MapQuest iPhone App
I've used my fair share of GPS applications for my iDevices. Whether geocaching, hiking, or whatever, I've had the opportunity to use a lot of them. I've also had the chance to use actual GPS devices, and some pretty spiffy ones at that. Most of the apps don't live up to their hype. I think it's because app developers sometimes forget to distance themselves from their own marketing bullshit and stay focused on developing a solid, useful application.
CoPilot is clunky, the user interface tries to be so pretty that it gets in its own way. In fact, I think it tries to offer to many features right up front, which is something a lot of apps usually mess up on the other end of the spectrum. It's got its quirks as every single GPS application does, including MapQuest4, but honestly, I've just removed that $30 application from my iPad in favor of the free MapQuest one.
What boggles my mind about MapQuest4 is that it is the product of two of the most amazingly incompetent internet companies I can think of. The MapQuest website is still crap, even after all these years. Even Microsoft have managed to make a really good maps site in Bing, but MapQuest still just doesn't get it. I mean it looks as though it was designed by Fisher Price. What is one to expect when your parent company is the biggest "doesn't get it" company on the planet, AOL.
Having said that, this app is simply amazing. It doesn't get in your way, is very intuitive and just works. Is it perfect? No, but none of them are, but this is one I actually trust to drive anywhere in the United States with. It's tied with Google Maps for my mapping needs, and since Google Maps isn't designed for actual navigation, MapQuest beats it when I've really got to know where I'm going.
The other surprising thing is that although this is a free application, it is updated and improved regularly enough for me to know that it's solid, but not so often that I wonder what the hell is going on with it. I mentioned geocaching at the top of the article, and while neither of these apps is designed for that, I think it would make the most awesome addition to it. Bottom line, if you need a GPS application with turn-by-turn navigation, auto-recalculation, saved way points and lots of points of interest data, but you don't want to spend $$$ for it, this is the app for you.
<-- Click here to get it for free!
