Lude Generation

Curious what free satnav app's people use on their phones and what they think of them.

I've previously been using Orange Maps, which I've found to be excellent. Very accurate, always up to date etc. and lovely simple easy to read display. Unfortuantely that's now been switched off due to Intel being tossers.

I've also used google maps satnav a couple of times but found that to be utterly crap, sending the most stupid bollocks routes ever.

So now Orange Maps is dead I've tried out a few more;
M8 is excellent IMO. It's basically telmap's offering (the company behind Orange Maps) but with all the bits you had to pay extra for, free (actual speed, speed cameras etc.). Needs data connection to keep the live satnav working or when calculating a new route, but that's fine with me because it means the map is always up to date and I have all you can eat data so no problem there. If the data connection drops out, it reverts back to a list of directions until the data connection re-appears. Basically it's never a problem though. Just hope this doesn't also die because of Intel's decision to close telmap. It's a tie in with tomtom though, so I'm thinking probably not.

Just started trying Waze too. I like the idea of the interactivity and crowd based traffic/congestion etc. reporting. It doesn't seem to have full addresses in though (streets but not house numbers) and the display isn't as good as M8. Also annoyingly the live display readouts are in km, even though in the route summary info is in miles etc. I'm hoping there's a way to get rid of km completely, but haven't found it yet. Early days for me but I think this needs a fair bit more work to be as good as M8 and deliver on its full promise.

So anyone else got any thoughts/comments on this?

I used to use Google Maps app, but as you say it has recently turned to sh!te. Plus it fully failed on me when in the Scotish Highlands in August, no signal, no data, no damn clue where I was, perfect..

As it goes, I haven't had to use a satnav app recently so I'm quite interested in the outcome of this thread.

I use Co-Pilot for the iPhone.

I use iGO for android.

I use Google Maps navigation and have never had an issue - clearly you guys are weird As backup, I own the Europe maps for Sygic and install that as and when I think I'll not have Data access (ie - on holiday in Spain).

Sygic, best sat nav I ever had, using it across Uk, just done 2k miles acros Euripe and have had absolutelly no problem

Same as right handed orange, I use Google Maps, never had an issue. But then I've never used it on the go. I usually just look at the map route and can memorise it.

I've been using Google Maps for a couple of years. Has taken me a couple of "odd" routes (according to someone else in the car with a little bit of local knowledge), but has always managed to take me to my destination.

Donald wrote:Same as right handed orange, I use Google Maps, never had an issue. But then I've never used it on the go. I usually just look at the map route and can memorise it.

Aye, that bit seems fine. God knows what happens when you're asking it to be a sat nav, it seems to completely lose the plot!
e.g. Last time I used it, I asked it to take me from home in Essex, to somewhere in Norf Lunndun.

It took me down the A12 and told me to turn off at Stratford and head onto minor roads. I hadn't looked up the place I was going but had a feeling it was somewhere just off the North Circular. I decided to trust google...

After driving down various speed bumped residential streets and then aimlessly round a small park, twice (yes, that's what it told me to do!) and then being sat solid in the middle of a high street for half an hour without moving and it still showing me I was an hour away, I thought bollocks to this and just headed towards where I thought I could get on the North Circular. I then ignored it when it repeatedly kept telling me to turn off the North Circular, until it said I was about 5 minutes away. And sure enough, it was 2 streets off the North Circular, which is the way it should have taken me all along!

That was the second time it had wasted my life in a similar vein, so it won't get used any more

Navfree http://www.navmii.com/gpsnavigation