A lot has been written about Apple not permitting turn-by-turn navigation apps into the App Store.  But along comes G-Map – a turn-by turn navigation app utilizing locally-stored maps.  I’ll be taking a look at recently released 1.3 version of  G-Map U.S. East and G-Map U.S. West.   Was it worth the wait?  Read on…

Downtown Detroit

Startup of G-Map is easy enough.  I did notice that it can take a significant amount of time to locate your current position, especially if you are not close to the position you were at the last time you used the application.  This is partially a function of the GPS chipset, but also partially a function of the navigation software.  Google Maps, for example, finds your position relatively quickly, whether it uses the GPS or cell tower triangulation.  This app, however, was a bit slower about the process and doesn’t appear to use triangulation at all.  You can also press the button in the upper right corner of the map display and manually set your position.

Main Menu

Once started and locked into your location, the app performed reasonably well.  In the car it occasionally had trouble maintaining a lock, but so does Google Maps.  Again, this is partially due to the lack of sensitivity of the GPS receiver/chipset in the iPhone.

Overview of a 1000 mile long route

Overview of a much shorter route

 

I noticed that when I made turns, the software kept me on the old track for a few seconds before correcting itself and recognizing the turn.  Additionally, the software would partially lose track and think I went down a side street, then realize I never left the original path.  Again, likely related to GPS sensitivity.

Overview of almost the same route as above, but with the map oriented correctly. I couldn't not determine what caused map orientation in the overview

One thing that bothered me was the lack of a single contiguous U.S. Map.  The software is only available as 2 separate maps – U.S. East and U.S. West.  Since the iPhone has 128MB of RAM and generally 8GB or 16GB of storage, there is no reason that a single map shouldn’t be possible.   Windows Mobile devices have had navigation software running on 64MB RAM devices with only 2GB (or less) of storage, so it’s workable.  Since I live and work on the edge of these maps (I live in the boundaries of the “east” map and work in the “west” map) I’m more likely than some to notice this deficiency.

Map view in New Orleans

Calculating a route also proved to be an interesting challenge.  In the 1.2 version, I could not even calculate a route that was much more than 100 miles away.  In the 1.3 version, this appears to be dramatically improved.  I was able to successfully calculate a route that was just over 1000 miles long, but the app crashed as soon as I tried to press the ROUTE OPTIONS button, so there are still a few bugs to work out.  It also frequently crashes when I tell it to reverse an existing route. 

On the subject of routing limitations, I want to reiterate that it’s a complete nuisance that I can’t calculate a route from home to work (only 30 miles away) or Detroit to New Orleans, or Chicago to Los Angeles, etc., because of the split U.S. map.  Although this is not important for some uses, long-distance routing is critical for many people, and this application isn’t really suited to it despite the presence of sufficient memory and storage space. 

Map view in Manhattan

Also added to version 1.3 of G-Map is this sort of “game”.  As you proceed along a given route, you’ll see various symbols pop up and a bar indicating relative distance to that item.  I’m not sure of the point of the game, but I highly recommend turning it off since it is really distracting from the main focus of navigating.  In the future there will be a mini game and new icons available as “prizes”, but my problem is that there is no way (at present) to turn this game off.

Map incorrectly lists current road as I-75. It should state I-94!

I saw a data glitch in the Detroit area where it kept indicating I was on I-75 when, in fact, I was on I-94.  I suspect this is a glitch in the Navteq map data, rather than the application, but it was an odd thing.  The routing information, however, was correct.

The program does come with a reasonable assortment of POIs which provide detailed information when you tap and hold on the POI icon on the map.

Realistic view of an interchange in Detroit. Some realistic views are split screen, and some are full screen

Heading up the 110 in Los Angeles - note this view is split screen

A little further up the 110 in Los Angeles - this view is full screen

There is an interesting feature where the application will show you a realistic view of certain interchanges as you approach them on your route.  Better yet, it displays a big orange arrow showing which lane you should be in.  This feature is very nice, but it isn’t implemented consistently or nearly often enough.  I found several major interchanges where the view appeared when approaching from one direction, but not from the reverse direction.  A feature like this is only useful if you know you can depend on it.  Since you can’t predict when it will and won’t pop up, it’s really only a novelty at this point. 

Example of a Waypoint using the Renaissance Center in Downtown Detroit as the Waypoint

G-Map also uses historical traffic data to assist you in picking an “optimal” start time for your trip.  It utilizes Navteq Traffic Pattern ™ for this.  You get a choice of the route where predicted traffic is applied, and the “regular” route.  It’s really kind of an interesting approach to the problem.

Heading out from LAX

What I liked: The controls are simple, straightforward, and easy to operate.  The display is clear and easy to read, but note – not all road names are displayed.

What could use improvement: Initial location determination should be a little quicker.  I’d like to see better error correction and I’d like to see a way to move from one map to the next more smoothly (like a prompt telling you you exited the map and asking if you’d like to load the next map).  I’d like to see a way to turn the game feature off.  Lastly, I’d like to see the realistic interchange views implemented in a much wider range of places and much more consistently than it is currently implemented.   It seems that if there is a view for a particular interchange, then they really should also have  included all the possible approaches/views of that interchange. 

Approaching the Holland Tunnel in Manhattan. Note that the display tells you up are coming up on a toll

Overall: G-Map is a fine solution if your looking for some very basic navigation in a local area you are unfamiliar with.  If that’s sufficient, then you will likely find G-Map to your liking.  G-Map really is not, however, a full-featured navigation program like Tom Tom or iGo running on a Windows Mobile device.  It’s more akin to solutions like Telenav on feature phones.   But for $19.95 (per map), it’s not a bad answer to your interim navigation needs.  G-Map isn’t the solution to all your possible navigation needs, but it’s definitely a step in the right direction.  Also note, G-Map is regularly updated and each update has greatly improved the application.

Now that iPhone OS 3.0 is due and is expected to allow developers to more directly access GPS services on the iPhone, we will hopefully see the release of full-featured navigation programs soon!  Hopefully, G-Map will continue to evolve and take advantage of the new features in the new iPhone OS.

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