Reply With QuoteI've used Co-pilot for a good few years on the iphone. Very happy with it.
Only use it once a year now on our trip to the states but it does the business for me.
Hi all,
We're off to Europe soon and having realised the two standalone sat navs we have aren't up to the job (one is UK only, one is simply too old).
So we're looking at sat nav options for our iOS mobile devices, especially given you buy once and run the same app on your iPhone/iPad. One that allows you to specify your route (i.e. particular roads) would be ideal, rather than chosing between only the options it calculates.
TomTom seems to be the reliable option but reviews indicate it used a dated interface with many 'new' features missing. Syngic is apparently the most downloaded offline nav app in the world, the reviews indicate it's decent. But its a new name, constantly adding features.
Question is - which one is best? Any experienced users out there?
Thanks!
EDIT: Thoughts around this following feature particularly appreciated!
"One that allows you to specify your route (i.e. particular roads, mid points) would be ideal, rather than chosing between only the options (typically quickest or shortest) it calculates."
Last edited by cman; 12th August 2013 at 14:05.
I've used Co-pilot for a good few years on the iphone. Very happy with it.
Only use it once a year now on our trip to the states but it does the business for me.
Take a look at NavFree I've downloaded it but not tried it out. It does get good reviews.
Edit - looks like it's just Uk and Ireland.
I have Sygic on my Android phone and tablet.
The offline nature of it is especially good if you're going abroad.
Can't really compare it to anything apart from the stock Google app on the phone but it seems to work okay.
Google Maps is good (my preferred app) but requires data. The latest 'ok maps' feature does allow you to cache a map view for offline viewing but its limited to a detailed view (like, of a town or small city, rather than a country), so not ideal for routing.Originally Posted by Tony
TomTom and Sygic operate offline (as the maps are stored locally) hence the attraction, especially abroad. I think the choice boils down to these two. Maybe CoPilot also.
Co-Pilot is now a very polished and mature product, being in its 9th (?) version. I have used it for about 6 or 7 years now, since getting an early version bundled with my Orbit XDA smartphone.
Features like the graphic of which lane to be in well ahead of a turn are very useful on busy motorways or complex road systems. I also like the simple driving view which just gives you essential route directions / information in big legible writing.
I take it lane assist isn't country or city specific? That would be real handy in the more remote towns in Europe.
Are you able to influence the route by specifying mid-points to force it to route past places you want to pass? Or will it calculate the quickest/shortest route for you, with you having to drive off-route to your mid-point, and force it to re-calculate from your new position?
+1, Used Co-Pilot for 3 years and find it accurate and reliable plus don't need data connection. I like the way it suggests alternative routes too. It gets regular updates, and is very customisable. Actually a lot better than my Garmin Nuvi.
Rod
Sygic is my app of choice, but Co-pilot is pretty good too. TomTom is sadly passed its best snd does look very dated.
I've used co-pilot with western european maps for 3 plus years and found it to be spot on. Peviously I had TomTom and found co-pilot to be the better app
I use Navigon on my iPhone, works great all over Europe. I haven't tried any other apps so I can't provide any comparison.
It's a bit pricy but I picked it up at a discounted price in one of their countless promotions.
Thanks for the feedback so far. It seems CoPilot is more popular than I first thought....
One this that has been missing....
Thoughts around this following feature (and as per OP)!
"One that allows you to specify your route (i.e. particular roads, mid points) would be ideal, rather than chosing between only the options (typically quickest or shortest) it calculates."
Does CoPilot, and others mentioned, allow this??
When you enter a destination it will generally give you 3 alternative routes to choose from and on any of those you can 'drag' the route to an alternative road choice.
Better clarification on this is given on the Co-Pilot website
http://copilotlive.com/us/
Rod
Thanks for that. Great to know its possible, and by dragging, even better. Will check out the website.
I suspect TomTom, if it offers it, won't let you drag but would ask you to enter the address of the road choice - due to its 'dated' interface.
I have a Galaxy S3 and use Google Maps (free). It's perfect for me. Very good at finding the quickest route avoiding town centres, etc. I tried CoPilot and paid for the full version. I found it wasn't up to the job. Full of gimmicks and led you through places that caused considerable delays. This was UK. Haven't used them abroad yet. Tom Tom, etc have lost the initiative. I certainly wouldn't pay for it.
Last edited by Hamish; 12th August 2013 at 20:39.
i see that no one has mentioned nokias maps, any users or views hereabouts.
Another vote for copilot. I have used it across Europe.
Nokia Maps was excellent but wasn't sufficient a reason to buy another Nokia phone.
The NavFree android app isn't bad actually, and it's free for all the maps for more countries than you can shake a stick at.
I've tried the good majority of them on my iPhone and iPad, Navfree isn't bad at all but some of its route mapping does take some explaining. Syngic was awful (IMO) and I even paid extra for all the bits as i wanted the real time traffic as my commute, at the time, was fraught with hold ups and accidents. Co Pilot was a trail as it came with an excellent BMW Car Dock app, but again i personally found it wanting, with some odd route planning. I swiftly changed to TomTom which has been my goto Nav app ever since.
If you can find it when its on offer, which happens quite regularly, get it - it really is miles ahead of the others.
Now that Nokia has replaced Symbian with WP8, Nokia Maps is called "Here Drive". It is still included with the phone, excellent with downloadable maps, traffic info and so on. But, yes, it does come in those Nokia Lumia phones... In spite of that, it worked brilliantly for me this summer in British Columbia, Sweden, and Denmark. The "surfer dude" voice option is a bit annoying, though, I'd recommend sticking with the deafult Miss Moneypenny
Gert
So it still boils down to TomTom VS CoPilot.
The CoPilot reviews in this thread alone is very tempting. What did you feel TomTom offers over CoPilot?
