Thursday
Aug062009
Co-Pilot Live for iPhone Review
Thursday, August 6, 2009 at 2:59AM 
The news that Co-Pilot was heading to the iPhone has been somewhat overshadowed by TomTom’s well covered announcement at WWDC 2009. TomTom also announced a car kit which does all manner of things; hands-free car kit, GPS signal booster and charger. The problem with this kit is that it does too much for the average GPS user and may only suit a small proportion of potential purchasers. Also, I have never had a problem with the GPS antenna on the iPhone and in a test it was quicker to catch a signal than an HTC Touch Pro2 and a Nokia N95. It also holds the signal quite well so the need to boost it seems a little strange from my experience.ALK has consistently produced smartphone navigation software over the years with solutions for Windows Mobile, Symbian and Android already on the market. The pricing of the Android Co-Pilot solution was a welcome surprise and it is even more pleasing to see that carried through to the iPhone platform. It was one of the few moments in my life when things just did not connect right. I asked ALK what the price would be a few days ago after testing the software and my mind could not quite calculate the product verses price ratio here. It’s like someone offering me a new car for £3000, and I will explain why throughout this article. The pricing is as aggressive as Mr T would be if he woke up in a plane half-way over the Atlantic and found out that you were the one who put him there.
Interface and Features
It wasn’t long ago that I installed Navigon and was vaguely impressed by the experience of using turn-by-turn navigation on the iPhone. This vagueness of impressiveness soon took a wrong turn as the lack of features became apparent. No safety cameras, maps that are not as accurate as I would like and the killer blow- no full post code search. It all works quite well, but requires more manual intervention than I like to employ when planning a journey and definitely when driving.
Testing Co-Pilot on the iPhone for the first time was a completely different experience, and a schizophrenic one at that. That may sound negative, but it is in fact the most pleasing aspect of Co-Pilot on the iPhone; there are so many features that are accessible in an instant through a cleverly laid out set of menus and interface tweaks and this surprised me a great deal. I have always found TomTom to be the easiest GPS software to navigate, but ALK has pulled one out of the hat here and delivered a solution that matches the grace of the iPhone OS perfectly.When starting up Co-Pilot you are greeted with a voice announcing “Welcome to Co-Pilot Live Professional’ and this gives an indication of the quality of the voices included. A set of icons appear which also indicate the ease of use within. For example, tapping the destination icon brings up 5 more icons; Address, POIs, Pick on Map, Intersection and Coordinates. That’s what you call covering all of the bases.
Tapping My Places brings up Home, Work, Recent and Favourites. There are also options for making a quick stop to the kind of location you may need in a hurry- gas station, restaurant, hotels and vehicle repair. All of the main options are housed in just 2 panels of icons and this makes finding the section you need extremely quick and after only a few minutes you will be flying through the menus.
The Live services are quite comprehensive, but don't currently include the full set. Fingers crossed for an update in the near future with all of the normal ALK services included.
At the risk of turning this entire review into a list I will simply set aside this paragraph to show what else is included; Detour (alternate route, end detour, avoid roads, clear avoided roads), Plan and edit trips before you leave and include multiple stops, Driving Views (3D, 2D, driver safety, itinerary, 2D next turn), 2D destination, Day Map, Night Map), Save Current Location, Safety Cameras, Lane Assist and POI Alerts, Modes (car, walking, RV, motorcycle, bicycle), Compass. Phew!
There are 6 English voices included which all sound clear and natural when driving and the number of tweaks available gives you the opportunity to make the driving experience fit the way you prefer to the point of perfectionism. You can choose when POIs are displayed and even only have them pop up when you stop. Breadcrumbs can be displayed in walking mode and the turn warnings have check boxes for 2 miles, 1 mile, 500 yards and at turn. You can also choose the warning time in seconds which is something I have not seen before. The same level of customisation is available throughout and you can, for example, choose when to display lane assist with multiple levels at 0.1 mile intervals included, day and night mode can be automatically triggered and a myriad of other options are nestling in the background waiting to be triggered when you need them.
It almost verges on the obsessive at times with the ability to choose exactly what information should display in the info bar and incidentally how many info bars you want; 1, 2 or a looping setup which pops up all of the detail required at different times. Did I mention that you can display speed limit warnings depending on the ‘exact’ speed you are doing and that screen orientation can be landscape, portrait or automatic? OK, I’m going to stop now and move on to the driving experience, but the above does offer a glimpse into a huge set of features and options which make Co-Pilot feel so remarkably complete.
