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MotionX GPS Drive is OUT !

Pika

Pika

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Oct 5, 2008
1,759
0
Japan
[app]MotionX GPS Drive[/app] is a fantastic open source app.

Check this out:

screenshot20090927at941.png


Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oTP_3E3CWs

The yearly cost is only for the voice guidance... so if you don't need it because you have TomTom/Navigon who do the job or don't want to pay for it you just have to turn that off and stick with the standalone app for a total of 2.99. iF you leave it on.. you have 30days of voice guidance then after the 30days, it will ask you to pay or to turn the feature off.

Map of choice is Microsoft's bing.
 
Just downloaded. Very Nice Interface, as with other MotionX Apps.

One thing I am trying to figure out, is to how to navigate from Point A to Point B when I am at Point C.

Please keep updating Database.

Yasmin
 
Am I correct in thinking that the only downside to this app would be the fact that the maps aren't stored locally (which they tout as a plus because they're more current), thereby requiring a good cell signal to work consistently?

Also, the voice guidance for $25 or so per year. Does this work like the apps do in that I'm charged that price once but can use it on all iPhones on my account or do I need to pay that price for each iPhone?

Thanks!
 
No text to speech, GPS lag looks even worse than on TomTom, and that interface is absolutely hideous. No thanks.

Their comparison chart is also wrong. Navigon is $89 not $99, it has 2D maps, and ipod integration.
 
So as others have noted:

1. Looks like you need to have a solid cell signal to make sure you get maps at all times (which I personally don't get on the local roads I frequently take).

2. The YouTube video does make the GPS tracking look laggy.

3. The turn-by-turn speech isn't up to where Navigon is now. There's no speech for saying the actual street name.

4. No mention of traffic integration - which, again, Navigon will be releasing as a paid one-time add-on within the next month.

The pricing model is good though: $2.99 for the first 30 days and $24.99 for a yearly subscription is very impressive. I think the theory is great...just not sure about the performance when the cell service is marginal.

In the meantime, I'll be sticking with Navigon while I take a 'wait-and-see' approach with this solution.

Let's see some real-world reviews here!!

:cool:

--DotComCTO
 
Just downloaded this. I have been wanting Navigon for a while now, but being a that I'm a post-doc, I don't exactly have 100 bucks lying around. The only downside I can see is the subscription based voice navigation; however, being that a monthly subscription is only 2.99, I should be able to purchase it whenever I truly need it.

Haven't tried it out yet, but I plan on using it later this afternoon. I'm excited!
 
mhuntoon said:
Am I correct in thinking that the only downside to this app would be the fact that the maps aren't stored locally (which they tout as a plus because they're more current), thereby requiring a good cell signal to work consistently?

Also, the voice guidance for $25 or so per year. Does this work like the apps do in that I'm charged that price once but can use it on all iPhones on my account or do I need to pay that price for each iPhone?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

You need to pay that price on each phone because it use the serial number of the iPhone to the server.
 
I know this is a petty complaint, but I find the icon to be way too busy.... Not polished at all...
 
That chart is so wrong. "optimized for the iphone" all of them are written for the iPhone how else would they run. Yes navigon and tom tom used man design and layouts from the hand held units they sell. But thats because it works and people buy it. Why re invent the wheel? Of coarse they are going to make it look similar. I wouldn't want the 3GS compass integration used anyway. I find the compass to me very inaccurate in cars. So why not use the GPS which won't have a problem when your travelling at higher speeds?

I also see no 3d in the demo or anything. So that part of the chart means nothing as navigon has 2d and birds eye view. It also seems to miss the lane assist feature.

I could go on about the chart but I won't. It just bugs me when they make up garbage charts to try compete.

It may be a great app and the price looks good. But with that kind of advertising it bugs me.

One last thing. As a canadian I would never buy it. Many of us only have 500mb of data I don't want to be using it for navigation.
 
Not bad for $2.99, but you have to buy/use the voice navigation for the maps to be 3D. And the compass has a bit of a lag.
 
this app is definitely worth it for basic navigation..personally id like a more polished app if i used it more often..but this will suffice for rare instances where i need directions
 
I just bought Navigon last week and now I am wishing I had not. This app is not quite as good, but its pretty darn close for a fraction of the cost.
 
Wouldn't work for our AT&T account. We have 3 iPhones on our plan. 2 of those frequently need navigation where cell phone data signals are marginal, or don't exist. And since we got in on Navigon's sale price, it's still less expensive for us across the 3 users. With Navigon's addition of traffic at the sale price, it will still be less than MotionX GPS Drive. Sometimes it works out to be an early adopter!:D
 
I have used it the past few days and have found it to be outstanding. I already have a Garmin and couldn't justify paying for an app, but wanting to give them a try. For $2.99, it was a no brainer. It has worked flawlessly. I think I would use it more than my Garmin. I find it to be a wonderful app. I am in far northern suburbs of Chicago and the cell signal is solid. Not sure how it would work without the cell signal, but color me impressed!
 
I won't be using it since it's using bing(microsoft) for it's information. If they switch to google, then count me in.
 
Love the pricing model. Pay $2.99 up front and then if/when you need it pay $2.99 for another 30 days of voice navigation. So those of use infrequent users can save quite a bit.

Drove to work today with it going and my old Garmin c330. In most cases it gave the alerts a bit earlier than the Garmin. Map terrain didn't seem quite as accurate, such as depicting the curvature of the roads, but that could have been because of the zoom level I was on. Did a couple of searches for different restaurants and it is MUCH more accurate, but that is because Garmin abandoned the c330 and hasn't had a map update available for a couple of years.

Also it does have a map cache (I think 250mb). So if you are going somewhere you think you might have week signal you could simulate the route I supposed to cache the maps/streets. Not sure how to make it simulate from two points yet when you are not at either point.

Other comments, sorry most of them make it sound bad but it really isn't. Just my nature to point out what could be improved.

- Takes long time on my 3G to start the app
- Compass doesn't work on 3G (of course) but would be nice if they just stated that on the compass page (please no pop up).
- Names are always shown North up. Would be nice if it flipped the street names when heading South so they are not upside down.
- Is the spinning globe in the top right really necessary?
- Be nice if you could specify type of food when looking for restaurants (something my Garmin does that I like).
- Also would be nice if the provided the direction of where things were too...


Anyway, great start I think. Looking forward to seeing how they continue to improve it.
 
Interesting, I've had a brief play with this here in the UK and it works just fine.
(purchased via a US iTunes account) Full UK postcode searches and POIs all work. Haven't had a chance to take it for a drive but route previews look promising.
 
They are misrepresenting the 'one year cost' of the apps they are comparing to since they are not a year license. Kind of shady.

I don't consider 'live' maps to be a good thing, but I guess that is subjective.
 
MadGoat said:
I won't be using it since it's using bing(microsoft) for it's information. If they switch to google, then count me in.
Click to expand...

I hope you are just kidding. Why does it matter what they use? If they took the logo off, you wouldn't even know the difference. It isn't like it loads the Bing website. It is just using their API to find local businesses. Whether it is Google or Bing, the results are very good compared to using POIs in a map database like TomTom.
 
Useless for me if it cant download the maps before hand. Pulling them off the data stream live is failure. Most places I need it I will lose cell coverage along the way several times.

Wont work for me.
 
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