Review Date September 08, 2009

TomTom (iPhone OS)

  • Pros

    Snappy interface and map updates. Clear, well-timed voice prompts. Interface follows both iPhone and TomTom conventions.

  • Cons Lacks text-to-speech. No real-time traffic reports or fuel prices. No lane assistance when exiting highways.
  • Bottom Line

    Like its competitors, TomTom left some critical features out of its iPhone GPS navigation app. Even so, it makes the iPhone look, sound, and operate a lot like a standalone portable navigation device.

By Jamie Lendino Apple iPhone

TomTom took its time in releasing its iPhone GPS navigation app. The delay gave competitors TeleNav, Navigon, and ALK ample time to ready their own programs. Now that TomTom's app is finally here, it's the smoothest operator of the bunch, although it's missing a few key features. It feels the most like a standalone navigation device—which makes sense, since TomTom is the only one of the four vendors that's currently selling hardware PNDs in the U.S. (aside from TeleNav's lone, mediocre Shotgun).

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For the rest of this review, I'm going to refer to the app as TomTom for iPhone. That's because TomTom failed to name it themselves. When you install the app, it shows up as "U.S. and Canada" in the menu. The About page also gives conflicting version numbers. I tested v1.0 or version 8.150 (339085), depending on which one you believe, on my iPhone 3G with OS 3.0.1. As part of the $99.99 download, you get maps for the U.S., Canada, and Puerto Rico, including Alaska and Hawaii. The app updates the maps continuously, even though they're stored locally on the device.

On the Road With TomTom
TomTom for iPhone starts up in a relatively quick seven seconds, which compares well to almost 30 seconds for Navigon MobileNavigator. From the main menu, you can navigate to a destination, mute the sound, switch to a night color scheme or 2D map, enter advanced routing, or browse the current map. The menu offers more options if you scroll down with your finger, including changing basic settings. You can enter an address, search for a point of interest (POI), tap in a route on the map, get directions to address book contacts, or dial up a POI's phone number, such as to make a restaurant reservation. The app lets you light up individual POI categories, so you can keep an eye out for, say, campgrounds and amusement parks, while keeping other map clutter hidden.

Once underway, the app works in both portrait and landscape modes—something that AT&T Navigator can't do—and you can zoom in and out. The interface is instantly familiar to anyone who has used a TomTom device like the 140-S, our current Editors' Choice for PNDs, before. It displays your current speed, the speed limit of the road you're on, your ETA, the distance remaining, and the distance to the next turn. Other apps force you to choose from among these, which is unnecessary given the iPhone's large screen. TomTom offers the usual pedestrian and bicycling modes, plus options to avoid or always take HOV lanes and ferries.

In a series of tests, TomTom for iPhone picked the fastest routes in most cases. The app's IQ Routes feature calculates directions based on input from millions of drivers. In theory at least, that means the app learns over time. That seemed to be the case, since it didn't make any of the mistakes ALK CoPilot Live did on the same roads. TomTom also offers comprehensive detour routing, in case you run into construction, closed roads, or simply want to try a different route.

On the audio side, the voice prompts were clear, crisp, and well timed. I was never left guessing when I should turn. (ALK, are you reading this?) The prompts were also much clearer than the default MobileNavigator voice. I could still understand TomTom's audio prompts with the windows down while on the highway.

More than anything, I appreciated the app's speed. It updated the on-screen map several times per second, responded quickly to screen taps, and even rotated the view quickly when I tilted the handset—something that seemed to strain MobileNavigator and CoPilot Live (although both eventually complied). After reviewing the other three apps, I was all set to write off the iPhone 3G (if not the faster 3GS) as not powerful enough to process turn-by-turn directions, but TomTom disproved that. Now I know the interface lag I experienced with the others was simply bad code.

TomTom's Failings
Unfortunately, TomTom lacks text-to-speech capability to read out the names of streets; of the four main apps out there, only the TeleNav-powered AT&T Navigator offers this critical feature. TomTom for iPhone also lacks real-time traffic reports. On the plus side, POI database searches were quick and easy to do, and it brought up all the correct options both near my location and in nearby cities. But while there were dozens of POI categories, there were only two for shopping, which is simply not enough. Tap one and you'll get every single nearby store, from shoe repair to Home Depot. Good luck trying to find the nearest bookstore unless you know its name, in which case you can search for it manually.

A few other omissions: exiting highways or roundabouts requires a few extra glances at the screen, since the app doesn't pronounce exit numbers. There is no lane assist feature to help sort out complex interchanges. Finally, TomTom doesn't help you find the lowest price for fuel in the area.

None of the iPhone GPS apps we've reviewed to date earn an Editors' Choice award. All of them feel incomplete. That said, AT&T Navigator checks off the most features on paper, since it's the only one with text-to-speech capability and real-time traffic reports. It's also the most expensive; while there's no upfront cost, it costs $9.99 per month, which makes it the most expensive option in under a year. Plus, it doesn't offer TomTom's speedy UI, detour functions, locally stored maps, or speed limit monitoring. Navigon MobileNavigator has a nice highway graphics interface and configurable speed limit alerts, but lacks text-to-speech and traffic reports. Navigon runs discounts periodically, so check pricing before deciding on one or the other. Finally, ALK CoPilot Live is a decent value at just $35, but it felt like a six-year-old Windows Mobile app at times and lagged behind the others in navigation accuracy.


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Jamie Lendino
By Jamie Lendino Managing Editor, Consumer Electronics and Mobile


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