The CoPilot Live app for the iPhone. (Click to enlarge.)
[PHOTO: Courtesy of ALK Technologies]
Since the summer, Consumer Reports GPS testers have focused their attention on the latest navigation development, iPhone applications.
In general, we’ve found iPhone GPS apps to be crisp and colorful on-screen, but also less reliable than standalone units when it comes to pinpointing your actual location. Poor sound quality and low volume are frequently a problem. And anyone purchasing one of these apps should remember that a car mount and charger adds to the overall price.
The good news is that because these are software applications, rather than manufactured devices, flaws can be fixed and new features added with frequent, often free updates. A number of the apps we’ve tested—highlighted below—have themselves seen an upgrade since we reviewed them.
CoPilot Live, $35. The most recent model we’ve tested, the CoPilot has some useful features, like multi-destination and detour routing, but our version lacks others like lane assistance, reality view, speed limit icons, and spoken street names. Integration with the iPhone isn’t great—reminiscent of earlier GPS apps. (Read the full CoPilot review on the Consumer Reports Cars blog.)
Sygic Mobile, $60. This rather large downloadable app (almost 2 GB) is intuitively structured and easy to use. Like other apps, its maps are downloaded to the phone so you can navigate even without 3G service. The text-to-speech function is available in over 30 languages. (Read the full Sygic Mobile review.)
iGo My Way, $80. This app offers four ways to get to your destination: Fast, Short, Economical, and Easy. One neat feature is the display’s 3D renderings of famous landmarks. According to the app’s Web site, free map updates are available only through December 2010. Also, the phone lacks multi-destination routing, spoken street names, and the ability to exclude a road. (Read the full iGo My Way review.)
Navigon Mobile, $90. Navigon has updated its GPS app—the first to hit the market—to allow Navigon users to share information with each other, like locations and points of interest (POI). This month, the company is introducing Traffic Live; users can download traffic live for a one-time $25 fee—and only $20 in the first four weeks after its October release. (Read the our original Navigon Mobile review.)