale. And if this option does not suit you, you can always load a complete set of maps or its individual parts into the internal memory of your smartphone:

The “survey” version of the maps does not differ much from the “full” version outwardly. They can be seen and compared in the three screenshots below. On the first, the left side of the screen is a full map, and on the right is an overview. The other two show the same area of ​​the map in full and overview versions.

House numbers in the full version of the map (as in the screenshots above) will appear on the screen if you zoom out one step. According to company representatives, the overview map differs from the full one only in the number of drawn scales and detailing.

The map has one peculiarity: it does not display courtyard passages, although when you are in the courtyard territory, routes along them are built regularly.

According to the developers, the packs of downloadable maps are updated monthly, but in practice everything is different. For example, the map of Moscow is dated January 2013. The rest of the cards are even older. But you should not be afraid of old maps, because before displaying each site, the program requests a more recent version on the server, and if there is one, it displays it.

The cards themselves are available only for Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Turkey. There is no information about other countries yet. You can check the relevance of the information on the map yourself by going to the address in your browser. We didn't have any special questions for her. The only thing that we noticed was the extra icons of view cameras and speed control in the area of ​​the overpass that opened in October on Profsoyuznaya Street near the Teply Stan metro station. The cameras were dismantled just before the opening of the new site, or even earlier. But, perhaps, these are petty quibbles.

Routes and navigation

We also have no complaints about laying routes. They are quite logical and devoid of any oddities, which can sometimes be seen in competitors. Traffic jams are taken into account quite adequately, no kinks. It's also nice that in many cases Yandex.Navigator offers two options to choose from.

An alternative is usually offered in cases where the two most optimal routes differ from each other in time by no more than 10-15%, or if a significantly longer one turns out to be noticeably shorter in distance. And if you don't really like the laid routes, you can drag your finger on the line of any of them (or on the start and finish points) and move it to the place through which the route should pass. Yandex.Navigator will immediately rebuild the route and indicate the estimated time of movement along it. By the way, the time is always indicated accurately enough. The program knows the average speed of movement on all sections of the route, plus, objectively increases it depending on the number of traffic lights and turns. As a result, if the traffic situation did not change during the movement, then the author of these lines always arrived at the set point minute per minute in accordance with the estimated travel time. Well, except that sometimes it was possible to win one or two minutes from the "computer" due to the fact that it was possible to move on the free sections of the outgoing routes with a slight excess of speed within the limits conventionally allowed by the new legislation.

As you move along the route, indicators of upcoming maneuvers and the distance to them, as well as the time to the end of the route, appear on a translucent panel. Instead of time, you can display the current speed, distance to the finish line or arrival time. To select, you need to touch your finger at this point on the screen.

There is also a thin line along the panel, where the traffic jams and your current position are displayed in color.

Also, if you touch the icon of the upcoming turn, then an enlarged section of the map with this interchange and the route line on it will appear on the screen.

Otherwise, there is nothing superfluous in the functionality. Although there are not enough warnings about speeding on the current segment, which is a big disadvantage. But there are warnings about cameras and other road events, but this is extremely impractical. In the menu, you are asked to put a checkmark in front of those events, warnings about which you want to hear.

As soon as an event or camera icon appears on the map ahead, the same warning tone sounds. It is impossible to determine the type of event (accident, road works, speed camera, messages from other drivers, etc.), and besides, the system also warns about those cameras that control the oncoming traffic.

Well, and most importantly, you need to remember about routes using Yandex.Navigator: without connecting to the Internet, they will not be built, even if you have all the maps loaded and you have to drive a hundred meters down the street.

Brief summary

Liked: Adequate routes, accurate forecast of travel times, alternative route options are suggested.

Did not like: without connecting to the Network, routes are not built, there are no warnings about speeding, the same sound of warnings about all events or cameras.

Voice prompts

For the Russian language, two sound profiles are offered - "Dima" and "Oksana". Both of them are quite good, but “Oksana” for the author of these lines is somehow nicer than “Dima”. Both profiles are laconic and only give advance warning of upcoming and current maneuvers.

Testing

We have carried out several tests concerning the performance of the software and the comfort of working with it. As test platforms, we used the same tablets and smartphones as before. All of them have once visited our test laboratory and have full reviews, links to which can be found in the brief table of technical characteristics below.

Recall that our smartphone acts as a relatively modern budget platform. On it, we evaluate the suitability of software for low-performance systems. The Prestigio tablet embodies the middle segment, while the Pipo gravitates towards the top class in terms of performance and other characteristics.

