Ipad app or tomtom and which one?

alun4

I have enjoyed the ownership of a tomtom 910 for many years. Only slight complaint is the poor lane instruction when there is a succession of motorway junctions in French cities. It acts as a huge storage device but I find I use this less due to other tech. I guess all the modern ones wil be as good or better to replace on my new additional vehicle.
I have always hard wired the mount at dashboard display level so device is not obviou to French gendarmes. In any case I do try to keep to speed limits.

I have bought an ipad. It has provision for a SIM card but I haven't gone that far yet with it.

What are fellow MSE members opinions of the expensive app compared to various traditional tomtom models.
I am guessing a mount and charger will be an extra cost ..... And what about data use? My tomtom is on for about 4 hours a day, six days a week but more when going on holiday to Europe

mkirkby

There are many sat-nav apps for the iOS systems and any ipad from iPad 3G upwards should have gps built-in that will work without any sim card or data usage.

One example:-
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/gps-navigation-2-satnav-by/id329340711?mt=8

You can download the maps using wifi while at home then don't need any connection when using it for navigation in the car

neilmcl

I'd imagine data use is going to be your biggest issue, that and perhaps performance. I don't know anything about the app but unless it does offline mapping then you're going to find data usage expensive, particularly when travelling outside the UK with roaming charges etc. Personally I'd stick to the Sat Nav, but rather than the tomtom I was quite impressed with the Garmin nuvi that was recently shown on the Gadget Show.

bigdic

Try this:

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/navfree-gps-live-france/id434220953?mt=8

It's free and doesn't require any data as all the maps are stored on the device. I used it recently in the USA on an iphone and it was very usefull, loaded it up on the ipad when I got home and it's stunning. Very clear and easy to use.

Try it, if you don't like it then get a stand alone as has been mentioned. If you have a smartphone you can usually set up a local wifi hotspot which will allow you to access the internet on the Ipad using your phone contract.

Totally moneysaving tastic!

bgarston

I use NavFree on my iPad and iPhone. Some people say they don't like it for various reasons bu it's never let m own and I travel all over the UK! A the en of of the day it's probably not as good as a dedicated TomTom or Garmin device but what do you want or free!

alun4

mkirkby wrote: »

One example:-
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/gps-navigation-2-satnav-by/id329340711?mt=8

You can download the maps using wifi while at home then don't need any connection when using it for navigation in the car

I have tried to type this link into the search box in the apps store on the ipad but it isn't giving any result. I'm guessing I should try this on the PC but how would this then get onto the ipad? Sorry I am not very PC savvy!

wba31

alun4 wrote: »

I have tried to type this link into the search box in the apps store on the ipad but it isn't giving any result. I'm guessing I should try this on the PC but how would this then get onto the ipad? Sorry I am not very PC savvy!

type it into safari on your ipad and it should open the link in the app store... *should!!!*

I use tomtom on my iphone 5 and it uses a little bit of data. There is an option within the app to turn data roaming off (should you be abroad). I have never tried it with that option off, but apparently the app will still work...

JQ.

wba31 wrote: »

type it into safari on your ipad and it should open the link in the app store... *should!!!*

or a simpler solution would be to just type "navfree" into the App Store.

Where exactly do people place iPad's when using them as sat nav's, are they not too big?

mkirkby

alun4 wrote: »

I have tried to type this link into the search box in the apps store on the ipad but it isn't giving any result. I'm guessing I should try this on the PC but how would this then get onto the ipad? Sorry I am not very PC savvy!

Type

GPS Navigation 2

in itunes. Or alternatively , just try typing "sat nav" into itunes to get a whole list of them.

Different prices and different reviews. The GPS Navigation 2 is 69p, but there's copilot for £24.99 or a host of free ones (like the poster above mentioned).

99% of them work without a data connection so there's no need to buy a sim to try them. Those at 69p or lower must be worth a try just to see if you can get on with them!

alun4

Thanks to all. I have now tried NavFree and it seems to show the shortest route quite often when local knowledge would choose a different route.

After all these years I am so familiar with my old tomtom display (interface?) that I find this new one "strange".

A DIY solution to sighting the ipad would be needed since it is too big to have blocking the screen. I imagine this would be more or less problematic depending on the dashboard layout of can but would be a consideration. Night colours or dimming would also be needed. Charging (on the move) would be required for a continental holiday.

It would be interesting to hear how the ipad tomtom App compares with a new top end tomtom unit in terms of functions and updates. ..... Advanced lane guidance etc.

wba31

JQ. wrote: »

or a simpler solution would be to just type "navfree" into the App Store.

Where exactly do people place iPad's when using them as sat nav's, are they not too big?

I tried some free nav apps before buying the Tomtom app (i cant see if Navfree was one of them) and none of them seemed to be as competent than my previous tomtom. The tomtom app is just like a tomtom device, I trusted it (and was using it for work) so decided it wise to pay the extra...

I once saw a guy in an Audi A4 on the M25 with his full size ipad (as opposed to the mini) on his windscreen as his sat nav. It blocked most of his view from my opinion. I did write a post on here asking if it contravened any laws...