Navigation

When you are out and about, look at Navigation apps to help you get to where you’re supposed to be.

Navigation / Reviews
Google Maps

Google Maps for iPhone is Here!

google_maps_iPhone5

If you’ve been frustrated by Apple’s decision to pull Google Maps from iOS and replace it with a less than steller (ok it kinda sucks) Apple Maps, then I’m about to make your day. Google has just released Google Maps for iPhone. Now in all fairness Apple Maps is working great for some, but there are people that were livid that Apple took away the tried and true Google Maps in favor of their own solution. While I didn’t really use Google Maps for “directions”, I did use it for searching for local businesses all the time. There are businesses that I search for in Apple Maps that just aren’t there yet, so yeah I’m happy to see this App get released.

Google Maps with Turn-by-Turn “Voice” directions

Not only did Google come out with a Maps App for iPhone, but they added turn-by-turn voice directions. This pretty much puts almost all other GPS navigation Apps in the App store on notice. Google is legendary for searching for stuff. Now you’ll be able to sign in with your gmail/google account and access your search history and favorites, yes even the ones you did on your computer. You’ll then be able to navigate from point a (your current location) to point b with voice directions. As many of you know, I’m a long time user of Navigon North America and even though Google Maps has returned with turn-by-turn directions, I have no plans to use it as my main navigation App. There’s one simple reason for this. Navigon allows you to download the maps you choose (by state) to your device so that you won’t need a data connection while driving. Google Maps will require a data connection to navigate. Other than that though, it would be hard for someone to justify buying a navigation App these days for iPhone. You now have two FREE solutions. Apple Maps built-in and Google Maps to navigate to the correct location (just joking, sorry Apple).

How does it work?

Once you launch the App you’ll be prompted to agree to the terms and conditions, optionally sign into your Google account and agree to have it know your location. Then you’ll see a map of where you are with a search field. Type whatever you’re looking for into the search field including business names or addresses. It will find the place in question on the map and then you can tap it to get directions via driving, walking or public transportation as well as a estimated time to get there. Tap the route you want to take and you’ll hear a voice telling you your first move/turn, and yes Street View and Traffic is there too!

Use Siri to route via Google Maps

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Since Apple Maps is built-in it has the benefit of working with Siri. You could say things like “navigate home” or “navigate to the Apple Store” and it will fire up Apple Maps and start navigating. However, you can add a couple of words to your Siri voice command to get the option to navigate via other Apps. Since Apple doesn’t do public transportation via Apple Maps, if you say “navigate home by train” it will find your address in Apple Maps and then offer to hand off to another installed routing App that does support public transportation. At that point you can tap Google Maps and still have it navigate by car if you like. Siri will have done all the work of inputting the address. This is great for navigating to contacts too or other relationships like “navigate to my sister’s house by bus”.

What’s missing?

This is all good, but just like having a different favorite web browser (in my case Google Chrome) you can’t have Google Maps be your default Mapping App. Anything system related will still launch Apple Maps by default just like anything system related will launch Safari no matter how many browsers you have installed. This is not Google’s fault. It’s a restriction of iOS. Also in typical Google fashion, they’ve released this as an iPhone/iPod touch App, but not as a Universal App for iPad yet. Google usually takes a while to update their Apps to be native on the iPad. This app will work on iPad, just not taking advantage of the iPad screen size.

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The Bottom Line

It’s Google Maps and it’s Free! What’s there to complain about? You should be downloading this now!

Apple Maps Breakup Letter :-)
iTunes

Navigation / Reviews
navigon

iOS 6 Maps Got You Down? Navigon may be your answer!

