The deeper we get into the Summer, the more we Americans love to hit the road for a long vacation, family visit, or just a weekend getaway. This is especially true the closer we get to the most American of holidays- The 4th of July. As such, Magellan has some great timing, bringing their significant new 2.0 update out just in time to help us all with our Summer travel needs.
Magellan’s RoadMate has actually been in the Apple App Store for some time now, but to be honest, it lagged a little behind the apps from the other big names in the GPS industry. I actually spent some time with the previous version, and while it had its strong points, it was saddled with a somewhat clunky interface. There wasn’t enough information available on the map screen while driving, and the app just felt too proprietary overall. One of the advantages of designing an app for iOS is taking advantage of its standard interface conventions, which are vastly superior to what’s available on the majority of stand-alone GPS units.
Unfortunately, Magellan tried to bring the feel of their stand-alone GPS interface to RoadMate rather than move more in the direction of iOS’s mobile-friendly standards. Nowhere is this more evident than with the horrible proprietary keyboard, which was suppose to aid users in searches. Unfortunately, it more often managed to hold me back by filtering out keyboard keys that the app determined weren’t necessary for my search. Also, because it was all custom built, the associated search and text fields didn’t allow for any cut, copy, or paste.
After spending the last two weeks with RoadMate 2.0, it is clear that Magellan gets it now, because these major issues were corrected, and the entire app has been streamlined into a much more elegant and compelling package. It feels like a Magellan app that was designed for iOS, rather than a stand-alone GPS program crammed into iOS. RoadMate can now hold its ground against any of the iOS navigation competition. Let’s take a quick look at some of the new and noteworthy features.
1. Switch to the iPhone keyboard and interface- This makes text entry MUCH easier and allows you to cut, copy, and paste information into text fields.
2. Revamped home screen- With the previous versions, you could only see a limited amount of travel information on the screen at one time. With 2.0, there are three user-definable fields that can display your choice of Heading, Elevation, Distance Remaining, Current Speed, Estimated Time Remaining, and Estimated Time of Arrival.
3.Google and Yelp search integrations- Pretty much every iOS GPS app has Google Local Search capability at this point, but Yelp is a nice standout addition here, giving you the ability to see user reviews of POIs anywhere around you, or where you may traveling.
4. Free Lifetime map updates- None of the GPS apps in the App Store have charged for map updates at this point, but only a couple have gone on the record with a clear policy on how they will be handled in the future. Even though the term “lifetime” is actually defined as the lifetime of the app, which Magellan says is three years, it is good to see a major industry player willing to commit to a model very different from the stand-alone GPS market.
5. Real-Time Traffic Included with Purchase- This is one of RoadMate’s best features in my opinion, as every other major iOS GPS app either charges an extra one-time in-app purchase fee, or a yearly subscription fee for real-time traffic services. Magellan’s inclusion of traffic makes it a terrific value. It doesn’t hurt that the traffic service is well implemented, either. It was very easy to understand and use, and seemed to be as up to date as the other apps that I have tried. The icon on the map screen changes color based on traffic severity, and even displays your total route delay time. RoadMate will re-route you to avoid traffic on-request.
6. Automatic GPS timeout while on battery power- Not only will RoadMate shut off the GPS to prevent battery drain, but it will also send you a push notification to let you know that it has gone offline. I much prefer this to the app either going offline with no notice, or staying online and killing your battery. I’ve only seen one other app that does this, so it is nice to see RoadMate joining in on this handy feature.
7. Improved handling of phone calls while routing- While this isn’t a revolutionary feature, I’ve used plenty of GPS apps, including previous versions of RoadMate, that would push part of the screen down out of sight when looking at maps while on a phone call. 2.0 keeps the entire map and menus on the screen, adding a nice bit of polish to the app. This app does run on a phone, after all.
8. Automatic pausing of your route when you reach a waypoint- This just makes so much sense, but no other app I have tried has handled this so well. More than once I have heard my GPS app talking to me from my pocket while I’ve made a scheduled stop at say, Starbucks (a personal weakness). Nobody wants to be that guy while standing in line.
9. Shortcut Key back to the Map screen on all menu screens- One of the worst things you can do in designing a GPS app is layering menus without a way to easily get back to the map screen. Unfortunately, that hasn’t stopped some feature packed apps from going that route. RoadMate 2.0 adds a Map shortcut button at the top right corner of the screen everywhere I looked. This is another one of those small features that adds up to a high degree of interface polish.
When you add these new features to RoadMate’s already high quality on-board maps, multi-point routing, parked car location save feature, and unique OneTouch Menu, which allows users to set up several shortcuts to specific locations or customized POI searches, you have one very compelling navigation app. RoadMate doesn’t have all of the premium features of the competition, but it now has a higher degree of polish than most, which makes it very easy to use while on the road. I’ll be honest. This 2.0 update really surprised me. I didn’t expect this dramatic of a positive change in one update, but Magellan really delivered here. RoadMate has very quickly become my second-favorite iOS GPS apps (and I have all of the big ones), and is even pushing my usual go-to app in some critical feature categories. Change can be a really good thing, and in this case it definitely is.
Right now, Magellan is running a 30% off promotion in honor of the launch of RoadMate 2.0. Priced at $34.99 for the USA or Canada versions, or $39.99 for all of North America, which includes real-time traffic service, RoadMate is an excellent value. If you are getting ready for some Summer travel, Magellan’s RoadMate is an excellent choice to guide you on your way.
Magellan RoadMate USA 2.0 is available for $34.99 in the Apple App Store here.
Magellan RoadMate Canada 2.0 is available for $34.99 in the Apple App Store here.
Magellan RoadMate North America 2.0 is available for $39.99 in the Apple App Store here.
Magellan provided a promo code to iSource for the review of RoadMate 2.0. For further information regarding our site’s review policies, please see the “About” page.
Continue reading:
- Everything New Apple Just Announced (Septembe
- Apple Watch Pre-Order
- Apple Research Kit launches with 5 Apps
- Apple TV now only $69
TAGS: iOS GPS apps, iOS navigation apps, iPhone GPS apps, iPhone navigation apps, Magellan
