How to use My Commute on Windows Phone 8

For those who drive to work every day will know how just one road accident up ahead can turn your whole journey into a nightmare. To ease that pain, and to get you where you need to be on time, HERE Driveand HERE Drive+ come with a feature called My Commute, a tool that learns your driving preferences and helps you find an alternative route if you need one.

For Nokia Lumia

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HERE Drive

HERE Drive+

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Other Windows Phone 8

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HERE Drive (free)

HERE Drive+ (paid)

While the name suggests that My Commute is built for people going to and from work, it’s also really helpful for anybody who drives to the same places on a regular basis. So, people who go to the gym a couple times a week, parents driving the kids to school, or people who just visit friends or family regularly by car. Wherever you drive, as long as it’s regular, My Commute is for you.

My Commute is integrated to HERE Drive, so to make use of it, you need to download HERE Drive and you can do that by scanning the QR code on the right with your Windows Phone 8 smartphone.

Setting up My Commute

Once installed and launched, HERE Drive will welcome you with several screens detailing how HERE Drive and My Commute works and by also asking you to set up a commute. Choose set up My Commute now to get started.

Begin by entering the starting point, which for most is probably your home. By tapping on the first entry field you can choose to use your current location, any recent destinations you may have used, any favourites you may have and also a search box where you can type for a location.

Repeat the same steps to set your destination and then move onto setting the times you make that journey in both directions, to and from the location, finishing by pressing Save.

Give it a few seconds to calculate the best route and you’ll be presented with a screen telling you that you’re first commute is saved, with the option to pin to start. We suggest you do this to keep informed of any commute changes that may happen before you set out for your drive.

 

You can, of course, create more Commutes whenever you need them by navigating to the My Commute section on HERE Drive.

My Commute Live Tile

For the most part the Live tile – which can be resized to small, medium, or large – will sit on your Start screen and do nothing until an hour before you’re due to make your trip, showing you the estimated travel time and also notifying you of any traffic problems, thanks to real-time traffic information.

If for some reason you decide to remove the Live Tile but later want to repin it back to your Start screen, you can do this by following these steps:
HERE Drive > Settings > My Commute > Pin to start “My Commute” Live Tile.

Also, it’s worth noting that there is only one My Commute Live Tile: the system understands which commute you are most likely to need, based on the time and location, and displays the relevant commute.

 

My Commute pulls in real-time traffic data from various sources, including the many other HERE Drive traffic users that may be on the same roads as you.

If other users of HERE Drive are on a busy road and stop for more than would be expected, the mapping servers are notified and this anonymous data is passed onto other users.

If this real-time traffic data coincides with one of your Commutes, the Live tile will notify you that your journey may take longer than usual. It’s then up to you to decide if you need to leave earlier to ensure you arrive at your destination on time.

Driving with My Commute

If you leave HERE Drive running as you’re at the wheel, it can learn more about your route and preferences for future journeys. If it recognises that you’re driving the same route more than twice, it’ll automatically add it to your Commute list.

While you’re driving, you’ll also be notified of any unexpected delays that may lie ahead and suggest an alternative route among those you’ve driven before.

My Commute delivers traffic information in this way because the HERE team understands that you shouldn’t radically change your driving habits; only to suit very specific needs at very specific times.

Most people drive the routes they drive for a reason. With My Commute, you still drive the same way, however, with better understanding of what is the fastest route among your favourite ones.

 

Live Traffic overview

Another reason to leave HERE Drive running is that you’ll be contributing to the real-time traffic data that’s helping millions of people around the world. In fact, if you need traffic information, you can always see what the traffic situation looks like by tapping on the live traffic overview icon.

Although suggesting alternatives, should roads be very busy, is most important for daily commutes, we understand that you might want this feature also along a route you’re only going to take once (for instance to go to your vacation spot). We will introduce this option in a future release of HERE Drive.

In the meantime, enjoy My commute in one of the 26 countries where it’s available (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, UK, Ukraine and US).

Have you used My Commute already? Let us know in the comments below.