Installation

Only the smartphone had installation problems, since we have a purebred Chinese and intended for the Chinese market, while Yandex through Yandex.Store and Google Play allows the installation of this application only for Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Turkey. However, there is a legal way to get the APK file on your smartphone and install the app yourself. This can be done with. But in this case, for obvious reasons, the application will not update itself.

The size of the Yandex.Navigator distribution kit is approximately 11 MB and depends on the device for which it is loaded.

Start time

Regardless of the platform we use, the application needs only two seconds to launch and one or two more to display your estimated location on the map by analyzing the coordinates of the GSM towers (which is why Yandex.Maps were so famous). With active A-GPS and a good signal from satellites, a marker of your exact position will appear on the screen in a few tens of seconds.

This is the best result among all the software we have already reviewed.

Route time

Apparently, routing does not take place on a local device, but on a server, and here are a couple of arguments in favor of this version: the lack of activity of the SoC computing cores and many times different times for laying the same route in different attempts (obviously depends on the type and Internet connection speed). The time for laying routes with a good connection (3G, Wi-Fi) ranges from 1-2 seconds to about 20 in the case of a "trip" from Moscow to Vladivostok. But if the connection is unstable, sometimes you can wait a long time.

We repeat that in the absence of the Network, routing will be impossible at all, even if you have a map of the required region loaded.

Disposal of system resources

Utilization of computing power is extremely low on all test platforms. Even on a single-core smartphone, it rarely hits the "ceiling", and even then only at some isolated moments while continuously scaling and loading and displaying traffic jams. On four "dusty" Cortex-A7 cores, sometimes you can see the SoC load at 35-40% (with active scrolling and scaling with loading and imposing plugs). This means that the code is somehow adapted to work on multiple cores.

In addition, Yandex.Navigator uses the least amount of RAM among the applications we have reviewed.

Battery life

Starting from this time, we decided to exclude the check of the operating time of the systems with the navigation software running on them. Too many external factors influence this process, which leads to difficulties with reproducibility of results. In addition, the load level of the SoC computational cores practically does not play any role in this, but the duration of data transmission sessions in GSM networks could affect, but again, all the numbers are almost within the margin of error. For example, this time Yandex.Navigator very actively communicated with the Network during all measurements due to frequent route changes and traffic jams, catching up with 5-6 MB of traffic per hour while lying on the windowsill. However, the total battery life on the smartphone is 2:58. Thus, the difference between all the applications we tested remains within 5-6%, and there is no practical sense in further experiments.

Network traffic volume per trip

Since the program has two modes of operation (with and without preloaded maps), we drove twice along the same small 16 km route in Moscow, first with loaded maps, and the second time with a pre-cleared cache. Both trips took approximately 30 minutes. So, the results are as follows: with loaded maps, Yandex.Navigator consumes about 3.5 MB / h, and without them - 6.5 MB / h. If we recalculate it in terms of mileage, then this approximately corresponds to 0.1 and 0.2 MB / km, respectively. An hour's drive outside the city on the highway with an initially empty map cache yielded a figure of 4 MB at a distance of 90 km.

Technical support

You can contact technical support only through a special form on the website. There is no knowledge base or official forum thread. Phone too. They do not respond very quickly (it takes about a day to answer), but they are polite and informative, although not always accurate. Replies come to the mail, after which you can enter into regular correspondence (the main thing is not to change the header of the letter with the reference code).

conclusions

It should be noted that Yandex's first pancake did not come out lumpy, and in version 1.51 it even looks like an excellent pancake! It has a convenient voice search, which works so well that during the test we turned to the virtual keyboard only to take screenshots of this material. The interface of the maps is not only pleasing to the eye (except for the night mode), but also very practical. It doesn't have the trendy and controversial 3D displaying the actual height of buildings, but it has great readability. The relevance of maps is a synonym for Yandex. The routing is also excellent. In addition, Yandex.Navigator often offers an alternative option, which is also convenient. And the application consumes a very moderate amount of traffic, even if you do not first load the necessary maps into memory. By the way, in terms of traffic it is almost on par with Navitel Navigator, whose maps are stored exclusively in the device's internal memory and does not need to download them from the Web.

