16. Configuring Preferences

Figure 71: Preferences Page 1 of 7

Once all menu options have been enabled, TomTom allows you to configure many aspects of the ONE XL's settings. Page 1 of 7 in the Preferences section allows you to toggle between night/day color scheme, change the map viewing mode, configure safety preferences, specify which POI's appear on the map, and mute or un-mute the volume.

Figure 72: Safety Preferences

The "Safety Preferences" menu is where you can enable / disable the "safety lock", a "feature" that prevents you from using all but the most needed buttons while driving. Once the vehicle stops, all buttons and features can be used again. When set to disable, all buttons and features can be used while driving.

Figure 73: Turn of Map Display

Another setting located within the "Safety preferences" page is the "Turn of map display" setting. This setting allows you to specify when the map should be turned off:

• Always - When set to "Always", you will only see information about the next instruction and arrows. The map will never be shown.
• Above certain speeds - you set the speed at which the map is turned off (you might want this if you find the map view distracting while driving)
• Never - the default setting, the map is never turned off

Figure 74: Enable / Disable POIs

Tapping on the "Enable / disable POIs" icon from the Preferences page allows you to set which categories of Points of Interest (POIs) should be shown on the map.

When you check a POI, it will be displayed on the map with the corresponding symbol for that POI.

Figure 75: Preferences Page 2 of 7

Page 2 of 7 on the Preferences menu is home to the volume preferences, favorites management, setting/changing the Home location, managing maps, and POIs.

Figure 76: Volume Preferences

This page is used to change the volume of the spoken instructions.

When selected, "Link volume to car speed" automatically adjusts the ONE XL's speaker volume to compensate for the current vehicle speed. In my testing this feature didn't work especially well, and produced erratic volume levels.

Figure 77: Manage Maps

The "Manage maps" allows you to install or un-install additional maps on the ONE XL.

Figure 78: Manage POIs

The "Manage POIs" menu allows you to add / edit / delete custom POIs, create your own custom POI category, and specify proximity warnings for certain POIs.

"Warn when near POI" is used when you want to be alerted when you are near a Point of Interest (POI). For example, you might want to be notified if you are near a known speed trap.

Figure 79: Preferences Page 3 of 7

Page 3 of 7 on the preferences settings menu allows you to customize the status bar, set the time, customize the map, and specify brightness settings:

Figure 80: Status Bar Preferences

TomTom is one of the only GPS manufacturers that allows you to customize exactly what information you want to see on the status bar (the blue bar across the bottom of the map screen). The following items can be checked / unchecked:

• Remaining time - the estimated time left until you reach your destination
• Remaining distance - the distance left until you reach your destination
• Arrival time - your estimated arrival time
• Current time
• Street name - the name of the next street to turn on to
• Speed - your current speed (if the speed limit information is available for the road you are driving on, it is shown next to your current speed)

By default, the remaining time, distance, arrival time, and street name are displayed.

It's tempting to select everything, but the font size used to display this information is slightly small, and the display can become easily cluttered.

For readability sake, I recommend selecting just the information you care most about.

The ability to control what information is displayed on the map screen is a powerful feature that I wish others (Magellan, Garmin, are you listening?) would also offer. I loved being able to display the ETA, remaining time, AND distance, all on one screen.

Figure 81: Clock Display

Tap the "Set clock" icon to set the time and to specify how the time should be displayed. Unless you're in a basement and cannot receive GPS signals, you'll probably want to use the "Sync" button instead, which forces the ONE XL to grab the current time from the GPS signal.

Figure 82: Setting the Daytime Color Scheme

The ONE XL allows you to select a "day" and "night" color scheme. When set to automatically switch between the two, the ONE XL will change from the day color scheme to the night color scheme at sunset.

Note that automatic switching between the two modes is controlled by the time of day, and not the actual ambient light conditions.

Figure 83: Selecting the Night Color Scheme

The standard night color scheme is "Antarctica", shown above. Additional color schemes can be downloaded via TomTom's PLUS service.