I solved the lack of having turn-by-turn voice GPS directions on my iPhone a long time ago with the Navigon Apps. However, I was actually happy to see that Apple was going to finally bring this feature to their new Maps App in iOS 6. There are lots of users out there that don’t need or want to pay for a navigation App and I figured the Maps App would be a good solution for many. However, it appears that at least in this 1.0 state, Apple’s Maps App isn’t making a lot of users happy. Users are missing features of the previous Google Maps App such as better traffic displays and public transit route info. I knew that I would still continue to use my Navigon Apps as they would undoubtedly be more full featured and I was right. While it’s great to be able to ask Siri to “navigate to” a specific point, overall Navigon offers a multitude of additional features over the built-in iOS 6 Maps App.

Navigon bridges the gap and integrates with iOS 6 Maps

In their latest release that came out this week, Navigon took advantage of a gaping whole in iOS 6 Maps and not only offer public transit info (with a $2.99 in-app purchase), but even lets you use Siri/Maps to find the location you want to Navigate to and then hand it off to Navigon to give you the “professional” navigation and turn-by-turn directions you are looking for. While this feature is cool, it may not last forever. If Apple adds public transit stuff, then this feature in Navigon (the hand off) could easily stop working, but for now it’s there if you need it.

 

  1. Find the address, POI that you want to navigate to on Maps
  2. Tap the pin to be taken to the information page about that location.
  3. Tap the “Directions to Here” button
  4. Tap the Bus icon and the Route button
  5. Since Apple doesn’t offer this routing it will prompt you with Apps that do, including your Navigon App
  6. Tap the Route button next to Navigon
  7. Once you’re in the Navigon App you can choose to route via your vehicle or public transportation
Navigon gets it when it comes to GPS turn-by-turn navigation and I consider theirs to be the “Best App” simply because they are always offering up new features and enhancements to their Apps! While it would have been nice to have this as a FREE update, I’m sure there was a fair amount of work that went into making this feature work. Having the hand off from the built-in Maps to Navigon is worth my $2.99. Hopefully this hand off will continue to work well into the future or until Maps is so good that I don’t need Navigon anymore.

iTunes

Navigation / Reviews
GPS-everywhere

Turn Your iPhone into a Heads Up Display (HUD) for your Car

People have been using iPhones in their cars since day one. The obvious use is to make/receive calls. After that people found various ways to use the iPod feature to listen to their favorite tunes during the commute.  When the iPhone 3G hit the scene people used the integrated GPS chip with the GPS turn-by-turn navigation Apps that were hitting the scene. Fast forward to today and things are better than ever. Now your favorite GPS app can run in the background while you take calls or use other Apps.

GPS everyWhere turns your iPhone into a beautiful Heads-Up-Display (HUD)

If you’re using a Navigation App then you’re probably going to occasionally glance at the map while you listen the voice directions. However, what about the regular commute day to day? In most cases you know the route and you’re not using your GPS Turn-by-Turn App. At that point your iPhone display is a lot less interesting. This is where GPS everyWhere comes in. Just fire up the App and drive. You’ll be presented with your current speed, weather info, time, compass, humidity and more. You have your choice between 8 different themes. The App works in both portrait and landscape and presents the info in °C °F °K or MPH or km/h. You even slide open the Google Map display.

It’s a real HUD too

Please excuse the image above which looks like a serious case of double exposure, but that’s just how it photographs off the windshield as a reflection.

One of the things that got me excited about testing this App was the promise of a using the iPhone as a “HUD”. I had a car once with a built-in HUD and I do miss it. While it does work as advertised you have to realize that the iPhone display is just not bright enough to compete against the sun! You’ll barely be able to see the display reflected off your windshield in daylight if at all. In the evening or at night you should be fine though. Even then you’d have to weigh the value (geek factor) of reflecting the image off your windshield vs. just using a mount that displays the iPhone at eye level. Neat idea though!

