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iPhone Navigation App Battlemodo, Part II: The Best Cheap GPS App

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ph15h
09/24/09

In reply to iPhone Navigation App Battlemodo, Part II: The Best Cheap GPS App
Copilot on Android also lacks qwerty... =[ It slows me down when looking for destinations until I readjust. Why couldn't it just use the one built-in with the Operating system? Like the iPhone OSK or the Android OSK. Makes people regret purchases.
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CraigJ
09/24/09

In reply to iPhone Navigation App Battlemodo, Part II: The Best Cheap GPS App
Now, now, the Canadian Government has apologized for Bryan Adams on several occasions!
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Seitz
09/24/09

In reply to iPhone Navigation App Battlemodo, Part II: The Best Cheap GPS App
I got the co-pilot because I figured what the hell. It was only $35, and I rarely need GPS anyway. It works OK, and it will probably get the job done in a pinch, though google maps is probably nearly as effective.

The first time I tried it out was on a trip to the grocery store just to see how it worked. It told to make a left from Belmont onto Ashland in Chicago. The only problem? There's a "no left turn" sign at that intersection. Oops.
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Wilson Rothman
09/24/09

@Seitz: These things happen with every navigation app and PND, even the ones who guarantee fresh maps daily. CoPilot generally got me from A to B as well as any of the rest.
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Seitz
09/24/09

@Wilson Rothman: It does recalc pretty quickly, so I could have gone right through the intersection and still been fine. As it was, it turned into a good opportunity to check the recalc, since the directions it gave were not my normal route.

Again, it's a good use of $35 if, like me, you rarely find yourself in need of a GPS device. It will be nice for when I travel out of the area for work, which isn't all that often.
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rlreif
09/24/09

In reply to iPhone Navigation App Battlemodo, Part II: The Best Cheap GPS App
Sygic is the only one in the app store, to my knowledge, that has maps for mexico
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★ graffiksguru
09/24/09

In reply to iPhone Navigation App Battlemodo, Part II: The Best Cheap GPS App
Thanks for doing the Co-Pilot review, I was one of those asking you to review it when the first one came out.
One thing, you say that the keyboard is qwerty, but if you download the update, they fixed that problem. The maps are still a wee bit out of date though.
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STFU_FPU!
09/24/09

In reply to iPhone Navigation App Battlemodo, Part II: The Best Cheap GPS App
Navigon is quite sleek and impressive, TomTom I also like due to familiarity but Navigon is my main use. I live in a pretty populated area in San Diego, so I rarely need it at all unless in a weird part of town or deep into side streets and such. Great review all the same Giz!!
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BloggyMcBlogBlog
09/24/09

In reply to iPhone Navigation App Battlemodo, Part II: The Best Cheap GPS App
Wilson, how do these compare to the jailbreak app, xGPS?
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Wilson Rothman
09/24/09

@BloggyMcBlogBlog: You know, between iPhone update, 3GS arrival, Snow Leopard, and newer MacBook Pro, I haven't had the cojones to jailbreak my phone in recent months. But I will say this: Given the wealth of wonderful GPS apps in the app store, anyone jailbreaking for a GPS app is doing it for the rush of breaking the Laws of Steve, not for any real software benefit.
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nemo728
09/24/09

@BloggyMcBlogBlog: I used to use xGPS, but these are scores better. The dot on xGPS was inaccurate and frequently left the road, the voice was low, no POI, and I had to reinput my route whenever I exited for a call. Its pretty good for free, but after using it in LA a few times, I determined I couldn't rely on it as a GPS solution.

I use navigon and think its much better than a standalone gps IMO.
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STFU_FPU!
09/24/09

@Wilson Rothman: I agree, I'm jailbroken and the freebies or cheaper ones just don't do it for me. the few I'd use have a less than "pretty" look and feel and I just simply don't like them. Navigon FTW personally.
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tazm0n
09/24/09

@Wilson Rothman: I haven't jailbroken my iPhones since realizing the only thing I really got out of doing it was themes (why can't we do this legitimately yet?) and an occasional scolding from the genii at the local Apple store. $.99 to $5-6 is easy to manage.

Thank you for reviewing this second tier of nav apps. I am currently debating which to get (and if I really need it). Having built in nav in my current daily car makes the iphone version for vacations and business trip rentals, but after reading this I know Navigon will be the one.
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fallorn
09/24/09

In reply to iPhone Navigation App Battlemodo, Part II: The Best Cheap GPS App
I recently went on a road trip with my friends up the west coast, using the Sygic app as our navigator.
It was awful. The directions were frequently confusing, we couldn't get it to give us the name of the street on which we were to turn (though it always tells you what road you are _curently_ on), so there was a ton of "oops, i think we just passed it" especially with the GPS lag that we experienced in big cities such as san francisco and seattle.
Would not recommend.

Be Seeing You,
Fallorn
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Wilson Rothman
09/24/09

@fallorn: Good feedback, thanks.
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OMG! Ponies!
09/24/09

In reply to iPhone Navigation App Battlemodo, Part II: The Best Cheap GPS App
Thanks for the continued great work, Wilson.

I was actually debating getting Navigon today for the $90 (plus NY Tax). My question is, cost being a significant factor, would you go with an app or dedicated device?
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Wilson Rothman
09/24/09

@OMG! Ponies!: Honestly, dude, I'm quite surprised at how well these things work. I brought a Garmin on vacation to a place we've never been before, but never once whipped it out, relying instead on these apps alone.

