Well, it looks like G Map is back in the app store with an update (and a new higher price). It says the "routing map" is different than the older version and if you like that one better, don't load this one so that sort of put me off downloading it. The other improvements on this version sound great .... like remembering your route info if you have to leave the app. Let's start a thread here and get some feedback from anyone that tries this new version and sees what the differences are in the routing map.
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G Map is back and with an update
- Thread starter itsjustmeee
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How do you "select" an older version of an app once it's been updated? Is it just the process of copying the app from the itunes Mobile Applications folder, then download and install the update and then replace the newer file with the older one in that folder if you're not happy with it?
i previewed a route since i have not driven today and from what i saw, it does not tell you in how long your turn is... it will give you an estimated time of arrival and how many miles is left. if you have a turn in 1 mile it will not count that distance down, it will give you a bar at the top that fills up as you get closer and closer. i hope this is not how it is. i think i would want 1.2 back....
Not giving you a distance to your next turn is a pretty big thing to leave out of a gps app! Even with the new changes, that would probably warrant not updating right there ....... let's see what others have to say about this.
itunes has maintains the app from the sync process, if you do the update on the phone and don't sync, itunes still has the other version. If you don't like what you see then you can delete it from the phone. The next time you sync your phone you will have to select to install the app again.
The one thing I did not like about the "distance to next turn" was the fact that I could not read without having my reading glasses on because of the font size. Having to reach over an put my glasses on was a distraction and not a safe thing to do while driving. One of my thoughts was to be able to magnify the font and image if tapped. I do like the status bar indication though, it also has an alarm indicating a turn is approaching. Having the distance displayed would be nice, but if I can't read it, it's useless.
So how does the actual 3D routing map look compared to the last version? Is it "castrated" like kas23 predicted, or does it look about the same? If the quality of that screen is the same, I agree with Luminator The distance to the next turn was hard for me to read as well. A bar across the top and some sort of audible alarm would be an improvement in my opinion. I'm just curious to know if the 3D view looks the same.
3d view does look the same from what i saw in a route preview. there is now a small window with a "turn view" showing you a zoomed in view of the type of turn is coming up.. i guess the same size as the old distance window.
The "what's new in this version" section in itunes is a bit sketchy at best. So are these things incorporated into the new version?
1. Some sort of audible sound when the next turn is aproaching?
2. The ability to disable the auto lock on the phone so that when this app is running, the screen won't lock?
3. It somehow saves the memory so if you have to exit for a call, you can start the app back up and pick off where you left off?
1. Some sort of audible sound when the next turn is aproaching?
2. The ability to disable the auto lock on the phone so that when this app is running, the screen won't lock?
3. It somehow saves the memory so if you have to exit for a call, you can start the app back up and pick off where you left off?
I second the request, it seems I can't justify the price increase with afew screenshots on their app's description. (and yes I read the what's new)
I use a FM transmitter dock in my car and listen to music will using this app, so it appears the audio is used on the external speaker only, not on the audio out. I'll verify this on the way home this evening by not listening to the music.
Disable auto lock is automatic, there is no option for this in the setting page.
As with any app, if you receive a call (only) the app will restart automatically when the call has ended. This new feature will reload the route that was being used when the call came in.
Attachments
Nope, IMO doesn't need it. It's difficult enough placing everything on a 480px screen let alone 320px.
They all sound like good changes. My guess is that the audible cue comes through the iphone as well since not everyone has it hooked up to an external source. More than likely I'll download it tonight and try it out. In another thread, I was asking about keeping an older version of an app and reverting back to it if I'm not happy with the newer version. I'm assuming that if it was a purchased app, I can just go to the itunes folder, copy the app file and then intstall the newer one and if I don't like it, I can just drag the older one back into the itunes folder. Does anyone have any experience with that?
the audible will work when hooked up to the car through aux cable. i still like the 1.2 version better but i havent used 1.3 that much. i think the best thing for you to do to test it out is to upgrade on your iphone and not on itunes. if you like 1.2 better delete the app off your phone and sync with itunes. i believe that will work.
