Core Topic: GPS Round-Up Special
The Appcast’s GPS Navigation Round-Up
Overview
Below is the comparison chart that we put together showing the features that were investigated and how each of the 7 apps reviewed (there are 8 on the chart- what we know about the Magellan app which came out too recently for us to include is also shown) stacked up. Below the charts is a description of all of the fields in the chart and any clarifications regarding the entries.
GPS Application Feature Chart
The following criteria were reviewed:
- Price: Self-explanatory. Starred price (*) indicates promotional price at the time of the testing
- Version: Version number given for the application tested
- Size: Size of the application file, measured on the computer.
- Coverage: Area that the app has maps to cover
- Startup Time: Amount of time it takes between initially tapping on the home screen to being able to actually do something in the app. A star (*) indicates that when not re-starting the app it goes to a usage/warning screen you have to tap past and that startup time was measured to that screen’s appearance. Notes- (1): This was an ‘at best’ time- the iGo My Way app at best boots up in about 20 seconds, other times it took longer and occasionally simply hung up completely on the splash screen.
- Text-2-Speech: Does the application have the ability to at least attempt to read off the names of the roads that you are navigating on? In other words, “Turn Left onto Main Street” vs. just, “Turn Left.”
- Multiple Voice Selection: Does the app have a selection of voices- usually in different languages and dialects/accents- that you can choose from for voice instructions?
- Sound w/ Music Playback: How does the application handle issuing voice instructions when you have music playing on the iPod function of the device? ‘Cuts Between’ means that the app pauses the music abruptly, gives the voice instructions, and then resumes playback. ‘Fades Down’ is similar except it fades the music out to nothing before pausing it and giving voice commands. In ‘Plays Over’, the app does not do anything regarding the music but plays the voice commands over the music playing (this can make them a bit hard to hear at times…). Finally, ‘Fades Down & plays over’ means that the app fades the music down to about half to 1/3 volume and then issues the voice commands at full volume over the music before fading the music up to full volume when it’s done. As a note: All of the applications that in one way or another cut out the audio had issues with playback over BlueTooth with the instructions not always coming through completely- the apps that kept the music playing generally did not have issues with BlueTooth connections.
- Traffic: Does the app have the ability to download live traffic info to use to determine the quickest route? Notes on this- (1): the G-Map application is stated to include one year’s free traffic information; (2): The Navigon application has traffic updates as an in-app purchase for $24.99 ($19.99 at the time of review as a promotion).
- 2D/3D: Does the app have the ability to show 2D (overhead) and 3D (perspective) maps? Notes- (1): The CoPilot app has an additional ‘Safety View’ that displays a black screen with just the next navigation instruction, apparently for people who are concerned about the map display being distracting.
- Day/Night Colors: All of the applications have the ability to use a darker color scheme at night to affect night vision less adversely. How does the application handle switching between the schemes? Auto: The app automatically switches based on the time of day (some are configurable) or Manual: You have to manually switch the color scheme via the app’s menus
- Speed Limits: Does the application’s maps have data on the speed limits of the roads to indicate the maximum legal speed that it thinks you can go? In most cases those that have this data are limited to major roads or highways.
- Integrated iPod controls: Does the application have integrated controls for the iPod function vs. the ‘double-tap home button’ pop-up controls? The TomTom app gets a ‘Kinda’ for this since you can at least start music playing and skip forward/backward, but it’s nowhere near what the CoPilot & Navigon apps have control-wise.
- Demo Route: Does the application have the function of simulating the route that you are to take ahead of time so you can preview it?
- Breadcrumbs: Some of the applications will put indicators on the road along the path you are following at constant increments (usually .1 mile) to give you a better idea of distances. Yes means that this application makes use of these ‘breadcrumbs’
- iPhone OS Keyboard/Visuals: Does the application make full use of the iPhone OS look/feel, such as flicking in menus, using the standard iPhone keyboard, allowing copy/paste in text entry fields, etc. This is taken as something of an indicator as to whether the app was written from the ground up for the iPhone or simply ported from a stand-alone hardware to the iPhone OS.
