Posted by
nkbish0p
at
20:40
Welcome to my first post of a new series entitled "app highlight". In this series I will aim to highlight certain iPhone applications that the reader may not have discovered that I think are worthy of a mention. Considering the app store now has more than a quarter of a million apps available to download, sometimes it can be hard to find some great apps that are hidden away.
Navfree UK & ROI
As it's name may suggest, Navfree is a free satellite navigation app for the iPhone that offers a great alternative to other applications such as TomTom and Navigon. Obviously the big draw to Navfree is it's cost, totally free! Considering the high prices of similar apps, this app has got to be worth a look for many people looking to find an app of this type before spending their hard earned cash.
It is worth a note also that there is also a version of Navfree for the US, great if you go there on holiday asn it saves spending a large sum of money on a competing app that you may only use for a couple of weeks.
It is worth noting that although the app itself is free, if the user wishes to also have the app highlight locations of "safety" (read "speed") cameras and alert the driver to their presence, this must be bught as an in app purchase costing a not unreasonable £1.79 in the UK market.
The app includes all the other standard "sat-nav" features such as turn by turn directions, voice guidance, auto re-routeing and also includes live google search as a bonus.
It is excellent to note that the maps are downloaded to your device, meaning you do not need an active internet connection to follow your route on-screen (similar to a dedicated sat-nav) saving you money and battery power. One downside to this is that the app is 257mb which may be considered large if you have a lot of music, videos or other content already on your device.
I am taking a trip this weekend in which I will be utilising this app, so expect an updated review shortly. In the meantime try this app yourself by visiting the following link:
Check back for more "app highlights" soon!
UPDATE #1
Having used this app to navigate a 4 hour drive over the weekend, I can safely say that compared to rival apps such as tomtom and Navigon, Navfree offers outstanding value with little to no difference in quality compared to its competitors. GPS reception was always strong and there were very few issues with the maps in the software and the directions issued. I highly recommend that users try this app before purchasing alternative software.
It may also be noted that battery consumption whilst using this app isn't as severe as it could have been with an hour of navigation using approximately 15-20% of the capacity of the battery of an iPhone 4.