You can get the GPS everyWhere for $0.99 (on sale) here from the iTunes

 

Navigation / Reviews
Navfree

Navfree GPS for iPhone and iPad

 

Over here at Best App Site we pride ourselves in bringing you the best Apps on the market.  Because of the nature of business, most Apps that are really good cost something. Before you fill our email box I know that there are a ton of Apps out there that are awesome and are free but most of those Apps are developed by large corporations like Facebook, or Google. That said, Navfree is the BEST free Navigation App that I have ever seen. One of our readers Bryce Allaire suggested this App to us, and I want to say thanks to Bryce for that! This App has most of the features that our favorite paid navigation App Navigon has, with the great price point of Free. If you've been looking for a turn by turn navigation App but haven't wanted to shell out the money, read on, this might be the App for you.

Almost Everything You'd Want

When I first fired up Navfree I wasn't expecting much more than a map that offered turn by turn directions. What I found was a really full featured App that had some things that I would consider must have's in a $30-$50 Nav App, but certainly wouldn't have expected them to be housed within a free version. Not only does Navfree offer Google search for points of interest, but it offers Facebook and Twitter location posts as well. There is access to your music right from the home screen, and a 2d option just a tap away. It has a standard navigate to address option, a point of interest option, as well as favorites, and recent destinations. Pretty much everything that you would expect in a turn by turn Nav App. Almost…

There are a few key things either missing all together or rough around the edges. First, there is no option to select a contact's address from your contact list. This is big for me because I have tons of contacts that I have yet to visit, however I have their address. I use this feature all of the time in my primary Nav App. The second thing I found a little lacking was the address input. There are times that I know the city, and I know part of the street name, but not all of it. Or sometimes I know the city and the street name but not exactly how to spell it. My favorite Nav App allows me to input the City name and as I'm typing the street name will show me all of the streets that start with that particular letter.  This is huge for me because (and this is bad I know) I never really listen fully to people when they give me directions or addresses. If I do, I rarely ever write them down. So what usually happens is I remember kind of what the street name is but not exactly. You can see how this can lead to a problem. In Navfree's defense, it's free! If Navfree was what I was using on a day to day basis for navigation, I would probably start listening and writing down addresses.  A couple of things Noted by Bryce who recommended this App to us. First, Bryce says that it didn't include any highway direction. It tells you that you're on highway i75 for example, but not in which direction you're going on that highway (it does however have a compass built in so I don't think this would be too big of a problem).  Second, Bryce says that it doesn't know all of the toll roads. I can't confirm this as we don't have any toll roads in Cincinnati, but in my testing the App knew all of the road names around here so that was a positive sign.

Ads

You didn't think you get everything for free did you? Navfree has in App advertising in the form of banners. The good news? With an in App purchase for only $3.99 you can get rid of those ads.

Perfect for you?

Is this App the perfect Navigation App? Nope. It is however the absolute best one for free that I've found. If you are dead set on not paying $30-$50 for a turn by turn Nav App, but still want to know where you're going, Navfree is for you. All I would recommend is this; be sure to write all of your addresses down so you can fill them in to the App.

 

You can get Navfree for the iPhone from the iTunes store for free here: iTunes
You can get Navfree for the iPad from the iTunes store for free here: iTunes

Navigation / Reviews
CoPilot-Live

CoPilot Live North America for iPhone

I love the Google maps application that comes preinstalled on the iPhone. Since Google powers it, it’s always updated, and almost always correct. That being said, I really, really like the CoPilot Live App. There is something to be said for a dedicated turn by turn, voice guided App. This App packs all of the things that you would expect from a GPS App, and more. It’s the “more” that earns it a place on the Best App Site, and a place in my navigation folder on my iPhone.
 

What you would expect

There are some things that a turn-by-turn GPS must have to make it functional. It must have an easy to use, easy to read interface. It must offer 3d as well as 2d driving modes. It absolutely has to have favorites, home, work, address, and points of interest (POI) options for destination input. I expect that the App will have the option of at bare minimum, walking as well as driving if not expanded beyond that to different types of vehicles. The App should allow you to access your contacts to obtain their addresses to use as destinations, it should also allow you to input intersecting streets. CoPilot does all of these things and more!