- Keyboard Types: What keyboards are available within the app for text entry? Qwerty: Standard keyboard like the iPhone uses natively & computers use. ABC: alphabetical keyboard, commonly used in stand-alone GPS devices. Intern.: International keyboard options- there are a number of different character set keyboards available for text entry
- Autolock Disable: Does the application keep the device from locking the screen when active? And can you select how this function is applied?
- Speed Camera Alerts: Does the application have data about known speed cameras to alert you when you are approaching one?
- Lane Assistance: Does the application show you which lanes you should be in when you come to highway interchanges? This is normally shown via a small representation of the lanes with the ones you want to be in highlighted with arrows. Some of the apps (G-Map, Navigon, TomTom) will also render a 3D view of the interchange to make lane selection easier.
- Realistic Signpost Display: Does the application attempt to show you a sign very similar to what you would be looking for on the road itself? Usually applies primarily to highway signage.
- Navigate to Contact: Does the application give you the option of pulling up your contacts list and navigating to and address assigned to that contact? Notes- (1) A number of the applications allow you to select an address within a contact but will for some reason that I have not been able to figure out will not count the address as being a valid one and as such not let you navigate to it. Apps that have this problem are so noted- the functionality exists, it just doesn’t work all of the time in these apps.
- Detour to POI on route: Once you’re en-route to a destination, does the application allow you to add waypoints or detours or otherwise modify the current route?
- POI Display On/Off: Does the application give you the ability to turn off or select which POIs are displayed on the map view?
- Taps to POI Search Entry: The number of taps it takes after tapping on the icon to start the app to reach a screen to start searching for a POI. Each app handles searches differently though so it may take more taps overall to drill down through the menus to actually reach the POI, it should be noted. A star (*) indicates that a warning/startup screen that you must tap on was included in the number of taps.
- Taps to Go Home: The number of taps it takes after tapping on the icon to start the app to start navigating to a pre-defined home address. A star (*) indicates that a warning/startup screen that you must tap on was included in the number of taps.
- Modes of Travel: What modes of travel will the app allow you to create routes for? Choices are from: Auto, Ped(estrian), Bike (bicycle, unpowered), RV (Recreational Vehicle), Motorcycle, Truck, Bus, Emergency Vehicle, Taxi, and Adventure (‘as the bird flies’)
- Create/Save Routes: Does the application allow you to create routes ahead of time and save them internally to later be pulled up and used?
- Directions List: Does the application allow you to view a list of the turns and directions for the route you have planned, similar to what a Google Maps printout would show you?
- Add POIs: Does the application allow you to define custom POIs to be displayed on the map? This is not defining favorites or the likes, it means actually assigning a type like ‘gas station’, ‘restaurant’ to them.
- Tap Map for POI Info: When in the map view, can you tap on a POI shown and get information on it, call it, navigate to it, etc?
- Paste from Maps.app: Can you copy an address from the iPhone’s native Maps application and paste it into the app to get you someplace that the app itself could not locate? ‘Partial’ means that the app does allow pasting in text fields, but that you cannot paste an entire address and must trim down the info pasted.
The following Points-Of-Interest were selected to test out each GPS app’s ability to find a range of locations:
- High Street YMCA, Lexington: This is the YMCA where I work out, swim, etc. It has been around in the same location & address since well before I was born.
- Cinci IKEA: The moderately new IKEA store located in Cincinnati where I went shopping over the course of my testing the apps out. It has been there for roughly 2 years. Notes- (1) These apps DID find the store, but not by searching in Cincinnati but by knowing that the store was located in the suburb of Westchester and using that as the city to search in
- Louisville Apple Store: The Apple Store located in Oxmoor Mall in Louisville. None of the apps found the store itself, something I found rather amusing and ironic. Notes- (1) These apps were able to locate and identify Oxmoor Mall where the store itself is located- but still didn’t know there was an Apple Store there.