Driving
All of the features in the world mean little if the navigation experience is below par, so let’s look at how Co-Pilot performs in the real world.Starting up Co-Pilot takes a bit of time- it does pop up instantly, but getting the maps to align with the signal takes 10 seconds or so. This is not a huge problem, but it is very slightly slower than a dedicated GPS unit. Once connected I had no signal issues at all during over 4 hours of driving through 3 different trips.
By the middle of the second trip I started to feel right at home with the interface and the way the maps are displayed on screen- now that I am fully used to the way Co-Pilot works, I would describe the experience as close to effortless. ALK has managed to bring the workings of the software to the front and not buried it in needless settings changes which follows the iPhone philosophy quite well.
Audible commands are given in good time and the previously mentioned settings help with this, but I would like to see a slight change; for example, when approaching a roundabout it will tell me to take the third exit, but I would like to hear "turn right at the next roundabout, take third exit." How picky am I? To be fair there is a neat display feature which gets over this problem and also shows you the next turn after the one you are about to take. You get two icons which visually indicate the next two turnings (see image) and once you get used to this it is a killer feature.
The display of your current location and the roads is spot on and as clear as it could possibly be. Everything just seems to fit and the interface offers the clearest view I have seen on any system to date. There are a few themes that you can choose from, but as with most developers they tend to pick the best to be the defaults.
The points of interest database is not too bad and I managed to find most of what I was looking for. They will never be complete and there are always instances where something is missing, but it is a useful addition. I couldn't find a local National Trust location which surprised me, but this is not uncommon and the ability to save my current location means that I now have it loaded for future use.
I can't write much about the navigation experience because it simply works very well and offers me lots of confidence going forward. Having the traffic service is a must have feature for me, but annoyingly there were no traffic incidents at all on my test trips and so I could not test it properly. If traffic works as well as the rest of the software I will be fully signed up to Co-Pilot for the time being.
Conclusion
The marker has been laid down for TomTom and for the life of me I cannot see how it can compete. IQ Routes is an advantage, but how does it attack an opponent who makes a solution so complete at a price point which is unfathomable.
Co-Pilot Live 8 is ‘spectacularly’ good and it still would be if it cost £60 for the UK version. At £25.99 for the UK version and £59.99 for Europe it is hard to comprehend the value buried in this application. It is the very best satellite navigation solution available on the iPhone at this time, and I suspect it will be in 6 months time as well.
More details are at www.alk.com or the App Store.
Reader Comments (100)
[...] It has been released at £25.99; the same price ALK have their Android version in the Android Marketplace, and if you are interested, there is a nice review of it over at PDA-247. [...]
Bought this latest version for my HTC Hero and it is excellent even better than copilot 7 and a lot cheaper. But this version is done all online including installing the maps direct to the memory card. Ie. No postage and DVD costs..
Looks good. Can you play iTunes whilst thus is running? What happens to the audio when instructions are spoken - paused, both spoken at the same time or you miss that section of the iTunes audio?
Looks like my next £26 is spent but I listen to audio books when driving and so the speech issue is of interest.
Sid
Shaun
Couple of questions (maybe obvious answers)
1. What happens when a call comes in when you're using Co-Pilot? I normally have my iPhone wired headset in the car.
2. In your view, is there a preferred car mount/power cable set up for the iPhone or are they all much of a muchness?
Simon
Which version did you have then? Mine doesn't say professional on start up, has no traffic.
Simon, Shaun did a review of a holder thing from PDA Hut about a week or two ago. Just ordered one myself as Shaun said it was very good. I think I will be getting this CoPilot thing too. Sounds good.
Cheers Murray - will look in the archives. Probably missed it whilst I was in sunnry Kefalonia!
This does indeed sound impressive...
when do we get a usa version ... soon i hope ... this sounds good
It's funny you mention Mr. T because you can get Mr. T as the voice on TomTom. I got it from Navtones that do real celebrity voices for GPS. when the Iphone app is out, I'll be getting Mr. T as the voice on it for sure. Check it out. I'm sure it's just navtones.com
Can anyone tell us what happens if you are playing music along with the app? The Navigon turns the music volume down when giving instructions, which is great.
"Can you play iTunes whilst thus is running? What happens to the audio when instructions are spoken - paused, both spoken at the same time or you miss that section of the iTunes audio?"
I JUST TESTED THIS AND COULD NOT GET THE MUSIC TO PLAY IN THE BACKGROUND. I WILL CHECK WITH ALK BECAUSE I DO NOT HAVE THE RELEASE VERSION.
