iPhone GPS Software

Co-Pilot puts a full map on the phone... an advantage to apps that don't.

Garmin's App downloads maps as you go - so you'd need a data connection available to use it.

My preferred app on iPhone is Navigon.

I have Navigon on my iphone, but still rely on my Garmin.

I bet it really zapps the battery life running that app!

u plug it in ur car when using gps

FWIW, ATT's iphone app offers optional map downloads for offline navigation, apparently at no extra charge. The app store listing shows 3 regional US maps for dl: western, central and eastern.

I don't have the app (costs $9.99/mo or $69.99/yr), so I'm not endorsing or knocking it. Just fyi.

I prefer to use apps on the iphone like "Find Nearest" iphone apps. I see all these apps that charge $5 or 50$ for a tomtom like app and an additional 40$ a year. I just prefer to pay less and get what im looking at, at that time.

I had an Iphone 4 for a little while and tried everything... Tomtom, Google Maps, Garmin, Navigon. Of all of them, the Navigon was probably the best. It offered the most maps, worked without a carrier signal (maps are loaded on the phone) and the user interface was pretty nice. I wanted to like the Garmin app, but sadly, it won't let you download maps manually, nor does it work with an existing Mapsource installation on your pc, so you can't use it if there is no cell coverage, or if you don't have a data plan.

Great info here thanks!

I used to have an Android, and was able to use Google Navigation. Can't find it for my iPhone.

Because there isn't a full Google Nav app for iPhone.

I have not had much chance to evaluate them, but I did screen reviews of these before downloading (all are free):

MapQuest 4 Mobile (seems to have pretty good traffic AND very good turn by turn AUDIO). Also has an icon band at bottom to easily find things. BTW, the maps also have topo shading on them. Recalculated quickly.

Waze. Tries to be a "community" of drivers who post about accidents, traffic, cameras, speedtraps, etc. Seems to have potential, but the interface is a bit too cutesy/cartoony. Post do show how long ago posted and by what user. Not sure if it has proximity warnings.

AmAze. Looked good, but to do anything with a current location it required "upgrading" to $39.99 full version.

AroundMe. Not a driving tool; has categories to locate nearby things.

iWant. Same as AroundMe. The databases for each vary by content and freshness.

YPMobile [ye olde yellow pages]. Also uses GPS location to find what's nearby. Has coupons on screen (sometimes). But shows a Pizza Hut that's been gone for years! No driving functions.

Free GPS. A quick and streamlined gps compass that let's you add waypoints and shows distance from current position to waypoint. Shows gps accuracy radius. Button for current position. (Also search for other free iPhone screen compasses -- there's a couple of decent ones).

Pedometer FREE GPS +. Uses phone's gps and accelerometer (gps trumps accelerometer if gps signal available, but this can be changed). Gives route history including altitude. Not for cars, but from reviews seems to work with bicycles as well as on foot. Looks good but I haven't tried it yet.

Automilez. Logs trip mileage.

I tried these on one trip, but I was driving alone, so couldn't really focus on them. Did notice that they can't all run simultaneously. Whichever was brought to the fore seemed to be the only one that continued to run currently. My 1490T (with 5.3 firmware) did decide to reboot a few times out of the blue, so it was nice having the MapQuest 4 Mobile voice directions as a backup. Garmin take note! Oh yeah, MapQuest's traffic was much more accurate than my free lifetime traffic on this I-95 trip through CT. Garmin take note again!!

FWIW.

The iphone GPS isn't worth the material its made with. It loses lock, isn't reliable, not worth using, unless you have no other GPS. IMO.

My experience is nothing like what you describe. My experience is my iPhone is on par with that of my Nuvi 765t. Has worked for me everywhere I've needed it to. I do use nav apps that have full maps on my phone, which does make a difference in my experience when compared to apps with maps "in the cloud".

I agree and wouldn't depend on an iPhone as my gps device, but as a backup it's serviceable. It does nip at my Nuvi's heels a bit, though. Garmin better get on the ball, before it finds itself in the buggy-whip business.

They have... Garmin recently bought Navigon - their iOS app is my preferred app - Navigon also is big in stand alone devices in Europe, as well as the software "under the hood" in car manufacturer's 'in-dash' offerings, and an Android app as well.

Garmin also does avionics, marine, and outdoor & fitness devices as well - so the stand-alone automotive GPS navigation device market is a fraction of what the company does overall.

I'm thinking about trying it. It looks like you may have tried a couple others.

Why do you prefer Navigon on the iPhone?

Even before Garmin bough out the company - Navigon was as close to the user experience I get from my Nuvi - and I suspect it will only get better now.

What is the best or most used program for Android? Just wondering.

I prefer Magellan RoadMate over Garmin StreetPilot.

Magellan stored the whole maps on your phone so you dont have to rely on data connection.
Very easy & friendly interface. Much better than Navigon.
The new version 2.0 have lot of graphics improvement, traffic & Google search also available.

...I agree with perpster that MapQuest 4 Mobile is a good app.

Between it and the built-in Maps app (which I use just to get some sense of the traffic in the area), my needs are met.

If I remember correctly (believe it was either the Engadget or Gizmodo tech blogs), Apple should be working on improving its Maps app. No idea if this new version will be available in the upcoming iOS 5 update (which presumably will hit when the next gen iPhone becomes available), but I am looking forward to seeing how Apple might create a GPS navigation experience to rival or one-up that offered by Google on Android (which I would argue is the best free GPS navigation app available on smartphones at the moment).

thanks for the heads up. I just tried this out and found it to be a huge improvement over the standard Google Maps navigation the phone came with. Some improvements over the Google app are voice turn by turn with street name, maps auto rotate to show your direction of travel in line with the route,and a limited POI search. Its not as good as my Nuvi but its free and big improvement over what I had.

I use TomTom on my iPhone all the time and it compares favorably with my Nuvi 255 and I never lose lock.

At times when I don't have my nuvi 760 handy. I really like the audio directions feature. As someone mentioned, the traffic display seems to be quite accurate at least here in the SF Bay Area.

Do any have the functionality to reroute based on traffic conditions?

Also do any have alternate routes?

the mapquest 4 mobile has an icon that says traffic that you can select or deselect. I'm assuming that a traffic issues on your route warning but could be wrong. Anyone here used this feature on this app??

Interesting.. does it give you any traffic warnings so you are prompted to reroute?

Navfree is another free gps app which doesn't look too bad.

I installed TomTom application, but it crashes back to desktop every time I launch it.
Have any1 had the same problem?
iPhone 3GS, iOS 3.0.1