I need to make a correction here, the alert sound does work through the audio out on the dock connector. I not sure why it wasn't working the first time I tried it, but I used it twice now and sound not comes through my car stereo.
The problem I see with the alert is that it sounds to late (100 yards) prior to the turn. This could be a problem if you've got to switch lanes to turn, this does not give you ample to do so. Ideally it would be nice to have this as a configurable setting specifying yards or tenths for the alert. Additionally it would would be nice to have the ability to change the alert sound to predefined or configurable sounds, currently it uses a sonar sound.
The problem I see with the alert is that it sounds to late (100 yards) prior to the turn. This could be a problem if you've got to switch lanes to turn, this does not give you ample to do so. Ideally it would be nice to have this as a configurable setting specifying yards or tenths for the alert. Additionally it would would be nice to have the ability to change the alert sound to predefined or configurable sounds, currently it uses a sonar sound.
Well, really the bottom line is that now that 3.0 is going to have tbt, this app isn't quite the "end all to beat all" that it was a month ago. All of these changes are an improvement, but my guess is that this app is going to see a lot of competition this summer by TomTom, Telenav, etc. They really should try and rush out as many improvements as they can before any other true tbt apps appear or they're going to be dwarfed by the bigger names (and more than likely better quality apps.)
I agree 100%. However, what still remains to be seen is the pricing of the competitors. Obviously pricing will determine the success or failure of this app. Given this, you would think that the company/developer would have position them self with better support, which currently is non-existent.
Just in case in the future, you wish to roll back to a previous version, I suggest you check out this thread in another forum.....
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=7381654#post7381654
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=7381654#post7381654
I just installed the latest update last night and I have to say, I'm pretty happy with it so far. Yes, the distance to the next turn is better than the bar filling across the top, but all in all it's a really good update. The program seems a lot more stable now and it runs a faster. It also seems to find my location a lot quicker. When I got 1.2, it couldn't find me inside of my house. I had to go outside for the gps to kick in. Now it locates my position very quickly inside and it routes the trip much faster as well.
Customer Support Response
This is a response that I received on 3/31/09 to a Support Request that I sent them with comments. It sheds some light.....
And yes, this response IS legitimate...
" [FONT="]Dear. Customer,[/FONT]
[FONT="]Good evening.[/FONT]
[FONT="]We are very sorry for any inconveniences it may have caused you.[/FONT]
[FONT="]There is too many Apples policy what we cant do with our application.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Thats why we took off the some features from G-Map version 1.3. [/FONT]
[FONT="]There is progress bar instead of the remaining time and distance for next turn, you can figure this out with this bar. When the progress bar is filled out by green color, you are able to hear alarm and get item from question box. It means that it is time to make turns.[/FONT]
[FONT="]However there will be iPhone 3.0 will include app with turn by turn directions in summer. So we will provide these features on G-map in summer.[/FONT]
[FONT="]We would like you to understand our situation and are very sorry that we caused this problem and inconvenienced you.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Please feel free to email us if you have any question.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Have a good day.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Best regards,"[/FONT]
This is a response that I received on 3/31/09 to a Support Request that I sent them with comments. It sheds some light.....
And yes, this response IS legitimate...
" [FONT="]Dear. Customer,[/FONT]
[FONT="]Good evening.[/FONT]
[FONT="]We are very sorry for any inconveniences it may have caused you.[/FONT]
[FONT="]There is too many Apples policy what we cant do with our application.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Thats why we took off the some features from G-Map version 1.3. [/FONT]
[FONT="]There is progress bar instead of the remaining time and distance for next turn, you can figure this out with this bar. When the progress bar is filled out by green color, you are able to hear alarm and get item from question box. It means that it is time to make turns.[/FONT]
[FONT="]However there will be iPhone 3.0 will include app with turn by turn directions in summer. So we will provide these features on G-map in summer.[/FONT]
[FONT="]We would like you to understand our situation and are very sorry that we caused this problem and inconvenienced you.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Please feel free to email us if you have any question.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Have a good day.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Best regards,"[/FONT]