Review: Google Maps Navigation app (Beta) on Android

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Google Maps navigation app, which is now free to all Android OS devices (version 1.6 upwards) turns any GPS enabled Android phone into a capable and full featured GPS device that's hinged on Google's own formidable Maps technology. Still very much a Beta product, the application gives us a preview of what we can expect from Google once the kinks are ironed out.

We tested the Google navigation app during a recent trip to stunning Prince Edward Island. Running on a Motorola Milestone on Telus' HSPA network, we stowed our printed maps, took a deep breath and put our faith and the outcome of our trip in Google's hands as we toured around the Gentle Island.

Aside from the Motorola Milestone and the navigation app       ( free from the Android Marketplace.) we also made use of a Motorola car cradle for the Milestone($29.00) as well as a micro USB charger. This sets up quickly and turns the Motorola Milestone into an Internet enabled, 3.7-inch GPS powered car computer.

The car cradle mounts via the windshield (although it can reportedly be mounted on the dashboard) but the problem with this is that it exposes the Motorola Milestone to the heat from the sun.

After a 30 minute ride the device was extremely hot to the touch and we kept thinking that could be problematic  for prolonged use.

Enabling Google Navigation on an Android device is as easy as turning it on. With Google Search at your disposal and a data connection, you should be able to search by address, point of interest or simply type down a name of a destination and the choices come up.

For the most part Google Navigation, which is still in beta, managed to get us where we needed to go except on the last day of our trip when we needed to get to, of all places, the Charlottetown Airport in PEI.

While it did work for the first 35 minutes of our trip and managed to get us close enough to our destination, it screwed up big time during the end, For some reason the navigation sent us on to a blocked road and from that point was unable to generate an alternate route.

We got to where we needed to go by employing the most ancient and fault-free method, we asked around. Even as we reached our airport destination, the navigation argued that we were off course - continuously imploring we take a u-turn and that we were seven minutes away from the location we were actually already in, weird.

We also experienced once instance where the application crashed while we were using it and the screen went completely black. Thankfully, PEI's vast and unencumbered roads allowed us to easily pull over and sort out the application.

 

Overall, Google's Navigation on Android worked better than expected, except for the few critical times when it choked, got confused or lost its way. 

Visually, it manages to track your trip and location accurately and the screen-to-screen animations are fluid and impressive. The turn-by-turn voice used is slightly robotic but tolerable- we've heard better.

While you get accurate and as up to date as possible maps thanks to Google's imposing database, you also get occasional street-view photos of locations provided from time to time.

You don't yet get points of interest or location-based Information like you would on Google Maps and most of the standalone GPS units out there but it is likely that this could change once they move the application out of beta and maybe start charging for it. One thing you need to consider is that unlike Nokia's free  Ovi Maps navigation tool, Google's Navigation requires a steady data connection in order to interface with the database as needed.

If you already own an Android smartphone with adequate specifications and can run Google Navigation, it's a no brainer, you should definitely download the application and consider getting an in-car cradle and charger. The application is far from perfect and seems buggy, we did use it in a generally open and remote area and it worked great over 75 per cent of the time. 

Rating: 3.5 out of 5