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The Best iPhone Navigation App: TeleNav vs. Navigon vs. TomTom
AT&T Wants You to Pay $10 a Month for Their iPhone GPS Navigator

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lefonceobscure
08/24/09

In reply to The Best iPhone Navigation App: TeleNav vs. Navigon vs. TomTom
i was able to purchase a refurbished tomtom one for $50 from amazon. Seems like a better deal
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Canoehead
08/24/09

In reply to The Best iPhone Navigation App: TeleNav vs. Navigon vs. TomTom
We own the standalone TomTom and Navigon units, and while the TomTom is easier and more intuitive, once you learn the Navigon you can get a lot more from it - and it's re-routing (for traffic congestion) is truly excellent.
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MirandaLactuca
08/24/09

In reply to The Best iPhone Navigation App: TeleNav vs. Navigon vs. TomTom
My Garmin GPS came with a warning that California (where I live) and Minnesota (where I don't live) prohibit sticking the suction cup to the windshield. I bought a sandbag-style mount instead. It sits nicely on the dashboard, but it probably would go flying in a moderate- to high-speed collision.
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AdamNermit
08/24/09

In reply to The Best iPhone Navigation App: TeleNav vs. Navigon vs. TomTom
You forgot that only TomTom uses TeleAtlas maps (same as Google), the other use Navteq, which IMO suck! They are still missing a major street in my town which is over 8 years old!
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barjohn
08/24/09

In reply to The Best iPhone Navigation App: TeleNav vs. Navigon vs. TomTom
You don't mention a couple of important requirements and how each fares in regards to those requirements. Two in particular are important to me. The first is a clear indication of when to turn. It can be real easy to not be sure which street to turn on when you are in a city and it says "turn left" Is it turn left on the street on you immediate left or one a 100' further on? This brings up the second issue when one says 100 yards, the next says 300' and the other says in 1/10th of a mile. I prefer the tenths of a mile because that is what my car odometer reads. Feet or yards are pure guess work and most people cannot estimate these distances accurately in a moving vehicle.

The Navigon says turn now but I actually prefer the ding ding that other hand held GPS units use because there is less confusion with the spoken upcoming turn warning.
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BreezyHackle
08/24/09

In reply to The Best iPhone Navigation App: TeleNav vs. Navigon vs. TomTom
I have CoPilot Live and I'm so happy with it. It got me all the way from Denver, CO to Bloomington, IN with not even a shred of trouble, and it's soooooo much cheaper than any of these. At 34.99 it's the real winner. I've also used it around town and it's fabulously. There are only two voices, but they are easily heard and understood, and the software is quite good and always works. It has never crashed on me or anything and always runs smoothly. You guys should have tested CoPilot, too.
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Homerjay is utterly alone.
08/24/09

@BreezyHackle: I wish I could say the same. It's been crap for me. Seldom shows the real fastest route (by a lot!), frequently shows me on nearby roads and not the one I'm on. It's missing big POIs. Lots of others issues too.
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TheSonOfKrypton
08/24/09

In reply to The Best iPhone Navigation App: TeleNav vs. Navigon vs. TomTom
"If you pause your music though, you can't double-tap the home button to start it again. You'll have to exit your navigation app, go into the iPod interface, and start it up."

One thing to note about this: An alternative is to, instead, leave your nav app open, hit the sleep button on the iPhone, let the screen go black, double tap the home button, hit play, and then slide to unlock (opening back into the nav app). I always use this method.
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Edited by TheSonOfKrypton at 08/24/09 10:30 AM TheSonOfKrypton was starred TheSonOfKrypton was unstarred

MF350z: Wanting, at least, a silver star!
08/24/09

@TheSonOfKrypton: That's a really good idea. I'm kinda frustrated that I didn't think of that. I always get so mad that I have to exit my app to play the iPod again.
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Chewmieser
08/24/09

@TheSonOfKrypton: JB users - Just background the app for a few =), or use the "Music Controls" cydia software.
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Thinger
08/24/09

@TheSonOfKrypton: Genius, one of those perfect 'Why didn't I think of that' statements. Really great tip!
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TheSonOfKrypton
08/24/09

In reply to The Best iPhone Navigation App: TeleNav vs. Navigon vs. TomTom
It's a real shame you guys couldn't throw "CoPilot" into the mix with this review....I've heard that it gives TomTom a run for it's money...And it's hella cheaper: $35.
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Homerjay is utterly alone.
08/24/09

@TheSonOfKrypton: I have it. If it gives any of the others a run for their money then I have very low hopes for the others. It's mediocre at best for many reasons I prefer not to type out on my phone.
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SecretAZNMan
08/24/09

