Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Wednesday, 24 June 2009 12:14
Opinion and Analysis
Page 2 of 3
A small number of users claimed they experienced on-screen lag, and some GPS inaccuracy, while at least a couple claimed missing red light camera data from their own area where they knew cameras were installed, and as such weren’t happy with Sygic’s first iPhone effort.
Besides the lack of a multi-touch interface, users were also puzzled by the inability to search from an address already in your contacts, forcing you to manually enter addresses via the software’s own interface.
Other complaints included being thrown out of the GPS app entirely when a phone call comes through, something that definitely doesn’t happen when using Symbian, Windows Mobile or most other devices, which apparently forces the user to re-start the app manually afterwards – which shouldn’t be done while driving!
This appears to be a limitation of Apple’s multitasking limitations. Just as a phone call that comes through while you are on a Skype call on your iPhone will simply throw the Skype caller onto a hold mode with no warning to either party, so too is this GPS app limited.
Honestly, Apple has got to get this multitasking issue sorted, and no later than the next iPhone 4G and the iPhone OS 4.0!
Being forced out of an app, one that you will generally be using while driving, is a very serious issue. For how long will people tolerate it when users are likely to keep on running into these kinds of limitations, even with the push notifications band-aid?
Another problem arises when the driver is listening to music, a spoken book or a podcast, and finds the audio is paused when a voice guidance message comes through, but not automatically re-started, needing manual input – which is not recommended while driving!
And… there was also initial confusion over how to increase the sound of the GPS voice directions.
It turns out that turning up the volume when no GPS voice directions are being heard only turns up the sound of the iPhone’s ringer.
To turn up the voice volume you either need to turn up the volume when the voice is being heard, or go into the Mobile Maps settings to customise the voice, so you can quickly hear the voice demo and turn up the volume as loud as possible there.
In response to a question on whether the Sygic app had access to traffic update and live re-routing, a Sensis spokesperson said: “Not at this stage due to the device needing to be able to receive the traffic broadcast either via RDS-TMC receiver (ie. radio frequency) or XML-TMC via the internet / SIM card (ie. connected)”.
Surely though if WinMo can do it, someone will offer it for iPhone users - just not yet.
I also asked whether Sensis would ever use the Symbian and WinMo versions of the Sygic GPS apps in the future as an alternate to existing Garmin powered Whereis Navigator, and received the following answer:
“We are committed to growing and investing in our existing Whereis Navigator product and have a couple of exciting new features to announce in the coming weeks. However it is important to note that Whereis always keeps an eye on market activities to ensure the Sensis navigation strategy continues to lead in the mobile mapping and navigation market in Australia”.
Despite these issues, Sygic has succeeded as a first generation iPhone GPS app. So far it has earned an average of 4 stars from 32 ratings, with most users saying it’s a good first effort.
However, as with other iPhone app getting regular updates, users are expecting improvements to come to make Mobile Maps even better, especially in the face of TomTom and other GPS brands offering their own GPS apps soon enough.
So what other features does Mobile Maps offer, and what about those pricing complains, that AUD $79.99 is just too much?
Please continue to page 3.
