Budget GPS apps

Navigation for $35 or less

Cheap GPS apps aren't always as accurate or feature-rich as pricier apps, but a few of them work surprisingly well in tests.

ALK CoPilot Live (*Est. $35) is the standout in this category. It costs about a third less than big-name apps like Navigon MobileNavigator (*Est. $90) and TomTom for iPhone (*Est. $100), yet still offers most of the same advanced features, including on-board maps (so you can still navigate even if you lose cellular reception), spoken street names (so you'll hear "Turn left on Maple Street in 100 feet," instead of just "Turn left in 100 feet") and easy-switch travel modes (including driving, walking, cycling and RV). Live traffic information is available for $20 extra.

CoPilot Live is compatible with iPhone, Android and more than 170 Windows Mobile phones. Like the pricey apps, several versions are available -- North America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Australasia, the Middle East and more. Testers like the clear maps and big, easy-to-read touch-screen buttons. ITunes users award CoPilot Live the best ratings of any budget-priced app.

So what's the downside? In ConsumerReports.org's test, CoPilot Live couldn't find some longstanding addresses and points of interest. An updated version does a better job, according to iTunes users, but some still find locations missing. Testers at the Chicago Sun-Times and Gizmodo.com are highly impressed with CoPilot Live, but they note that it's not the cheapest good app out there.

That prize -- if you have an iPhone -- goes to MotionX-GPS Drive (*Est. $3 download plus $25 per year). MotionX lacks three major features: spoken street names, traffic alerts and on-board maps. Still, it navigates accurately enough in tests, and reviewers like its streamlined interface and full iPod control. But the real draw is MotionX's low cost and low commitment: $3 buys the app and a month of use, and the $25 one-year subscription is optional. MotionX is for iPhone only.

Two other low-cost apps get some good reviews. Gokivo Navigator (*Est. $10 per month) impresses users at iPhoneBlog.com and BlackBerry App World (it's also compatible with Windows Mobile phones). Gokivo downloads its maps on the fly via cell signal. It speaks street names and includes full iPod control, but ConsumerReports.org testers note that it's not as full-featured as Sygic Mobile Maps (*Est. $40), their favorite budget-priced app for iPhone. Sygic includes advanced features like on-board maps, lane assistance, multi-point routing and 28 languages, but ConsumerReports.org finds that Sygic navigates inaccurately at times. Both Gokivo and Sygic get only mediocre ratings from users posting feedback at the Apple App Store.

Google Maps Navigation: Free GPS app for Android 2.0

Google Maps Navigation could singlehandedly revolutionize GPS apps, critics say. It introduces some new features you won't find even on expensive stand-alone GPS devices, and Google Maps Navigation is free.

Reviews say it's not perfect, however, and Google Maps Navigation was only available on new Android 2.0 phones at its introduction in late 2009. Google is reportedly interested in bringing its free app to other mobile phones, including the iPhone.

Google Maps Navigation is extraordinarily capable, experts say -- and not just for a free GPS app. It includes most of the usual niceties (like speaking street names), plus it does a few things no other navigation device or app can do. For example, it recognizes naturally spoken searches. "'Navigate to Vista Donuts in Attleboro,' I said, omitting the street address and even the name of the state," writes Andy Ihnatko at the Chicago Sun-Times. "And three seconds later, Google Nav found a familiar late-night donut shop on the Rhode Island border."

Some of Google Maps Navigation's other unique features aren't really useful, though, say testers at ConsumerReports.org. Satellite view makes the map hard-to-read, and street view can be confusing, because it's often wrong.

Google Maps Navigation doesn't carry its maps on board; it downloads them as needed via cell signal, so dead zones -- and even non-3G zones -- can interfere with navigation. Experts agree that the Google app routes adequately, but it didn't know about the year-old connector road to the interstate in Chicago Sun-Times reviewer Ihnatko's town.

And then there's the robotic Android voice, as grating as "Fran Drescher after smoking three cartons of Lucky Strikes," Ihnatko says. It mispronounces common words (like "town") and speaks in an odd cadence. "Even when Google Nav was pronouncing everything correctly, I often had to look at the screen to read the cue," Ihnatko writes.

Still, says Wilson Rothman at Gizmodo.com, "If this was built-in to the iPhone's Google Maps, or offered as a free download at the App Store… this thing would -- and probably will -- swallow the GPS app market alive." Google tells AppleInsider.com that it would like to offer its free GPS app on the iPhone, but it's up to Apple: "We will continue to work with Apple to bring innovation, including… Navigation, to users but you'll have to speak to Apple about availability."