@TheSonOfKrypton: Yes, I think that's what many people want to find out. I'm certainly tempted to only spend $35 after reading many glowing reviews of it, but I want Giz to be the final word. Too bad none of these GPS programs have text to speech.
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CapitalC
08/24/09

@SecretAZNMan: That's coming soon to CoPilot but may be a "premium" (read: "pay") add-on.
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TheSonOfKrypton
08/24/09

In reply to The Best iPhone Navigation App: TeleNav vs. Navigon vs. TomTom
Hey Wilson, that mount that you have the iPhone in in the first pic of the story, is that the same mount as the one as the middle picture of all the mounts (last pic of the story). Also, know any good mounts that work WITH a case on (I specifically have a Contour Showcase)?
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lecti
08/24/09

@TheSonOfKrypton: Kensington's mount works well, and has a reasonable price. (I recommend against getting a gooseneck mount, unless you enjoy watching your phone bounce around)
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mykalt45
08/24/09

In reply to The Best iPhone Navigation App: TeleNav vs. Navigon vs. TomTom
Does anyone know if there is a way to download any of these on more than 1 iPhone without paying $200. It is something I'd consider for mine and my wife's iPhone.
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lecti
08/24/09

@mykalt45: It'll work on as many phones as long as they are registered on same account. It's easy. This makes it a very cheap (and better, legal) way to get multiple satnavs.
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mykalt45
08/24/09

@mykalt45: Thanks guys!
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jriga
08/24/09

In reply to The Best iPhone Navigation App: TeleNav vs. Navigon vs. TomTom
It's frustrating that Navigon gets an 'A-' today, but when the price goes to normal (which isn't out-of-line) it goes to a 'B'? WTF is that? If you're ok spending $100-$200 on a nav system, you're not going to stress $30+ or - when buying one for the iPhone, you just want the best nav system.

The price does not make Navigon better or worse than the others. So WHICH one is the best nav system on iPhone 3GS?

Change the title of the review to "The Best iPhone Navigation App FOR THE MONEY".
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Coulterboy
08/24/09

@jriga: Actually I would argue that the price does make the navigon better for right now. It is close to the Tom Tom but $30 cheaper. For $30 less I'll get it since I only plan on using it maybe once a week. I can put up with having the "second best" for that price
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BeyondtheTech
08/24/09

In reply to The Best iPhone Navigation App: TeleNav vs. Navigon vs. TomTom
Don't forget the fact that AT&T's TeleNav $10 monthly subscription is only good for one device, whereas if you bought the other apps from the App Store, it can be used on up to five devices synced to your iTunes account.
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snitch
08/24/09

In reply to The Best iPhone Navigation App: TeleNav vs. Navigon vs. TomTom
For now Navigon is the best i think, Tom tom is just too buggy and is missing tons of features for example, no lane assistant and no speed limit warning, things that are really helpful and are found on the cheaper navigon app. One thing i can't understand is why none of them use the internet to calculate your destination base and traffic conditions, hey that data connection is there why not use it. Telenav is just plain bad, no to mention all the run around AT&T gives you so you won't cancel it, imagine driving across country with that thing and losing your data connection half way.
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Chewmieser
08/24/09

@snitch: Amen. Navigon just rocks, I'm glad I bought it.
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lecti
08/24/09

@snitch: I agree. I never thought speed limit warning would be a useful feature, but it actually is great. I just wish they had spoken street name, though.
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Jeb_Hoge
08/24/09

In reply to The Best iPhone Navigation App: TeleNav vs. Navigon vs. TomTom
Subscription apps like Telenav do provide the advantage of updating maps and refreshing POI databases without you having to do anything. I've seen non-subscription GPS applications where refreshing your maps cost almost as much as the initial product did, plus storing all of that map data required (as you pointed out) hundreds of MBs or more. That's why I use a subscription service.
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Coulterboy
08/24/09

@Jeb_Hoge: Yes, but most people only do that like every 3-4 years. Actually people probably just buy a whole new system, but my point was that most people don't need their GPS up to the second. It just needs to be pretty close and the interstate needs to be correct
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Hello Mister Walrus
08/24/09

In reply to The Best iPhone Navigation App: TeleNav vs. Navigon vs. TomTom
I'm fairly certain that TomTom, Garmin, and those other GPS companies are eventually going to become like Sega - they will become GPS software providers for mobile devices from other companies. In 20 years time when 90% of people have smart phones, it's hard to imagine people shelling out money for standalone GPS units.
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Edited by Hello Mister Walrus at 08/24/09 9:38 AM

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