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TomTom Releases iPhone Navigation App
andylim writes "Today TomTom released its long-awaited iPhone app that allows you to use your iPhone 3G and 3GS as a GPS navigation device. Recombu.com tested it out on video this morning and concluded that it works well but if you receive a call while you're driving then the app does cut out — it will restart once you've finished the conversation. The app costs £60 for the UK & Ireland version, £80 for western Europe, £45 for Australia and £60 for the US and Canada."
So here is the question I have for many of you who own iphones and such. If you pay for an app and your phone dies, or something, will that app be transferred to a replacement phone or do you need to re-purchase the app for the new phone?
The truth is, I don't know. But I can tell you this: I have an iPod Touch and an iPhone. I've purchased apps on the iPhone and have been able to use them on the iPod Touch, too. It would appear as though that it's all about the iTunes account you use on the device.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
The apps you buy are tied to your account, not the iPhone/iPod Touch.
Wow, this is a crap deal. How disappointing. Why is the app is 1.2GB in size, when the iPhone is designed as an always-on device? A $30 1GB app with paid map downloads on demand, instead of storing the entire USA on the phone at once, would make much more sense. I agree that streaming maps (such as the google maps app) are useless if you're in the sticks with no coverage or Edge-only coverage, but giving up over 1/8th or 1/16th of my total storage for maps I won't use 99% of the time is a terrible compromise. if I could install map packs based on my travel plans, that would make much more sense. And $100 for the USA, when I can buy a standalone TomTom 125 for $80? Unless the $100 app has feature parity with the $400 standalone units, the only conclusion I can come to is that they are trying to incentivise people away from using the iPhone app, and toward buying a dedicated GPS unit instead. I can think of no other excuse. Bad form, guys. I hope someone sees the market opportunity and steals your cake.
Even Jesus hates listening to Creed.
Voice navigation is not in Google Maps. Also, I think many (but perhaps not most) would argue that it has better algorithms for determining the route to take. It also doesn't rely on having an Internet connection, since you're downloading the entire map with TomTom, so it would work even out in the boonies.
The GPS component of Google Maps suffers pretty drastically compared to ye olde average GPS device:
1. No voice navigation;
2. No "OK, you're coming up on the turn, take the NEXT right turn";
3. No "Oops, you've missed it, OK, the next street is a one-way street, so go two blocks .. " (i.e. automatic route re-calculation);
4. No ability to specify preferences such as "I want to take that bridge, not this one" (maps.google.com lets you rejigger your route quite nicely, but not the app on the iPhone);
5. Doesn't help you at all if you need to control your iPod component right now (so the app isn't in the foreground);
Yes. Which means that if you and your wife both have iPhones and share an iTunes account, you should both have the app for the price of one.
It doesn't hurt to be nice.
The built-in Google Maps does automatically display the next direction when you reach a turn, it does not reroute when you go off course, and it does not do anything aloud- everything is displayed in small text.
I have been using the Google Maps in the iPhone for about a year, and it is definitely useful, but it's not a TomTom equivalent. It requires a navigator to be used effectively. Someone other than the driver needs to press the next button and read the directions aloud- otherwise it's like trying to text while driving.
It's up on the US app store now:
US & Can $99.99
Western Europe $139.33
Australia $79.99
New Zealand $94.99
Rumour has it there might be, but in the meantime you can get CoPilot for Android (and iPhone) for about half the price of TomTom.
http://www.alk.eu.com/copilot/android
There are even cheaper solutions involving jailbreaking and Cydia that are actually legal (xGPS).
Don't kid yourself. It's the size of the regexp AND how you use it that counts.