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google navigation for iphone 4...sadly no

TwoBytes

TwoBytes

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Jun 2, 2008
3,342
2,436
https://www.macrumors.com/2009/10/28/google-introduces-free-gps-navigation-for-android-2-0/

https://www.macrumors.com/2010/04/2...g-free-turn-by-turn-gps-navigation-to-iphone/

How sad, i was really looking to this! Didn't anyone else think this was going to come out with iOs 4. It's free and has to be the coolest sat nav around...


EDIT:

Street view 'owns' if a posh git may use the word and google hold the reins on it. Streetview with navigation is an amazing concept - how could anyone not find this amazing!

I watched the video again and was blown away. This is the future!
I'll put the link up in the first post for others if nobody has seen it and here it is again

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGXK4jKN_jY


I'd really love this for the phone. Would be good for other countries - say you travel and don't want to buy a sat nav for each country. Load up the maps in the hotel and off you go.

The only way anyone could beat this is have a car drive ahead of you filming the street and beaming that content to your phone 5 cars behind you where you sit!!

It's a beta so there are things wrong, granted...but it's the future and i hope apple would be betting on it's 'winning horse'.... Street view with cruise mode will come!
 
musio said:
https://www.macrumors.com/2009/10/28/google-introduces-free-gps-navigation-for-android-2-0/

https://www.macrumors.com/2010/04/2...g-free-turn-by-turn-gps-navigation-to-iphone/

How sad, i was really looking to this! Didn't anyone else think this was going to come out with iOs 4. It's free and has to be the coolest sat nav around...
Click to expand...

No I'm not sad, in fact I couldn't care less... I like my Navigon and it blows, IMHO, Google nav out of the water.

If I already didn't have Navigon, sure I'd be more excited at the prospects of Google Nav, alas I'm not.
 
Having it be free is wonderful.

But I prefer Navigon over everything else. Navigon 1.5.1 is just so good. It's even better than my Lexus IS350's navigation but at least my lexus has gryo built in and also is complemented by speed sensors.
 
That's the only thing I'm really going to miss on my Droid is google navigation. Now I guess I will have to buy Tomtom for iPhone.
 
iPadThai said:
Having it be free is wonderful.

But I prefer Navigon over everything else. Navigon 1.5.1 is just so good. It's even better than my Lexus IS350's navigation but at least my lexus has gryo built in and also is complemented by speed sensors.
Click to expand...

iPhone 4 will have a gyro built-in; it's just up to Navigon to utilize that feature. Speed sensors are meh at best; GPS speed calibration is spot on.
 
Revelation78 said:
iPhone 4 will have a gyro built-in; it's just up to Navigon to utilize that feature. Speed sensors are meh at best; GPS speed calibration is spot on.
Click to expand...

Speed sensors are NOT MEH.

Have you ever owned an in car navi? If your navigation satellites are not in line with your gps receiver, your navigation unit looses the tracking. Like when you drive in a tunnel, go downtown, etc. The in car navigations have gyro sensors and speed sensors connected to via the car and can move your location without satellite guidance. It is a major difference between mobile gps units and in car navigation systems.

No mobile unit can compare but if you asked me if I'd buy a car with in car navigation again, I'd say 50/50 - I prefer having a mobile one since I can update it anytime compared to the factory unit which I can't at will.
 
I have google navigation on my droid and... I absolutely hate it.. I hate droid with a passion! My phone takes like 5 minutes to dial 8 numbers!!! I am really unhappy with my Droid and am switching to ATT this month :D:apple: ROCKS!
 
Sad that we won't get the nice free app. I don't want to pay for another Navigation device. I've got an old Garmin I'll hold onto or make do w/ Google Maps.
 
amann76 said:
the google free nav is terrible. I have the navigon on my iphone and i love it
Click to expand...

But it's free! Get's me around NYC on my occasional trips. Get's me around Dallas as well. I admit it's not great....but gets the job done....for free.
 
Navigon just extended their 'My Region' app sale. It was supposed to end today but they extended it until the 13th. $14.99 per region, and $9.99 for each additional region. I just purchased all three regions (West, Central, East) for 35 bucks.

I had also hoped google navigation would come to the iPhone but am very happy with Navigon.
 
amann76 said:
my free navigon gets me around too
Click to expand...

Free Navigon? Tell me more. I really know nothing of this app. Never looked deeply into paying for navigation on my iPhone (esp after loosing my 3Gs and falling back to my 3G).
 
Google's policy of bundling turn-by-turn navigation for free can be an antitrust case as it restricts competitions. Google is getting greedy.
Google seeks to join Internet Explorer antitrust complaint.
Click to expand...
:cool:
 
LMAO at people saying Google maps with navigation sucks. You are either in denial or have no clue how to use it. It destroys any 3rd party navigation unit you will ever buy. The ability to tell it where to go just talking to it, or to do a Google search then click the map in the results and get turn by turn directions and to have the Google maps street view as you drive are all awesome
 
WOW at ppl saying Google navigation sucks. I never used google navigation but I read a lot of tech sites praising it. Only Iphone fanboys would say it's no good. The program has way more features then all the GPS programs available for the Iphone.
 
