It’s been a full week since the release of the iPhone 5 and Apple still has fix for their terrible maps app. What does this mean for other map apps in Apple’s app store? They have an opportunity to display their own app with new iPhone 5 customers..
Fortunately, while Apple is improving Maps, there are other map apps available for iPhone users, whether they’re using an iPhone 5 or an older phone model upgraded to iOS 6.
For the past several days, I’ve been finding my way with Waze, made by a company of the same name; Scout by Telenav; and Fullpower’s MotionX GPS Drive. I mostly tested these on the iPhone 5 while driving a rented car, though I also tested some apps while walking around Manhattan. A lot of consumers use their map apps to search for addresses, or for local places — like the coffee shop, movie theater or pizza place — but I focused primarily on the overall user experience and the turn-by-turn navigation features of these apps.
All three apps I tested offer turn-by-turn voice guidance. The Waze app, which turns the road into a kind of social network, is free. So is Scout, which currently comes with one year of free voice guidance through an app upgrade called Scout Plus. MotionX GPS Drive costs 99 cents for the app download, and three dollars a month or $10 a year for the voice-navigation services.
It’s worth noting that there are many other ways to get good directions. Microsoft’s Bing search app has a Maps section that offers (voice-free) turn-by-turn walking, transit and driving directions. AOL’s MapQuest app offers voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation. Those who still want to use Google Maps on the new iPhone can do so from a mobile Web browser, though only Google Android phone users get the full features of Google’s Maps app. Nokia’s maps are available through a Web browser, too.
Apps from nav makers Garmin, Navigon and TomTom are more expensive — ranging from $40 to $50 for the U.S. maps alone. While they include dozens of downloadable maps that work offline, and more closely mimic the experience you might get from a portable navigation device, other apps tested just as well as these did, and cost a lot less.
I should also note that my experience with Apple Maps really wasn’t that bad. When I first typed in my home address, Apple Maps directed me to New Jersey instead of midtown Manhattan. But most other times the app worked fine, whether I was driving across Long Island, through the complicated matrix of New York and New Jersey highways, or on dirt roads in sparsely populated areas of Pennsylvania.
