CABBIE'S MATE
CABBIE'S MATE
Developed for London taxi drivers
45,000 plus points of interest
Points asked by the examiners at TFL
Easy to use; cotton line, route plot
January 2024 A-Z POI update for Premium Cabbie's Mate subscription apps is now RELEASED. Point check: Netflix UK, Fitzrovia 30 Berners Street, W1T 3LR
January 2024 A-Z POI update for Premium Cabbie's Mate subscription apps is now RELEASED. Point check: Netflix UK, Fitzrovia 30 Berners Street, W1T 3LR

Support » iOS & Android App

Xamarin App User Guide | Navigation Master | A-Z+ Cabbie's Mate

Cabbie’s Mate A-Z App Quick User Guide

Please use the app in a responsible manner and obey traffic laws.


GPS:

When the triangle is red, the map is centred. If the map is scrolled, the triangle will become blue. To centre the map on the current position, tap on the GPS triangle. When GPS is centred and the triangle is red, it will follow your current GPS position on the map when driving. Please be aware, Wi-Fi only devices with no GPS will have less accurate current positioning. You can select a different size or shape GPS icon under info>Settings>GPS indicator.


Night Mode:

This function will dim the screen by 30%. Tap once to apply the ’Night Mode’, tap again to restore to day mode. When in night mode, the search page will also go darker too.


Multi Plot Marker:

This icon can be used in conjunction with ‘cotton Line’ or as a standalone drawing tool. When enabled, the icon will become green. When this feature is enabled, you can draw a multi-point line anywhere on the map. Simply tap on-screen at your ‘start point’ and then continue tapping to plot your route or draw with a finger or Apple pencil/Android pen. A vector (line) between each point or continuous red line will be drawn, giving you a visual reference for a potential route. Use two fingers to scroll the map to draw further. Please use the eraser to delete the route plotting or back icon to go one step back. While in this mode, deleting the multi plotline will not delete the cotton line.


Map Switcher:

Use this function to change between the available A-Z maps or when at the edge of a map coverage area. Providing you are in the coverage area, it will change from Super Scale Central London map to Greater London map, Main Road map, Postcode map and Great Britain Road Atlas. Continuously tapping the button will cycle through all A-Z maps. Your current position, destination, route plot or cotton line that you have created will not be affected by switch maps. You can now deselect maps you do not wish to download.


Trace:

We have two blue trace lines. One is constantly drawing a blue trace line as you drive when the app is open, but it’s hidden, to see the trace, please tap on the snake looking icon, the icon will become green and the trace will be visible. When you want to hide it, please tap on the trace icon again to hide the trace. The trace line will be deleted if you exit the app completely or at 5 am every morning automatically.

The second blue trace line starts automatically as soon as you select a destination and a cotton line is drawn. This will be visible as you drive until you reach your destination. The trace line will then be deleted automatically after 2 minutes. If you change your route or stop short of 50 meters from your destination when you clear the cotton line or select another destination, the trace line and the cotton line will be removed.


Search:

Find any street reference, postcode or point of interest held within the A-Z database. Street and postcode are now under one category together. For POI, please select the POI category. If you search for a street number or a new postcode and it’s not in the database, an option will be displayed where you can tap and search online. Street numbers should be searched in ‘St or Postcode’ category. Please select the correct category for your search. You can also search with voice by tapping on the microphone icon on the search page. Please note, to make the search quicker, we use St for Saint and Gt for Great in the street and poi indexes. The search page will save the last 20 searched entries.



Zoom:

By Tapping this button, the map will zoom in or out to the default zoom levels. Useful if you are driving. Remember, if you would like greater control over the zoom levels, just use ‘pinch’ or ‘expand’ gestures on your device’s touch screen.


Info:

You can find, Quick user guide, License agreement, A-Z map coverage information, Privacy policy, Downloads, settings and Report a Problem functions. If you need to contact us, please use the ‘Report a Problem’ function.


Navigation:

A navigation icon will appear when a destination is selected and a cotton line is drawn. By tapping the ‘N’ button, the map will go into the navigation map and be ready to navigate to your selected destination without re-entering your destination. If you wish to navigate to a street or postcode outside Greater London, the device’s navigation map should be used. You can then switch between navigation to A-Z or from A-Z to navigation by using the device’s minimise function.


Erase:

This will appear when a cotton line is drawn. Tapping on the eraser icon will delete the cotton line.


Cotton Line:

A cotton line can be drawn in two different ways. From the current GPS position to the destination or from A to B.

When a destination is searched, then tapped on the found entry, a cotton line will be drawn from your current position to the destination.

You can also draw a cotton line from A to B by holding down your finger on the screen for longer than one second. When you do this, you will be asked if you would like to place a ‘start marker’ or a ‘destination’. Selecting a ‘start marker’ (point A): Once you have placed your ‘start marker’, you can navigate to any other location to place a ‘destination marker’ (point B). The ‘destination marker’ is placed again by holding your finger at the location for more than one second. A straight line (cotton line) will be drawn between the two markers as a reference allowing the knowledge boys and girls to determine their optimal route. Selecting a ‘destination marker’: If you do not select a ‘start marker’ and select a ‘destination marker’ instead, a cotton line will be drawn between your current GPS position and the selected destination.

You can set start and destination markers when in search mode by tapping on the green flag for starting point and then the blue flag for the destination point on large devices (tablets).


Speed camera warnings:

Speed camera warnings will be triggered when approaching around 100 yards to a speed camera. There are volume and visual display settings under info>Settings. Speed cameras information can be amended when holding your finger on the speed camera icon. All changes will be collected by our server.


TFL Live Traffic Disruptions (TIMS). Data required:

Live data is received from TFL and it’s updated every 5 minutes. Green triangles show hazards, road work or traffic depending on the symbol in the triangle. White triangles show scheduled work. Tap on the triangle icon for more information. TFL live data does not show every single road work or road closure. If you do not wish to use data or running low, please disable this function.


Add user POI:

Press and hold your finger on the map where the POI is. Select ‘Add user POI’. You can then enter your poi details and save. All your entered pois will be in the search index under poi together with our main POI data. All your entries will be listed under ‘My Saved POIs’ under info to allow knowledge students to study. They are also saved on our server, but you should always export or save your data on your device or on cloud too.


Add POIs to create a route:

Enable ‘Show route planner’ under info>Settings. Tap on the two flags icon pointed with the red arrow above. Tap on ‘Add’; this will allow you to select street, postcode or POI from the search page to add to your list. You can also add your own POI. You can close this ‘Saved route’ page, press and hold your finger on the map where the POI is. Select ‘Add POIs to create a route’, enter your POI details and save. You can tap on the arrow up or down to choose the visiting order of pois. If you enable ‘Auto plot multi cotton line route’ it will join automatically all 20-30 POIs daily a knowledge boy/girl may visit. You can export, share, print or save your list. When you finish, you can clear your list. All these POIs on your list are stored in ‘My Saved POI’s’ under info and are added in our POI search index for you. Only you can access your added POI’s. You can delete POIs permanently one by one from ‘My Saved POIs’ by sliding them to the left. You can also export, share, print or save this list.

If you have chosen POI’s from our database, this can only be used for personal purposes while you are subscribed to the Cabbie’s Mate app and cannot be shared, sold or licensed. Copyright laws apply.