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[Clifford Pope]

If you read the What3Words bunff when setting it up you can choose what language you want the app to work with.

quote]

But it's the language used by the receivers at the other end that matters surely? The local police say in Kathmandu or Mecca will go to the spot using their own language. That's not going to be a precise repeatable translation of the English or Bulgarian three words used by the source of the tip-off.
I should have thought there has to be a single language underlying the whole thing, if even spelling mistakes create mistakes?

[diffwhine]

Well I'm a big fan and find it works perfectly for me. Twice in the last 12 months, I've used W3W to direct emergency services to a specific remote location. Both were in far off lands where English is not widely spoken and in one case, was to direct a medivac helicopter to the top of a mountain in the Balkans.
It may not be perfect, but its a very useful additional weapon to our armoury. Also, common sense dictates that one might just check the text and address to be sure it is where you think it should be. They are random, so if its wrong, it will be very obviously wrong.

Try punching in Land.Rover.Defender. Couldn't have got a more appropriate location if you tried.

[Worf]

There are some places you just wouldnt want to admit to being. https://tinyurl.com/mk53w7he

[Noddy]

Like many things it's only as good as the information put in. Recently a friend programmed his satnav for a 1/2 hour journey with W3W. Set off and an hour later we where further from our destination than when we set off. GIGO!

Alec

[diffwhine]

I think W3W is standard in JLR sat nav now.

[Correus]

After having read through all of this hubbub I went ahead and downloaded it.  It'll be interesting to see what happens.

[crumbly65]

After having read through all of this hubbub I went ahead and downloaded it. 

Me too Correus....  I've entered a couple of obscure, difficult to find addresses, and it seems to work very well.

I'll give it a go on my phone's sat nav next time I'm out & about, just to see how effective it is in real time and real driving conditions.

[Correus]

Me too Correus....  I've entered a couple of obscure, difficult to find addresses, and it seems to work very well.

I'll give it a go on my phone's sat nav next time I'm out & about, just to see how effective it is in real time and real driving conditions.

You're further along than I am.  I'm still reading though it and thinking "witchcraft". 

[Betsy1969]

Regarding the issue of mistyping , you don’t need to.  There is a button on the screen ( in the W3W app) which says “share” , press that and it gives the option to send as a text for instance. I’ve just tried it and it works a treat . The only trouble is now SWMBO knows where I am 

[g6anz]

Series Land Rover is on the north western coast of Australia

[Davidss]

Regarding the issue of mistyping , you don’t need to.  There is a button on the screen ( in the W3W app) which says “share” , press that and it gives the option to send as a text for instance. I’ve just tried it and it works a treat ...

Thank you.
Considering the phonetic alphabet was created, developed, and is still in use today, because words by themselves can be difficult to decipher, use of words as an emergency location device ran a definite second to the UK Ordnance Survey National Grid Reference, in my view.
Knowing there is a 'share' facility becomes the most useful tip about W3W I have ever seen; it makes it much more reliable.

I am fortunate to live, work, play, and will probably die, in the UK, so the OS NGR will do me fine.
I understand that there is a Military Grid Reference system that covers all the world, I'm a bit hazy about it  but here is a Wikipedia article that explains the details.

Regards.

[DogDave]

Two bits of caution (in addition to the problems with saying words over phone etc) with this as I had some experience of it failing when used in mountain rescue environments.

It doesn’t give you a margin of error like a real navigation system - so if for example your phone has just enabled gps to use it you can be a long way out. And as it doesn’t give you the error you don’t know that - a real gps system will give a plus or minus by so many metres or miles or whatever.

Second - it’s a buisness - they have been corrected in the past for claiming W3W gas saved someone when actually it was a long way out and teams had used other methods to actually find people. - but they get press releases out very fast and deal with facts later.

I would say use it if you like but dont rely solely on it. Certainly never in a place where navigating correctly is a matter of safety. Like a lot of tech the real issue is when people rely completely on something that should only ever be an add on to doing it right.

[Ph0en1x_Uk]

Full 8 Figure Grid Reference followed by the National Grid Reference.

Absolutely no margin for error.

W3W has plenty of scope for error as mentioned.

[diffwhine]

I think there is a time and a place for both proper grid coordinates and W3W.

For example - If I'm in a town picking up one of my children, I don't expect or need to decipher grid coordinates and people might look at me somewhat strangely if I'm wandering round Guildford with an OS map and a Silva compass. W3W is a really quick and simple method of directing me to a specific location - especially if address information is sketchy.

The sheer fact that all the emergency services can trace people using W3W now and from my own experience, appear to struggle using grid coordinates suggests that the concept is here to stay.

If I am doing one of my trans-African expeditions, following Waze and W3W is not an option. Lack of comms apart from an expensive sat phone kills that off immediately. GPS and a good map can't be beaten!

My dad once taught me how to navigate using a sextant with readings off the sun or the stars. I wish I'd paid more attention, because its still a useful skill to have.

[Romahomepete]

In suspect the problem these days is that many people dont have a clue what a grid reference is nevermind an 8 figure one.  If the cant get an instant answer from their phone they are stuck.

Me, I like maps, I can look at them all day, some of my favourites are ones of the lakes and Scotland that belonged to my great uncle and were printed around 1900.  They dont have contour lines, they have hachure shading which makes them look 3D, the hills really leap out of the paper.

Peter