A recent App Smart column took you through the world of map apps. It's a hot topic now because Apple is using its own mapping solution for its latest iPhone. This has upset a lot of people who have become familiar with the maps app based on Google data that was used for the previous five years.
The Navigon app from Garmin was the main high-price app we talked about, but another big-name GPS maker also sells smartphone apps: TomTom. Its maps app for the United States costs $50 for Apple devices. It, like Navigon, functions much as a high-end stand-alone GPS device would. In addition to basic navigation functions, it has a points-of-interest database to help you find things like restaurants, lane assistance on the freeway, traffic alerts and other driving aids. A recent update added Foursquare powers, adding an alternative way to search for places to blindly Googling for them.
TomTom's graphical display is simpler and less cluttered than some of its peer apps. TomTom is also said to have a dedicated Android app available soon.
If you're an Apple user who's still a fan of Google maps, then try visiting maps.google.com on your iPhone's browser. It takes you to Google's Web app. And there's a popup that reminds you that you can pin the Web page to your homepage, so it looks like an app. Many of the navigation systems from Apple's old Maps app are available through Google, including Places, Google's review and ratings system.
There are also apps like OpenMaps, free for Apple devices, that use the free OpenStreetMap database - an alternative solution to the navigation apps from Apple, Google and their peers. OpenMaps is fairly powerful, and through an in-app purchase it even lets you download map data so you can use maps offline. But it's perhaps overcomplex and not at all as user-friendly as the other map apps we've mentioned.
Here is an alternative to all of these apps that is great if you're navigating overseas. Wh y not use a paper map on vacation - and make the most of the language or translation apps you can use on your smartphone? That way you'll look around more and actually talk to people.