- First Church, Lexington: My church here in town. Relatively small, but has been at its current location for better than half a century….
- IHOP: The International House of Pancakes that was built about 3-4 years ago here in Lexington. The only POI all of the apps were able to find.
- Bar None: A restaurant that opened up roughly 2 months ago here in Lexington. The Magellan app (updated in Feb 2010) found it- but not at the right address.
- Five Guys Burgers: Relatively new burger place that opened in the last year here in town. Notes- (1) These apps search locally and then expand their search, so they actually came back with hits in cities further away despite failing to find the local one.
- Turfland Dillards: This was sort of an inverse test of the POI database in the apps. The Turfland Dillards (local department store) has been closed for approximately two years, as has the mall in which it is located. The apps SHOULD not have listed it in a search for ‘Dillards’ and instead just listed the other ones which are still open.
Individual Apps
A basic description & overview thoughts, pros, and cons on each app are given along with screenshots from the application and a sample of the voice instructions given by the application en-route with music playing so you can hear how it handles the iPod music. Applications are ordered from lowest to highest price at the time of the review (11/19/2009).
Ndrive United States of America ($29.99- promo price)
The Ndrive application was the newest of the GPS apps that we were actually able to review, coming out barely over a week before the show was recorded. It is a solid enough GPS navigation app, but is definitely hurt by the lack of Text-to-Speech. It has 3D renderings that it displays of notable buildings and landmarks- in a picture below you can see the 5/3 Bank Building from here in Lexington this display. Another notable feature is its ‘adventure mode’ where it will navigate you to your destination ‘as the crow flies’ without worrying about streets or anything else- this is intended for hikers, adventurers, and perhaps even pilots. Its on-screen display is solid and very similar to a number of the others and gives a good bit of information. One notable problem with it though (beyond the lack of TTS) is that it identified almost all on/off-ramps, connector roads, and even a few major highways as ‘unknown roads’- and if you were going between two of those (off a highway) it would occasionally not issue the instruction to turn even though it displayed it on the screen.
Pros:
- Currently the least expensive of the SatNav apps that don’t require a data connection.
- Nice large, easy to use menu buttons
- 3D rendered landmarks
- Does a good job of selecting alternative routes
Cons:
- No Text-to-Speech, navigation to a contact, iPod controls, or Lane Assistance
- ‘Unknown Road’ problem can be an annoyance
- Appears to stutter slightly when issuing long instructions over music- it starts the music for a split second between words
Images:
Landscape Map view, daytime colors:
Portrait Map view, nighttime colors (the road with a slash through it is the ‘unknown road’ icon):
3D Landmark Display
Main Menu & Search for POI:
Ndrive POI Search Screen
Audio File of Navigation with Ndrive
CoPilot Live North America ($34.99)
The CoPilot application is the most consistently low-priced of the SatNav offerings with non-promotional price of $35, and it sports a rather impressive array of features for such a low price. Text to speech, integrated iPod controls, and one of my favorite of the map styles & POI displays make the CoPilot application a solid lock for my ‘budget’ choice of the GPS apps- and it’s not altogether too far behind the one I chose as my top choice. It also does a rather good job of handling adding in interim stops along a route, and even will look up the weather at your destination. It also has a rather nice feature where you can set up the display to rotate through a lot of info like speed, location, destination, and distance to destination. Though it does feature navigation to contacts, much of the time it is not able to properly parse the address, meaning it’s not as useful as it should be. If it added in lane assistance and speed limit data and gets the live traffic data that they claim is coming, it would every bit a match for the ‘big boys’ at a fraction of their price. If you want a lot for your money but don’t mind a bit less of the polish and features that the Navigon app has- get this one.
