Poll: Google, Tom-Tom, Apple, Waze?

[Tailgate]

Would like to know your preference(s) for a gps map program. I just bought a new Subaru Outback that came with Tom-Tom navigation and I'm trying to make a choice and stick with one.

 

[braumeister]

For me, Waze is hands-down the winner. I use it a lot and love it.

Google Maps is second place.

Third is the Sensus navigation built into my Volvo.

TomTom is at the bottom of the list. I will never forget a trip some years ago when I had pulled off the highway in rural Idaho into a town for lunch. When I left the restaurant there was a fire truck blocking the street I came in on, so I went a block farther to get around it. My TomTom nav unit told me to go the wrong direction on the interstate and said "Go 458 miles, then make a U-turn."

 

[Jerry1]

Waze. I connect to my in car (truck) infotainment screen using Apple Play and Waze comes right up like a built in nav unit. Works excellent.

 

[Gumby]

When I was commuting, I used Waze. I enjoyed that it kept me abreast of accidents and other traffic backups. My only complaint is that Maisie Wazey wouldn't shut up if I didn't follow her directions. Having driven the same route for so many years, I knew how people would respond to a new accident and which of the alternate routes would be better by the time I got there. Maisie only knew which route was faster at that particular moment.

So we had many discussions in the car:

Maisie - "in 400 feet, turn right"
Me - "No Maisie, we're not going that way."
Maisie - "Turn right now"
Me - "what did I just say, Maisie?"
Maisie - "in 300 feet, make a U-turn."
Me - "Maisie, I'm going to turn you off if you don't shut up."

 

[braumeister]

My only complaint is that Maisie Wazey wouldn't shut up if I didn't follow her directions

You do know you can mute the audio.

 

[Jerry1]

You do know you can mute the audio.

And allow for alerts to still come through, like the presence of certain uniformed individuals in cars up ahead.

 

[Gumby]

You do know you can mute the audio.

I cannot see my phone while I'm driving (I need reading glasses and don't have bifocals), so I need the spoken directions. If I don't know where I am going, I will often pull up google maps before I leave and just memorize the route.

 

[CRLLS]

I use several. Sometimes all at once. I have the Ford Sync built-in which does not give live traffic data. But it also gives me the largest viewing screen. I like the detail displayed. I have an older TomTom which is linked to their "mydrive" phone app. It gives me the latest maps (lifetime maps). I don't subscribe to their live traffic data. And on long trips, I will sometimes open up Waze or Google Maps on my phone too to get live traffic.

FWIW, another driving app that I have found useful is iExit which tells me what services are available at the highway exits up ahead by both miles and mile marker. It also shows me how far to Rest Stops. I use it when planning gas stops as I start looking.

 

[cathy63]

My Mazda's built-in nav is made by TomTom, but the map data is out of date, and updates are not free. So, I had the Android Auto interface installed when it first became available from Mazda, and I now use that exclusively. I mostly use Waze as my nav app, but I do switch to Google Maps if I'm in an area with intermittent cell service because Waze tends to crash if it can't talk to its servers.

 

[FDC319]

So I clicked Google, Waze, and Garmin. I'm not fancy enough to have built in nav, so I use my phone, tablet, and a standalone garmin device.

Google Maps-I use to do a map recon of the trip and destination at home before driving. Both on my tablet and computer,

Waze-my primary navigation app on my phone. Waze's crowd sourced road and map updates are pretty mediocre in rural areas.

Garmin-I have a Garmin GPS in my vehicle as well, but mainly use it to identify the next cross street and provide situational awareness-something Waze isn't as good at. Anecdotal evidence-before sticking a Garmin GPS in my windshield I could live in an area for years and not know the road names--no longer an issue after I bought the Garmin.

When navigating with both Waze and Garmin, I have noticed that Garmin provides a faster signal/better directions from an off road location like a parking lot. Waze is much better than Garmin at avoiding tolls. Example-Waze knew that I would not have to pay a toll in NY even though I went on a toll road and had to pass a toll plaza. Garmin would not route me. Garmin also struggles with the loopholes around the tolls on I-93 south of Concord, NH and whatever toll road is there going towards Nashua, NH.

 

[FDC319]

I cannot see my phone while I'm driving (I need reading glasses and don't have bifocals), so I need the spoken directions.

Just do what the drivers near you are doing-hold the phone up to your face with both hands, drive with your knees, and maybe look up at the road every 15 seconds or so.

 

[rk911]

technically none of the above. our motorhome and Jeep Liberty both have built-in GPS. while we're in the MH i'll run Waze or Google maps on my tablet or phone not for the route directions but for traffic. when i'm in our Wrangler or Willys and need directions i will use Google Maps. Until it was bought out we used and loved Street Atlas in the motorhome. it ran on a laptop. before google maps became a thing we had a Tom-Tom GPS. i may still have it.

 

[Sunset]

We don't have data on our phones.
but we have a great separate GPS, by Garmin. It's a big screen, and great voice prompts so I don't even have to look at it while driving.
It even alerts us to slow traffic many miles ahead, no idea how that is done, since it doesn't use our phone and we don't pay anything for using it.

 

[Montecfo]

Combo of google maps and Waze. Google loads more quickly and interface more pleasing.

Waze interface is cartoonist, ads annoying but traffic data and alternate routes more helpful.

