Are GPS Navigator Apps Like Navigon As Good As Standalone?

A few wireless carriers such as AT&T allow users of Blackberry PDA's and iPhones to access the GPS feature on their phones instead of disabling this feature and enabling it only when a subscriber pays a fee for the carrier's own GPS navigation service.

This has opened the door for GPS navigator apps such as those from Navigon and Tomtom. Navigon in fact is no longer going to sell stand alone GPS units in North America so that it can concentrate on the lucrative app market. There is almost one hundred percent revenue from the app market since there are no return issues, no products to make or ship, once the software has been developed.

How Do Apps Compare To Real GPS Navigators?

When I found out that Navigon, one of the big names in high end GPS navigators, was coming out with an iPhone app I was thrilled. The possibility of having a full blown navigator on my iPhone for about a third of the cost ($70.00) was thrilling. I decided to keep both my Garmin Nuvi and My TomTom One XLS just to see how the units compared to the iPhone app from Navigon.

Results Of My Drive Test

The Navigon iPhone display closely resembles the stand alone Navigon units that I have used in rental cars. A "real world" display shows highway signs as they actually appear. In addition, a really nice feature of the Navigon app is that it shows real world speed limits and can alert you at whatever speed over the posted limit you are driving through that speed zone. This can save a costly ticket that quickly pays for the app.

I found the map to be slightly less detailed in rural areas. Where both my Garmin and TomTom showed small, un-named roads, where was nothing on the Navigon iPhone app's screen but empty space. Other than that the routing was virtually identical and turn by turn directions excellent.

Lag Time On GPS Navigator Apps

You will find that navigator apps like the Navigon and new TomTom app for the iPhone have issues with lag time. The reason for this is that the GPS receiver in the phone is tiny. (See the photo below.) A stand alone GPS unit like the TomTom One XLS has a much larger internal antenna array. A stand alone GPS has an antenna about twice the size. (See second photo.)

The issues that I discovered with the Navigon iPhone GPS Navigator app were that there was significant boot up time and it took at least a minute, sometimes up to three minutes for the GPS to lock on to the satellites after switching back to GPS from a phone call.

This meant that one could not speak to someone on the phone and read information from the navigator screen. I can't recall how many times I have been on the phone with someone while needing to use my stand alone GPS at the same time. It is a very annoying shortcoming to say the least.

For any of the iPhone and Blackberry GPS apps to work the phone needs a clear view of the sky. Placing it under the dash, next to your gauges will lead to longer acquisition times or no signal at all. Since there are no iPhone dash mounts yet this is a problem.

I solved the problem by taking the belt holster from an Otterbox iPhone case and removing the clip. I attached velcro where the clip was and fixed it do my dash, next to the radio. In this location the phone had a clear view of the sky, however the lag time issue remained.

No Route Summary With Turn By Turn Directions Provided On Navigon App

With the Navigon iPhone app, no turn by turn direction style route profile is provided and this is a bit of an inconvenience since you can't see exactly how you are being routed without constantly expanding the screen and waiting until the next part of the map loads. You might be routed in a manner that you don't want but it will take you five minutes to find that out.

The Verdict

Is an iPhone or Blackberry GPS Navigator app as good at the stand alone models available for approximately three times the price? Yes and No. The huge advantage of having your GPS navigator as a app is that you always have it with you, regardless of what car you are driving. You don't have to worry about multiple chargers. If you can tolerate not being able to talk on the phone while viewing the navigator screen, or waiting a minute or two for the signal to be acquired, then you will find it satisfactory.

However, if you are a serious traveler, who is used to safely multitasking and who is used to detailed GPS maps, then you will find the Navigon and TomTom iPhone apps lacking.

This will likely always be an issue for GPS apps, because Apple or Blackberry is unlikely to build a bigger GPS antenna into an already crammed case. If you can live with the shortcomings however, having a navigator on your phone with no monthly fee for an initial cost of less than $100 is very sweet. Since you aren't likely to take your car's GPS with you, you might enjoy using the walking route feature from an iPhone app such as Navigon's. In my case I will continue to use both a stand alone unit and my iPhone Navigon app for different situations.

Update

It has been one more month since I wrote this review. I continue to be frustrated by my Navigon GPS iPhone app losing signal. The problem is worse in urban areas and on cloudy days. It does not seem to matter where I place the iPhone. I lose my GPS signal often when I need it the most. My feeling is that I am not the only one with this problem, since I see similar comments on the tech blogs. it looks like Apple needs to install a better GPS antenna and chip in future iPhone models for GPS based applications to work properly.