[Simon]

I'm thinking about going on a road trip through the US Southwest. I came across G-Map and a report on expected new features with iPhone OS 3.0.

Has anybody here bought G-Map? Experiences? Is it worth $20?

[Simon]

So nobody here has bought this app?

Does nobody here care about turn by turn navigation or do you guys just happen to prefer other apps? And if so, which ones and for what reasons?

[turtle777]

I didn't know there were any turn-by-turn GPS apps for iPhone 2.0.

-t

[shifuimam]

Isn't this app not going to be available until iPhone 3.0 is released?

[Simon]

Originally Posted by turtle777 

I didn't know there were any turn-by-turn GPS apps for iPhone 2.0.

Why not? iPhone OS doesn't allow turn by turn apps to piggyback on top of the built-in Google maps, but if an app brings its own maps why shouldn't it use the built-in GPS hardware for turn by turn navigation? G-Map is available right now for regular iPhone OS 2.x (not hacking, no jailbreaking) and it does exactly that.

What I find nice is that it doesn't require a data connection. Even if you have no network coverage at all it has all the maps and POI information built in. All you need is GPS reception.


(this is what happens when you leave the suggested route)

[Simon]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

Isn't this app not going to be available until iPhone 3.0 is released?

The app is already available in version 1.3 for OS 2.x. There's going to be an update once OS 3.0 comes out. The video I linked to above shows what that updated version will be like.

That said, version 1.3 is out for sale now and works on regular OS 2.x. So does nobody at all here use it?

[Simon]

I found one guy posted a review here.

Here are the pros;
• All the maps are pre-installed so no loading time.
• Before approaching a turn or exit, a green progress bar lights up and arrow indication shows future route.
• Adding an address is fairly simple.
• Easy to view map.
• Shows you next turn on the top of the screen.
• Shows your current road on the bottom of the screen.

Cons;
• Searching through POI's not so easy.
• The Speed displayed on the HUD - not accurate
• Slow interface - especially while finding the current location during the start of the program. Once done, easy to search further.

Overall, for $25 its good enough for basic navigation. Do not rely on it's POI database, as long as you have an address to enter you should be fine.

[shifuimam]

Sounds like a pretty viable alternative to a separate GPS. That being said, I really like having a separate GPS, mostly because I can leave it in the car, so it's always ready to go.

I didn't know the iPhone had GPS built in...I thought Google Maps used cell towers to triangulate your location.

[Randman]

Come 3.0, we'll get turn-by-turn for iPhones.

[turtle777]

Well, my opinion: I like my TomTom GPS, and I wouldn't use my iPhone as my primary GPS.

Why ?

Because I want to do stuff on my iPhone while driving.
Check email, check traffic on Google maps, make calls, use the iPod etc...

If I had to switch back and forth all the time, especially when in city traffic with constant changes, I'd go nuts.

-t

[Simon]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

I didn't know the iPhone had GPS built in...I thought Google Maps used cell towers to triangulate your location.

It does that too. The 3G iPhone however has a dedicated GPS in addition.

[Simon]

And before we get off track here, my question is not iPhone vs. dedicated GPS. The question is if I want an iPhone GPS app, which one's the best to get?

[JKT]

No idea, I'm afraid but one thing is definitely missing from that review - what happens if you get a call or an alert while the app is running? When the call is over or the alert is dismissed does it revert back to the app at the point it was last at, or does it lead to the app quitting and thus losing your information up to that point? I'd want to know the answer to that before parting with money for it.

[Simon]

Excellent point.

But isn't that the kind of multitasking the iPhone already supports because the phone app is Apple's and hence it gets to multitask. IOW don't you always receive calls on top of whatever else you're doing?

[JKT]

I'm pretty sure that a phone call still quits whatever was running and the developer has to code a return to the point you were last at (or a simple re-launch). Some apps have certainly remained quit after a phone call for me, whereas others will resume themselves.

I think that multi-tasking is always going to take second place to RAM usage on the current iPhones. Given that phone calls are the primary reason for having a phone, I suspect that Apple decided it was best to quit other apps for a call rather than multi-task, to reduce the risk of a crash in the phone software due to a lack of RAM availability. I'm a little hazy on this though, as I haven't received a call in the middle of another app usage for a while.

[Simon]

But wouldn't that imply that quitting an app releases memory? On OS X we know that just quitting the app does pretty much nothing memory-wise. Now obviously iPhone OS could be different and its management of 256 MB RAM is a totally different story, but is it actually the case the quitting an iPhone app releases memory?

[Why am I derailing my own thread?]

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Simon 

And before we get off track here, my question is not iPhone vs. dedicated GPS. The question is if I want an iPhone GPS app, which one's the best to get?

Well, what other turn-by-turn apps are out there for OS 2 ?

So far I learned about G-Map. Are there any other ones at all ?

-t

[Steve SpotOn]

There will certainly be some turn by turn (and with voice prompts) apps coming. One that I thought might of arrived by now was by Sygic (http://sygic.com/press/press_12.3.09.html) but still no sign of this. I figure they're all now waiting for the new firmware this summer.

Steve