Best Reviewed
GPS Apps
- Best GPS app for iPhone Navigon MobileNavigator *Est. $90
- Budget GPS app ALK CoPilot Live *Est. $35
- Most-compatible GPS app TeleNav GPS Navigator/AT&T Navigator *Est. $10
- Free GPS app Google Maps Navigation *Est. $0
Get info about new reports and updates
TeleNav GPS Navigator/AT&T Navigator
Most-compatible GPS app
- On-the-fly maps are constantly updated
- Compact file takes up little memory
- Large points-of-interest database
- Speaks street names
- Lane guidance
- Real-time traffic and gas prices
- Allows phoned-in address entry
- Pedestrian mode
- Monthly cost adds up
- Dead and non-3G zones curtail navigation
- Lacks advanced features like lane assist
For BlackBerry devices and other phones with few GPS apps available, reviews say the apps you can buy from your wireless carrier -- such as AT&T Navigator and its twin, TeleNav GPS Navigator -- may be your best options. At $10 a month, these can also wind up being the most expensive apps over time, but they're compatible with a vast array of phones, and they do navigate adequately in expert tests. One major caveat: These apps don't store any maps on board. Instead, they download maps as needed over the phone's wireless signal. This takes up much less of the phone's memory, but it can cause problems in dead zones and in non-3G coverage areas, where the phone has to switch to the slower 2G network. For phones that accept other GPS apps, reviewers can usually find an app they like better, such as Navigon MobileNavigator (*Est. $90) for iPhone and ALK CoPilot Live (*Est. $35) for iPhone, Android and Windows Mobile; both of these apps have built-in maps, so you're not at the mercy of your wireless signal when it comes to navigation.
Most expert sources, including ConsumerReports.org, test TeleNav GPS Navigator/AT&T Navigator on the iPhone and give it mediocre ratings. The app performs better in reviews that evaluate it on other phones, as PC World and iSmashPhone.com do. Similarly, users at BlackBerry App World rate this app better than iPhone users at the Apple App Store do.
Our Sources
1. ConsumerReports.orgDetails/Subscribe
AT&T Navigator works fine on the iPhone, ConsumerReports.org's tests show, but it costs more than the best GPS apps and it lacks some of their features. ConsumerReports.org's GPS information is available to all site visitors -- no subscription is required to view these reports.
Review: AT&T Navigator: First Look, Editors of ConsumerReports.org, Aug. 2009
In this test of the three major wireless-carrier apps, AT&T Navigator's slightly more advanced features place it ahead of apps from Sprint and Verizon. PC World tests the apps on a BlackBerry Curve.
Review: Cell Phone GPS App Smackdown, Steve Bass, Oct. 27, 2008
Experts aren't usually impressed with the TeleNav/AT&T GPS app's performance on the iPhone. But when this iPhone blog tests the TeleNav app on the Palm Pre, it performs beautifully.
Review: Comparison: Google Maps Navigation Vs. iPhone GPS Apps, Editors of iSmashPhone.com, Oct. 28, 2009
TeleNav GPS Navigator is one of the top-rated apps by users at BlackBerry App World. Each BlackBerry model gets its own version of TeleNav with its own ratings, which range from 3.5 to 4.5 stars (out of five).
Review: TeleNav GPS Navigator, Contributors to BlackBerry App World
5. Apple App StoreDetails/Subscribe
iPhone users are not impressed with AT&T Navigator. Its mediocre average rating (2.5 stars out of five) includes a large number of one-star reviews. Common complaints include imprecise directions and the ongoing monthly fee.
Review: AT&T Navigator: GPS Navigation for Monthly Fee on AT&T Bill, Contributors to Apple App Store
GPS Apps Runners Up:
3 picks by top review sites.
3 picks by top review sites.
3 picks by top review sites.
2 picks by top review sites.
