Taking the Magellan RoadMate for a Spin: iPhone App Review

The folks over at Magellan were nice enough to give me their Magellan RoadMate app for the iPhone and iPod touch, to spend some time with it, compare it to a normal stand alone GPS unit and see what I thought. The iPhone was always thought of to be the one device to rule them all, but one thing it was missing from the very beginning(other than cut-and-paste) and that was the ability to use the device as a GPS unit with turn-by-turn directions.  Up until the newest iPhones this was nothing but a wet dream to anyone with an iPhone in their hot little hands, but Steve Jobs provided, and now it is here.

Now there has been quite a few types of Turn-By-Turn apps to hit the app store and I have tried several of them, I mean who doesn’t want to carry around one less device in these days? Sometimes I simply wish it was socially acceptable to wear a utility belt in public with everything I carry around.  There are 3 basic types of GPS apps I have noticed in the app store.  The first is where you pay for the app and all maps are included, its basically as if you purchased a GPS in a store; which is what the RoadMate is. The other two are ways to break the cost down in different ways, because the high price associated with a GPS app is basically the licensing of the maps it contains. The second is the Subscription based app where you’re charged a nominal monthly fee for use of the app and the maps, but if your not using the app that really doesn’t justify the $5 a month your paying.  The third is the portioned app where the maps are cut into bits so the cost is not as high because you’re only buying what you need. Just live in New York? Just buy the east coast pack.

The RoadMate is a full GPS in every sense of the word, in fact I think it actually has quite a few features that are only found with some of the more robust GPS units. I really thought this app should come with a manual of sorts due to the large amount of features, and my difficulty navigating them. But I think the fact that it is contained in an iPhone or iPod for that matter at times could be, and is it’s main drawback for me. First when you purchase the app, you should definitely buy it while connected to your computer, the app is a hefty 1.37 gigs due to all the maps so you might want to keep that in mind if your planning on getting it for your 4 gig touch. The app wont just work on the GPS enabled 3GS either, it will also work on a 2^nd generation iPhone and iPod touch with the purchase of  $129 Premium car kit which gives the older phones GPS capabilities, provides a louder speaker, and a much needed landscape mount for the iPhone.

Once you’ve installed the app and launched it, it boots up, connects with your location settings and gets to work. I have found it very responsive as a GPS especially when you go off route. Its about this time I should mention the battery drain, this app will make short work of your battery, very short. So if you plan on using it for any extended trip I highly suggest picking up a car adapter for your iPhone. While we are on the subject  of things you might need if you pick this app up; another would be a landscape mount that attaches to your windshield ideally, because while the app does work in portrait mode it really works best mounted at eye level in landscape mode.

Now that you’ve got the GPS properly setup searching for addresses is a breeze, but entering them sometimes is a different story. The app uses what it calls Quickspell, which basically amounts to thinking what the address could possibly be and locking the keys down that don’t pertain to a possible address. I found this terribly frustrating because certain roads and abbreviations are different on every GPS, and depending on if your avenue could be listed as an avenue or a lane; you could be trying to figure out what it’s listed as for while.  I found when this occurs look up an eating establishment close to your destination and use that as a cheat sheet to enter in the address properly.

Once you get the address in and you are on the road the GPS works really well but 2 things I thought really hurt the iPhone not the app in this situation, and there is where I think my main issue with the app lies. First the iPhone’s speaker, while you can hear the directions they are really hampered by the low volume of the speaker in busier traffic and the louder you turn it up it starts to distort a bit making it harder to understand the directions. I found this very distracting while I was trying to strain to hear the directions, and pay attention to traffic; not good. The second is the screen on the iPhone doesn’t really do well as a GPS terminal. I don’t know about you but I have a tendency to poke my GPS to select things, and with the iPhone’s super slick screen I have more of a tendency to accidentally slide around and hit things I don’t mean to, sometimes crashing the app and it does crash.

One bonus is the ability to listen to your iPhone’s music while the GPS is active en route to your destination, although I found this also to be very distracting(hey I drive in Jersey! You have to be alert!) if  you are trying to concentrate on getting to your destination. But if you’re a true multitasker more power to ya. Once you arrive at your destination, you have the really cool ability to bookmark your car’s location; which is a feature I wish my Garmin had. But honestly most people leave their bulky GPS in the car usually badly hiding them under their seat, so I really thought this made sense for the iPhone because your going to be carrying that with you. Although I have seen tourists carrying around the big bulky GPSs around the city to find the Liberty Bell, trust me out of pity I gave them directions after I found out what they were attempting to do with the device.

In conclusion the Magellan RoadMate is real turn-by-turn GPS for your iPhone, and a truly a great app. But in putting a turn-by-turn GPS in the iPhone; you’re really throwing away all the work and engineering that went in creating the stand-alone units. The iPhone just doesn’t seem as up to the task even if the app is willing; from the poor battery, slick screen and poor speaker power it really doesn’t seem up to the task at times without the purchase of the Premium Car kit. Not too mention it has a tendency to crash once in a while, like any other app which could prove disastrous at times.  Would I use this as my main GPS? Probably not, reliability is really key to me for something I rely on like a GPS. But I would definitely use the app as a backup and the price tag of  $79.99 although it really doesn’t fall into the impulse buy category, it is cheaper than buying another GPS. I would have to honestly say do your homework and if this fits your needs feel free pick it up, but keep in mind what you would need not only to purchase the app but to use the app to its fullest. Pick it up on the Apple app store here!

Positives

-A GPS on your iPhone that does turn by turn directions

-Fast recalculation times

-No Monthly fee

-All maps downloaded on iPhone

-Pedestrian and Automobile routes

-Remember where I parked my car bookmark!

-Official Magellan mount is $129.00, but will give your older iPhone GPS!

-Very feature rich

Negatives

-Should come with a manual

-iPhone speaker not loud enough at times

-All maps downloaded on iPhone

-Quickspell sometimes works against you

-Should come with some sort of manual

-Devours your battery

-Crashes

-Mounting hardware needed to properly use app