You’ve probably been hearing a lot about TomTom’s new iPhone application, now available in iTunes for just $99. It’s the first true GPS navigation software available, a massive 1.1GB download that boasts stored maps of the entire US & Canada. No reception? No 3G or Edge? With TomTom, there’s no problem, as long as you have clear line-of-sight to the GPS eyes in the sky. Is it as good as their YouTube advertisement? I’ve bought it, driven 500 miles with it, and lived to tell the tale:
The simplest feature is navigation. You can find a place to go by entering an address, choosing a contact from your iPhone, browsing the map and picking start/end points, or searching through nearby points of interest. Once you’ve figured where to go, the TomTom app knows where you are and gives you a route:
Along the way you have a few route options:
The most useful of these is the list of instructions, which is a turn-by-turn summary of your drive:
The “points of interest” search tool is also quite nice. Here’s a list of restaurants near where I was at the time:
The application itself launches and calculates quickly, generally has OK GPS reception, and is lightweight enough to keep the heat on the iPhone 3GS to a minimum while allowing you to place music in the background without skipping. For $99 though, I’m not sure it’s entirely worth it. For example, the TomTom ONE-S 3.5″ is also $99, and it’s the full unit, not just the software. And, there are some missing features / problems:
- The TomTom application kills the battery, you’ll need a car adapter. I was running low after just 2-3 hours.
- GPS reception is best when the iPhone is held upright, near the dash. Holding it down in your lap or a cup tray doesn’t work well, so you’ll need a dashboard mount.
- In Manhattan, many times the application cannot find a GPS signal for some time. Driving through overpasses/underpasses confuses the GPS, causing it to sometimes issue false directions.
- While the turning directions are spoken, the street names are not. This is a software feature–why not include it?
If TomTom can improve the signal quality and add spoken street names to the application, I would value it around $60. However at $99, it’s a tad expensive, and only useful if you refuse to purchase a full GPS unit–say, because mostly you rent cars.
Update:
After being out for a couple months, a new update has come out that promises more accurate GPS fixes, and the reviews on iTunes have placed the TomTom Navigator application at 2.5/5 stars:
The primary complaints are:
- Slow time to acquire GPS, bad GPS accuracy
- No spoken street names (this bugs me too)
- The high price, lack of updates, huge file size
- Applications crashes