Geckotek said:
Free Navigon? Tell me more. I really know nothing of this app. Never looked deeply into paying for navigation on my iPhone (esp after loosing my 3Gs and falling back to my 3G).
Click to expand...

I think it was "free" in the "because I decided to download it for free" sense of the word.

I've played with the big 3 competitors in this space that use downloaded maps (TomTom, Navigon, and Magellan), and a couple others.

Navigon, when on sale is actually pretty decent. The Navteq maps are usually a bit more accurate, but I've also found that the user experience can be frustrating sometimes. It seems like it can handle waypoints, but sometimes not, getting to Google Local Search is painful (you have to cancel navigation to do it). In general, it has so many of these gotchas that it puts me off the product. The instructions are solid though, as is the routing. Get into the advanced stuff at your own risk.

Magellan has the same mapping advantage as Navigon using Navteq data. One you understand how to build a route with multiple waypoints (which is really the only hard thing to do with the app), the UI is actually pretty decent. But it lacks features from TomTom and Navigon that are extremely useful. Handling a route it gives you that you don't like is painful. You can pick the 4 routing modes it offers, but if you want to change one aspect of it (via someplace, or avoid a segment of the route), then you have to add a waypoint to make it do it. And I've run into situations just recently where it made me try to take a left turn into a destination across a median. Overall, the routing side of Magellan is the worst of the three.

TomTom's maps do appear a bit out of date in areas, but are still capable of getting you from point A to point B. What I found is the huge strength of TomTom is the fact that every feature is found the same way, and it's routing options. It tells you taking a freeway off your route is faster, but you want to just ignore that freeway as remain on the fastest route? Easy. TomTom also has better data on roads that have medians in them, and will route accordingly so you aren't crossing a median to get to your destination. IQ Routes actually does a good job of understanding general traffic trends through the day, and actually understands that in my area, the freeways tend to be clogged during peak hours, making surface roads faster on average. The traffic service is at that point, a safeguard against unforseen traffic issues (sports games, accidents, construction and so on which lead to congestion, but don't happen on a schedule). If you don't spend money on either traffic service, TomTom's routing will lead you astray less often in my experience, and you'll wind up in less gridlock as a result. With traffic, I'd put the routing on par with Navigon, although TomTom still has more functionality here that I put to good use.
 
For the people who say Google's Map Nav is bad - why exactly?

Seems to me a lot of the people saying this just want to re-assure themselves that their $80 GPS they paid for would be better than a free one.
 
Khryz said:
For the people who say Google's Map Nav is bad - why exactly?

Seems to me a lot of the people saying this just want to re-assure themselves that their $80 GPS they paid for would be better than a free one.
Click to expand...

I think it comes down to the user experience. Google got experimental with how you use their app, and not all of it is good. It is really unclear how to get the app to do certain things, or if it is even possible to make it do those things (How do you navigate to a contact for example?). Using the normal google maps app to plan a route is kinda wonky, and the integration with other areas leaves much to be desired.

Another factor is that Google's navigation, along with Telenav, Skobber, and similar apps, all use downloaded map tiles. This is fine and dandy for some, but I've needed to navigate around national parks that don't have cell towers in them. These 'fetch as needed' apps don't quite fit the bill just yet for that.

And there's the many features that some of us like in the more expensive apps that are not present in the lower end offerings. In my case, it is the routing features in TomTom that keep me using their stuff over others.
 
Street view 'owns' if a posh git may use the word and google hold the reins on it. Streetview with navigation is an amazing concept - how could anyone not find this amazing!

I watched the video again and was blown away. This is the future!
I'll put the link up in the first post for others if nobody has seen it and here it is again

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGXK4jKN_jY


I'd really love this for the phone. Would be good for other countries - say you travel and don't want to buy a sat nav for each country. Load up the maps in the hotel and off you go.

The only way anyone could beat this is have a car drive ahead of you filming the street and beaming that content to your phone 5 cars behind you where you sit!!

It's a beta so there are things wrong, granted...but it's the future and i hope apple would be betting on it's 'winning horse'.... You know google is going to add cruise mode for street view
 
Krevnik said:
I think it comes down to the user experience. Google got experimental with how you use their app, and not all of it is good. It is really unclear how to get the app to do certain things, or if it is even possible to make it do those things (How do you navigate to a contact for example?). Using the normal google maps app to plan a route is kinda wonky, and the integration with other areas leaves much to be desired.
Click to expand...

Seriously? Well on a Google device, you can add the address of any contact to their profile, thus you can navigate to the address in that profile by selecting the contact. Whats "wonky" about planning a route on it? You hit a button and say the address and you're off. Or you can use Google search to find a location, click on the map and hit get directions and go. You can then hit the menu button to bring up everything from street view and alternate routes around traffic to where ATM's and gas stations are along the way. You might want to understand how an app works before trashing it :rolleyes:
 
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