It is hard to talk about GPS navigation
apps and not mention Garmin. After all, the North American company is one of
the biggest names around when it comes to GPS navigation, having recently
re-launched their iOS offering with the new Garmin StreetPilot Onboard SG/MY
app. As the name applies, the app comes preloaded with maps for both Singapore
and Peninsular Malaysia.
Anyone who has used a standalone Garmin
device before will find the interface instantly familiar. The main menu is
classic Garmin, presenting users with only two main options: “Where To?” and
“View Map”. The first option brings the user to the usual selection of options
such as “Points of Interest”, “Favorites” and “Address” that are also found on Garmin’s standalone
devices.
It
is hard to talk about GPS navigation apps and not mention Garmin.
The “Points of Interest” option is probably
going to be the one that users are going to use most frequently; we certainly
found it to be pretty intelligent in terms of providing relevant search results.
It managed to find tourist hotspots, popular shopping malls, restaurants and
food centers, and even some of the more well-known auto workshops. Some of the
listings even come with phone numbers. We did notice that the app would
sometimes take a fair bit of time to generate results. However, this was
intermittent as there were also times where the app would give us results
quickly.
Handily, you can look up addresses in
StreetPilot by either entering them manually, or using postal codes.
Alternatively, you can also look up addresses saved in your Contacts. Lastly,
there’s also a Trip Planner option that lets you key in multiple destinations
should you have multiple places to go.
It
managed to find tourist hotspots, popular shopping malls, restaurants and food
centers, and even some of the more well-known auto workshops.
Actual navigation performance is everything
you’d expect from Garmin. The app works in both portrait and landscape mode,
and has the familiar color scheme that is unique to Garmin. Crucially, it is
easy to make out details on the screen while on the move - this is true even
when we were testing the app with an iPhone 4S, which has a modest 3.5-inch
display.
Moving on, the Street Pilot app possesses
all the navigational aids you’d expect such as lane assist, junction view and
3D maps. We found these aids to very useful, especially when approaching more
complex junctions. The app also features voice navigation, and we found the
instructions to be clear and easy to understand. Unfortunately, language
support is limited to only English and Chinese.
Unfortunately,
language support is limited to only English and Chinese.
Like the TomTom app, StreetPilot’s maps are
preloaded, which also explains why this app takes up a massive 1.3GB of storage
space. This means that you do not need a live data connection to be able to use
the app. This is great if you drive to Malaysia often, as you’ll be able to
utilize the mapping functions fully in Malaysia without worrying about
incurring exorbitant data roaming charges.
Once again and true to the company’s
tradition of creating easy-to-use navigators, Garmin has created a fuss-free
GPS app that does the job of getting the user from A to B in the quickest, most
efficient route possible.
·
Developer: Garmin
·
Version: 2.1
·
Size: 1.33gb
·
Platform: Ios
·
Price: $38.99
TomTom Maps (Sea)
Based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, TomTom is
one of the world’s leading manufacturers of automotive navigation systems.
Recently, the company made headlines by agreeing to be the main map data provider
for Apple’s new Maps app. The company is uniquely positioned because apart from
being a manufacturer of personal navigation devices, they also own Tele Atlas,
a digital mapping data company which provides map data and map enhancement
products.
TomTom is one of the first companies to
offer a GPS navigation app for both Android and iOS, though with different
versions tailored for different regions worldwide. In our part of the world, we
have the TomTom South East Asia (SEA) app, preloaded with maps of Singapore,
Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Brunei.
Based
in Amsterdam, Netherlands, TomTom is one of the world’s leading manufacturers
of automotive navigation systems.
The interface and overall feel of the
TomTom SEA app is similar to their standalone devices. For most users, the
“Navigate To...” option would be the most important; selecting it brings up a
menu offering the usual options such as “Home”, “Address” and “Places
of Interest”. One glaring exception is that the TomTom SEA app cannot navigate
using postal codes.
