Cloudy Days and Connected Nights

Navigon hit the ground running, so to speak, with the first turn-by-turn gps app for the iPhone with built in maps for all of North America. My impressions of the app are here, and have only changed for the better with the two updates they have released so far.

The first update gave us the ability to add interim destinations to routes…which actually sounds better than it is…since you still have to add the destinations using the text interface. What we need is the ability to add destination by touching the map…or to change a route by dragging. It also added the ability to set the volume of the app independently from the music player…which is good if you use the iPod app while navigating.

Update two only offers two new features but they are killers. You now have a full set of iPod controls within the app…so you don’t have to boot out to select a new album or playlist, for instance. Nice. Convenient.

But the really improvement (and a first for GPS on the iPhone)  is text-to-speech prompts. Mobile Nav now reads out the street and route names for (just about) every turn. She has a new voice too…on the NA version, slightly less British (way less plummy), and, to my ear, a bit easer to understand. The app does a very good job with English pronunciation, getting close enough to avoid most misunderstandings. And the readings are seamless…you don’t hear any switch from recorded prompts to text-to-speech.

I did notice that on close spaced turns where they are not linked in the data base, on my slower 3G phone, the text-to-speech prompt sometimes comes a second late…but it is there.

So…I continue to be impressed and delighted with the app. I have used it more extensively now, and, except for sending me on a road that I would not have chosen myself in Cape Elizabeth ME, it has not let me down. Highly recommended if you want to use your iPhone as your GPS for travel.