Changelog

A running log of updates to the Blue Light Maps apps. Version numbers follow a YY.MM.DD scheme. For advance notice of breaking changes, contact your account manager.

May 2026

7 May 2026

• OSGB36 British National Grid: coordinates shown on PlacePage and you can search by grid reference
• Android Auto: Auto-download of missing maps when route-building, with automatic retry
• Junction search: faster results
• Highway mile markers: now prefixed with road no.

April 2026

7 April 2026

All platforms:

• Search “navigation point” picker — Tapping a search result now fetches available entrance points (large hospitals, depots, etc.)

• Various reliability & bug fixes

Maps & styling

• April map data
• Roads made more prominent.
• Cleaner navigation view

Android:

• Android Auto: search on the phone, route on the car — You can now run a search on the phone while AA is active and the result is sent straight to the car display

March 2026

5 March 2026

All releases:

• Improved instructions for end of road turns, traffic lights and roundabouts
• Can now report issues with road closure data
• Support for miles & yards (vs. feet) – default for UK users
• Faster re-calculation when going off-route
• Improved performance & various bug fixes

Misc.

• Various bug fixes and stability improvements

Android only:

• New natural sounding navigation voice

February 2026

10 February 2026

Map & Display:

• Refreshed map data
• Australian road shield support
• Callsigns made clearer on the map when sharing locations

Misc.

• Various bug fixes and stability improvements
• Reduced app download size

Android only:

• Android Street Widget & Phone app for quick access to see current location
• Navigation deep links now support waypoints/checkpoints Map & Display

iOS only:

• Position arrow improvements switching to/from CarPlay

January 2026

20 January 2026

All Platforms:

1. Faster route calculations, especially for long routes across multiple regions
2. Minor bug fixes
3. Refreshed map data

Android:

1. Share locations from Google Maps to Blue Light Maps via ‘Share’ button

December 2025

13 December 2025

All platforms:

1. New satellite/aerial imagery layer
2. Refreshed map data
3. Minor bug fixes

Android:

1. Custom vehicle profiles (enterprise customers only)

September 2025

7 September 2025

All platforms:

1. Improved ETAs for Blue Light Alert notifications via Waze
2. Improved entrance/access point detection for navigating to buildings
3. Refreshed map data (will auto-update)

Android only:

1. Fix for custom bookmark data loading in some conditions
2. Minor UI & performance improvements

iOS only:

1. Live Location Sharing (beta) – Share location with group(s) of colleagues

August 2025

4 August 2025

All Platforms:

1. New ‘Emergency Gate’ routing feature
   • Gates with known emergency vehicle access will permit routes to be calculated through them (e.g. motorway access points), with a 1 minute penalty
   • If a route makes use of them, a red warning marker will appear on the route preview and the ‘Define roads to avoid’ banner will appear
   • Users can choose to amend routing settings to avoid any routes that go via emergency access gates
2. Refresh map data

Android:

1. Improved UI support for Android 16

iOS:

1. CarPlay stability improvements following Apple updates

June 2025

20 June 2025

iOS only release:

1. Support for searching on phone while connected to CarPlay
2. Perspective mode enabled when in ‘follow’ mode outside of navigation
3. Minor bug fixes

12 June 2025

All platforms:

1. Refreshed map data
2. Support for rising bollards
   • Visibly distinct on the map
   • Emergency modes can now route through some rising bollards, with suitable time adjustments

Android:

1. Functionality for specific organisation
2. Additional notification functionality for organisations with CAD integrations

May 2025

27 May 2025

All platforms:

1. Improved What3Words accuracy
2. Minor bug fixes

Android:

1. Bug fixes for switching to/from Android Auto interface
2. Additional functionality for organisations with CAD integrations

12 May 2025

All platforms:

1. Junction search feature (GB only)
   • When searching for a road, users can tap the junction icon next to the search result to show all junctions off of that road
2. Improved sharing of locations between users using bluelightmaps.app links
3. Map data refreshed

Android:

1. Support for additional API integrations, including sending of incident locations from control room software

iOS:

1. Improved search result layout

April 2025

14 April 2025

All platforms:

1. Refreshed map data
   • Including Silvertown tunnel
2. GB routing algorithm improvements
   • Calculations now account for average speeds of each road at different times of day
   • More accurate ETAs
   • More appropriate routing in rural areas
3. Google search improvements
   • Integration of new building entrance location data

Android:

1. New routing option added to ignore road closures
2. Blue Light Alert integration (add-on for organisations)
3. Improved sorting of ‘Road Closure’ list
4. Units default to mph for UK users (new installs)

iOS:

1. No iOS only updates

March 2025

3 March 2025

All platforms:

1. Refreshed map data
2. Improved performance when opening the app/updating road closures
3. Inclusion of National Highways data for road closures
4. Improved geometry of closures on the map
5. Routing improvements RE: private access gates
6. No longer prompt new users to needlessly update general ‘World’ map

iOS:

1. No iOS only updates

Android:

1. Improved Android Auto permission screen requests

February 2025

Various releases

Version 25.02.*

Several releases this month with minor differences.