So I guess if you're asking about reliability of dedicated device vs. app on iPhone 3GS, I gotta say, in real-world use, it's surprisingly a toss-up.
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ThisIsSharksTerritory
09/24/09

@OMG! Ponies!: @Wilson Rothman: I agree it is a toss-up functionally but I have trouble buying an app for this amount of money when I can get a stand-alone for similar price because with the app it means you must have, and keep, and activated iPhone at all times.
I guess if you truly believe you will still be using an iPhone 3 years from now then that's another story.
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Wilson Rothman promoted this comment Edited by ThisIsSharksTerritory at 09/24/09 5:40 PM

Wilson Rothman
09/24/09

@ThisIsSharksTerritory: If you can find a Garmin for $90, go ahead and buy it. But some of the crap that's being sold at these prices is just that, total crap.
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macpatrik
09/24/09

@Wilson Rothman: My advice: Get the Navigon App.

I was in your situation. I didn't want to spend a huge amount of money, even though I know GPS apps are a great deal, and thought about going for a cheap-o app like one of these. After trying out Navigon and TomTom I went with Navigon. It's an excellent app and they've already shows their commitment to it.

I don't use a GPS a whole lot, probably a dozen times a month, and I'm definitely not regretting my purchase. It was money well spent and now I don't know how I lived without it.
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ThisIsSharksTerritory
09/24/09

@Wilson Rothman: I have bought two Garmins, both $75, at different times (one for me and one for my mom after she saw mine and liked it very much), brought to me by Giz's deal of the day.
Gotta look and be patient.
But I do agree, I wouldn't spend my money on anything but a Garmin. I have this huuuge bias for them although I think Navigon is genius for spending a lot of time and effort to come up with a really nice looking and reasonably priced software that according to you guys' reviews also works very well.
As I have put it before, it is a brilliant move to make just software and let apple take care of the hardware that is now accessible to well over 25M people and probably close to 50M before 2011. I give madddd props to Navigon.
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ShwetaAmphitryon
09/24/09

In reply to iPhone Navigation App Battlemodo, Part II: The Best Cheap GPS App
Hmm, you review says there is no Battery Indicator, but on the screenshot there is, so what's the point of the status bar then??? i don't think you care about your signal or current time while driving.
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Wilson Rothman
09/24/09

@ShwetaAmphitryon: Oh I care! But I did amend that to make it clear I was referring to Apple's battery life indicator (which I actually keep in percentage.) Incidentally, if you're not plugged in, precision battery life indication is majorly important, as these suckers drain battery faster than anything.
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MalcolmFantazmic
09/24/09

In reply to iPhone Navigation App Battlemodo, Part II: The Best Cheap GPS App
Must have used an old version of CoPilot. QWERTY keyboard and other updates were added a few weeks ago.
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Wilson Rothman
09/24/09

@MalcolmFantazmic: I've been updating as I go, but you never know. I'll look into it.
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Wilson Rothman
09/24/09

@Wilson Rothman: Came 9/16, the day I left on my trip—no wonder I missed it.
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PurpleMonkeyDishwasher:
09/24/09

In reply to iPhone Navigation App Battlemodo, Part II: The Best Cheap GPS App
Great reviews! I agree with the monthly fees being a deal breaker. Updates are allowed to cost money as long as they are not too frequent or not mandatory.
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Wilson Rothman promoted this comment Edited by PurpleMonkeyDishwasher: at 09/24/09 4:39 PM

Ryan Peavey
09/24/09

In reply to iPhone Navigation App Battlemodo, Part II: The Best Cheap GPS App
There is no mention of route calculation. I think it's important to discuss how the software gets you from point A to point B (with a possible point F in the middle somewhere) and the time it takes to travel to said location. Any comparisons for these apps?
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Wilson Rothman
09/24/09

@Ryan Peavey: They're all using the same off-the-shelf data crunchers, generally based on the mapsets from Navteq and Tele Atlas. It's mostly dumb calculation, but the CoPilot and Sygic mentioned above do give you the "point F" option, as I mentioned, and even let you preview the routes, and in some cases optimize them.
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Ryan Peavey
09/24/09

@Wilson Rothman: This review reminded me of a comparison between my garmin and a friend's magellan (both use Navteq). Using the same start location, the magellan not only took longer, but routed us to the wrong side of the street, whereas the garmin took us directly to the door. I was just curious if you happened to find differences between the programs at this level. However, it may be inconsequential to most readers.
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Edited by Ryan Peavey at 09/24/09 5:13 PM Ryan Peavey was starred Ryan Peavey was unstarred

Darnitol
09/24/09

In reply to iPhone Navigation App Battlemodo, Part II: The Best Cheap GPS App
Next time please add iGo Myway to the list. I've been happy with it so far, but I haven't had the benefit of comparing multiple apps. I just had to choose one and take the plunge.
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Wilson Rothman
09/24/09

@Darnitol: I think a close-up view of six different apps is quite enough. iGo didn't make the cut. But if you like it, you like it, amen.
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Darnitol
09/24/09

@Wilson Rothman: Well, I can't say I like it over any of these others. It has served my needs, but when I read these reviews, I start to question whether I made the right choice. I figured if a "round three" came about, it might be a good option to throw in the mix. Excellent reporting, though! You've definitely got me considering shelling out for a new Nav app!
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MarcusMaximus
09/24/09

In reply to iPhone Navigation App Battlemodo, Part II: The Best Cheap GPS App
How 'bout a review on some of the ones in Android(Android's version of Co-pilot included)?
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Wilson Rothman
09/24/09

@MarcusMaximus: I think most of these are ports of the same basic apps. I will doublecheck, but I am pretty sure the impressions you get here about UI and features will guide you well in the Androidverse.
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