And the main problem is one: without access to the Internet, even with loaded maps, Yandex.Navigator turns into a "pumpkin", that is, it can only display a map, your location - and nothing more. No routes, no search. In addition, I would very much like to get the functionality of browser-based Yandex.Maps in Yandex.Navigator, where there are photos, descriptions of objects, panoramas, etc. In addition, there is no advanced functionality such as “friends on the map”, work with tracks, and so on. However, you must remember that the application is free! And if our wishes and comments are taken into account in version 2.0, which remains free, it will simply undermine the navigation market in Russia and in the two union states. And one would think that Yandex would not dare to do this, but very soon navigation in Google Maps will be released from the beta version ... And there is also Megafon-Navigation. So place your bets and stock up on popcorn!

Dignity

• practical interface
• high quality voice search
• adequate planning of routes
• actual maps
• is free

disadvantages

• without access to the Web, it does not build routes and the search does not work
• reduced functionality compared to browser-based Yandex.Maps
• courtyard driveways are not displayed on the map
• no warnings about exceeding the speed limit
• many useful functions inherent in navigation software are missing

On slow smartphones and tablets, the Taximeter may not accurately determine where you are, freeze or give errors. To help you spend less time on device-related problems, our analysts:

⇒analyzed the work of about a thousand models; ⇒ we asked drivers if they were satisfied with the operation of their devices; ⇒ took into account the ratio of price and quality; ⇒ and compiled lists of devices suitable and not suitable for the Taximeter - see them below.

For the application to work properly, the device must have:

• version Android 5.0 and newer (you can see what version you have in the "Settings" section);
• 2 GB random access memory;
• Not only Gps, but also GLONASS.

And where is Yandex.Telephone?

It's not on the list of the best devices, just because we don't have enough statistics. Drivers rarely use Yandex.Telephone yet - he is a beginner, give him time.

According to all technical characteristics, Yandex.Telephone is perfect for working with a Taximeter. It has everything you need: a GPS module and GLONASS, 4 GB of RAM and a camera (even two) with which you can take high-quality photos for photo control.

Suitable devices for working with Taximeter

The smartphones and tablets on this list also work effectively and get good reviews from drivers, but they are more difficult to buy - these are not the newest models. If you currently have a device from this list, you can continue to fulfill orders with it.

• MTS Smart: Surf 2 4G
• Alcatel: 1, 3v, A3, A5, PIXI 4 (5) 4G
• Asus Zenfone: Max Plus M1
• BQ: 5512l strike forward
• Dexp: Ursus H170
• Digma: Citi7507 4G, VOX FIRE 4G
• Fly nimbus 9
• Htc one x9 dual sim
• Huawei Honor: 7, 10, 6A 6A Pro, 8 lite, View 10
• Huawei Mediapad: M3 Lite 10, M5 8.4, T2 7.0
• Huawei Nova: 3, Lite 2017
• Huawei P9 Lite mini
• Huawei Y: Y3 2017, Y5 2017, Y5 2018
• Lenovo TAB: 3 Essential 710i 8Gb, 4 8
• Lenovo Vibe b
• Philips X586
• Samsung Galaxy: A6 (2018), A6 +, A7 (2017)
• Samsung Galaxy: J1 Mini Prime (2016), J5, J5, J7 (2016), J7 Prime
• Samsung Galaxy: Note8, S6 Edge +
• Samsung Galaxy Tab: A, A 7.0, S2
• Vertex: Impress lagune
• Vivo Y53
• Xiaomi Mi Note LTE
• Xiaomi Redmi: 4A, 5 Plus, 5A 16GB, 6, 6A, S2
• Xiaomi Redmi Note: 5A, 6 Pro
• Zte blade a512

Yandex application- all the essentials on one screen: weather forecast, traffic jams, news, announcements, poster, translator and, of course, search. The app understands speech, searches for pictures, reads QR codes, answers popular questions and provides quick access to Yandex services.

Differences from the browser

Transfer bookmarks from the browser

There are no bookmarks in the Yandex application, so you cannot transfer Yandex Browser bookmarks from a computer or other device.

You can add useful links to Favorites. They will be saved in Yandex.Collections and will be available on other devices.

History of visited pages

The Yandex application saves memory on your device and therefore does not save information about visited pages.

Search history

Save request history

You can save the history of your searches in the app. To do this, go to the application settings:

View request history

While waiting for a bus, tram, minibus or trolleybus you would like to know if your number will arrive soon. Yandex Transport allows you to do this in real time - the map displays all public transport in motion. If necessary, you can enter the number of the desired route and get information both along the entire route and see the location of the transport that serves it.

