Garmin StreetPilot review

We review Garmin StreetPilot, a turn-by-turn iPhone navigation app that keeps file sizes to a minimum by leaving the maps online

If there’s one thing about satellite navigation apps that’s consistent, it’s size. These are generally big apps, with equally big price tags attached to them. In one of these respects, Garmin StreetPilot is no different. It weighs in at over £20 quid, and while that’s pretty cheap for a sat nav device, it’s a sizeable bounty for the average App Store shopper.

But in the other respect, this is one of the few turn-by-turn navigation apps that’s managed to dispense with tradition and adopt the iPhone in its capacity as a smartphone first, and a GPS device second.

What does this mean? Well, primarily it doesn’t try to put a full, massive, complete street map into your iPhone’s memory. Instead it accepts the fact that this is a connected device and leaves the maps online. This raises the immediate question as to what happens if you go out of signal range, but that’s actually been catered for quite nicely.

Garmin StreetPilot caches the maps along your pre-programmed route while the signal is good, so even if you go out of range or the mobile internet gets a bit sketchy, your navigation isn’t interrupted. As much as this looks very similar to a dedicated satellite navigation system, many of Garmin StreetPilot’s other features have clearly been optimised for the iPhone, rather than ported over from the company’s existing range of GPS equipment.

Routes can be tweaked for pedestrians and cycles, as well as cars, and you can choose whether to go with the shortest route or the fastest (which aren’t necessarily the same thing). The app also features live traffic data, which is a major factor in how it figures out the quickest route option, as well as giving you a heads up when the roads ahead are choking.

Vocal directions are available, and it even has an iPod playlist punch-though option in case you still want to listen to your music while being told where to drive. With weather reports thrown in, this app is surprisingly feature-rich, considering how uncluttered the screen is and how easy it is to use.

The online nature of Garmin StreetPilot means it’s not quite as robust as some other sat nav apps, and the iPhone struggles to compete with dedicated GPS devices at the best of times. But it also marks a shift in the way navigation apps are being developed, and seeing one that’s genuinely and fully optimised for Apple’s handheld is very welcome, and a great option if you don’t want to carry yet another electronic device around in your pocket.

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