Frequently asked questions
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How do I become a beta tester?
Sign-ups are open. Fill in the “Become a beta tester” form on the Contact page: your first name, your email address, your phone (iPhone or Android) and, if you like, where you drive most. It takes a minute.
We get back to you as soon as a place opens, with what you need to install the test version. The form is also at the short address viatempora.app/beta, handy to pass on.
Fill in the formDo I need a network connection?
When you set off, yes: to look up your destination and compute the route.
After that, the stories travel with the app: Abeona is built to keep telling them even where there is no signal, deep in the countryside.
Does it get in the way of my GPS or my music?
No, and that rule outranks every other one. A navigation instruction pauses Abeona, who then resumes at the start of the interrupted sentence. Music ducks while she speaks, a podcast pauses, a phone call interrupts her.
You keep Waze, Maps or Google Maps on screen; VIA TEMPORA works behind them.
How much battery does it use?
We aim for eight per cent an hour at most, screen off and GPS running — and we measure it on the road at every release rather than estimating it.
On a two-hour drive that leaves comfortable margin, though a mount and a cable remain the sensible habit.
Which regions are covered?
The whole of Lot-et-Garonne for the beta. Version 1 is meant to cover the whole of France, with Nouvelle-Aquitaine as the reference territory for the first partnerships.
We move one département at a time, because writing a sourced story takes longer than drawing a zone on a map: no territory is published without its stories.
How much does it cost?
The offers will be presented when the app ships. We would rather announce them once settled than promise a price that might change.
Can I listen to a story again?
A place is told once, for good: that is what lets you drive the same road again without hearing all of it a second time. When you stop, the text of the story stays on screen and can be read again.
If you want a clean slate, resetting the places you have heard is done from your profile.
Where does my data go?
Your position never leaves your phone: the GPS loop makes no network call at all. Only the address search and the route, both at departure, reach out to IGN.
If you create an account, what you have heard, your purchases and your settings are synchronised so you find them again on another phone. A full export and a full erase are both available from within the app.
What about passengers?
They hear exactly what the driver hears, and that is the point: a story told out loud is shared. When the car stops, the text appears and can be read.
Nothing ever asks the driver to touch the screen: a passenger can skip a story, but nobody has to.
Is there CarPlay or Android Auto?
Not in version 1. The app is designed to be listened to with the phone resting on its mount, and the audio reaches the car like any other source.
Native CarPlay is planned for version 2.
Does it work on foot?
Journey Mode does not: its distances and anticipation are tuned to the speed of a car, and on foot everything would arrive far too early.
Route Mode does: you compose your route and follow it by car or on foot, starting each story at a standstill, in front of the place.
What is the difference between Journey Mode and Route Mode?
Journey Mode is the road: you enter a destination, you drive, and Abeona tells you about what you actually pass, as you pass it. Nothing to touch.
Route Mode is the stop: you compose a route from the places that interest you, and you start each story yourself, at a standstill, in front of the place. Stories there are longer and richer, because they are no longer bound to the pace of driving.
Are the places sponsored?
No. Places and their order are selected solely on criteria tied to the territory, to their heritage or cultural interest and to your habits. Nobody can buy their way into a story.
Partners may, however, compose their own routes in Route Mode. Those are clearly labelled as partner routes, kept apart from the editorial content.
I run a tourist office, an accommodation, a local authority: how do I become a partner?
Leave us your details from the Contact page. A partner offers its guests full access to the app for the length of their stay, shares a QR code in its material, and can compose its own routes in Route Mode.
We are building the first partnerships in Nouvelle-Aquitaine. The Partners page describes how it works.
I heard a mistake in a story. What now?
Tell us: when you are stopped, “Signaler un problème” lists the stories you heard most recently and sends us the one you point at.
Every report is read. A story whose facts do not hold up is corrected or withdrawn, not softened.
Can I use it abroad?
No. VIA TEMPORA covers France only, and only those territories whose stories have been written and proofread.
Outside them the app tells you so, rather than staying silent for no visible reason.