Tom Tom APP

[okohne]

Hi, will the tom tom navigation app use the 3g bandwidth from my phone & skyrocket my monthly cell bill??? or is the gps function seperate???

 

[fxit_man]

No. The maps are stored on the device unlike the google maps application and will therefore not use any bandwidth.

 

[okohne]

cool, thanks alot
is the app worth getting - had my garmin stolen recently - and with the tom tom cradle (blue tooth, music, speaker etc) - is still cheaper than most stand alone gps'.
read mixed reviews about the app - not sure

 

[SlinkyMike]

cool, thanks alot
is the app worth getting - had my garmin stolen recently - and with the tom tom cradle (blue tooth, music, speaker etc) - is still cheaper than most stand alone gps'.
read mixed reviews about the app - not sure

Having a GPS on your phone is not the same as having a Garmin - for one: the battery will drain in under 40min if you use it without a charging cradle.
I feel that the GPS in my Garmin is far stronger thatn the iPhones one - iPhone will often lose signal where the gamin still has 3+ bars.

There are several other shortcomings that only crop up during actual use but that is not to say that the app is rubbish - it is very good and one of the upsides is that having your phone; contact list and GPS in one device opens up some interesting ways to use them.

 

[fxit_man]

I have the TomTom cradle with TomTom + Navigon app and it improves GPS signal very nicely! However, I never had a problem with GPS signal without it anyways (never lost signal before as mentioned above) , it's just a lot more accurate with the dock. If you aren't going to go for the dock, make sure its placed somewhere with a clear sight of the sky to maintain signal.

I also have a garmin nuvi, and find that I no longer have a use for it with the above setup (The maps and UI even look nicer on my iPhone on both apps. Not to mention being able to use the iPhone UI [sensitive touch] to control both apps)

If you are going to use the iPhone as a navigation device for your car then a dock that charges the phone is very important as mentioned above.

Also have connected it to the AUX of my car and it plays music and navigation instructions from ANY navigation app over the car speakers very clearly! Set up a driving playlist and you are ready to go The new version of TomTom (1.2) also allows you to change music tracks in-app, so you don't have to quit the app or double tap the home button while driving to change a track.

It's the best looking dock (slim, etc) with cool features that i've seen, and that is why I bought it. It is on the pricey side though (I warned you)

Just note that incoming calls do not play over car speakers even though the AUX is connected to the dock. If there is any con to this dock, this would be it. Hopefully it will be fixed in a future firmware update, however calls are still played over the docks built in speaker (which is good enough anyways).

The in-built speaker also reads out navigation instructions and calls clearly, and music as well which is fine unless you are pedantic about music quality like myself.

p.s. If you are jailbroken, you can "try" out the full versions of the above two apps

 

[3Gee]

I have the TomTom cradle with TomTom + Navigon app and it improves GPS signal very nicely! However, I never had a problem with GPS signal without it anyways (never lost signal before as mentioned above) , it's just a lot more accurate with the dock. If you aren't going to go for the dock, make sure its placed somewhere with a clear sight of the sky to maintain signal.

I also have a garmin nuvi, and find that I no longer have a use for it with the above setup (The maps and UI even look nicer on my iPhone on both apps. Not to mention being able to use the iPhone UI [sensitive touch] to control both apps)

If you are going to use the iPhone as a navigation device for your car then a dock that charges the phone is very important as mentioned above.

Also have connected it to the AUX of my car and it plays music and navigation instructions from ANY navigation app over the car speakers very clearly! Set up a driving playlist and you are ready to go The new version of TomTom (1.2) also allows you to change music tracks in-app, so you don't have to quit the app or double tap the home button while driving to change a track.

It's the best looking dock (slim, etc) with cool features that i've seen, and that is why I bought it. It is on the pricey side though (I warned you)

Just note that incoming calls do not play over car speakers even though the AUX is connected to the dock. If there is any con to this dock, this would be it. Hopefully it will be fixed in a future firmware update, however calls are still played over the docks built in speaker (which is good enough anyways).

The in-built speaker also reads out navigation instructions and calls clearly, and music as well which is fine unless you are pedantic about music quality like myself.

p.s. If you are jailbroken, you can "try" out the full versions of the above two apps

can you please test it with Sygic , i am interested to no if Sygic will use the GPS built into the unit or the Iphones GPS

 

[bmxdude]

thanks fxit_man for the details, between tomtom app and navigon which one is better?

 

[fxit_man]

can you please test it with Sygic , i am interested to no if Sygic will use the GPS built into the unit or the Iphones GPS

It works with all GPS apps as far as I know.

Will test it to make sure though.

P.S. Why do you still use Sygic? There are far better (albeit more expensive) alternative such as TomTom/Navigon. At least Sygic had a recent major update though...

thanks fxit_man for the details, between tomtom app and navigon which one is better?

I haven't got the latest version of Navigon, so I can't really comment, but I have the old verson of Navigon and the new version of TomTom (1.2) ...you wil definitelyl not be disappointed with either.

I used Navigon while I was in the US and was very happy with it, especially with the lane assistance and that, but those are features we don't get here in SA (that i am aware of)

If anything, i find TomTom's UserInterface a tiny bit easier / friendlier / prettier to use than Navigons, but Navigons maps look a tiny bit better I think... They are really both great Nav apps.

 

[3Gee]

It works with all GPS apps as far as I know.

