Hacker News Reader

IMHO TomTom devices and maps are leaps and bounds over everyone else. The 5xxx series(with built-in GSM for live traffic and speed cameras) ss easily the best sat nav system I have ever used and I can recommend it to anyone without hesitation.

It's still useful in rental cars. Travellers may not have a working phone number to use mobile phone maps.

offline maps? google and here both offer that

Google don't in all regions.

> Note: Downloading offline maps isn't available in some regions because of contractual limitations, language support, address formats, or other reasons.

Did Google start offering off-line maps with navigation and pathfinding support?

Yes, I use offline maps for navigation all the time when on holiday

This was first rolled out in 2015:

https://googleblog.blogspot.com/2015/11/navigate-and-search-...

I believe they are providing a fair amount of data for Apple Maps.

Yup, at least in Europe. Tapping on top right (i) in Apple Maps shows a TomTom logo along with an "and other data providers" link that gets you there[0].

[0]: https://gspe21-ssl.ls.apple.com/html/attribution-94.html