iPhone GPS

GPS stands for Global Positioning System. The iPhone GPS is a powerful means to view your location, and get directions to anywhere you want to go.

The map application that comes with the iPhone uses the GPS that is built in the iPhone to locate your position on earth. The map application depends on Google map. Therefore, wifi or a Data plan is required in order for the GPS to function because the the maps need to be downloaded and updated online.

For example, if I drive to Canada, the iPhone GPS will not work because I don't have a data plan or phone service in Canada unless I pay for an international data plan.

Therefore, the built in Map application for the iPhone can only work if you have wifi or a data plan.

Theoretically, you shouldn't pay for GPS signal as it is free. All what you need is the GPS chip which is available inside the iPhone and an application that displays maps and gives you some voice notifications.

The iPhone is built in A-GPS or Assisted Global Positioning System. The iPhone GPS gathers data from wifi or cell phone network to calculate position in the case of poor GPS signal condition.

There are several iPhone GPS applications available in the App Store that deliver turn by turn voice activated navigation, but there is only one free solution which requires jailbreaking your iPhone.

xGPS is a free third party application from Cydia. It was the first navigation system that used the iPhone GPS without the help of wifi or data plan. It downloads the maps and stores them in the iPhone for later use.

It has a desktop application that manages and downloads maps and transfers them to the iPhone. Also, it has nice integration with your contacts, so you can easily select any of your contact as a destination if you have the address of that contact stored. The sound is not great as it uses the Mac computer voice, but it is still a good app for free.

It requires you to jailbreak iPhone, and back then, it was worth the jailbreak as there was no other options in the App Store.

iPhone GPS apps from the App Store:

All the iPhone GPS applications available in the App Store share some common features such as turn by turn with voice notification, find a place by address, or search by name. However, some GPS applications has more features than others.

They deliver true fully functional iPhone GPS system equivalent to a dedicated commercial one. They are accurate and have nice voice notification. Some of them have notifications in different languages including Arabic like Sygic app. iGo My Way has really nice extra big buttons with sounds which gives tapping an additional dimension.

They have their own maps so you don’t have to worry about phone service or data plan or roaming. Some of them have an additional iPhone accessory to mount and charge the iPhone, and that also has a built speaker such as TomTom for iPhone and Navigon.

TomTom has an additional GPS chip in the mount to improve GPS signal  for the iPhone and make their application even usable on an iPod Touch which lacks the GPS chip.

Each one of the iPhone GPS apps on the App Store has a different user interface, functions differently, and has its own learning curve. You might find one easier than the other, and of course if you you are familiar with TomTom Devices , you will find the TomTom app best for you.

Good features for an iPhone GPS application:

• Ease of use with big buttons that are clear.
• Clear map with clear street names that you can read while driving
• Good integration with other iPhone applications such as contacts
• Different languages is preferable
• Good search engine with a good data base or google search
• Good integration with the iPod and other audio applications.

I personally like Navigon for the iPhone, as it has many features I listed above.

Navigon is the first iPhone GPS application to make it to the App Store. It uses the iPhone GPS to its full, and turns the iPhone into a true navigation system.

You can set up your destination from your contacts or you can search the nice built in database, which most of the time will finds your search.

One of the best features of Navigon is its multitasking capability. Although all iPhone GPS applications allow you to listen to your music in the back ground while navigating, they manage it differently.

For example, while the music is playing, and you get a voice notification, Navigon will fade the audio down nicely to let you hear the notification.

It also has a volume slider in its settings to control how loud the notification is. Others might stop the music completely for the notification and then resumes, which I don't like.

What all the other GPS applications lack is multitasking with other audio apps. If you have a jailbrocken iPhone, it is possible to run applications in the back ground.

Although this is not supported by Apple, Navigon seems to work smoothly in the back ground and also allows other audio apps to run in the back ground without muting them.

This is very convenient if for example, you want to listen to internet radio in the back ground while listening to the audio notification and announcement from Navigon at the same time. Both audio will work together nicely.

Other GPS apps don't like other audio apps than the iPod app running in the back ground, they will either stop the audio from that audio app to give their notification, or they will simply force quit that audio app completely.

TomTom for iPhone is another nice GPS app for the iPhone. If you have used the TomTom GPS system before, then you will love this app as it will be familiar to you. The user interface is similar to any stand alone  TomTom GPS system.

TomTom is the first company to introduce a kit to hold and charge the iPhone in the car while running their app. The car is built in GPS chip to enhance the GPS signal. It has its own speaker for louder notifications, and it can rotate to landscape.

Sygic is one of the newer GPS application for the iPhone. It has a nice full screen display eliminating the task bar, and also it has nice big buttons.

Sygic loads quicker than the other, and it is generally faster. It requires you to agree to the first attention menu which I didn't like. The unique feature in Sygic is its Arabic language and Arabic voice notification support which I find interesting.

iGo My Way is the fourth GPS application to come to the App Store for the iPhone. One of the cool features of iGo My Way is its 3D buildings and its nice interface. You can change the shape of your Car and also have more control over your screen display.

Conclusion:

There are many GPS applications for the iPhone available in the App Store, and I expect many more to come in the future. Navigon, iPhone TomTom, Sygic, and iGo My Way are a few that are currently available. The prices start at $70 and up. However, with this type of competition, I expect prices to drop.

They all turn the iPhone into a fully functional turn by turn navigation system with voice notification. They all have their own maps for whatever country or region you are looking for. No data plan or internet connection is required for them to function.

I like Navigon because of its ease of use, and its multitasking capability that is hard to find in other GPS applications, but to get this multitasking capability you have to jailbreak your iPhone.

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