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TomTom iPhone App Reviewed

Posted September 3, 2009 1:00 PM by Jovan Washington
Categories: Applications reviews 

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TomTom is one of the worlds largest GPS hardware and software maker, so it makes since that a lot of people were anxiously awaiting the TomTom GPS app for the iPhone.

I managed to get my hands on this iPhone app and I absolutely love it!

The app only works on the iPhone 3G and 3GS and require the 3.0 iPhone firmware. This application features landscape views, 3D and 2D views, night and day views, and a plethora of points of interests.

Since the app does not use an internet connection to collect maps, the application installs all data onto your iPhone at a whopping 1.25GBs of US and Canada maps so make sure you have plenty of space.

Since it is so large, the download and install process is rather long, but once installed, I simply launched the app and was welcome with a list of options. The app is surprisingly fast and smooth considering the level of detail. The connection was also pretty fast and I was connect in less than 7 seconds.

You can tap routes and draw your own waypoints, and also find restaurants, call to reserve your table, and get the shortest route there! I also liked how you can pick a contact from your address book to find the way there or get audio and visual hints of safety cameras, fire zones, speed warnings, etc. One thing I don’t like about the application is that there are no traffic updates but perhaps this feature is in progress for future apps.

The app is great, and you won’t go broke with the application costing $99.00 in the app store. One item that I am waiting for is the car kit that TomTom promised to deliver soon that works with the application.

The device will provide constant charge to your iPhone and provide a much better signal with another built-in antenna. It’ll also enable clear voice instructions, hands-free calling via Bluetooth, and music routing through an in-car stereo. The kit, the app, and the iPhone will work together giving you the ultimate GPS unit.

If you don’t have a GPS unit and an iPhone, I would definitely recommend getting this application. The app is available now in the ap store for $99 and the car kit has yet to be released, but the two combined will be the ultimate package because the app is already pretty amazing.

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Comments

  1. Huh… that’s a lot different than the other reviews out there.  Consumer Reports didn’t seem to care for it much… iLounge gave it a ‘C’...  Glad you liked it though.

    Posted by benjitek on September 3, 2009 3:26 PM

  2. I’ve been using Tom Tom on the iPhone for several weeks now.  In my opinion it is the worst GPS app I have ever used.  I don’t say that lightly.

    1) It loses the GPS signal constantly.  I was on the Florida turnpike under open sunny skies and every few minutes the program would lose GPS reception.  This was a problem because I missed an exit, because the GPS lost reception before the turn and never notified me.  This has been reported by other people in the iTunes reviews.  Even when it has a GPS lock it’s not accurate.  Some times it puts me on the wrong road, or completely off the road.  This is a problem when you need a direction and it thinks you are on a different road.

    2) It gives bad directions.  On my way to work everyday it wants me to get off of the highway 5 miles before I am supposed to.  I tried it once to see what it wanted to do.  I got off the highway only to have it tell me to make a U turn and get back on the highway.  It did the exact same thing to me on the Florida Turnpike.  It has given bad directions many times. 

    3) Not only does the program not provide text to speech to give road names, it doesn’t give you exit numbers or major highways.  For example, if you are needing to turn off of the highway onto an interchange that is crowded with exits, it is confusing when all it says is “Turn right”

    4) The program is not multitasking.  If you receive a call while using the GPS, the GPS program will close.  Granted you can open it again after the call and it will resume, but pray that you don’t miss a turn while you are on the call.

    5)  There is a bug in the program that prevents using contacts with two line addresses, such as addresses with suite numbers.

    I’ve used numerous GPS apps over the years and I feel this is hands down the worst.  It feels like a GPS app from 5 years ago.

    Posted by Eric on September 3, 2009 3:31 PM

  3. I had slightly different results when using this program. I couldn’t agree with you more about receiving a call while running the application. I didn’t mention that but that drives me crazy, however, the overall usage for me was smooth and functional.

    It could use text to speech and some much needed updates, but overall, for what it does, it does well. I am sure many of these minor details will be fixed in an update.

    Posted by Jovan Washington on September 3, 2009 3:41 PM

  4. Even the iLounge review mentioned losing GPS reception if the iPhone is near a window.  That’s not a minor problem.  That is probably why Tom Tom is building a GPS into their car kit, to boost the GPS in the iPhone.

    Two other issues I didn’t mention are battery and heat.  The GPS drains the battery rapidly.  On a power adapter, it heats up A LOT.  That poses a catch22, you have to put it near a window to get good GPS reception but the hot sun adds to the heat.

    I had several WinMo phones with GPS before switching to the iPhone and they didn’t have any of these problems.  One was an early WinMo phone with a fraction of the horsepower that the iPhone has.

    Posted by Eric on September 3, 2009 3:55 PM

  5. This review seems a little biased.  The Tom Tom iphone app is decent, but its not nearly as good as the reviewer makes it seem.  If you have never used a GPS before, maybe TT seems amazing, but for people who have used a GPS before, or if you compare it to other GPS devices, its not that great.

    Plus, the sentence “...and you won’t go broke with the application costing $99.00 in the app store.” is totally wrong.  Compared to all the other GPS apps for the phone, this is the MOST expensive, a good reviewer would have made note of that.  You can get a lot of decent stand alone units for under $100.  This is expensive for what you get!

    Posted by Derek on September 3, 2009 4:12 PM

  6. This article reads like a paid endorsement.  It is obvious that the writer of this article did not thoroughly test this the TomTom app.  They themselves, admit to more shortfalls than he does, in the article.  Let’s tell it like it is, TomTom makes some good products, but their iPhone app is UNDEPENDABLE and SHOULD BE RECALLED.  The basic problem is that TomTom for iPhone can not sustain a stable GPS signal, causing it to fail in following areas:
      o Frequently can not pick up a GPS Signal, leaving you WITHOUT DIRECTIONS
      o Significant lag time between your actual and map positions
      o Frequently re-calculates to unknown and unrequested routes
      o Sporadically moves the route to adjacent roads

    Posted by Keith on September 5, 2009 1:28 PM

  7. My complaint is with the use of contacts.  In testing against an address that is entered using the fields on the iPhone (I have the 3G phone), I have some that work and others that cause the app to quit unceremoniously.  Retyping in the exact address as a second address leads to one that works and one that quits.  Obviously TomTom’s app has a bug in it.  I sent them a “you have a bug” message on their first day being available and got back the response to download the app again.  I have tried that twice - with a few weeks between, thinking they perhaps would sneak in a new version with this bug fixed in it.  Nope.  Still there.  I, frankly, am disappointed.  The built-in GPS app on the iPhone has no problems with any of my addresses so it can be done right.  This is too serious for them to hold off for a major update.

    Posted by Art on September 18, 2009 2:36 PM

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