How Yandex Transport works

Yandex Transport is one of the so-called "three" applications from the company for transport. There is also a Navigator and a Taxi. Today, it is not necessary to download a separate application to your smartphone, since in addition to the browser, the Yandex application also has a built-in web version of Yandex Transport and some other services of the company.

True, there is still more functionality in a separate application, and some users are more familiar with it. Plus, Yandex's universal app is still in beta testing.

Built-in maps

Immediately after launching the application, you will see a map showing the movement of public transport on it. The city should be determined automatically, but this does not always happen, so sometimes the user may "find himself" in the center of Moscow. If the automatic city detection did not work, then just enter its name in the search box.

On the map itself, in addition to traffic, you can see stops (they are additionally highlighted), as well as the situation on the road. To view traffic jams, simply click on the traffic light button.

Viewing the timetable

In the application, you can find out which public transport routes pass through a particular stop. Just click on the desired stop on the map or enter its name in the search box. You will see a list of all routes passing through it, as well as the approximate frequency of transport. In addition, at some stops, it is shown how many times this or that transport will arrive. Routes of interest can be added to the tracking directly from there by clicking on the buttons in the form of a heart.

Similarly, you can view the timetable for a specific route. Click on the map or enter the desired number and get a list of stops through which this transport passes. Here you can also find out exactly when the nearest transport will arrive to the listed stops.

You can only track one route at a time. If necessary, you can add it to your bookmarks so as not to lose it and switch to another.

Route planning

Yandex Transport also has built-in navigator functions, that is, you can create routes in it. Open the "Where" tab and write the start and end points. Your location is taken as the starting point, but you can enter it manually if it is not set correctly or if you plan to start the route from another point.

The application will show you the most convenient travel options: by public transport, on foot or by taxi. To get a display of the route on the map, just click on it.

Also here you can filter the transport that you will expect. For example, if you do not like driving in minibuses, you can simply turn them off in the route planning settings. Then you will not be offered options using a route taxi. The same can be done with any type of public transport. If necessary, the settings can be saved and used later.

Turn on the alarm

In the application settings, you can enable the built-in alarm clock. This feature is useful if you have a long trip during which you would like to take a nap. The app will track the location on the map. When you reach your stop, the app will beep.

Unfortunately, this function may not work accurately. By default, it is disabled and must be enabled through the application settings.

Car sharing services

For residents of large cities, the integration of Yandex Transport with car-sharing services is available. They provide a car for short-term rent for several hours or days. Unfortunately, a very limited list of services is still available, plus, it is only available in large cities of Russia.

Replenishment of travel cards

Again, this function is only for residents of large cities in Russia - Moscow and St. Petersburg. Replenishment of the main travel cards is available - "Troika", "Strelka", "Plantain". The Yandex Money service acts as a means of payment. For inexperienced users, the application provides a brief instruction on how to replenish a card via Yandex or a terminal.

Application settings

In Yandex Transport, you can configure the display of maps, traffic events, select a city, connect some services, etc.

Grading system

The developers are trying to make the application more user-friendly and accurate. You can evaluate the suggested routes using emoticons. If there is a serious problem, then you can read a specialized forum using the "Contact developers" button, which is located in the main menu.

Summary

The Yandex Transport application has no competitive analogue even among foreign companies. It has many advantages, however, there are also flaws.

Advantages:

• User-friendly interface and built-in Russian by default;
• The application is completely free, no intrusive ads;
• High accuracy of maps from Yandex (only for the Russian Federation and the CIS);
• Maintaining frequent routes;
• Fine-tuning routes and the application itself.

Disadvantages:

• There may be inaccuracies in the waiting time, which is indicated in the application, but not critical;
• The application is practically useless outside the CIS.

Yandex Transport is a very convenient application that will be indispensable for residents of large cities.

Yandex has released a light version of its browser for mobile devices running on the Android platform. The application is intended for undemanding users who primarily want to save space on their smartphone or tablet.
Yandex.Browser Lite is a lightweight (installation file takes only 850 kb) and fast browser with basic functions for working on the Internet: an address bar, a panel of visual bookmarks and a personal Zen recommendation feed.

You can search for sites in the address bar; it is perfect as a second browser for both social networks and for opening links from other applications. The visual bookmarks panel is designed to save your favorite web pages, and the Zen feed displays a personal selection of news and various articles. To prevent Yandex Browser Lite from gaining weight, the developers recommend clearing the cache and cookies from time to time in the application settings. It can also be transferred to a memory card if necessary.