You can download offline data per city or parts of cities if you live in an especially large city, but not for states or countries. Points of Interests are generally more relevant & current than the typical stand alone GPS unit.
Recent updates have made it so you can label a place instead of being stuck with some address or GPS coordinate and forgetting what it represents. Saved places show as stars and are all on one layer as long as you're logged in. There is also the ability to create maps (parallel to groups) for things you might not want to see or have show up all the time whenever you're using google maps from day to day.
This feature is highly helpful for planning, even if you're a person who likes to wing it.
Nearby my house, there is major road construction in progress. Apple maps didn’t show this at all, but google maps did. There was also a new, small road that was finished around 3 days ago. Google maps shows this road. Apple maps still hasn’t shown the major construction.
Asides from the stock Apple Maps app, Google Maps is the most commonly supported 3rd party map. 3rd party apps often have links for directions, Google Maps is usually an option whereas other 3rd party GPS apps are not.
Google Maps can now search for and add a route for a second location on the way to the primary location that you are going to and have already routed. Note that it cannot do a third or true multi routing like the desktop webapp can.
Two negatives about this feature is you have to be online to be able to save a place, but it is stored off line once google map gets on the net and syncs. The other negative is there is no visible label for saved places, you have to click on stars to see the label for them.
Google Maps offline maps update automatically in the background. Not a problem if you're using a sim card in your phone, but if you connect to a pre-paid hotspot that the phone recognizes and connects to as a wifi device you risk burning through your data allotment. The offline maps can be set to update manually, but this is not default behavior.
Each waze user has the ability to report traffic and road information changes as well as accidents, road closures, police locations and other alerts in real-time. This information is then displayed on the map to benefit other drivers and used to recalculate optimal route.
The advertisements usually shown when the vehicle is at rest, and they cover the entire screen. There is no way to get rid of them, it's strictly a free ad supported app.
Especially on iPhone 6s and Toyota Highlander 2020 pairing.
Bad routes, slow to determine where one is in a few locations (for example, exiting the highway and the exit is located lower than the highway).
Navmii GPS World (Navfree) uses OSM (OpenStreetMap) data which means it stores the maps on local storage so the user can use the app offline with zero data usage. This is great for those that need to use a navigation app but will have no data connection.
Navmii GPS World (Navfree) has voice guided navigation for its maps, even offline so users do not need to mess around with the app while driving, which is safer than having to constantly look at ones device.
Points of Interest tend to not to be as up to date as other online apps are. Often another app has to be used in order to look for interesting places, or connect to a hotspot.
Sygic's interface is tailored to navigation. While viewing maps in 2D is possible, it populates the map with a bunch of POI icons which detract from street names. The biggest issue is how easy it is to select something or start navigation when zooming in/out.
Still usable for map viewing though.
GPS Navigation & Maps Sygic provides a very detailed 3D world during navigation, with elevated hills and even city buildings which makes for a more realistic view of where one is in comparison to their surroundings.
Utilizes commercial data for its maps that are supplied by TomTom Maps. While not strictly better it can have more up-to-date map data than OSM. This is also the reason for the the good address data.
GPS Navigation & Maps Sygic offers an in app purchase to add on a Heads Up Display for the app. This works for nighttime driving by placing ones device up by the windshield and the device will reflect all information in the windshield for a convenient hands free experience that is on the level of where ones eyes already are.
GPS Navigation & Maps Sygic provides lane guidance as a feature for safe lane maneuvering while driving which is great especially when on a highway of unknown locations being one never knows exactly what lanes to be in when merging or taking exits.
After a Play Store update it is important to run the app once to download all the offline data again, otherwise it will not be usable when no external data is available. This is not only time consuming but inconvenient for those that may be in a hurry.
With an apple watch paired with your iPhone, haptic feedback alerts you just a few seconds before a turn comes up. This is distinct from the audio alerts that say in 1 mile, or half a mile or even a quarter of am mile, the haptic feedback vibrates even closer to the actual turn than audio cues. The feedback is also slightly different from left turns, right turn and straight ahead. It takes time to distinguish the difference but in time you might. None of the competitors have haptic feedback close to turns. It could be due to Apple being stingy with the API or if competitors have simply not developed the feature into their apps. It makes navigating to new places much more relaxed as a deaf person since it is no longer necessary to depend so heavily on the street name, exit, or tracking the guiding line (remaining blocks) on the map as a turn comes near.
Apple maps is not as good about lane shifts and names of streets where you need to turn. It's not possible to skip to the next turn like you can with Google Maps so as to be prepared for quick successions of turns. Terrain details are very bare while cross streets make things feel busy. Cross streets are great for learning a new city, but distracting when you're just trying to get from point A to point B.
The app itself is free, and the first month of use can be considered as a trial/limited demo (not all features or maps are unlocked), then after that it's $4.99 per month or 99¢ per day of use.