Will test it to make sure though.

P.S. Why do you still use Sygic? There are far better (albeit more expensive) alternative such as TomTom/Navigon. At least Sygic had a recent major update though...



I haven't got the latest version of Navigon, so I can't really comment, but I have the old verson of Navigon and the new version of TomTom (1.2) ...you wil definitelyl not be disappointed with either.

I used Navigon while I was in the US and was very happy with it, especially with the lane assistance and that, but those are features we don't get here in SA (that i am aware of)

If anything, i find TomTom's UserInterface a tiny bit easier / friendlier / prettier to use than Navigons, but Navigons maps look a tiny bit better I think... They are really both great Nav apps.

i prefer Sygic to all the other Navi apps , i have my own set of custom speed warnings , mobile and fixed , most of the other apps only have fixed cam speed warnings, please test to see if the Cradle Built In GPS works with Sygic.

 

[GrootBaas]

I installed TomTom 1.1 about 2 days ago and it works great (thanks to this forum and fxit_man). Yes, the signal most likely better with a standalone GPS but not enough to justify buying it seperately. Also very cool having a phone/mp3 player/gps (and so much more) in one. Fortunately have an aux input in car, just need to buy a cradle with charger now.

 

[fxit_man]

Make sure you get v1.2 then as you can control the music from within the TomTom app with that update.

Will make a post in the next few days, remind me

it's funny you say that, my friend struggled for about 5 whole minutes trying to obtain a signal on his garmin nuvi with his antenna up facing the sky.. Whipped out my iPhone and it got signal in about 5 seconds (without being in the cradle). He still never managed to get a signal haha.

 

[GrootBaas]

Make sure you get v1.2 then as you can control the music from within the TomTom app with that update.

Will make a post in the next few days, remind me

fxit_man, does the tomtom docking cradle use the phone's sound output at the top with a normal audio cable or does it get the audio through the charging-connection at the bottom of the phone? Urgh that is not very well put but don't know how to say it.

What I want to know is, do you have to put the phone in the mount AND plug in the audio at the top, or can it get the audio through the same connection it charges through?

 

[fxit_man]

fxit_man, does the tomtom docking cradle use the phone's sound output at the top with a normal audio cable or does it get the audio through the charging-connection at the bottom of the phone? Urgh that is not very well put but don't know how to say it.

What I want to know is, do you have to put the phone in the mount AND plug in the audio at the top, or can it get the audio through the same connection it charges through?

The cradle has an AUX port of it's own right next to the USB 2.0 charger port which connects to the car lighter socket. So you will need to plug an AUX cable into that port

 

[GrootBaas]

Okay cool. Can't decide on a cradle atm. But R1200 sounds a bit excessive since the gps chip in the phone does seem to be sufficient (like you said).

Let us know of you have a link for version 1.2!

 

[3Gee]

@fxit_man , have you managed to test the cradle with Sygic , what i have noticed is that , with the 3GS , if the battery reserve is over 50% , you tend to get a very good lock / GPS TRACKING , once the battery level drops under 50% , the firmware automatically moves resources to other more critical programs , resulting in POOR GPS TRACKING

 

[fxit_man]

@fxit_man , have you managed to test the cradle with Sygic , what i have noticed is that , with the 3GS , if the battery reserve is over 50% , you tend to get a very good lock / GPS TRACKING , once the battery level drops under 50% , the firmware automatically moves resources to other more critical programs , resulting in POOR GPS TRACKING

Hmm that's interesting. Haven't noticed that myself (used it the other night in a mates car and it was working like normal - battery was 35%).

Just need to install Sygic and then I'll try it for you.

 

[fxit_man]

Okay cool. Can't decide on a cradle atm. But R1200 sounds a bit excessive since the gps chip in the phone does seem to be sufficient (like you said).

Let us know of you have a link for version 1.2!

Tomtom 1.2 added to the social group

 

[fxit_man]

@fxit_man , have you managed to test the cradle with Sygic , what i have noticed is that , with the 3GS , if the battery reserve is over 50% , you tend to get a very good lock / GPS TRACKING , once the battery level drops under 50% , the firmware automatically moves resources to other more critical programs , resulting in POOR GPS TRACKING

Just tested Sygic with my TomTom cradle.

Results:

Without cradle:
4 seconds lock on time
2bars (half) signal
battery 100%

With cradle:
lock on time about a second or two
4bars (FULL) signal
on charge

despite TomToms documentation which for the cradle which clearly states that the phone must be connected to the bluetooth of the cradle to make use of the cradles enhanced GPS receiver, once the phone is docked, the cradles GPS receiver is used instead of the phones, irregardless of Bluetooth being on or off.

Hope that helps.

 

[GrootBaas]

Fantastic! Will try and get to an adsl connection this weekend and give v1.2 a try

 

[3Gee]

Just tested Sygic with my TomTom cradle.

Results:

Without cradle:
4 seconds lock on time
2bars (half) signal
battery 100%

With cradle:
lock on time about a second or two
4bars (FULL) signal
on charge

despite TomToms documentation which for the cradle which clearly states that the phone must be connected to the bluetooth of the cradle to make use of the cradles enhanced GPS receiver, once the phone is docked, the cradles GPS receiver is used instead of the phones, irregardless of Bluetooth being on or off.

Hope that helps.

Thank you very much for the feedback