For the past few years I have used a nav system that runs on my Android phone. Recently I purchased a new Google Nexus 7 second generation tablet and looked for a nav system that would run on it. Because my tablet requires a WiFi connection to access the Internet, the system would have to include maps that are stored on the tablet.
After a bit of searching I found Sygic and am so impressed with it that I wanted to share my impressions with others who might have a similar need. I must tell you up front that while there is no charge for the app, you must purchase the maps. They are available for a substantial part of the world and you get a lifetime license that includes free map and point of interest updates. The most cost effective approach for me is to purchase the whole world to get all of North America and Europe. Maps of the whole world are priced at $90.99, so the price is not at all bad when you consider free updates. There is a free one week trial that I have been using to make my purchase decision.
The map files are large and downloading them is time consuming. I was concerned about storage space on my tablet, but found that I can copy them from there to the hard disk in my laptop and only keep the ones on the tablet that I expect to be using in the near term. Maps of Europe are in folders by country, while U.S. maps are in folders by state.
The user interface is very good and the system is highly configurable. It will warn you if you are driving over the speed limit, but you can turn off the warning. You can also specify the number of miles over the limit you must be driving before the warning occurs, and there are separate settings for built up areas and outside of built up areas. You can also choose from a number of different sounds. The system will also warn you when you are approaching railroad tracks, a change in the speed limit, and sharp curves.
You can navigate to an address, a point of interest, a set of coordinates, and a place in your history. If you have contacts with addresses you can navigate to one of them. If you have photos in your gallery and they have coordinates in their EXIF data indicating where they were taken, you can select one of them. The only thing that seems to be missing is picking a spot on a map.
Unlike the app on my phone that only supports one waypoint, Sygic supports a large number of them. I
After a bit of searching I found Sygic and am so impressed with it that I wanted to share my impressions with others who might have a similar need. I must tell you up front that while there is no charge for the app, you must purchase the maps. They are available for a substantial part of the world and you get a lifetime license that includes free map and point of interest updates. The most cost effective approach for me is to purchase the whole world to get all of North America and Europe. Maps of the whole world are priced at $90.99, so the price is not at all bad when you consider free updates. There is a free one week trial that I have been using to make my purchase decision.
The map files are large and downloading them is time consuming. I was concerned about storage space on my tablet, but found that I can copy them from there to the hard disk in my laptop and only keep the ones on the tablet that I expect to be using in the near term. Maps of Europe are in folders by country, while U.S. maps are in folders by state.
The user interface is very good and the system is highly configurable. It will warn you if you are driving over the speed limit, but you can turn off the warning. You can also specify the number of miles over the limit you must be driving before the warning occurs, and there are separate settings for built up areas and outside of built up areas. You can also choose from a number of different sounds. The system will also warn you when you are approaching railroad tracks, a change in the speed limit, and sharp curves.
You can navigate to an address, a point of interest, a set of coordinates, and a place in your history. If you have contacts with addresses you can navigate to one of them. If you have photos in your gallery and they have coordinates in their EXIF data indicating where they were taken, you can select one of them. The only thing that seems to be missing is picking a spot on a map.
Unlike the app on my phone that only supports one waypoint, Sygic supports a large number of them. I
