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Navigon or TomTom for iPhone?
New Daddy
0 Points
I'm looking for a navigation app for iPhone that can be used offline. (I understand Google Maps is back to iOS with turn-by-turn navigation and I do use it. But I'm looking for a back-up plan in case I travel to areas with scant data reception.)
I actually bought CoPilot premium, not least because it was the cheapest and had the best rating in iTunes. I think the rating reflected the relative cost-to-satisfaction ratio, and not necessarily the absolute satisfaction of the users, because I found CoPilot seriously lacking, because: (1) CoPilot was strangely silent at a major fork, (2) on the other hand, it didn't shut up when it needed to, (3) it read remaining distance to next turn wrong, (4) its ETA was erratic, and (5) it rarely displayed the speed of limit (even on interstate highways).
I'm trying to convince my wife that she doesn't need to replace her broken dedicated Garmin Nuvi with another over-$100 dedicated unit, now that there are plenty of offline navigation apps for her iPhone. My first attempt with the cheapest option failed miserably. I'm willing to spend more for a better app, not just because I can save $50 or so by buying an app instead of a dedicated unit, but because I think, theoretically, a well-built navigation app on a powerful iPhone should function better than a dedicated unit in many respects - touch screen, processing power, map update, POI updates, traffic info, etc.
So, could people shed some light on the better navigation apps for iPhone - namely Navigon and TomTom? Do these apps address the problems I faced with CoPilot? Would these apps function just as well as a dedicated Garmin unit?
I actually bought CoPilot premium, not least because it was the cheapest and had the best rating in iTunes. I think the rating reflected the relative cost-to-satisfaction ratio, and not necessarily the absolute satisfaction of the users, because I found CoPilot seriously lacking, because: (1) CoPilot was strangely silent at a major fork, (2) on the other hand, it didn't shut up when it needed to, (3) it read remaining distance to next turn wrong, (4) its ETA was erratic, and (5) it rarely displayed the speed of limit (even on interstate highways).
I'm trying to convince my wife that she doesn't need to replace her broken dedicated Garmin Nuvi with another over-$100 dedicated unit, now that there are plenty of offline navigation apps for her iPhone. My first attempt with the cheapest option failed miserably. I'm willing to spend more for a better app, not just because I can save $50 or so by buying an app instead of a dedicated unit, but because I think, theoretically, a well-built navigation app on a powerful iPhone should function better than a dedicated unit in many respects - touch screen, processing power, map update, POI updates, traffic info, etc.
So, could people shed some light on the better navigation apps for iPhone - namely Navigon and TomTom? Do these apps address the problems I faced with CoPilot? Would these apps function just as well as a dedicated Garmin unit?
Comments
That said, Tomtom's interface is much more minimalistic than Navigon, if you are used to a Nuvi you may want the Navigon app, as Navigon is owned by Garmin.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/garmin-n.-america/id435740864?mt=8
I also have an iPhone but don't use it as a GPS so no personal experience.
But I hear that the offline Google map mode works pretty well if you stay on-route. The big problem is that if you diverge from your planned route (eg: have to get off the highway to get gas, in an area without data connectivity), you can't get relevant maps.
I would think that Google maps would work in most instances, but I'd never trust it alone on highway drives without an emergency backup. I'd be comfortable with Google Maps only if I had a Rand McNally book in the glove compartment as a backup.
Note, this would be in the new app for the iPhone, not in the old version that came preloaded with the older O/S. That version was always limited.
Edit
I did read this, The Android version still has a few features the new iPhone version lacks: maps of the interiors of stores, malls and airports; bicycling directions; the ability to view map segments offline; and special offers that show up for some businesses. Google says it left these out for now because they aren’t heavily used and the company wanted a new Apple version pronto. It says these may be added over time.
I'm considering using a prior years iPhone as a pure gps/ipod device. The maps would already be on board but without a cell network I would of course not be getting traffic updates, but launching my current phone would be simple enough for that if needed.
I wish the navigation companies would let us TEST the program and traffic and all the paid features to see if we like the program before spending $50 a pop... I have spend a couple hundred on different navigation apps... Oh and I tried the GOOGLE apps for the iphone.. OK but I much like the maps stored on the phone so if you need to take a call while navigating it will still get you to where you need.. all the apps I have tried with the ONLINE maps, stop navigation when I am on a call, since I have sprint and you cannot do phone and data at the same time (unless its wifi).
There are many positive reviews of the Scout app which looks like a good choice as well but I did notice one complaint of no speed info which would be a negative for me.
I'm also wondering which of these apps would be most useful if I used an old iPhone as primarily a gps device and an iPod, which I do now. I suppose most of them would allow you to download the maps before starting out, while on wifi. Without a network connection I realize live traffic info would not be available. But I'm assuming you could still be rerouted if you veer off course once the maps are on board.
I've been using these phones so much and so often for gps guidance that I'm pretty much done with my stand alone devices. I currently have a TomTom 930 but haven't used it in a long time.
Right now I have Garmin, Navigon, Magellan and WAZE on my phone. I cannot decide which one is the best. I would really like to have ONLY one on my phone.. the Garmin app alone take of 3G and the others at least 1.2G. the Nacigon app, while great, has the map graphics too small to see. the Maegllan app is nice and large and so is the Garmin app. the WAZE app is pretty good but doesnt do anything fancy. I like the crowd sourced traffic which no one else has....
Currently Navigon does iCloud, iTunes sync and backup for your destinations. That is a big improvement for me as with each new device I would lose them and have to start over.
In terms of "how big a crowd", Tomtom and Google are heads and shoulders above anyone else in realtime probes. Both crowdsource based on a large portion of cellular customers, meaning 10's of millions of passive traffic input probes, at any given time.
Waze requires active manual reporting by drivers, which gives it nowhere near the number of reports that Tomtom or Google get.
Tomtom takes it a step further, adding their 6-year historical driving patterns (trillions of datapoints) to create a neural network of statistical algorithms on each road to fill in gaps in probe data. This makes Tomtom traffic data unmatched in accuracy. Tomtom was already the clear leader in traffic accuracy, and with their major probe upgrade in the beginning of 2013, Tomtom jumped so far ahead of the pack that no one else comes even close.
My experience with the Tomtom Android app (they share the same "Tomtom HD traffic" reporting engine) is that the traffic is pretty much perfect. I drive hours daily through the most complicated city traffic on the smallest of roads, and I'd say Tomtom's traffic estimates are nearly always accurate to within 1-2 minutes of reality - the engine mis-estimates a jam by 3+ minutes fewer than 1-2 times per month.
Traffic is really the main reason people consider the very expensive Tomtom app over other iOS and Android competition. For those who drive a lot in complicated cities, Tomtom can save hours per week with it's near-perfect traffic engine, despite its minimalistic interface and other shortcomings.
To get the actual change in flow you need probes, and they don't have nearly as many active probes as the other companies who get their flow data from the masses of mobile phone users that have location data flowing back to the carriers in real time.
Waze has always felt like not much more than an arcade game to me, driving around trying to collect "points". It calculates the worst routes of any navigation system I've ever used. The map database is so bad there are 1/2 mile "gaps" in state highways near me. The data they use also lacks most turn restriction data and until recently didn't include z-axis node data.
Waze will not be among them, however, due to their Privacy Policy. "...Waze will collect: periodically, all of the phone numbers which are stored on your device's phone book." I guess it's true that if you aren't paying directly for something, then you are the "product," not the "customer."