TomTom's highly-anticipated GPS app for the iPhone finally made it to the App Store last week. First announced WWDC on June 8, TomTom's demo video during the event promised a slick app that mimicked the look of its standalone-GPS products and applications for other smartphone platforms while promising an appropriately iPhone-esque interface. We've had a chance to put the app through some initial paces to see how it performs.

Download and set-up

The TomTom app for the U.S. and Canada takes some time to download given its 1.21 GB size. The size of the app is attributed mostly to the map data it holds, carrying street-level data for the all of the U.S. and Canada, including points of interest (POIs). It can be installed on to iPhone 3GS and 3G models, though would not install on a first-generation iPhone.

Opening the app for the first time prompts a legal advisory to pop up, which must be acknowledged in order to proceed. After this, you are free to roam about and explore the app, with no settings prompts or "getting started" information shown. The voice is set to "Lori," a female American English voice by default. If you want to change the voice, you have a whopping 75 from which to choose in languages from Afrikaans to Vlaams. There are 11 voice selections that speak English available, though none of these are computerized voices capable of pronouncing street names. Changing the voice guidance language does not change the language of the app's English interface.

124446 tomtom legal notice 124446 tomtom voices

First trips

On our first trips out using the TomTom app to navigate, getting a GPS fix in suburban Boston under clear skies took under 30 seconds. Relative to well-known surroundings, the app showed an accurate location most of the time, with only a couple of moments when the icon representing our location appeared off to the side of the current road. The graphics are sharp and professional, though tracking is just a wee bit jumpy on the 32GB iPhone 3GS used for testing, though this does not hamper navigation in any way. Switching between landscape and portrait mode is smooth when the iPhone's orientation is changed.

124446 tomtom active guidance

The volume of voice guidance is loud enough to be heard over music playing at a low volume through the car's stereo. Adjusting the voice's volume can be accomplished using the iPhone's volume rocker though you must do this while the voice is speaking, otherwise you'll only adjust the ringer volume. If you tap on the lower left corner of the information pane at the bottom where navigation information is shown, you'll get an on-screen volume slider that will adjust the voice's volume directly.

124446 tomtom volume

Music from the iPod application can be played during navigation, though it stops instantly when voice guidance is given, and then starts playing again right after. This is a pretty abrupt way to handle voice guidance and a fade-in/out effect would be less startling and easier on the ears.

When a call is received, navigation guidance stops and the standard iPhone incoming call screen is shown. If the call is accepted, the phone app takes precedence, displaying the standard in-call screen. Once the call has ended or an incoming call is rejected, Tomtom opens up on its own immediately, and navigation resumes once it obtains a GPS fix. The same behavior is exhibited if a call is initiated via a Bluetooth accessory, such as a car kit.

Unscientific eyeballing of the iPhone's built-in battery percentage meter showed about a 5% drop for every 10 minutes of guidance with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on and connected to the car's Bluetooth system. Turning Wi-Fi and Bluetooth off should improve battery life during navigation, but connecting your iPhone to a power source would be wise to avoid a dead battery in the middle of navigating an unfamiliar place for all but the shortest trips.

Interface and features

The TomTom app offers an interface that will be very familiar to anyone who has ever used a TomTom stand-alone device or app on another smartphone or PDA platform before. The ability to change the day and night color schemes is present, although a setting to allow the app to automatically switch between day and night color schemes using the iPhone's ambient light sensor seems to be missing. At first glance, POI data appears to be robust, allowing us to easily find retail store chain and government office locations. Many POIs have phone numbers, which can automatically be called through a shortcut button in the POI summary view.

124446 tomtom day colors 124446 tomtom poi call

Also included is IQ Routes, a relatively recent offering from TomTom that promises to provide optimal route guidance based on historical traffic information for the route you need to travel. Looking at other features offered on their stand-alone units, the TomTom iPhone app has not inherited text-to-speech voice guidance nor live traffic information.