Pros:
- LOTS of bang for not a lot of buck- has many features that rival apps more than twice its price
- One of the only apps with real iPod controls, including building a playlist
- Easy to pull up POI info by simply tapping on the icons on the map
- Highly customizable information display
- Easy to customize your route and add waypoints
- ‘Safety View’ (no map, just directions) and on-screen compass
Cons
- No lane assistance or speed limit data
- Does not lower or turn off music when issuing directions and can be hard to hear
- Does not properly read addresses from many contacts
Images:
Landscape Map display, daytime colors
Portrait Map Display, Nighttime colors (with compass enabled)
CoPilot iPod Controls:
CoPilot Main Menu:
CoPilot POI Search:
Audio File of Navigation with CoPilot Navigator
Sygic Mobile Maps US ($39.99, sometimes $59.99)
The Sygic offering falls into a kind of middle-ground as far as the apps go- with a price that fluctuates between $5 and $25 more than the CoPilot application, it has some features that I would like to see in the CoPilot app and that work nicely in the Sygic app- namely lane assistance and speed limit data- while it lacks some that I really count as being a requirement at this point- specifically, in-app iPod controls. The Sygic app is a very solid offering, and if you want the lane assistance and speed limit notification at a cheap price and couldn’t care less about the iPod controls, it may be what you’re looking for. It is noteworthy that the Sygic app seems to be more noticeably than the others aimed/designed for international use vs. a purely domestic target- the speed limit signs are European style, and the app has alternative keyboards (like Greek) and TTS voices in multiple languages/accents. Navigation through the menus though can be a bit difficult though as the directional arrow buttons you have to use are smaller than would be ideal.
Pros:
- Least expensive app with lane assistance and speed limit data
- Multiple language/accent TTS voices & keyboards
- Trip progress bar on map screen is a nice touch
- Navigation directions include exit numbers, which not all of them do
- Ability to add in custom POIs
Cons:
- No iPod controls
- Navigation arrows in menu screens are small and difficult to hit at times
- Does not show the POI icons until you get very close to them
- Does not properly look up many addresses when navigating to a contact
Images:
Portrait Map View, Nighttime colors
Landscape Map View, Daytime colors with lane assist, speed limit
Sygic Main Menu Screen
Sygic POI Search Screen
Audio File of Navigation with Sygic
G-Map U.S. & Canada ($49.99)
The G-Map applications actually pre-date the 3.0 firmware’s opening up of true turn-by-turn navigation, though the full U.S. & Canada version is comparatively new vs. the East/West split maps (still available for half the price of the full country coverage). Like the Sygic app, it sports some rather nice features but is also lacking some that put it in a middle ground between being a good budget choice and being a powerhouse worthy of a higher price. The least expensive of the apps to feature 3D rendered lane assistance- for a limited number of cities at least- the G-Map application however lacks speed limit data and integrated iPod controls. It does however have one rather nice feather in its cap for those that are in areas where it’s useful: it’s one of the only apps available to integrate live traffic data, and the only one that provides that capability for free initially (it’s supposed to be free for the first year, prices after that have not been announced). The menu system for the G-Map app is rather minimalistic, which will either appeal to people or turn them off to it. The app also fully integrates the iPhone OS look and feel, making full use of the native keyboard vs. its own style one. For better or worse though, I don’t live in an area where this is really of any use, nor did I encounter any situations where it came in handy in my testing runs elsewhere. If you live someplace where traffic is both and issue and there is live data available for it, the G-Map application may be one worth looking into- especially if you can catch it on sale.
