Just used Sygic to drive home. I have the following issues:
1. Other app notifications blocked part of the screen when I relied on the map in heavy traffic situation. Shall I turn off all app notifications? Is there a way to rurn off and on all apps notifications in one touch?
2. How can I prevent somebody from calling me? Don't want to be interrupted during driving nor make phone calls. Safety is the most important.
3. I had my mom holding my iPhone 6s+ next to me. Sometimes it was a bit hard to see. Should get a mount that doesn't block the windshield but allow the device to be close to me for easy reading. Any recommendations? I have poor eyesight.
4. Do you think it is a good idea to get an iPad mini or whichever cheap iPad Apple just announced? Any good car mount for iPad mini?
If I don't use the app, I will buy the Garmin gps with close to 7" screen.
Okay, a lot of questions, I'll try to offer some suggestions.
1. It's really up to you. I configure most of my apps not to notify me. Some are badge only, most have no audio. The few that I do allow to notify me are basically configured as banners, not alerts (which require some sort of user interaction). The "Do Not Disturb" mode may help you, but it's really up to you to decide how you want your device to behave.
2. You can't prevent anyone from calling you. They don't know if you're eating lunch, sleeping, driving, taking a shower, in a meeting, or having sex. Again, "Do Not Disturb" mode may adequately handling this or you can simply ignore the call and let it go to voicemail, what your phone would do anyhow in many of those situations. No one is pointing a gun at your head telling you to answer your phone. Not answering your phone was an option for decades when most phones were landlines and before there were answering machines. In fact, many people got answering machines and used them to screen calls.
I receive relatively few phone calls so this is not an issue for me.
3. A dashboard smartphone mount would put the handset in close proximity and not far from where you are trying to keep your attention (the road). There are plenty of products that do this, up to you to decide what you want to spend and how you want it installed in your particular vehicle. If you have bad eyesight, you may want to budget for a new pair of glasses though. That will help you in far more situations than trying to read a smartphone's GPS app.
I can't count on my mom to hold my cellphone when I'm driving. She's not often available for my regular driving. The smartphone car mount never complains about leaving at 6:30am. Besides, my mom would probably press something on the screen which might wipe out the navigation display.
4. I suggest you try a little longer with your current smartphone. Adding an iPad mini to this mix would incur additional costs: the device itself, a car mount, a data plan, etc. Of course, you do get a tablet out of it. A 7" standalone GPS unit makes a very nice paperweight when it is not being used for navigation.
If none of these answer compel you to continue using your iPhone as a GPS navi tool, go ahead and get the Garmin. They are still in business, so clearly there is a market for their products.
Good luck.
