A few months ago, AT&T released the first turn-by-turn GPS application for the iPhone. Since it’s arrival, the GPS application has received a cold reception. The application has received more than 900 reviews in the Apple Store — but most rank the application poorly.
AT&T Navigator provides voice-guided and onscreen directions, automatic rerouting, real-time traffic updates, a points-of-interest database and regular map updates — but at a hefty price. Although the app is free, it requires a $9.99-per-month subscription (automatically be added to your AT&T account).
When AT&T invited me to download Navigator last week and subscribe to the monthly service, I turned to the Apple’s App Store for advice. More than 500 customers ranked the application with the lowest score possible ( 1 out of 5). Why? Users find the application buggy and the monthly fee unacceptable.
Here’s a quick look at my favorite comments:
- “The only thing good about this app is it’s free for 30 days and its worth just that – NOTHING,” said laq997. “This is so bad we spent the weekend laughing at it’s horrid routes and how confused it was. It never knew where we were — except on 94 when we had like 89 miles without a turn. Of course it got lost as soon as our exit came…Skip it and buy a real GPS.”
- “I got this app a month ago and it worked fine,” said Ally193. “Now it gives me an error message every time I ask it to plan a route. I already tried deleting it and redownloading it twice. One technical support call to AT&T sucked 45 min. of my life and had me speaking to 4 different people. The last one said they would forward my problem to advanced technical support and they would call me back. Guess what? I haven’t heard from them!”
- “I have owned a number of hardware GPS units. Some good (Tom Tom) and some really bad (Magellan),” said Virtual Panther. “Why can’t someone come up with a GPS-based navigation subscription, so that it would always have the latest maps and points of interest…this way you’d always find what you are looking for…This is where AT&T along with TeleNav got it majorly wrong because none of the data is on your iPhone. Downloading it, naturally, takes time…If you’re charging monthly money, you better make your product beyond reproach.”
I had high hopes for AT&T Navigator. I’m not satisfied with the Magellan GPS I purchased last year. I use it frequently, but rarely trust it. It gets lost frequently, crashes often and provides illogical route instructions. For example, it commonly suggests that I take freeway exits — only to get right back on the highway after exiting.
A Tom Tom Go 720 hardware GPS unit is looking like the best upgrade path. It’s only a little more than a year’s subscription to AT&T Navigator. It’s gotten good reviews and loads of added features. It’ll be a big step up from the Magellan unit I’m using now. And, it won’t compete for battery life on my iPhone — or require a monthly subscription.
What about AT&T? They can get lost. Fortunately, AT&T Navigator already seems to be doing a pretty good job of doing just that (getting lost).
Poor Man’s GPS
This Kenwood GPS commercial reminds me of my Magellan GPS. Both induce vomiting.
About Troy Janisch