Pros:
- Live traffic data free for the first year
- 3D rendered interchanges for ~185 cities
- Road the next turn will be on to is always displayed on screen
- Simple, clean menus and map display
- Very thorough, descriptive voice directions
- Boots up the fastest of any of the apps tested
Cons:
- No iPod controls, speed limit data
- Current speed can be difficult to see at times on the map display
- Navigate to contact does not detect addresses properly much of the time
- While it allows adding waypoints and ‘along the route’ stops, it does a poor job of finding POIs along the route
- What few settings there are to adjust are located in the iPhone’s Settings.app instead of in the app itself
Images
Landscape Map View, Daytime colors
Portrait Map View, Nighttime colors
Advanced 3D Lane Assistance
G-Map Main Menu
G-Map POI Search Screen
G-Map Search Results Screen
Audio File of Navigation with G-Map
iGo My Way 2009 – North America Edition ($79.99)
The iGo My Way application from NNG Global Services is, unfortunately, probably the only one of the applications that I really find myself recommending that- at least until the next revision when hopefully many of the current issues are fixed is released- people not pick up. It takes forever to open up at best, and several times managed to hang completely. It’s also one of the increasingly shrinking number of applications that does not have true text-to-speech that will read you the names of the roads you’re turning onto- and interestingly it’s not a feature that they list on the coming features for the next update. Thankfully though they do seem to realize some of the issues that it does have, as ’startup optimizations’ is (at least on their website) listed as being one of the improvements they’re working on. Once it gets running though, the iGo application does have some nice features to tout. Though lacking TTS, it does have lane assistance, speed limit data, and realistically rendered roadsigns. It also features a rather unique map view where the street names are indicated by speech-bubble like notes, and the map animation is quite smooth. Unfortunately, priced at a mere $10 less than the Navigon application and twice the price of the much more full-featured CoPilot application, not even the ability to switch your on-screen vehicle indicator to a 3D-rendered DeLorean (sorry, “Silver Hot Rod”) is enough to make this application worth the current price. With the addition of the missing features, correcting the startup issues, and perhaps dropping the price a bit though this could be a worthy contender in the GPS app race.
Pros:
- Smooth animation and a unique map display
- 3D Rendered buildings and the ability to display terrain elevations
- Lane assistance, Speed Limit Data, and realistic road signs
- Large selection of 3D vehicle ‘avatars’
- Quarterly map updates for free planned through the end of 2010
Cons:
- Takes forever to start up, and sometimes hangs completely
- No TTS, iPod controls, or navigation to a contact
- Quite expensive for its somewhat limited feature-set
Images
Landscape Map View Daytime colors
Portrait Map View Nighttime Colors with Lane Assitance
iGo Main Menu Screen
iGo POI Search Entry Screen
iGo POI Search Results Screen
Choose your vehicle model…
Audio File of Navigation with iGo My Way
Navigon MobileNavigator North America (Normally $89.99, On Sale for $69.99 through 11/30)
Navigon’s MobileNavigator North America was one of the first of the true turn-by-turn GPS applications released, and has consistently been at the forefront of features available in the iPhone GPS apps. Navigon has consistently kept their price a tantalizing $10 below the $100 TomTom app while outmaneuvering their more expensive rival with every update. Full text-to-speech, advanced 3D rendered lane assistance, navigation to contact, full-blown in-app iPod controls, the ability to navigate to POIs along an existing route- the Navigon app has one of the richest featuresets of all of the applications available, and is one of only two that incorporate real-time live traffic data (albeit for an extra $20 at the moment). The Navigon app has remained my pick as the best of the SatNav pack through all of the updates and changes in all the apps. That’s not to say it’s perfect though… its POI search is clumsy at times and it definite fared worse than the very-recently-updated TomTom app when it came to the pack of POIs I had all the apps search for, and I’m not as fond of how it displays POIs on the map screen as they are rather small and hard to read and its use of brand labels for larger chains on the screen is actually more annoying to me than useful. Still, the other features outweigh these issues for it to remain at the top.