"Simon, Shaun did a review of a holder thing from PDA Hut about a week or two ago."
http://www.pda-247.com/wordpress/2009/07/pda-hut-iphone-windscreen-cradle-review/
"when do we get a usa version … soon i hope … this sounds good
I WILL CHECK AND LET YOU KNOW WALLY.
"It’s funny you mention Mr. T because you can get Mr. T as the voice on TomTom. I got it from Navtones that do real celebrity voices for GPS. when the Iphone app is out, I’ll be getting Mr. T as the voice on it for sure. Check it out. I’m sure it’s just navtones.com"
YES, AND CELEBRITY VOICES ON SAT NAV ARE FUNNY FOR 3 MINUTES, THEN EVERYONE TURNS THEM OFF:)
"can this be use in my iphone 2G? thx in advance"
I DON'T THINK SO. THE ITUNES PAGE ONLY QUOTES 3G/3GS. I WILL CHECK THOUGH.
"Which version did you have then? Mine doesn’t say professional on start up, has no traffic."
I HAVE THE SAME VERSION, BUT WITH SOME SMALL DIFFERENCES. PROBABLY BECAUSE IT IS A BETA.
GOOD NEWS! MUSIC WORKS IN THE RELEASED VERSION! INSTRUCTIONS MIX IN NICELY:)
USA VERSION- BE PATIENT, BUT NOT FOR LONG:) HOPEFULLY VERY SOON.
VERY QUICK RESPONSE FROM ALK...
Bought it. Music from your library plays just fine in the background. However, unlike the Navigon app, it doesn't lower the volume of the music when instructions are given. Perhaps they will add this in an update. Seems great so far, but won't test it on the road till tomorrow.
You can't tap the phone number of a POI to call them like you can with the Navigon app. Can't wait to test this on the road tomorrow though. Looking great so far despite the points I have made.
It's all good feedback Barry- will pass to ALK.
The main thing for me is trust- to trust a GPS solution is very difficult, but I do with this software and because I drive a lot, this makes it priceless to me.
Thanks for passing these points to ALK for me Shaun. I have been playing around with this, and so far it is far better than the Navigon in terms of finding your Contacts addresses from your Contacts app. It found 2 out of 3 (the Navigon couldn't find any of them). Regarding favourites, I like how you can not only have a home address, but you can also have a work address too, and both are easy to select when choosing your destination.
You've convinced me Shaun.
This plus the holder you reviewed (I think Murray's going down the same route too).
"USA VERSION- BE PATIENT, BUT NOT FOR LONG:) HOPEFULLY VERY SOON."
Will you promise to report on PDA 24/7 when it is available for the US?
Thanks!
You're right Statto...just downloading the app now, takes a while though as it is a biggie. I'm rather excited about this and the windscreen mount I've ordered too...think I need to get out more. Hey! I can use the CoPilot software to do that...
@ Murray
Me too - though iTunes crashed half way through first time. Must have been because you're hogging the bandwidth! Trying again now. Holder on order! That Mr McGill's got a lot to answer for...
"Will you promise to report on PDA 24/7 when it is available for the US?"
Of course:)
"That Mr McGill’s got a lot to answer for…"
Rarely have I been so confident about a review I have written. I would be amazed if you don't like it, really would.
Shaun, I have a couple of niggles I don't like about this app after testing it on the road. They are regarding interruptions and exiting the app.
Firstly, if you load the app and set a route, then decide to change your music playlist for example, you exit the app, do what you want to do, then go back into the app, and it welcomes you with the menu but FORGETS YOUR ROUTE! This isn't very good at all. There is no excuse for forgetting a route as it is easy for an app to save this information and look for the saved information at startup.
Also, when you have a phone call, on ending the phone call you are returned to the app and IT DOES remember your route. However, you are still welcomed with the menu asking where you want to go. You can see the 3D map behind the menu and can see it is still following a route to your destination, but you have to tap the little cross in the corner of the menu to get rid of it just so you can carry on with your journey.
Basically, if you are interrupted or exit the app, when the app returns it should check to see if a destination has been set- if one has, then it should continue on that route with NO menu appearing, making it more user-friendly and less fiddly while you are on the road.
Please could you please pass that onto ALK?
Tried this out this morning for my journey to work.
Great! Far better than my old Tom Tom mobile set up on the Palm Treo/Centro. Not having a separate receiver is the first plus. The signal was great and quick. Route clear and concise, instructions fine.
Don't know why but was expecting to see some battery drain after journey (only 25 min) but none as far as I can see.
