How to send a route to a driver's phone
Texting a Google Maps link works for a handful of stops. For a full day, here's how to put the whole route on a driver's phone, in order, with nothing to install.
- Free for up to 50 addresses
- No credit card
- No app to install
The short answer
Updated
Lite Route Planner sends a route to a phone two ways. On Business, assign it to a driver: they sign in to the driver app in their phone's browser with a code emailed to them, see every stop in order, and mark each one Visited or Attempted. On any plan, share a view-only link or QR code that anyone can open without an account. Either way, one tap opens each stop in Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze.
Send a route to a driver, step by step
- 1
Invite the driver
On Business, invite drivers by email from Settings, then Users, or copy an invite link and text it (it works for 7 days). They sign in with a code sent to their email: no password and no app store.
- 2
Plan and optimize the route
Lasso the stops, press Optimize and save. Saving gets drive time and distance for every leg, and the driver sees them too.
- 3
Assign it
Pick the driver on the route. It appears on their phone under Assigned to you.
- 4
Pick a navigation app once
The driver chooses Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze, or leaves it on Automatic. After that, tapping a stop opens turn-by-turn directions in that app.
- 5
Mark stops along the way
At each stop the driver taps Visited or Attempted and can add a note. You see progress in the planner within seconds, and every visit is saved to the stop's history.
Four ways to get a route onto a phone
The first two come with Lite; the last two are exports for when someone wants them.
| Feature | Driver app | Share link or QR | Google Maps link | Printed PDF |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Driver signs in | Emailed code, no password | No | No | No |
| Stops it carries | Up to 500 | Up to 500 | 10 places per link | The whole route |
| Opens Google Maps, Apple Maps or Waze | Yes | Yes | Google Maps only | No |
| Driver marks Visited or Attempted | Yes | No | No | No |
| You see progress | Yes | No | No | No |
| Plan needed | Business (any plan for your own routes) | Any plan | Any plan | Any plan |
Longer routes are split into several Google Maps links. Google's directions links carry up to 9 stops between start and end, and only 3 when opened in a mobile browser instead of the app (Google's documentation).
The driver app
What your driver sees
The routes assigned to them, each stop in order with the drive time and distance from the one before. One tap opens directions in their navigation app; another marks the stop Visited or Attempted, with a note if they need one. It runs in the browser on iPhone and Android, so there's nothing to download or update.
Share links and QR codes, when there's no driver account
Every route has a share link and a QR code, on every plan. Anyone who opens it sees the stops in order and can open directions from their browser, with no account and no app.
Share links are view-only. Whoever opens one can't mark stops, so you won't see their progress or build visit history from it. That makes them right for a helper, a one-day fill-in or a ride-along, and the driver app right for anyone who drives for you every week. If the route's assigned driver is signed in when they open the link, it opens in the driver app instead.
Print the QR code on the route sheet, or hold your phone up to the driver's camera. Revoke the link when you're done with it; it also stops working once the route is completed.
Free and Personal don't include separate driver accounts, so the share link is how you hand a route to someone else on those plans. You can always drive your own routes from your phone and mark the stops yourself.
Before a driver's first day
Send a test route
Assign a two-stop route so the driver can sign in and try the buttons before a real day.
Settle the navigation app
Automatic uses Apple Maps on iPhone and Google Maps elsewhere. Waze drivers pick it once, and it's saved on that phone.
Put door details in the stop note
A gate code or drop-off instruction in a stop's note shows on the driver's screen at that stop.
Mark Attempted instead of skipping
If nobody's home, Attempted with a note keeps it in the history, and coloring the map by last outcome shows you what to retry.