Using POI Factory POIs with CoPilot Live for Android (and maybe other smartphones)

CoPilot Live is an increasingly popular "real roadtrip GPS" tool for iPhone and Android--and, aside from programs preinstalled, is the cheapest alternative other than Google Maps or some of the OpenStreetMaps-compatible tools (CoPilot Live USA is $4.99 in the Android Market and Apple App Store, and CoPilot Live North America (which also covers Canada and Mexico) is $19.99 in both Market and App Store).

One of the niftier features that would definitely put CoPilot Live on the radar for folks here at POI-Factory--at least for Android users--is (ironically) an undocumented feature--it turns out that CoPilot Live can use TomTom .ov2 files natively as custom POI files. (Which is just gravy for us POI-Factory regulars--the default format here are CSV postings--which include TomTom .ov2 files.)

In fact, out of all of the options for Android for "real GPS" tools--with the possible exception of the OEM-only Garmin for Android on the Garminphone--CoPilot Live is by far the easiest GPS tool for Android to load custom POIs on--no conversion necessary!

To my knowledge, the iPhone doesn't have this feature yet--but ALK claims their laptop version doesn't either, while people have successfully used this method to get custom POIs onto CoPilot Live for PCs; it MAY work with iPhone, it never hurts to try it out.

To get the files into CoPilot Live is surprisingly easy:

a) Connect your phone as an external hard drive to your computer. (With Android phones, hook up the USB cable, it should automatically ask if you want to turn on USB storage. It will then show up as an additional drive.)

b) Go to the \copilot\NA\North America\save folder (I use the North America version--if you just got the US version, it may be something like \copilot\NA\United States\save, it does vary between versions of CoPilot; it'll be in the general format of \copilot\(continent two-letter abbreviation)\(your country or map set)\save.)

c) Copy your .ov2 (and if you have an icon file, the icon) to this directory and disconnect your phone by pressing "Turn Off USB Storage".)

d) Start up CoPilot Live. It will immediately pop up stating that a new POI set has been found. Click the next arrow (to the right), and you can either select a preexisting category or select "New Category" for really custom POIs and click next.

e) Select "No" for "are you importing safety camera data?", then click "next".

It should then gracefully import all your POIs. These will show up in a custom category under Settings -> Manage POIs--so you can turn them on and off at your leisure.

To add safety cameras and redlight cameras (if you are windmill-endowed as an active user) is just a bit different:

a) As these are in plain CSV format, you need to convert them to a TomTom .ov2 file using your favourite application. (I like ITN Converter or Extra_POI_Editor, but others like POIEdit or online conversion tools. Your mileage may vary--use what works best for you.)

b) Copy the newly minted .ov2 file EXACTLY the same as in steps a)-d) in the first section. Click "New Category", enter "Cameras", and click next; pick the image that looks like the camera and click next.

c) Answer "YES" to "Are you importing safety camera data?" and click "next".

That will nicely import the safety camera data.

If you decide you need to edit or delete sets of data, you can go into Settings -> Manage POIs (in the main menu) and edit or delete POI sets.

...and that's it! Very simple--as easy as doing it with a "real" GPS.