To GPS or not to GPS?

Phone navigation for the car will not get truly good until data is free

The biggest problem with using the phone for car navigation isn't the phone but rather the network itself.

All phone plans should offer unlimited data across the board for no extra charge, and it should be cheap.

In the USA, T-Mobile does offer this. But it's not cheap. Their basic Essentials plan does offer unlimited talk and text along with unlimited 4G LTE data "on our network" (that's the way they put it) for $60 a month + taxes and fees on a single line.

If I assume $70/mo after taxes and fees, that's an $840/yr financial commitment just to get unlimited data. Too much. Way too much.

Unlimited data for the moment is expensive. Eventually, it won't be. But for now it is.

Phone navigation works best when it uses data. Yes, there are apps like HERE We Go and even Google Maps itself where you can preload map data and use it offline, but where they work best is when data is fully enabled. You get all the features, much better location searching, faster route calculations and more when that data is turned on. But oh, are you going to pay for it.

Where car navigation solutions are concerned, using a Garmin GPS is still the best deal.

Can you imagine running out of data while navigating somewhere? That's a real thing that happens right now, and a very stupid problem to have. That never happens when using a Garmin GPS. Ever.

When unlimited data is free...

...then concentration can be placed on getting the map interface redesigned so it can be used for driving properly.

If I were still using the phone for navigation, I would use HERE We Go because a) it can be used 100% offline, and b) gives me almost all the info I want on one screen. But again, Garmin has the better interface and the on-map turn list feature is really, really nice.

And what's this Turns list that I'm gushing about so much?

I'll show you.

Published 2020 Jul 7