All platforms:

1. Refreshed map data
2. Improved route calculation performance

iOS:

1. Ability to rate & provide feedback on routes after navigation
2. Ability to mark road closures as ‘Open’
3. Fix for not being able to save Bookmarks correctly in some circumstances

Android:

1. Improved Android Auto stability for some vehicles when switching between in-car systems (e.g. reverse camera)
2. Ability for organisations to deploy to managed devices with pre-configured licenses/configuration

January 2025

10 January 2025

All platforms:

1. Support for UK road closures
   • Currently based on live data provided by Local Authorities & Utility companies.
   • Strategic road network closures (motorway/major A-roads) undergoing final testing prior to release.
2. Refreshed map data

December 2024

19 December 2024

All platforms:

1. World map data updates
2. Minor emergency mode routing algorithm improvements
3. Minor map style amendments – Bicycle/Motorbike parking icons removed
4. Non-emergency routing amendments to handle some timed restriction types

Android:

1. Improved online search retry when users are experiencing connectivity issues
2. Application re-load performance improvements
3. Bug fix for What3Words API when users are experiencing connectivity issues

iOS:

1. Current speed UI improvement (navigation mode)
2. Speed Camera warning UI improvement for average speed zones when navigating in CarPlay

November 2024

21 November 2024

Version 24.11.21 (iOS: 24.11.22)

All platforms:

1. Ordnance Survey data now included in GB maps (buildings, addresses)
2. Terms of Service updated to comply with Ordnance Survey partner terms
3. Map downloads use improved compression to reduce download times
4. ‘Start route’ button enlarged to improve UX for mounted devices
5. Support menu UI improvements
6. Map data updates

Android:

1. StreetView image enabled by default
2. Bug fix: Android auto crash when location data unavailable
3. Bug fix: Android auto crash for when Android closes app in background when switching between Android Auto apps
4. Bug fix: Prevent subscription ‘Expiry date unavailable’ pop-up from appearing unnecessarily

iOS:

1. CarPlay – Default changed from facing North to rotating map when in ‘free drive’ mode
2. CarPlay – Non-emergency Truck & Smooth Truck options now available in CarPlay UI
3. Compass direction read-out now accounts for average heading while moving, to account for inaccurate device compass data
4. Bug fix – ‘Street Indicator’ would sometimes not reappear after hiding/unhiding UI buttons
5. UI improvement – Vehicle type icons updated to make it clearer which option is currently selected

October 2024

27 October 2024

All platforms:

1. Weight restrictions now complied with for non-emergency routes
2. Improved voice instructions for roundabouts
3. Map data updates

Android:

1. Performance improvements returning from standby
2. Improved bookmark import process
3. Bug fix for public transport options being shown when transit layer open
4. Minor UI fixes on routing screen for some devices
5. Bookmark show/hide UI improvements

iOS:

1. CarPlay – UI now supports setting new destination immediately after arriving at initial destination

September 2024

8 September 2024

Version 24.09.08 / 24.09.09

General:

1. Refreshed map data & improved download reminders
2. Updated authentication mechanisms for organisation logins
3. Street names added to verbal navigation instructions
4. Traffic signals added to map view

iOS:

1. iOS 18 support added

Android:

1. Android Auto: Current street added when not navigating

June 2024

24 June 2024

General:

1. Refreshed map data & improved download reminders
2. UK postcode search available offline
3. Ambulance Station category added to Search screen
4. Minor routing algorithm improvements
5. Various stability/performance improvements

iOS:

1. CarPlay: Can now easily switch between car/phone mode without disconnecting iPhone
2. Improved voice instruction options
3. UI improvements for some devices

Android:

1. Search screen – easily switch between Google & Offline search options
2. Android Auto: Now uses GPS & compass data from the vehicle when connected
3. UI fix for both Emergency & Non-Emergency ETAs showing
4. Bookmark export to GPX format

May 2024

7 May 2024

General:

1. Refreshed map data
2. Routing algorithm improvements, update map data to ensure you get the best routes
3. Various minor fixes

Android:

1.NEW: Android Auto release 2.**NEW:**Directions now appear in notification bar 3. Easier bookmark management

iOS:

1. iPad layout improvements
2. Emergency routing mode toggle improvement
3. Bug fixes for when settings are changed while routing

April 2024

12 April 2024

This release makes a number of backend improvements which require the download of new map data. We strongly recommend downloading maps over WiFi in advance to avoid any mobile connectivity issues.

General:

1. Routing: Increased preference for main vs. rural roads in response modes
2. Various stability improvements

Map Style:

1. Increased priority of road names over other POIs
2. Visibility of house numbers moved to higher zoom level
3. CarPlay: Road name indicator UI improvements

CarPlay:

1. Navigation zoom buttons easier to access
2. Fix: Street name appears when opening app within CarPlay first

Coming Soon:

1. Improved map style
2. Location Sharing
3. Android Auto

March 2024

13 March 2024

Version 24.03.13 & 24.03.18

Android & iOS:

1. Turn instruction improvements for:

2. 1. Complex junctions
   2. ‘Exits’ from trunk roads

3. Search bug fixes

iOS Specific:

1. CarPlay: New ‘North is up’ toggle button for free-drive mode
2. CarPlay: Road name indicator UI improvements
3. 24.04.18 includes a hotfix for CarPlay users that have the road indicator view disabled in settings

Android Specific:

1. Now supports older devices (Android 9)

February 2024

28 February 2024

Android & iOS:

1. Updated map data (download via menu icon)
2. StreetView image size increased
3. What3Words location displayed on any selected location by default
4. Various bug fixes/stability improvements

iOS Specific:

1. Numerous UI/UX tweaks to toolbars and buttons
2. iPad fix for direction arrows in navigation mode

Previous release notes can be found at https://bluelightmaps.com/news/