TomTom vs Navigon

GPS navigation systems have become the norm in all vehicles in the United States, and it is hard to imagine life without the benefits of this wonderful technology now. It gives one the ability to get directions to go anywhere with the help of a satellite infrastructure system that sends real time signals to a GPS (Global Positioning System) enabled device.

There are two kinds of devices that you can now use for this purpose, and it all depends on how much you are willing to pay, and what your directional needs are exactly. Modern smartphones that are produced today all contain GPS receivers in them, so you can choose to use these. When we speak of GPS receivers in smartphones in this Buzzle article, we will be taking the example of the Apple iPhone. The other kind of device that you can use is a standalone GPS navigation device. This will either be present in your vehicle by default, or you will have to purchase one from the market and attach it to the dashboard of your vehicle.

TomTom vs Navigon 2011 for iPhone

Your smartphone will need to access the Internet in order to make use of its GPS receiver, so it is essential that you have an affordable data plan activated on the device. The programs and the portals through which these smartphones access the web and get information are known as apps, and for you to get accurate directions on your iPhone you will also need to install the suitable app for the purpose. Google Maps is the popular choice of most people, but there are many who want more features and details than Google Maps can provide. Hence, standalone GPS receiver manufacturers like TomTom and Navigon have released their own apps that iPhone users can install and make use of.

GPS software is expensive to implement, so these apps will not be cheap on the Apple App Store. Some of the salient features that they both have, and that lead people to buy them, are as follows.

• Both these apps enable voice notifications, and tell you when to turn left or right. This is a very useful feature, and one that will aid you immensely.
• Both apps have a feature known as 'Points of Interest' and this is something that allows people to mark areas on the map that they have visited, and then receive regular updates about them.
• They also provide something known as 'IQ routes', and this is a feature that analyzes other GPS users routes and gives you the shortest route to reach your destination.

Differences Between TomTom and Navigon Apps

At present, the price of the TomTom app in the Apple App Store is $50, and the price of the Navigon app (MobileNavigator) is $39. Most of the features of both the apps are the same, so it is probably better to go for the cheaper one. But if the prices of both these apps were to be the same, the TomTom app is the one that is most highly recommended since many people claim that it is the best GPS app for iPhone.

The biggest drawback of Navigon is that it does not offer a feature known as MapQuest. This is a feature that will show you a turn-by-turn representation of wherever you have been, so it will enable you to know where you are going and backtrack at any time if you need to. As far as the POI (Point of Interest) feature is concerned, Navigon often tends to give you information about the wrong city. This can be very confusing and rather frustrating in most cases, so you need to sit down with the app and understand this feature before you use it. The Navigon app also does not provide features like live traffic feeds and online searches, so that also works against it.

On the other hand, the major complaint against TomTom is that canceling routes can take far more touches than it really should. This results in a lot of time getting wasted in the bargain. There are not many more complaints really, but the POI feature could use some more punctuation marks since it usually displays information in an incoherent and utterly unreadable manner. A great advantage of TomTom app is that the app can access your Contacts list and find the address (if you have entered it in the past) and then give you directions to get to that address. This is very useful for a whole lot of reasons. Another great feature is the Navigate-to-photo feature that lets the app access a geo-tagged photo and then take you back to the exact location where the picture was taken.

At the end of it all, both of these apps provide a slew of features for one and all. The TomTom app edges it out, but it does cost a bit more so that is a decision you have to make. Remember that these apps will make your iPhones battery die much faster, so you must keep a phone charger in your car. Also remember to keep your eyes on the road.