Okay, one iPhone GPS app reviewed and another one coming up. I think I’ve gotten a little obsessed with GPS apps for the iPhone, but I feel like I’ve just been waiting for so long for them. I’ve just hated digging out my TomTom GPS unit, doing my damndest to install the suction-cup mount so it will stay put (which it never does), and watch it get confused more often than not while my perfectly capable iPhone stared at me woefully, muttering lame excuses about how no official GPS apps were available for it yet. No more, finally!
My review of Sygic’s Mobile Maps North America navigation app is up here. When the app was first released, it was priced at $79.99. It’s now down to $69.99 and another version that includes only the U.S. is now available for $59.99. For those who don’t venture out of the U.S., I’m sure the latter will be much appreciated, though I personally hope few people take advantage of it, purely out of a personal desire to see more Americans travel outside of the U.S. to experience other cultures and locales. Just pony up for the North American version, okay? It’s only $10 more. Use it to find a white sand beach in Puerto Vallarta or the lovely Notre-Dame Basilica in Montréal, at the very least.
Navigon’s MobileNavigator app (link opens iTunes) is up next for me to review. Right off the bat, it does have a feature that Sygic’s app is missing: contacts integration. Also, its interface is more iPhone-like, allowing you to use two fingers to pinch and zoom in the map as well as a menu structure and keyboard that mimic what you see in a built-in iPhone app.
However, although it uses the same map data source as Sygic’s app, TeleAtlas, my street isn’t on its map and it takes longer to acquire a GPS location after start-up. Street names are also hard to read with the daytime color scheme, which cannot be changed. Also, there are no language or voice customization options, nor much in the way of navigation preferences and settings. I’ll start using it to get me around the city this weekend to see how it does performing its main function.
Unrelated to GPS apps, my husband said something astounding to me last night (those who follow me on Twitter already know). He said – and I quote – “I think I might get an iPhone.” Do you have any idea what those words meant to me? I swear I heard angels singing afterward. After I came to, I suggested – perhaps a little too eagerly – that we could go to the Apple store right then to get one for him. He said that wasn’t necessary, so I went to fetch my spare first-generation iPhone for him so he could use it in the meantime. He declined. I offered to answer any questions he might have about the iPhone and inquired about the color and capacity he might be interested in. He then said that I needed to calm down or he wouldn’t get one at all. He also wouldn’t let me see his stupid Razr, noticing my plan to “accidentally” snap it in half written clearly on my face. Sheesh. What a party pooper. I was just trying to help. We’ll probably go see the Harry Potter movie this weekend at a local theater next to an AT&T store. I will work to subtly guide him there to seal the deal. Wish me luck!
