Ugh. Don’t you hate when you get yourself all psyched about a new product and then you use it and realize it doesn’t do what it’s supposed to? That was kind of my experience with Gokivo, the first turn-by-turn GPS app for the iPhone, released on the heels of the iPhone OS 3.0 launch. Unfortunately, despite having some cool features, Gokivo just didn’t work as a turn-by-turn GPS solution. Though it did occasionally get me from point A to point B, there were so many bumps on the road that I found it better to simply use printed Google Maps directions.
Gokivo costs $0.99 to put the app on your phone, but $9.99 per month to actually use the turn-by-turn functionality of the app. Basically, its $10 a month. This confused many of the early adopters, who lambasted Networks in Motion for misleading them with a $0.99 GPS app on the App Store. Personally, I think the entire fiasco was overblown–the problem with Gokivo was not the monthly pricing (most GPS apps will charge some per-month fee for use). It was that it didn’t work.
The first problem was that it used Yahoo! Local Search to locate your destination. When I went to type in an address into the search bar, it returned nothing. Literally, I typed in my home address and I got “No Results Found.” Dazed and bewildered, I closed the app. Eventually I went back and realized that you have to actually select what type of location you are typing in - a business or an address. Wow; being a Google Maps user, I found this 1990’s technology to be the first among a long list of flaws with Gokivo. Of course, having to click “Address” or “Business” was by no means a deal-breaker: if everything else worked, this review would have been fantastic.
The imperfect GPS caused more problems: sometimes I would be cruising along 880 (a highway in Silicon Valley) and all-of-a-sudden Gokivo would announce “re-calculating route.” Whaa? I’m on the right route. No, Gokivo didn’t know this and thought that I had taken an exit when I didn’t. So, not only did it mistake where I was, it changed the on-screen and vocal directions accordingly and so I missed my exit. It was still telling me to get on 880 when it was time to exit onto 237. This happened at least 3 times during the day. I frequently had to call my brother to give me directions to my destination.
Many of Gokivo’s flaws were related to the iPhone’s own limitations: the GPS isn’t pinpoint accurate, the iPhone doesn’t have a compass, and the speaker on the iPhone is so soft that I could barely hear Gokivo’s vocal directions. It became abundantly clear why TomTom is creating a full-blown accessory for its GPS app and will only release its app once that periphery is available. In fact, I re-watched the TomTom portion of the Apple’s WWDC keynote to find out what TomTom was putting in its TomTom car kit. Oh, and will you look at that: “securely dock your iPhone,” “enhance your GPS signal,” “built-in loud speaker” and a “microphone for hands-free calling.” They solved every problem with the Gokivo turn-by-turn experience. Can’t wait to get my hands on one.
In fairness, Gokivo wasn’t all bad. If they fixed the whole making-it-do-what-it’s-supposed-to-do part, it may have been a good app. It warns you when traffic incidents were forthcoming, it has clear turn-by-turn voice instructions (just remember to plug it into your car stereo or wear some headphones), and it has a detour feature so you can avoid the aforementioned traffic incidents. So, it comes with all of the extras that make a good GPS application, but the fact that it doesn’t do its job of getting you from point A to point B means it isn’t worth the hefty $9.99 per month price tag.
And, frankly, there will be many GPS apps to come. AT&T has already come out with their own GPS app. We’re reviewing it now and will let you know what we think. Until then, I’d recommend holding off on a turn-by-turn navigation app.
What we like:
- Clear voice instructions. The robotic female voice shouted out clear instructions and even gave you a look-ahead to the next street if it was coming up soon (i.e. “Turn left on Mission Boulevard, then prepare to turn right.”)
- Navigation for the iPhone. I guess some navigation is better than none? If you want to have real navigation, I’d wait until a good one comes out.
- Detour and Recalculating route features. It would guide you away from a traffic incident and recalculate your route when you went off-course. Unfortunately, it also recalculated the route when you didn’t go off-course.
What we didn’t like:
- Didn’t work. A GPS app has one job: guide you from point A to point B. This app didn’t do it for us.
- Volume. The directions lady was just too soft for me to hear without a headset or an in-car hookup.
- Slow. The app took forever to load and sometimes timed out while trying. Call me spoiled, but I want my GPS to load the directions before I get out on the main road.
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