Upon launching the App you are greeted with a cheerful voice welcoming you to CoPilot live. You are then presented with a screen of options, your places, destination, quick stops, and more. Tapping any of these buttons will bring up a new menu easily, and quickly walking you through getting your destination chosen and you on your way. If you have used any kind of GPS interface, be it an App on your iPhone or a stand along GPS unit, you will feel right at home in this App. The GPS is quick to fix on your location even under cloudy conditions, and in my time testing this App the signal never dropped, ever. Once a destination has been chosen and you are under way on your trip, the turn-by-turn directions are timely, and precise. As with most others, this App gives you your next turn direction as well as distance from that turn on the lower left side of the screen.

What I love

For me, I expect my GPS App to do multiple things. While I’m driving I often times connect to my radio via Bluetooth and listen to music off of my iPhone through my speakers, so when I saw that CoPilot has a music option, I was excited. This means that I can use my phone for music as I have been doing while I’m also using it for GPS. Sure, CoPilot is iOS 4.2 compatible (meaning it can run in the background while I’m using other applications) but if I use the built in music section of the App, when I’m approaching turns, lane changes, or my destination I have control over how the App handles the music. I can instruct the App to simply play the directions at the same level as the music, I can have the App lower the music level so the directions can be heard better, or I can tell the App not to voice the directions at all.
Built in search is very, very important to me. Often times I’m on my way to a destination and I realize that I have forgotten something, or maybe I want to stop for a bite to eat at a specific place. In version 8 (the current version) of CoPilot you receive a live local search option absolutely free. This is great! In previous versions it wasn’t free, so this is a big improvement on the App.
Often times when I’m driving in unfamiliar locations I get confused (even with a GPS) as to which lane goes where, both on the highway and when making turns on regular roads. Enter Lane assistance, and Clear turn by CoPilot. These two features are great! They give you a 3d view of what the lanes actually look like, and which one you should be on! This is one of the features that Terry loves about his favorite App Navigon which he reviewed here and now it’s also standard on the CoPilot live.
Another huge feature on CoPilot live is the speed limit warning. This warning is user customizable, meaning you can have it alert you when you’re so many MPH over (user defined MPH over), or turn it off entirely. This is great for me where I live. Here in Ohio we have long stretches of “country” roads where the speed limit is 45-55MPH then out of nowhere a small town comes into view where the speed limit is down to 35 or even 25. CoPilot live will alert you before you ever get close to the town. It’s a great feature to have and I can tell you it’s saved my butt a couple of times.
 

A couple of things to improve upon

Unlike the Navigon App that I mentioned earlier, CoPilot Live is not a universal binary. This means that you have to pay twice for this App if you want to have it on your iPhone, and iPad. I prefer universal binaries because I don’t like to have to keep track of two different versions of the same App in my iTunes library.
Second, to cancel a route, you have to dig a couple of menus in. There isn’t a place on the main screen or the menu screen. You have to go to menu-plan or edit trip-options then you can clear it. That’s way too much work. I want to hit menu and have a “cancel route” option.
Lastly is the way that you shut the App down. When you close out of it, the App doesn’t actually close. It’s still running in the background. This is great if you’re doing something else while in route to your destination, and want the GPS to run in the background. This isn’t so good however if you just want to close the App. I have found that if you don’t have a route programmed and you hit the home button to put the App in the background, it will close automatically after a few minutes. I want a button in the menu to exit the App.
 

Great App

Overall CoPilot Live is a great App, I wouldn’t be talking about it if it weren’t. It has a lot of features that I really like, and it works really well. If you’re in the market for a GPS App, CoPilot should at least get a second look from you. You just may find that you love it!

You can get CoPilot live North America for your iPhone for $19.99 here from the iTunes

You can get Copilot Live North America for your iPad for $24.99 here from the iTunes

 

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