A recent Forrester Research study indicated that just 4 percent of U.S. adults own or use a phone-based navigation system and just 2 percent use it regularly.
iPhone + GPS = Google Maps
But Forrester and other research firms are optimistic those numbers will rise rapidly in the near future. Frost & Sullivan, a consulting firm, estimates that the number of subscribers to phone-based navigation systems will grow from about 4.5 million last year to 28 million by the end of 2013.
I’ve been relying on my phone for most of my navigation needs since I got it last year. I’ve been using the Google Maps application preinstalled on the iPhone. Although it doesn’t do turn-by-turn navigation, it will plot a course that you can follow.
The new iPhone programs go well beyond Google Maps to offer true turn-by-turn navigation. There are now at least four different developers with such programs in the iTunes App Store, many of whom offer multiple programs, each with a map of a different area of the country or world. And more such programs are on the way.
The two that I’ve played with are Gokivo and AT&T Navigator. Both programs work adequately. The course maps are generally easy to follow. And on the AT&T Navigator, at least, the voice prompts were generally clear.
One benefit of such programs over many stand-alone GPS devices is that they can tap into your phone’s data connection. The Navigator, for instance, can get real-time traffic information and use that to plot or adjust suggested routes. Both programs allow you to search for nearby restaurants, gas stations and other establishments, and then give you directions.
Gokivo has some nice features that Navigator lacks. You can play music from your iPod library directly from the program. And it will let you pull in addresses from your list of contacts.
But neither program is ideal. Unlike my TomTom, both programs display their maps in portrait, not landscape mode, which means you get a narrow view of your course. And they both tend to refresh their maps slowly. As a result, the on-screen motion can be halting, which means you may be farther down the road than the application thinks you are.
Iphone GPS
What’s more, the programs cost $10 a month each on top of your normal data fees. There’s an additional $1 charge to download the Gokivo application, though you can download AT&T Navigator for free. That can get pricey over the course of the year, especially since you can buy a low-end GPS device these days for less than $100.
And you’d better make sure you have a car charger when you’re using these applications. Because they keep the screen on constantly and frequently ping the data network to refresh their maps, they can run down your battery very quickly.
Those aren’t minor quibbles. I’m not convinced that I’ll stick with either Gokivo or AT&T Navigator for the long haul. But the programs will get better and, if they don’t, I can try others.
Regardless, I’m probably not going back to my TomTom. If only for the convenience factor, having GPS navigation on my phone is a better experience.
