Droid user wants to switch but navagation !?

[Jbcorpus]

Hey quick background,
I'm a surveyor and droid user. Frequently I use my google maps with the turn by turn feature or with the satellite/topography view on allowing me to view my location in proximity to contour lines, lakes,river etc. or to use the extra Lab feature which allows me to tap different pts on the the screen to get a straight distance between pts.
Now I'm in the market for a new phone and my gf just purchased the iPhone 4s and I'm considering switching. one reason is for convenience(we have a MacBook pro and ipad2) one its a very appealing piece of tech.
Several questions
Is there any navagation on the iphone4s comparable to google maps on droid?
Do all the apps require Internet connection (ie I use my droid google maps in areas with only satellite connection and it works updating my location)
I WANT an iPhone but I feel I'd be disappointed because of the way I use smart phones everyday and I've found apple products to be limiting and disappointing at times. Please any help would be awesome.

 

[FootballRef]

I just made the swtich from Android a couple of weeks ago. It has been a good switch, sure there are some things I liked better with Android.

The iPhone has Google maps and navigation, it is just not voice turn by turn. I have downloaded a free app called Waze that seems to do a fine job with voice turn by turn. I believe it requires cell service to operate.

There is an app called NAV Free that is about a 2GB download and does not have to have cell service to operate.

These 2 I mentioned are free.

Garmin and TomTom both have apps and cost around $50.

 

[Chris951]

I just switched from android to my iPhone 4 a week ago and im very happy. iPhone's have google maps but not the turn by turn voice. You can still choose a destination and get directions on it though. My battery life on my iPhone is also ALOT better than my android. I don't really miss android at all anymore as iPhones are much more refined and iOS is a much better operating system than that force closing, slow, battery life sucking Linux based operating system called android lol. iOS takes a little time to get used to. Especially since there is only one button rather than 4. Overall I'm very happy with my iPhone. Only cost me $100 with 2 year contract on sprint.

 

[codysanborn]

I miss google maps via droid x

 

[Supahrob]

I also switched from android to iPhone and am very very happy. My android battery life was much better than the 4s, but about the same as the ip4 (I am always surprised to hear about ex android users who had bad battery life, I had great battery life - but many many other ex android users had terrible battery life). Anyway I am happy I switched for many reasons. But I will be brutally honest about navigation....

iPhone isn't even in the same league with android unless you are willing to pay for it. The android implementation I google maps is beautiful and unmatched as far as free apps go. Waze is a workable solution, but its more of a "close but no cigar" deal. I think in every aspect EXCEPT navigation you will be VERY happy if you switch - but so far apple has very little to offer as far as navigation. Navigation is the iPhones kryptonite - sad but true.

Take care,
Rob

 

[jkhonea]

The one navigation app I really like is MotionX. $.99 to purchase and $9.99 per year for voice guidance. I can live with that. Pretty much as good as the Google Navigation was, just not quite as convenient. Give that one a shot, I think you'll like it. For the money, it's worth the gamble.

 

[lbpanter]

Motionx also gives you a free 30 day trial of their voice service so you can try it out. I used it while traveling for Christmas and decided to buy it.

Sent from my iPhone using iPF.net

 

[codysanborn]

I just got Tom tom

 

[badfish]

I switched from android and used waze last night for the first time it was pretty cool.

 

[codysanborn]

Ease was aggregating for me.
I live near dc and the re calculating was every 4 seconds

 

[Jbcorpus]

well that helps, thanks guys.
unfortunately i probably use my google navagation almost as much as i use my droid for calls. I cant justify getting a new "smart" phone and sacrificing that one feature.
I might buy it and give it a go and if it turns out im not happy, return it. eh.
although after some searching i did see an article about google releasing a turn by turn nav specifically for iphones. No word on when, of course. but they seem to operate pretty fast. ill keep up on that.

 

[PHONEGUY]

if you do decide to get an iphone may i suggest you try the navagon app it seems to work pretty well. but right now i have to be honest nothing is better than android in this area.

 

[direwolfe]

My iPhone works better with motion x than my tomtom via with a fresh map update.
Not sure about an app like a very accurate terrain map GPS, but the car nav app works very well indeed.
I couldn't imagine anything working better than perfect,but I've never had an android so I couldn't give an honest
comparison.

 

[wookiee2cu]

Another vote for Navigon. Several months ago I read an article saying the google turn by turn maps would eventually come to the iPhone but there was no ETA. Once that does happen though, all these navigation app developers are gonna be out of business.