Well impressed. I'm sure future updates will iron out the niggles that Barry (above) has identified.
[...] “CoPilot Live for iPhone is spectacularly good. It is hard to comprehend the value buried in this application. It is the very best satellite navigation solution available on the iPhone at this time, and I suspect it will be in 6 months time as well.” Read the review in full at http://www.pda-247.com/ [...]
Let's hope so Statto. I concur that it took me to work with no hassles other than those mentioned above. Clear instructions even over library music being played (although I would like the music volume lowered like the Navigon). And it took the same route as my old TomTom and the Navigon app, which is fine. One other thing I do prefer on the Navigon though (and this is only a minor thing) is how the Navigon gives instructions:
Copilot "Take 3rd exit at roundabout"
Navigon "Please take the 3rd exit at the roundabout"
Like I said, only minor. This is a great app otherwise. After the fiasco that is Navigons attempt at finding addresses from your iPhone Contacts, this app makes it work absolutely perfectly on all my Contacts I have addresses for.
In some ways, this app even betters the TomTom range- Favourites for example, can be selected to navigate to, can be added, and can be edited, all in the same menu. Whereas TomTom forces you to go into settings in order to edit them in a seperate menu.
"One other thing I do prefer on the Navigon though (and this is only a minor thing) is how the Navigon gives instructions:
Copilot “Take 3rd exit at roundabout”
Navigon “Please take the 3rd exit at the roundabout”
THIS IS ONE THING I PREFERRED ABOUT CO-PILOT. I WOULD RATHER HAVE IT KEPT SIMPLE BECAUSE IT MAKES THINGS EASIER. POLITENESS IS NICE, BUT NOT ALWAYS FROM A SMARTPHONE:)
Yes that is a preference thing Shaun, and like I said, it is a minor thing which I am not concerned about at all. I am more concerned about the other issues I raised above though, regarding exiting/interrupting the app (could you contact them about this?)
Thank you for the review by the way- if it wasn't for this I wouldn't have bought the app, and I am glad I have done so, regardless of its shortcomings.
Just want to provide an overall opinion of it now I have used it, including points I have mentioned in previous comments:
Main things I like:
- large buttons in the menu
- easy to use
- adding Contacts addresses works much better than the Navigon app
- tapping a POI on the map while driving gives you the info (although you can't call them yet)
- plenty of options including different voices and map colours
- auto day/night colours (unlike Navigon)
- stores work address as well as home address for easy access (in My Places, you have Home, Work, Recent, or Favourites listed)
- easy full post code search
- multiple stops available on one trip, which you can plan before you head off
Things I'd like to see in an update:
- speed cameras (already promised)
- when returning from a phone call, don't display the menu if it is still on a planned route
- when you exit and return to the app, it should remember a planned route if there is one
- lower volume of library music if playing when direction instructions are to be given (like the Navigon)
- allow the user to tap a phone number of a POI to phone that number. Phone numbers are displayed atm, but they don't do anything
Some of these missing features are very important and should be addressed asap, such as forgetting the route when exiting the app. But overall, this has many more options than the Navigon, is easy to use, and with another update it will better the Navigon. As it stands, they are both good in different ways, as the Navigon has speed cameras, lowers music volume when needed, allows you to call a POI, and remembers the route when exiting, as well as not displaying the menu after a phone call.
I will be very interested to see how these two apps better themselves through their future updates. One things for certain, with the price of the TomTom app likely to be double, they can shove it.
Very interested in buying this but before I do I was wondering how accurate is the GPS positioning compared to the built in Google Maps app?
Google maps is sometimes spot on and other times way off!
Many Thanks
@Ken
Only used it on my journey to work this morning but it looked pretty spot on to me
How come CP8 is avilable in the App Store but no sign of it on ALK's website?
D'oh. Scratch that last post. Was looking at the US .com site. Donkey!
I wasn't as impressed with this app on the way home as I was on the way to work this morning. Basically, there was a couple of times I went round a roundabout, and it thought I'd turned off early when in fact I hadn't, and it was giving me instructions to turn around while I was still on my way round. Then when I came off the roundabout it corrected itself, but it shouldn't do this- the Navigon doesn't.
Also, the Navigon found me a nice little shortcut through some side roads instead of waiting at some main traffic lights. The Copilot took me to the lights.
Finally, there is a point where I need to cross the road by turning right then immediately left. The Navigon says "Please turn right then immediately turn left". The Copilot just told me to turn right and nothing more, even though the route was the same on the map.
