GPS Apps vs. dedicated GPS

[TechWife]

Do any of you have any experience with GPS apps?

 

We are in need of another GPS as I will send the one we have with ds when he goes to college. I purchased a dedicated GPS today, but when I got home, it occurred to me there might be apps out there & sure enough, Garmin has a few to choose from and there are others as well. They are about 1/3 of the cost of the dedicated GPS that I picked out.  I haven't opened the GPS I purchased & am considering buying an app instead. 

 

Do any of you use an app? I have an iPhone 6. Apple does have a connector that would allow me to connect my phone to the screen i my CRV and also charge it at the same time. I am not sure all of the apps are compatible with it, but Honda offers an app of their own, which I will also consider. At the very least I could view the GPS on my phone screen as they have mounts available so that I can attach it to the windshield. 

 

 

 

 

[Arcadia]

I use the iPhone Maps app when doing my 5 mile walk while kids are at class. My friends just use their iPhones as the GPS while driving with the preloaded Maps app. I think you can use the free google maps app too but I am lazy to load more apps.

Hubby use the free Here Now app on his windows phone as GPS.

[Spryte]

I couldn't wait to ditch the dedicated GPS in favor of an app. We did it a few years ago.

 

I like Waze the best. It's free, too. Multiple route options, you can tell it you want to avoid or use HOV lanes or tolls, it reroutes for traffic. Love knowing when there are hazards on the road, too.

[KungFuPanda]

I just use my iPhone and run it through the car speaker. I've never owned a true GPS though, so I don't know how they're better.

[Aiden]

We have a dedicated GPS with European maps, because our mobile phones lose reception at the border of the non-EU country in which we live.

 

However, we've also experimented with a few free GPS apps while in the United States. Overall we prefer the GPS unit because the interface is easier and it has the screen that is easily visible to the driver--we can't guarantee that the rental car will have a screen the phone can send to, and it's easier for him to glance over and see what's coming than for me to describe what I'm seeing on the phone screen for tricky upcoming turns.

 

For short trips to the US in areas that we're generally familiar with but where we may need directions to just a few locations, we're ok with using the apps. For a longer trip to the US which will involve a road trip to a destination with which we're totally unfamiliar, we're seriously considering buying the US maps to load onto our Garmin and take it with us.

 

What's the return window for your new GPS, and how often do you use a GPS? If possible, I'd leave it in the box and try out an app or two in whatever context you usually would use the GPS. Then decide if the app does well enough to make you comfortable returning the GPS.

[TeacherZee]

We have a dedicated GPS with European maps, because our mobile phones lose reception at the border of the non-EU country in which we live.

 

However, we've also experimented with a few free GPS apps while in the United States. Overall we prefer the GPS unit because the interface is easier and it has the screen that is easily visible to the driver--we can't guarantee that the rental car will have a screen the phone can send to, and it's easier for him to glance over and see what's coming than for me to describe what I'm seeing on the phone screen for tricky upcoming turns.

 

For short trips to the US in areas that we're generally familiar with but where we may need directions to just a few locations, we're ok with using the apps. For a longer trip to the US which will involve a road trip to a destination with which we're totally unfamiliar, we're seriously considering buying the US maps to load onto our Garmin and take it with us.

 

What's the return window for your new GPS, and how often do you use a GPS? If possible, I'd leave it in the box and try out an app or two in whatever context you usually would use the GPS. Then decide if the app does well enough to make you comfortable returning the GPS.

 

This is pretty much what I was going to post. For just navigating around Sweden I use the google maps app on my phone, if I am out traveling in other countries I have a dedicated GPS. My dad bought two and we (my siblings and I) borrow them when we travel. It is a good way of saving money since we don't use it that much.

[Pawz4me]

We have a Garmin GPS that we bought mainly for use in the RV.  DH wouldn't be w/o it.  He can see the screen so much better (we don't have a built in screen to hook a phone to in the RV).  He'll use the Garmin even on day trips in the car.  He loves it and finds it to be much more versatile than any app on his phone.

 

The boys and I just use our phones.  I use the Google maps app, and I think that's what the boys use.

 

We have found that frequently either the Garmin or Google Maps will be more accurate than the other.  So it comes in handy to have both sometimes, although maybe not worth it if you don't travel a lot.

[Alessandra]

I plug an iPhone into my car speaker and use Google maps, Apple maps or Wayz. I am in a major metropolitan area and always have cellphone reception.

 

When I have been in other people's cars, I am a bit jealous of big maps right on the screen. Don't some of the car maps have info on a disk? I have seen people get lost when their setup did not include a particular location, but I got to the same place fine with Google.

 

But if I were in an area without cell reception, I would rethink the iPhone solution. Not exactly what you asked, sorry.

 

If you are talking about hiking, there are a lot of phone apps of parks and trails, but again, you need reception to use them.

[TechWife]

This would be used for driving in the US. I have used Google Maps to navigate streets while walking in other countries and it works great for that. One of my concerns is not being able to see the map on the smaller phone. I like my old GPS because it indicates what lane I need to be in on a highway to make an upcoming interchange safely & I'm not sure the phone screen would be big enough. For that reason, I'm thinking I would need an app that would connect with the screen in my CRV. 

[MomtoCandJ]

I use Google maps on my iPhone. My phone actually gave better directions when we were in Virginia than the GPS that dh borrowed from his cousin. The Google maps app I use (the free one) tells lane changes and talks so I rarely look at the screen. There is one place I go with extremely poor reception but no GPS system works well up there it's either you know your way around or you don't and have to stop and ask someone :)

[gingersmom]

Since I started using the mapquest app 2 years ago I rarely use my gps anymore.

[Χά�ων]

I use my phone unless I am traveling someplace where I may not have service, then I print out maps and keep an old fashion map in the glove box. I ended up in the mountains of Colorado when I discovered I have no service. My phone at the time did not have the option to see turn by turn so I was stuck with nothing. I managed but it would have been so much easier if I had had a map.

 

I used to have a dedicated gps. Hated having to plug it in to the computer to get updates. I had a Tom Tom after riding with several people who had Garmin that could not get them to the state capital from a major high way that ran right through the city.