littleorphanfunk said:
for anyone who bought the navigation app. how does it compare to a standalone navigation unit. is it pretty snappy with the 3gs. i really want the tom tom app, but im gonna be doing some traveling in the next couple weeks and would like to have turn by turn. i wish it was a little cheaper though 70 bucks is pretty steep for a software app, i can buy a standalone garmin or tom tom for that
the navigon software has worked pretty well for me. tested it out in and around my city (montreal) and the directions were accurate and the redirection calculations were fast.
overall, i like it a lot. very polished, and great full screen graphics of highway exits and signage to help guide you to the correct lane.
the UI uses text that is a bit smaller than i would like for a device that should be easy to glance at but I can still deal with it. I like the voice (female voice) as it cuts through the sound of music well. also, a future free update will apparently mute songs out when the voice gives directions.
pro: the map scrolls very smoothly instead of the stop and start movement of most apps. i like that touch.
pro: it uses navteq maps which are supposed to be pretty good. I had no issue with out of date streets but, as always, some areas may not be as well represented.
another pro: it integrates with the iphone address book so you can fill that full of POIs on your computer address book or imported from google maps on the phone instead of being forced to use the POI database inside the app.
pro: the iphone touchscreen kicks the ass of the pressure sensitive touchscreens of most devices out there. seriously, they are almost always shit. not here.
con: there is no "text to speech" so proper street names will not be spoken aloud. only highway numbers and distance to the exit.
con: takes longer than a dedicated GPS to gain a signal. less than a minute but it could be faster, i feel.
con: phone call comes and you answer it, you no longer have navigation abilities as it quits you to the phone app immediately. could be troublesome if someone calls while you're in the middle of a tricky route
for 70 bucks i'd say it's comparable to other non text to speech devices out there. the convenience of having it in one device with my music and phone outweighed the cons i listed above so i sold off my old dedicated GPS.