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Screwed Up And Updated to iOS6

September 26, 2012, 3:52 pm

This weekend I was driving all over the NYC area when I saw that iOS6 was available.  Stupidly, without reading reviews, I updated hoping to get the new verbal turn-by-turn directions  (the old iPhone navigation app was pretty much worthless if you are alone in the car as it did not have any verbal output).

I then spent the rest of the weekend following bizarre side roads, on tiny dirt roads, or getting instructions to turn a couple of hundred yards after I had passed the intersection.  At one point I got send off the highway on a 3 mile detour through some housing tract only to eventually be put right back on the same highway I started, about 100 yards from where it had me turn off.  I am sure that it will improve in the future, but right now the new Apple nav program is a half-baked mess.  My old Android phone was better for navigation three years ago, and I am sure Google has improved it since.  If I had to drive a lot on business trips, I would be back on Android in a second.

Tags:
Category: Technology
  • Craig Howard

    Matches my opinion on the upgrade. I don't use GPS but the loss of Google maps and the addition of several apps that I will never use made the hour it took to upgrade a waste of time.

  • Dave Cribbin

    I updated my 4s now my phone doesn't ring!

  • Incunabulum

    Well, don't feel to bad - a couple of months ago I updated my Android to the latest OS version. It responds sooooo slowly now, memory usage by the OS is so large that it has difficulty switching between apps if I have even just two running at once.
    And the best part is that I can't revert. I even tried to reset to factory settings, no go.

  • obloodyhell

    LOL, The iP maps app in particular has been getting absolute derision from everyone, including from people who STILL haven't gotten their heads out of Jobs' rectum.

    I was out in Austin, TX a couple months ago, used the Telenav app for the first time in my GSII -- NO problems at all -- mind you, it's a battery hog with the GPS on, and Telenav is a data usage hog, too, but as far as navigating, it was pretty damned close to flawless.

    Android RULES.

  • obloodyhell

    Inc, I haven't heard that many complaints about ICS. Have you asked around to see if there's something else going on? Maybe something's messed up for your model, or something screwed up the install partly...

  • Will

    If you want GPS like functions just purchase CoPilot Live, or one of the other similar apps from the app store. You can usually catch them on sale and they are pretty cheap. Being stuck with shitty Apple maps on iOS6 sucks though. I stayed on iOS5….

  • John

    iOS6 mapping works well for me in the Seattle area. Some reports indicate that the mapping bugs depend on the region.

    Waze is a good and free mapping app with turn-by-turn directions. It doesn't have all of the 3D bells and whistles, however.

  • Bram

    I just shove my Garmin in my carry on bag when I travel on business. When I'm driving in a strange town, I want a real GPS navigator - not a half-assed phone version.

  • fredrick.

    Serves you right for exchanging Android for Apple.

  • http://www.facebook.com/thomasdietrich Tom Dietrich

    Get a Windows Phone. Everything works better. Read reviews from actual users. Look at the top user-rated phones on each carrier. Apple is just now adding features that were in Windows Phone 2 years ago. I've used every phone OS, and Windows Phone is way ahead of the others, especially in areas like calendar and contact management. Sprint has the TeleNav GPS built in, other phones / carriers offer other apps. Nokia Maps was just named as the absolute best phone based GPS by Forbes, and that comes free with the super cool Nokia phones.

  • eCurmudgeon

    Seconded (Garmin 3790). It also doesn't help I tend to drive to places where cellular data coverage can get "iffy".

  • Michael Stack

    Just an FYI, if you visit maps.google.com in Safari on your phone, it'll prompt you to create a shortcut to it on your 'desktop'. You can then easily access Google Maps mobile webapp when you want directions. Their web app isn't quite as useful as the native app, but it is close. That is what I'd recommend until Google inevitably releases a native app for iOS 6.

  • obloodyhell

    Feh. NEVER should ANYONE allow Microsoft to regain control of the OS market. When they don't have to compete DESPERATELY, their products are absolute GARBAGE. Allow them to even get inroads in the Phone market, you'll regret it.

    IGNORE windows phones.

    Android Rocks. Android is somewhat open source, so Google can never produce crap as Microsoft has, because if dissatisfaction becomes significant, someone else with money will step in and create a better competitor to it, which is compatible with it. That alone is adequate to mark a severe downcheck on Windows phones.

    'Nuff said.

  • obloodyhell

    Not everyone does. And "half assed" hardly describes Telenav, which is at least one mapping Droid app. I'd bet there's a Droid app that can pre-load all the maps for a given area, so that one need not worry overmuch about spotty coverage. If not, then there will be one by the time your Garmin needs to be replaced, so if you're smart, you'll take a good look at what's available before replacing it.

  • fredrick.

    At this point I would wait until ver 8 of the OS comes out. I have heard that there won't be an upgrade path for 7.8.

    Bing doesn't really turn my nads though.

  • fredrick.

    4.1 is suppose to be quicker and smoother than 4.0

  • fredrick.

    That could be a bonus! Who wants their phone ringing all the time anyway.

  • Ugasailor

    Try the Mapquest app.

    I have found it ok so far.

  • Incunabulum

    I'm running 4.0.4 on a galaxy S II from Sprint. Checked online after I noticed the slowdown and I'm not the only one (or that the only phone) having the problem. I can't get 4.1 yet - apparently there's some sort of area by area roll-out of 4.0.4 and there's no Sprint version of 4.1 ready for open release yet.

  • JW

    Another vote for Windows Phone. The turn-by-turn needs refinement, but it's given me very accurate, complex directions without a problem.

  • JW

    Another vote for Windows Phone. The turn-by-turn needs refinement, but it's given me very accurate, complex directions without a problem.

  • Acook

    We used iOS6 nav in an unfamiliar small town in Colorado this week and it was spot on. If we disobeyed her, she figured it out and picked right up with new routes.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=831724813 Peter Bickford

    It costs cash, but I can definitely recommend the Tom Tom app for the iPhone--it's been my indispensable travel buddy for over a year, and scores over a standalone GPS unit in that its always with me, and does attract moons who seem to want to smash my $150 car window to steal something worth about $40 on eBay. Worked so well I bought it again for my wife at Christmas for her iPhone.