124446 tomtom route settings

Initial thoughts

So far, the TomTom app shows promise, though it has some heavy competition from Navigon, Sygic, CoPilot and many others. Currently priced at $99, TomTom is the most expensive navigation app available for the U.S., coming in at over $60 more than the least expensive full-featured GPS app that covers the U.S. and Canada, CoPilot Live, which is priced at $34.99.

The accessory cradle, which will have its own GPS chip, a loudspeaker, and ports for charging and audio output, is not yet available nor is its price known though unconfirmed information points to a possible price of 99 + VAT for the cradle and app together and compatibility with the iPod touch. TomTom put out a new video of the cradle a few days ago, highlighting its features:

The upcoming main review of the TomTom app will include more information about the app's settings, customization options, POI database, as well as a more in-depth look at the app's performance on the road and its advance planning features.

The TomTom app for the U.S. and Canada can be found here (link opens iTunes) and costs $99.

Related Forum: iPhone

Popular Stories

reset password request iphone

Warning: Apple Users Targeted in Phishing Attack Involving Rapid Password Reset Requests

Tuesday March 26, 2024 4:34 pm PDT by
Phishing attacks taking advantage of Apple's password reset feature have become increasingly common, according to a report from KrebsOnSecurity. Multiple Apple users have been targeted in an attack that bombards them with an endless stream of notifications or multi-factor authentication (MFA) messages in an attempt to cause panic so they'll respond favorably to social engineering. An...
maxresdefault

Apple to Launch New iPad Pro and iPad Air Models in May

Thursday March 28, 2024 11:07 am PDT by
Apple will introduce new iPad Pro and iPad Air models in early May, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Gurman previously suggested the new iPads would come out in March, and then April, but the timeline has been pushed back once again. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Apple is working on updates to both the iPad Pro and iPad Air models. The iPad Pro models will...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Purple

iOS 18: What to Expect From 'Biggest' Update in iPhone's History

Wednesday March 27, 2024 11:10 am PDT by
At least some Apple software engineers continue to believe that iOS 18 will be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. "The iOS 18 update is expected to be the most ambitious overhaul of the iPhone's software in its history, according to people working on the upgrade," wrote Gurman, in a r...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces WWDC 2024 Event for June 10 to 14

Tuesday March 26, 2024 10:02 am PDT by
Apple today announced that its 35th annual Worldwide Developers Conference is set to take place from Monday, June 10 to Friday, June 14. As with WWDC events since 2020, WWDC 2024 will be an online event that is open to all developers at no cost. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. WWDC 2024 will include online sessions and labs so that developers can learn about new...
apple maps 3d feature

Apple Maps May Gain Custom Routes With iOS 18

Tuesday March 26, 2024 3:10 pm PDT by
Apple may be planning to add support for "custom routes" in Apple Maps in iOS 18, according to code reviewed by MacRumors. Apple Maps does not currently offer a way to input self-selected routes, with Maps users limited to Apple's pre-selected options, but that may change in iOS 18. Apple has pushed an iOS 18 file to its maps backend labeled "CustomRouteCreation." While not much is revealed...
General iOS 17 Feature Orange Purple

Apple Releases Revised Versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 With Updated Build Number

Wednesday March 27, 2024 5:59 am PDT by
Apple on late Tuesday released revised versions of iOS 17.4.1 and iPadOS 17.4.1 with an updated build number of 21E237, according to MacRumors contributor Aaron Perris. The updates previously had a build number of 21E236. The revised updates are available for all iPhone and iPad models that are compatible with iOS 17 and iPadOS 17, but they can only be installed via the Finder app on macOS...
applephilschiller

Apple's Phil Schiller Works 80 Hours a Week Overseeing App Store

Wednesday March 27, 2024 2:03 pm PDT by
With the App Store and app ecosystem undergoing major changes in the European Union, The Wall Street Journal today shared a profile on App Store chief Phil Schiller, who is responsible for the App Store. Though Schiller transitioned from marketing chief to "Apple Fellow" in 2020 to take a step back from Apple and spend more time on personal projects and friends, he is reportedly working...