Hi

My mum is looking to get a sat nav, rather than buying a standalone device I’ve recommended getting an app for her iPhone instead, cheaper & potentially simpler for her as it will not require learning how to use, finding the right cables etc.

However are there any good ones out there or would she be better ignoring me and buying a TomTom or similar?

From what I can see the TomTom app gets mixed reviews mainly due to latest update crashing regularly

Copilot or Navigon are by far the best two I’ve used.

Try Waze, but really the basic Tomtom or Garmin are brilliant these days and have bigger screens.

I’ve tried the Navigon and TomTom apps, prefer TomTom myself but then I always had a TomTom standalone before.

Copilot Live HD on mine and it’s faultless to be honest.

Use it every day and it just works.

(Need a charger in while using it though, but that’s the same for all of them really)

erm the default navigation within google mads is very good as is navfree

Google maps eats your data, where as Navigon has all the maps on board.
Made that mistake before.

Up until recently I’ve always used CoPilot Live, but it has the irritating habit of only taking you along major A-roads; I recently wanted to go to an event near Wootton-Under-Edge, where I knew most of the route up to Wickwar, near Chipping Sodbury. No matter what I tried, it would not give me a direct cross-country route, taking me some miles out of my way along the A420 and up the A46
Apple Maps and Google maps were the same, so I had a go with NavFree, which I’d seen recommended, but it never worked properly on my old iPhone 4.
It worked perfectly on the 5, giving me exactly the route I wanted, with good voice direction. I’ve tried it on other, longer routes into Dorset and South Devon, and it’s excellent, the only issue is the voice will sometimes tell you to take the first exit, which is straight on, but there is an exit to the left before that, so you have to check the screen display showing the junctions/roundabouts in the top corner, but otherwise I can’t praise it highly enough, it gives good clear directions using the most direct route, and it’s my default navigation app in the car.
Oh, and as it’s been pointed out, the phone needs to be plugged in, it’ll eat the battery, having the screen and GPS going, but if you have a car stereo with USB then you’re fine, you can play music, hear the directions, and keep the phone charged.

I’ve been using NavFree for a few years and it’s fine. As its free its certainly worth a try.

Another happy NavFree user here. Really simple to use with clear instructions. *thumbs up*

Navfree +1 here.

Even downloaded the florida maps for my upcoming trip.

Copilot. Used it for last 5 years. Been faultless.

I have NavFree for trips away and it’s pretty good, I’d rate it over Co-pilot myself, Co-pilot is just too verbose with the instruction, does my head in 🙂

If anyone is wanting an app to do custom routes rather than hoping the code will pick the best route for you, IGO8 is tops. Create the route online or Memory Map etc. and simply upload it to the phone/pda/pna.
I use it quite a bit for motorcycle trips when I want to decide the exact route.

I’ve got NavFee and think it’s great. I’m heading to France for a week next month, can I still use NavFree if all of my Roaming stuff is disabled on my iPhone (to avoid stupidly large charges) ?

can I still use NavFree if all of my Roaming stuff is disabled on my iPhone (to avoid stupidly large charges) ?

Yeah, just make sure you download the France map

I’ve got NavFee and think it’s great. I’m heading to France for a week next month, can I still use NavFree if all of my Roaming stuff is disabled on my iPhone (to avoid stupidly large charges) ?

As jota180 says, all these apps use native maps, stored on the phone, so roaming can be safely disabled, just download the extra mapping, which will cost a small amount, IIRC, but you’ve always got them then.

Co pilot is great but it absolutely eats battery. You’ll need a car charger and mount if you want it to be akin to a proper sat nav.

Waze is good for free and its popularity is growing in this country.

Co pilot is excellent for a paid app and I find better than tom tom and significantly cheaper when you look at the price of traffic services etc

Waze. if I can use it,anyone can.

bigG – Member
Co pilot is great but it absolutely eats battery. You’ll need a car charger and mount if you want it to be akin to a proper sat nav.

You need a screen mount no matter what it is you’re using, and all you need to do is plug a phone into a radio with a USB port to keep it charged, or use a lighter socket USB.
Hardly a chore if you use it regularly anyway.