GPS mobile apps that can help you reach the final destination
My mom wanted to know if the GPS gadget I was testing could find my father.
He wasn’t actually missing — my dad died in 1980. The problem was that my father’s body was moved, not long ago, from a cemetery in trouble to one closer to where my mother now lived in Lake Worth, Fla.
Mom, 95, had been driven to the cemetery several times by my sister and brother-in-law, but her vision was impaired and she didn’t know the way herself. I was there on a visit, and incidentally also testing GPS mobile apps, including on the new Garminfone — a smart phone from GPS company Garmin that comes with a built-in navigator app, plus a custom mount to attach the phone to the windshield and amplify the sound.
I was also testing two other apps and custom mounts — from Magellan and TomTom — that were made to be used with Apple’s iPhone and iPod Touch.
The basic question: Could these devices take the place of regular GPS car navigators? If so, it would be another step toward putting all your digital needs on one mobile gadget.
The short answer is, yes they can, although none of the apps were quite as full-featured or slick as the separate car units made by these companies. But all the apps had an impressive set of features: full-color maps, turn-by-turn voice prompts with street names, automatic rerouting if you veer from the course and estimated-time-of-arrival indicators.
Also, all had lane assist to guide you through freeway intersections. That feature is generally only on the more expensive car navigator units.
Screen size was a drawback — the Garminfone and Apple devices have 3.5-inch wide-screen displays. Many car navigator units now come with 4.3-inch or larger wide-screen displays, making them easier to read on the go.
As for price, the Garminfone — which uses Google’s Android operating system and is sold only for use on the T-Mobile cell network — currently costs $130, after a $50 rebate, including car mount. That’s on the low side for an Android-powered smart phone.
It gets even better when you figure in the fact that prices of separate GPS car navigators start at about $100, and you usually have to pay more to get wide screen and all the features offered on Garminfone’s built-in app.
Turning an Apple device into a full-fledged navigator costs more, even if you don’t count the price of the iPhone or iPod Touch. The add-on Magellan app for U.S. coverage costs $50, plus $130 for the windshield mount.
TomTom’s add-on app is $40, plus $100 for a mount specifically for the iPhone, or $80 for one used with the iPod Touch. (The current TomTom mount for the iPhone does not fit the latest version of the device, the iPhone 4. The navigation company said it would have that mount available soon.)
You don’t need a custom mount to use any of these apps with a smart phone, but it sure makes it more convenient, not to mention safer. Less expensive third-party mounts are available, but they don’t amplify the voice directions.
It’s always necessary to use a GPS-equipped custom mount with the iPod Touch because that gadget doesn’t have its own GPS capability.
Comparing the app setups:
• Garminfone: Thumbs up for the display; it’s bright, and the map and features are nicely laid out. Its version of lane assist is terrific, making it easy to tell at a glance which lane to use when coming to multiple-choice intersections.
The voice on the unit is loud and clear, and the screen almost always shows the speed limit of the road on which you’re traveling.
The weakest part of the operation, by far, concerns the regimen for inputting the address or name of a destination. For starters, the software does not allow for using ZIP Codes, which would be a nice time saver, allowing you not to have to spell out a city name. Also, when you put in an address, Garmin awkwardly has you start with a street number instead of city or state.
• Magellan: I like this system the best, though it had one bothersome drawback (in addition to the relatively high price).
The Magellan really shines when it comes to its smart input system that saves time and frustration. For example, after you enter a ZIP Code or name of a city, the system blanks out some of the letter keys, allowing you to enter only street names that are actually in that area.
On-screen navigation was also quite good, with turns clearly marked and announced. It had Magellan’s trademark “ding” sound to let you know it’s time to turn, although in some cases the sound went off after I was already in the intersection.
The major drawback is a banner, marked “Music Player,” all along the bottom of the map. Touching the banner brings up the controls for the iPhone’s or iPod Touch’s player. But that banner, though somewhat translucent, takes up way too much precious space on the small screen and is distracting.
• TomTom: In general, I’m a fan of TomTom products. The sophisticated software often outshines others in coming up with great directions, and the on-screen display of its car navigators is full of useful information laid out in a user-friendly fashion.
But TomTom made too many compromises for its app. It cut out some nice features, including the on-screen time-of-day readout. And the system doesn’t tell you what side of the street your destination is on (a highly useful feature when planning parking).
Still, the app did the job and the screen view was easy to follow. But the GPS-equipped mount for the iPod Touch was unstable. Almost every time I stopped the car and restarted, I had to restart the app.
I was testing the Magellan app when I was with my mom. I used its point-of-interest search function to track down the cemetery by name, then used it to navigate. It all worked out well, and we had a short gravesite visit with my dad.
At the end, my mom, who had been married to my father for 40 years at the time of his death, put a small stone, as is Jewish tradition, on the grave marker. “So he’ll know we were here,” she said.
Then we set the app for my sister’s house and headed home.