Also use old school Garmin GPS on long trips.. love the big screen but no traffic data.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

When I was commuting to ATL for a bit, I used Waze for situational awareness ONLY. More often than not, if there was an issue on my route, it would want me to go via route "A" while I thought that my route "B" would be a little better....and almost 100% of the time, when I got about 30 seconds into MY ROUTE, Waze would proudly announce "Hey! I found a better route and can save you 5 minutes...here it is!" and would shift to the route I chose. I think the issue was that so many people on my route were also using Waze (you could see them on the map) that they got the same alternate route and so they all clogged it up. I am not saying that I was smarter than the app, but I had the knowledge/experience to know that the alternate routes Waze would pick was probably not a great choice. Thankfully, I don't commute anymore....so no more issues.

Today, I use Google maps since it's getting the same info as Waze and the map isn't as cluttered to me. My wife's Toyota has factory nav but like most factory nav systems...it sucks. We can Android Auto to put Google or Waze on the display, so that's what we do on long trips.

 

[braumeister]

. I am not saying that I was smarter than the app, but I had the knowledge/experience to know that the alternate routes Waze would pick was probably not a great choice. Thankfully, I don't commute anymore....so no more issues.

Successfully using any GPS system has always been linked with applying common sense on top of its instructions. Even after all these years we still read occasionally about someone driving into a lake due to blindly following their GPS directions and not using their head when things started looking odd.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Our 2017 Outback has Starlink navigation, I guess? It's pretty good, but the time estimates tend to get longer, whereas Google Maps' time estimates are almost always correct, or possibly get a tiny bit shorter, so I voted for Google Maps. However, I use the car navigation a lot because the central dash media display is 7", and it can display the next turn and distance to it on the driver's dash display. In our 2006 Honda Accord I have a phone holder in the center of the dash (attached via the CD slot), so I use Google Maps on my phone in that car.

 

[Midpack]

I have a Subaru Outback and the TomTom NAV system works OK, but it's inferior to any other option we have, the voice command system is especially useless. My wife's Honda Accord has a Garmin system that works better and I've used Garmin GPS on the water for years and more recently on golf courses - solid GPS systems. Voice commands work far better on Honda/Garmin and even better on Apple Maps/Siri.

I use Apple Maps thru CarPlay mostly, and I use Waze when I'm concerned about traffic. The only reason I don't use Waze more often is privacy, Waze and Google Maps do more data mining - no thanks. I NEVER use Google Maps, and your smartphone will get hot if you use Waze for extended periods.

Apple Maps and the other smartphone map apps will always be better than any carmakers EXPENSIVE built in NAV simply because the apps update continually whereas every built in NAV system I've seen requires periodic updates (with a USB or the like). That'll have to change if it hasn't already. Some carmakers even charge for updates which is laughable when the smartphone apps don't...

 

[JRon]

I use Apple Maps in the car connected thru Car Play to my radio screen. I use Google maps at home because I usually want to enter multiple destinations.

 

[Ronstar]

Paper for sure. I spent a few years developing digital mapping apps, so digital maps remind me of work. But I do like playing with Google's my maps.

 

[WyomingLife]

In rural areas where dirt roads are common, paper maps are recommended. Various federal and/or state agencies produce them. Hiking/biking organizations sometimes do the same for trails, for example.

When driving, hiking or endeavoring to access bodies of water in such areas, it is also critically important to know surface ownership (federal, state, private) to avoid trespassing. Specialized maps or downloadable apps are generally needed to provide such data.

 

[Chuckanut]

I have an old stand-alone Garmin GPS and it works well. Thankfully, it came with lifetime map updates. I did have to add a micro-SD card a few years ago when the new maps became too large for the memory.
It's a bit more klutzy than Google maps or Waze but I find it simple to use and it gets me to where I want to be. Since the maps are built in, it even works well when a good cell signal is not available.

 

[OldShooter]

One point mentioned but IMO not emphasized enough is "Where is the database?"

If it's in the cloud, then maps are downloaded as needed IF cell data is available. On long road trips off interstate highways that may not always be the case. Even near interstates that may not always be the case. I was in Tomah, WI a few years ago using an MVNO connecting to the AT&T network and had no coverage. Two interstates intersect at Tomah.

If the database in the GPS program/local, then no worries about being out of cell range, but the database will be out of date to some degree. If I was a realtor working new developments this might be a problem for me. Going from Chicago to Boston, probably not so much as they have not moved recently.

Google sort of has a foot in each camp, caching some map data for local areas recently used. But that won't help on a trip to/through new territory.

Our GPS of choice is not on the list. CoPilot (https://copilotgps.com/en-us/) features downloaded maps. In addition to the US and Canada which was included in our purchase, one can buy and download maps for most areas of the world though third-world coverage is spotty.

Our second choice GPS is Google, primarily for the traffic information. Where we're concerned about traffic we are in a city, so cell data is pretty much available. CoPilot has a traffic option, too, but there is some kind of fee.

So ... IMO the location of the database should be considered versus someone's use case for the GPS. Tradeoffs will differ.

 

[Midpack]

No disrespect intended but - paper maps, wow. I won’t even listen much less write it down if someone tries to give me directions to anywhere, I just ask “all I want is the address.” That’s all you need 99.9% of the time, IME it’s very rare when GPS can’t find an address (even though the route might not be the optimal).

 

[braumeister]

Google sort of has a foot in each camp, caching some map data for local areas recently used. But that won't help on a trip to/through new territory.

Of course it will. It's trivial to download the map data for any area in Google Maps to use if you don't have a signal. I do it all the time, particularly in other countries.