Pros:
- The most balanced feature-set of all the apps with a record of updating and adding features
- The best iPod controls & handling the balance of music & voice instructions
- Realtime live traffic information for an extra fee
- One of only two that handle navigating to contacts flawlessly
Cons:
- The second most expensive of the applications
- No way to view a list of directions as you’d see them on say a Google Maps list
- POI search is a bit lacking and clumsy
- POI icons are rather small & hard to distinguish
Images
Portrait Map View Daytime colors
Landscape Map View Nighttime colors
iPod Controls View
Advanced Lane Assistance View
Normal Lane Assistance View with realistic exit sign rendering
Navigon Main Menu
Navigon POI Search Screen
Audio File of Navigation with Navigon MobileNavigator
TomTom U.S. & Canada ($99.99)
Topping out the price scale at a cent off of $100, stand-alone GPS giant TomTom’s iPhone app is and interesting mix of highly polished features and a notable lack of a few of them. The TomTom app was updated barely 24 hours before we recorded this episode and adding in- at least in part- some of the features that they have taken a lot of flack for not having despite being the most expensive SatNav app available. The update finally brought true Text-to-Speech to the app, albeit in a form that I feel still needs more polish, added very limited iPod control that barely counts as better than the iPhone’s own pop-up iPod controls, and added in lane assistance and POI updates- two features for which I don’t have any caveats for as they are solid upgrades. It really feels though as if TomTom is consistently chasing after its lower-priced competitors as far as features go- as the most expensive app they’re understandably expected to be at the top features-wise and unfortunately they have consistently lagged behind. By and large what the app does do (the laughable iPod controls aside), it does smoothly and intuitively- but it needs more features to really justify the price.
Pros:
- One of the best POI databases
- Very solid menu system with a good number of options
- Newly added lane assistance appears to be the most comprehensive of all the apps
- One of the only two that handles navigating to a contact properly
- Finally have true text-to-speech
Cons:
- Highest price while lagging in some features
- iPod controls are barely better than the native pop-up controls
- No way to add interim stops or save routes for future use
- No automatic switch between day & night colors
Images
Portrait Map View Daytime colors
Landscape Map View Nighttime colors with lane asisstance
Advanced 3D Lane Assistance View
TomTom Main Menu View
TomTom POI Search Screen
Audio File of Navigation with TomTom
Magellan Roadmate 2010 North America ($79.99)
The updated Magellan application fixes a number of the issues that the previous releases had, though not all of the ones that I had with it- which is unsurprising given one of them (the use of two-tone cues for turn indications) is sort of a ’signature’ of the Magellan software it seems. The iPod control integration is definitely worthy of praise- the new version is very well done, pulling up a small translucent window with easily manipulated controls that will automatically exit after a few seconds of your not interacting with the controls. Even with the update though and when using the GPS-hardware-assisting Premium Car Kit the instructions to turn seemed to come a bit on the late side compared with what I’m used to seeing from some of the other apps. I finally got to see the ‘nearby services’ button in my testing this time, and it is very nice- when on the highway the app will show upcoming exits and the amenities that are present, though it seems to err on the side of caution and be missing some of the services. Altogether, definitely an improvement over the previous version and one that should be able to compete well with the TomTom and Navigon apps.
Pros:
- One of the best iPod control implementations I’ve seen
- Interface should be very familiar to Magellan users
- Advanced Lane Guidance (though seemingly limited in scope)
- Speed-Sensitive Volume
- Nice ‘upcoming exits’ info screen
Cons:
- Takes over 20 seconds to boot up
- Navigation cues still come rather late
- Navigation tones are definitely an acquired taste (which I don’t have)
Images (note: many of these were taken with the Simulation function- I wasn’t actually driving that fast…)
Landscape View Nighttime Colors
iPod Controls Screen
Main Menu Screen
POI Search Screen
suberunker | 
November 19, 2009 4:24 pm
2 Comments
Other Links to this Post
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Which iPhone navigation app should you buy? This’ll help — January 14, 2010 @ 5:01 am
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The Appcast » The Appcast #53: February 14th, 2010 – Magellan Premium Car Kit — February 16, 2010 @ 12:31 am
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