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Comment by georgemcbay | Hacker News Reader

This is actually a fairly serious issue for all non-Android handsets, IMO.

The built-in integrated-into-almost-everything Google Nav functionality is the killer feature that trumps all other killer features in phones for me. Obviously YMMV and for some people this feature isn't as big a deal, but it is a huge deal for me and it is what stops me from seriously considering anything that isn't an Android phone these days.

For the record, I do realize there are quite a few GPS turn by turn solutions for the iPhone, but suggesting they are a true replacement for Google's Nav stuff is like suggesting Google Voice Search is a replacement for Siri.

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>This is actually a fairly serious issue for all non-Android handsets, IMO.

Well not all non-Android handsets - Nokia maps has free turn-by-turn directions as well as downloadable maps (not just pre-caching a route, you can download maps of the entire USA if you want). As I tend to travel a lot to areas with spotty or non-existant cellphone coverage, this is the primary reason I'm sticking with Symbian for the time being.

>"Nokia maps has free turn-by-turn directions"

So does WP7.

I use Tom-Tom in the iPhone and it is good. The most incredible thing is that if I make a wrong turn it recalculates new directions. I knew this existed in classic GPS devices but never realized how useful it was until I actually used it. Plus it does not require a signal which is actually really useful when you travel to Canada (from the USA) where you cannot use the local telephone service unless you are ready to pay a lot of money.

I think iPhone with Tom-Tom is fine. It costs $60 dollars but you can share it with 4 other devices which means you can spread the cost.

> The most incredible thing is that if I make a wrong turn it recalculates new directions

I have never used turn-by-turn navigation that couldn't do this.

You just did that thing which I tried to prevent anyone from doing with my last paragraph.

Sorry but the GPS solutions on the iPhone just aren't the same (btw, direction recalculation is a no brainer and of course Google Nav does that, and a whole lot more like local data polling from other Google Nav users to determine realtime road speeds for path redirection)

Anyway, it is the full OS integration that is key. Basically anything on the phone that displays an address (web browser, Google Maps, apps like Yelp, etc) displays it as a clickable link letting me instantly pull up directions and switch into nav mode. This sort of integration is huge but sadly the sort of thing people tend to gloss over unless they've actually experienced it, which is why I tried to preempt that with the (also flawed) comparison between Google Voice Search and Siri.

> Basically anything on the phone that displays an address (web browser, Google Maps, apps like Yelp, etc) displays it as a clickable link letting me instantly pull up directions and switch into nav mode.

This is in iOS too. Of course you don't get turn-by-turn, just directions, but if Apple is eventually going to add turn by turn you'll find it there.

I've tried google navigation, and it didn't work that well compared to a typical paid turn-by-turn navigation app with offline maps.

Nokia Drive is considered as good and in many ways better than Maps Navigation.

Nokia bought up Navteq a few years back so they have a good data source for it - I'd expect that they should be able to provide turn-by-turn navigation that's comparable to Google's.

I don't get the comparison. I use Navigon on my iPhone. I travel extensively. It's been 99.9 percent perfect. As good if not better than stand alone GPS devices. I understand how it's nice to have it built into Android, not having to pay for a separate app, but turn by turn directions either work or don't work. And I use them every day.

I'll be more than happy when Apple builds it in, but until then, I've more than happy, and it's certainly not enough to make me look at switching to Android, even if it never happened.

How often does its index of all of the businesses get updated?

Probably as often as the data provider(s) that Google is feeding into their system as well. You didn't think that Google was actually collecting that info directly, did you?

That doesn't answer my question . . . It wasn't rhetorical.

I believe he answered your question as well as could be done without some inside knowledge. We don't know how often anyone's db is updated, so with no benchmark how can a fair comparison be made?

Google does collect data directly, too. If you're a business owner, you can upload your business location and data here:

http://www.google.com/local/add/g?hl=en-US&gl=US#phonelo...

I have no idea. When I start having problems with finding businesses, or if it takes me to closed businesses, I'll worry about it. So far, in over 2 years using the app, I've not had problems.

> For the record, I do realize there are quite a few GPS turn by turn solutions for the iPhone, but suggesting they are a true replacement for Google's Nav stuff is like suggesting Google Voice Search is a replacement for Siri.

How do you think it is better than conventional navigation devices/apps? Do you have a link to a demo video or a review that shows the coolest features? The only distinguishing feature I can see is Street View integration.

If you actually used a well known GPS app on the iPhone, you'd realize how ridiculous your Siri comparison is.

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