Other than that, there was one improvement over the Navigon. There is a point on my journey where I drive down a dual carriageway which runs alongside the motorway. The Navigon stupidly moves me onto the motorway sometimes, thinking I am on there instead, then moves me back. Likewise, when I was on that part of the motorway once, it moved my location to the dual carriageway! The Copilot kept me on the correct road all the way down it. This is something the Navigon can easily fix with a bit of artificial intelligence.
I am glad I have given this app 4 instead of 5 in iTunes. It is great, but needs some work to be perfect.
Apparently there are route options for "Shortest" "Quickest" etc, but I can't find them anywhere in the menu. Can somebody tell me where they are please?
Route Profiles don't work properly. You can create one route profile (where you set it to favour motorways, choose a vehicle for that profile, avoid toll roads etc etc), then when you create another with different settings and go back to the first, the first ones settings have been changed to the second profile you created. If you change them back, the second profile has then changed to how you set the first! It seems it can only handle one lot of settings even though you are supposed to be able to have multiple profiles.
Still can't find the fabled option for shortest or quickest route :(
Barry - the shortest/quickest route option can be found by going to
menu -> destination -> (pick any) eg contact -> set up the details for your selection.
You will arrive at a "confirm destination" screen with a green "go" bar. Below that on the right is "show route" Select that and it will give you quickest/shortest/avoid expressways/economic options plus an avoid tolls option.
Hope that helps!
Thanks Priscilla. I thought it would be in the settings somewhere and didn't think to check "show route".
Hmm. Again, not too impressed now I have gone down to my mums using this. It was ok all the way till I reached my mums house. I reach a crossroads which I have to turn left at, then her house is on the right a couple of hundred yards down that road. I have set her address as a favourite in the exact spot it should be along that road.
What happens is when I get to the crossroads, instead of it telling me to turn left to go down her road, it simply says I have reached my destination BEFORE I even turn down that road and am at the crossroads!! The map clearly shows the crossroads, but the purple line that follows your route bends round it instead of following the road itself, and to tell me I have reached my destination before I am even on that road is unacceptable.
I haven't had this issue with the Navigon. I therefore trust the Navigon a lot more than this Copilot app at the moment, and shall stick to the Navigon until an update comes out. The more I test this app out on the road, the more I get the feeling it was rushed out. I may have to knock my iTunes review down to a 3.
Bought the EU version, but it doesn't seem to want to route to most places (seems to distance related). Also, noticed that the app has been removed from the App store. Looks as though I will have to find an alternative sat nav for my travels to France next week.
HI all,
Is there quick way of clearing the route, I cant seem to find it!
Rgds
Help! Audio instructions on Co Pilot 8 work fine until my ignition in turned on with my Griffin iTrip Auto Pilot plugged in. Then I get no audio through my iPhone (with radio off) or through the car's speakers (with radio on). Music plays fine. All other aspects of the program work fine. Any suggestions?
Any word/hope about a Down Under version? Not a huge market down here compared to EU/US, but still. What we've got so far is Sygic & Navigon it seems. No word on this one yet. And it looks better than either of those options (not too sure about the TomTom cradle version yet; I use an FM transmitter/charger to listen to my music on the go and I'm not sure how the cradle is going to handle that...)
Thanks,
Sfsj
While the interface that ALK designed is phenomenal (as I've used it years ago on a PDA) the North American version of this product will disappoint as per usual. The maps on the North American version are created in-house and are not the NAVTEQ ones found in the UK version.
I've just bought and installed it on my iPhone but I've got a strange problem. The only way I get any voice prompts is if I've got my iPhone iPod app running, i.e. I'm playing music at the same time as running CoPilot. The display of navigation is fine, excellent even but I just don't get any sounds at all. I can't even get any voices from the voice selection test bit.
Anyone able to comment or help with this undocumented feature? Have I missed something in set up of my iPhone or CoPilot?
That's odd Andrew. Have you tried re-installing the app? Perhaps something went wrong with the installation. After that, if you still have the same issue, I would contact them on their support site if I were you.
Just bought this yesterday and agree with some of the niggles listed above but have one more. Ever since I've installed it my battery life is awful. I don't mean that it drains it badly when using co-pilot, just generally!
This morning I took the iphone off charge, turned it on (I shut it down overnight when it's charging), haven't used co-pilot at all, haven't used the phone, haven't used safari, have only checked a couple of emails and in 2 hours it's already down to 80%! Normally under the same circumstances I wouldn't even notice a drop in the battery.
Is anyone else having similar problems?
Have you got location services set to on? That can cause a real drag. The software should make no difference when not open.