Navigation app settings for Central Europe: tolls, cameras, maps

When Mapssy opens a route in Google Maps, Apple Maps, Waze or TomTom, it hands over only the start and the destination. Everything else, from vignette motorways to camera alerts and kilometres, comes from settings inside the app, so set them before the trip.

The menu names below come from each app maker's help pages, checked on 26 September 2026. Apps rename menus often, so look for the nearest match.

Tolls and vignettes: what each app can avoid

Motorways in Austria, Slovakia, Czechia, Hungary and Slovenia need a time-based vignette, while German motorways stay toll-free for cars in 2026. Prices and coverage are in our motorway vignettes guide. For the apps, the question is whether a setting can tell 'I have a vignette' from 'avoid every road that costs money'.

Google Maps

Tap your profile picture or initial, then Settings > Navigation; Google's help says your navigation settings are where you choose to avoid toll roads. On the directions screen, More > Options holds route choices too, and Google's help names Avoid tolls and Avoid highways there. Google's help mentions no vignette setting and doesn't say whether vignette motorways count as toll roads.

Apple Maps

Get driving directions, tap Options below Directions and choose tolls or motorways (labelled highways in some languages) under Avoid. Apple's iOS 27 guide mentions no vignette setting either.

Waze

Settings > Navigation holds Avoid toll roads, Avoid ferries and Avoid freeways. Separately, Settings > Toll and HOV passes (the name varies by country) lets you add passes and vignettes, and Waze then guides you based on them. When Waze rolled out vignette passes in November 2018, its staff listed, among others, Austria, Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Slovenia and Switzerland. Waze warns that passes can change, so remove yours when it expires.

TomTom

Mapssy's TomTom button opens plan.tomtom.com, where the cog wheel opens route settings, including road types to avoid; a saved route can sync to TomTom's GO Expert phone app (formerly GO Navigation, now aimed at truck drivers but still working for cars). TomTom's help confirms GO Expert can avoid toll roads without giving a menu path; on the GO Expert sat nav it is Settings > Routing. TomTom's separate TomTom app is free.

Offline maps: which apps can download them

Google Maps guides you offline only if the whole route is inside the downloaded area, without traffic or alternative routes. Its offline maps expire; with 15 days or less left and Wi-Fi on, the app tries to update them. In the GO Expert app, Austria, Czechia, Hungary, Slovakia and Slovenia are single maps, but Germany is split into five regions, with Bavaria under Germany Southeast.

Mobile data: roam like at home, except in Switzerland

With a SIM from an EU operator, 'roam like at home' rules mean calls, texts and data in another EU country cost the same as at home, so live traffic works across Austria, Germany, Slovakia, Czechia and Hungary without roaming charges. Operators may set a fair-use data limit but must tell you in advance. Switzerland is outside the EU and not covered, so check your tariff or rely on offline maps there.

Speed-camera alerts: the rules by country

Whether you may use camera warnings depends on the country, not the app. This summarises the legal texts and is not legal advice; follow the links for the exact wording. ADAC below means the German motoring club's country overview of May 2025, given without guarantee.

How to switch camera alerts off

• Google Maps: Settings > Navigation, then under Alert options turn off Get alerts for reported incidents and other conditions. This silences incident alerts, including reported mobile speed cameras, but Google's help does not say whether camera icons still show on the map. ADAC names Google Maps as covered by the German ban, so in Germany check that no camera icons appear.
• Apple Maps: Apple shows speed checks as map markers and lets drivers report them 'where allowed'; its guide documents no switch to hide them.
• Waze: Settings > Alerts and reports > Reports > Cameras, then turn off Show on map and Alert while driving for each camera type.
• TomTom: GO Expert on Android: Menu > Settings > Sounds & Warnings > Alerts & Sounds > Cameras; on iPhone: Menu > Settings > Sounds & Warnings > Speed Camera Warnings. TomTom app: Menu > Settings > Warnings > Cameras, then turn Speed cameras off.

TomTom advises switching camera alerts off before driving in Germany. ADAC reports a Karlsruhe court ruling that the ban also applies when a passenger runs the app.

Vehicle, engine type and units

• Google Maps: Settings > Your vehicles sets the engine type (petrol, diesel, hybrid or electric), which Google uses to mark the most efficient route. Kilometres: Settings > Navigation > Distance units.
• Apple Maps: EV routing works with selected cars only. Through CarPlay, get driving directions and tap Connect above the routes; for cars that need the maker's app, install it, then tap your picture or initials > Vehicles > Connect Your Electric Vehicles. Units follow Settings > General > Language & Region > Measurement System.
• Waze: Settings > Vehicle details > Vehicle type (Private, Taxi or Motorcycle). For an EV, open Electric vehicles, turn on EV features and add your plugs to see compatible chargers. Units: Settings > General > Distance units.
• TomTom: in GO Expert, Settings > Vehicle Profile > Engine type > Electric shows chargers along the route. The TomTom app offers EV routing on Android after you pick your car under Menu > My car.

One EV rule no app handles: in Czechia electric and hydrogen cars pay no vignette, but cars registered abroad must file an exemption notification first, on the official edalnice.gov.cz site.

Check the destination pin before you tap Go

A station, shopping centre or airport name can match several places, and each app searches its own map. When Mapssy opens a route, Google Maps and Apple Maps usually receive the place names and look them up, Waze gets an exact map point and TomTom's planner gets TomTom's coordinates, so the pins can differ. Zoom in on the pin before you start (why this happens).

Before you set off

• Buy vignettes or turn on avoid tolls; in Waze, add bought vignettes as passes.
• Download offline maps for the whole route in Google Maps, Apple Maps or TomTom GO Expert.
• Set engine type and kilometres, and file the Czech exemption for an electric car.
• Switch camera alerts off before entering Germany, Slovakia or Switzerland.
• Compare the route with Mapssy, open it in your app and check the pin.