Co Pilot live premium for me! Does all I want and more, Does lat long so good for geocaching as well. Great updates no probs.
NavFree is quite good and I've used it at both ends of the globe. If you download the UK version and want to add other countries then I think there is a charge. But the alternative is to download, say, the French version as a separate app. The downside is that you can't plan cross border routes. To be honest, the paid for add-ones aren't dear and are probably well worth the money.
Navigon fan here. The navigation is good, maps are good and there are a bundle of additional options to purchase if you want, such as 3D Panoramic maps, speed camera alerts, etc... there's even a caravan mode! It has some really nice touches in every-day use, such as parking, weather and petrol prices automatically shown at your destination, Google Local search, great POI's, iPod control and the ability to transmit instructions via BT to a car kit.
The Euro version served me well in Spain, automatically converting to local units and pronouncing road names clearly. Being entirely offline there were no data charges, which was nice.
For me it was clarity, also Co Pilot was quite an expensive buy (£44quid or IIRC). TomTom is simple and functional, the interface, whilst a little boring does just work. The driving instructions are clear and concise with good clear instructions and just at the right time. The lane assistance and traffic routing are also as good as it get - you can see it's a mature/ accomplished product.
If you want to try CoPilot - look on the AppStore for the BMW Connect App - which allows you to have a nice Car Dock which integrates with Co Pilot - the BMW apps is very good - shame it only works for CoPilot or it would have been a perfect driving companion
Another vote for CoPilot here - on Android.
I think I paid about £20 for it originally about 3 years ago.
I'd say try waze. Very good crowd sourced traffic data.
As a matter of interest, what's the problem with the Lumias?
But you need a data connection for that don't you? Out of the question really if using abroad. Same as google maps.
I paid £19 for co-pilot about 4 years ago and bought the US version for £11.99.
I downloaded Navfree last night and tried it on my way to work this morning.
What a complete load of rubbish. Kept trying to guide me completely the wrong way down no entry roads on my 4 mile commute. It also kept telling me to turn around when I was only a few hundred yards from my destination.
I have used both TomTom and Copilot on Smartphones and of the two I prefer TomTom albeit I don't tend to use the bells and whistles. At the end of the day though, they both work well and I currently have Copilot (as at the time when I bought it TomTom was ridiculously expensive) and am happy enough with it. My usage is low though as my main car has built in SatNav.
I think Which recently had a test on SatNav apps and scored TomTom the highest and Copilot a very colse second which is pretty much my view.
I use NavMil on my iphone works well for me
I always just buy a PAYG sim for my mi-fi when I go abroad and use that for data for the phone and tablets etc.
Have you considered Waze ? It's new to the UK, but apparently works throughout Europe. It's an Israeli company that was recently acquired by Google. I think it's free to download and works well.
I used Google Maps on my Galaxy S4 yesterday for a short trip off the beaten track in deepest, darkest Surrey and it worked a treat, the turn-by-turn directions were spot on and it was much better than I'd expected after my previous experiences with it on the iPhone.
Earlier this year we were forced to use Navfree on my old iPhone 4S after Mrs. MST's iPhone 5 died along with the TomTom app we were using to find our way back from Longleat (just up the M3 my arse!), it's an app that I'd had installed since it was first released in the iTunes Store but never really used and, again, I was very pleasantly surprised. Not only did it function well but the route it gave beat the TomTom one hands down, that said it's not always spot on and as others have mentioned it's tried to send me up a no entry off the A316 (ooh matron) but it's crowd sourced so the idea is that you feed back any errors etc.
I bought Co-pilot when it first came out for about £40 and it never worked. They never updated or fixed it and just brought out a new version. Never again.
Google maps is great but the maps are off line and sods law says that you'll need to use when you're lost in the middle of nowhere with no coverage. Plus data downloads are expensive if you're going abroad. Might be able to download the maps on Android?
I tried the NavFree app and was impressed enought to pay a couple of quid for the full version Navmii. When I bought it the free version didn't keep some parts off-line and needed an net connection for finding locations, dunno whether that's changed now. I've downloaded the free country apps for when I've travelled and found them fine.
Not sure if Here downloads the maps on IOS, but certainly download them free for europe on WinPhone8 which I did for someone at the weekend. Non-related, but as an IOS user I was well impressed with WinPhone8 - faster operation than my iPhone and the Nokia was £0 upfront and just £11 a month (or £99 sim free).
Nothing as far as i can see, I had an 820 which was a lovely phone, well built, HSDPA+ great touch screen. But it doesn't integrate with iCloud so as an Apple/ Mac user I knew it would never work for me. I also wasnt that fussed with the camera but i do like the Window Phone OS
Waze is very good. I've started using it myself recently, in preference to either Apple Maps or Google Maps.
However, it requires a data connection so isn't of any use to the OP when he's in Continental Europe.
+1 for Co-Pilot
Copilot as well for me. Been using it for a few years.
I decided to give NavFree another chance today.
After finding that it's blissfully unaware of the existence of Chorley*, I've deleted it as it's clearly unfit for purpose.
* A Lancashire market town with a population of over 30,000 that's been around since the 13th century.
:) bloody new towns springing up all over the place.
+1 for Google maps navigation on my galaxy S3. Always does the trick
Google Maps is great on the iPhone too. So is Apple Maps.
The problem is they need a data connection to work as they don't download maps to the phone. If you're abroad with expensive or no data they're not much use.
I've downloaded co-pilot and used it a few times over the last couple of weeks. Can't fault it so far.
just started using co pilot very impressed
when I phone connected to car radio sound comes from car speakers
I've just tried "MapFactor Navigator" and it seems to be pretty good so far. Downloadable maps for just about everywhere.
Navfree for me, but only used in the UK so far.
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