If you haven’t heard, the iPhone now supports turn by turn navigation apps. These apps essentially turn your iPhone into one of those portable navigational devices which people refer to as “my navi” or “my GPS”. Overall, the apps are quite good. They work well, they look great, and having a turn by turn navigational system on your cell phone is highly convenient. The Palm Pre, unlike the iPhone which requires purchasing an app from the App Store, comes equipped with one of these apps, and it’s free with the Sprint service plan. The Pre’s app, “Telenav By Sprint”, is quite frankly the perfect turn by turn navigational app for a cell phone, and we compared the 5 most popular American navigational iPhone apps to the Pre app.
Update: See our Comparison: Google Maps Navigation Vs iPhone GPS Apps
Look below for a detailed table comparing the applications on 20 different parameters.
Note: For these applications you will 100% need a car charger and an in-car iPhone cradle. These apps drain the iPhone’s battery like crazy. Without an in-car iPhone cradle the apps will be pretty much useless. TomTom will soon start selling a car kit which may even be sold as a bundle with the application.
click to enlarge or click here for full size table
Below are brief overviews of each individual application with screenshots and iTunes links. Please let us know in the comments which app you bought and how it has been working for you.
TomTom (B+)
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TomTom is the leader of the GPS world, and there’s a reason. They make a good product, and that didn’t change for their iPhone app. The app works great. Just like their portable devices, the map itself looks ugly…with a thick red line over a beige background, and occasionally some jagged edges. But quite frankly, it’s not there to be modeled, it’s there to guide you and give you functionality. That it does.
Navigon MobileNavigator (B)
The Navigon Mobile Navigator may be the best option in the App Store right now due to the fact that it has been dropped to $70 until August 31st, when it will go up to $100. The Navigon app will guide you wonderfully, but there are a few things missing. For one, you can’t see the route summary. There’s also no traffic feature…but that shouldn’t stop you from buying the app.
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AT&T Navigator (C+)
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The AT&T Navigator application is an excellent app except for 3 things. It requires an internet connection, since the maps are always downloaded fresh from AT&T’s servers. That means it takes a while to load and reload. Also, there is no landscape mode, which is silly for a navigational app. Lastly, the $10/month pricing will lead to an extremely expensive application if you keep it for a while. But if you’re okay with that, the app offers a vivid and attractive map, and a few other great features: traffic and search for lowest-priced gas.
CoPilot Live North America (C)
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CoPilot Live North America is the cheapest of the 5 applications, costing only $35. However, you pay for what you get. Many expected features are missing, and some of the present ones don’t work. The POI search, for instance, needs a lot of work. Also, users have been complaining about app stability. On the plus side, if you just need an app to guide you from point A to point B, CoPilot will do the job. And the map looks great.
Sygic Mobile Map US (C)
For $40, Sygic Mobile Map US seems like a bargain. However, while the design is quite sharp, this app is lacking when it comes to actually guiding you on the road. The app often takes a while to lock a GPS signal, and often runs slow. While it hasn’t happened to me, many users have complained that it has taken them the wrong way. There’s also no contact integration. The good thing about this app is that it offers 26 different languages to guide users in.
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You are slightly mistaken about the Sprint navigation. While you cannot use it offline, if you have a route planned already it’ll keep working even if you lose a data connection (unless you get lost and it has to recalculate).
You are right, forgot to mention that. We have been impressed by Sprint navigation on Palm Pre.
CoPilot has a gorgeous interface and is very good value for money, however in my opinion TomTom have gotten it right again. Yes, you’re paying $65 more, but every TomTom product I’ve used has done the job quickly and without fuss.
Good review
FYI the new release of AT&T Navigator allows for landscape mode.
It would have been useful if you had actually compared them on a common journey, to see which selected the best route, how well it navigated etc.
Looking at the graphics and listing the features doesn’t tell the whole story, it is how they actually work, when you are driving from A to B that really counts.
For example, the Navigon and TomTom (stand alone devices) both have different traffic density algorithms and use different alternate route calculations.
Navigon MobileNavigator looks nice but TomTom is the best GPS app. Cheers.
CoPilot, for the price is by far the best. I would never rely on a GPS 100%, at the very least I would check the route on a map beforehand to make sure it’s right, then I’m just using the GPS as a guide whilst I’m driving. On the journey I used it for it was great and I couldn’t see any point spending more. Of course I don’t make a lot of journeys beyond travelling routes I’m familiar with.
What about “Roadee”? It uses http://www.openstreetmap.org for maps and for routes. Map view integration is via
Unless TomTom has revised their routing engine, I would be hesitant to recommend them. I have a stand-alone TomTom GPS and for long trips its results usually are not the most efficient routes. For such trips I usually check the TomTom route against MapQuest and Google Maps and discover that the TomTom has me going out of my way, often adding an extra hour to what should be a 5 hour trip.
You can find similar observations on detailed reviews comparing brands of GPSs.
I too use xGPS, and though it does have a glitch or two, over all, I have bee very impressed with it’s functionality, and performance. Keep in mind, it is currently free, and you get a lot of functionality for it!
one important factor you forget to list is the “TTS” function. it makes big difference between “turn right” and “turn right on Stevens Creek”. such feature worth $100 more.
Navigon and Sygic are both better than TomTom!
For a more detailed comparison look here:
http://www.iphonehellas.gr/7391/tomtom-vs-navigon-vs-sygic-vs-igomyway-vs-copilot-vs-maps-vs-roadee/
Nice review. Simple and straight forward.
Thanks for sharing this.
Best,
Mo
When is Garmin going to jump into the fray? Would love to be able to sync my stand-alone Garmin with a Garmin app on the iPhone and carry all my saved waypoints to the phone, without having to reinvent the wheel….
How OFTEN and HOW MUCH does it cost every year to upgrade maps, etc.?
This is the only comprehensive feature-by-feature comparison I’ve found so far and it’s fantastic! Please add iGo. Also, it would be great if you would add a column for commitments made i.e. free map upgrades, features (like full text to voice) that have been promised in next release.
This is a VERY well presented comparison – Thank you!
While I found this comparison informative, I really can’t rely on it, which is a shame.
I don’t know why it is, but when it comes to iPhone reviews etc, for some reason, nobody seems to bother putting product version numbers on reviews etc.
Particularly with new tech items like this (which are constantly being updated), version details are critical!
It’s like reading an undated newspaper – interesting but uninformative.
Hope this feedback helps.
Paul T – Perth
good point, tnx. we will fix that for future reviews. Right now you can look at the date of the post to gage version number.
Why don’t any of these map my contacts from my address book like they map gas stations and coffee houses?
I know all the applications listed in this article will let me look up a contact and navigate to them. But sometimes I want to see my contacts like I want to view gas stations.. Show them all on the map so I can see who is closest….
Amertuerish stuff!
Just bought the Magellan app a couple of days ago.
Might want to add it to you list.
Check out FastMall. Turn by turn guidance at the mall, find the bathroom quick and be taken to it, get deals, remember where you park, check in at the mall and stores, full community of features. So much fun
http://www.FastMall.com
I used xGPS for a while (Free from the Cydia App repository if you have a jail broken iphone) and I loved it but the only problem is if you need to make a call or send a text you lose it. Ended up buying a GPS to keep my Iphone free so I can text while I drive LOL
Jess
All I can say is that I’ve been using TomTom for iPhone and on more than one occasion, it has directed me to the wrong location. Fortunately, I was able to use the included iPhone app to find my way on a couple of occasions or the old fashioned way, ask somebody.
would love to see and updated version of this with iOS4 functionality. From what I can tell, this review is a year old.
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