You'll find a wide range of stand-alone satellite-navigation devices in the stores but many smartphones can also act as a digital co-pilot to guide you on your way. There is a range of sat-nav apps available for Apple, Android or Symbian smartphones that act just like a stand-alone sat-nav device, letting you set a destination and then receive turn-by-turn spoken directions. If you're sick of struggling with the street directory or arguing with passengers about freeway turn-offs, satellite navigation can help take the stress out of long drives.
These days most sat-nav apps can read street names aloud rather than merely say "turn left in 50 metres", which makes life easier when approaching complicated intersections or two roads that are close together. You still can't trust sat-nav to guide you through complicated intersections using only spoken instructions and you'll often need to look at the screen for clarification. This is when clear diagrams of intersections and notifications of upcoming lane changes are handy, so you don't get stuck forcing your way across lanes at the last minute.
Some sat-nav apps also offer you a choice of several routes when you first set a destination, which is handy if you're looking to avoid toll roads. They'll also warn you as you approach speed and red-light cameras, school zones and other potential hazards. Along with turn-by-turn directions, most sat-nav apps will let you search for nearby points of interest, such as petrol stations and parking.
Real-time traffic alerts are built into some sat-nav apps, although they tend to cost extra. Such alerts warn you if you're going to encounter a traffic snarl and suggest alternative routes. The alerts are generally limited to major metro roads, so regular commuters might find them worth paying for but if you're mainly driving the backstreets or the countryside, it might not be worth the extra expense.
Today we've tested three iPhone apps (features might vary slightly in the Android versions). You may also want to invest in a car cradle to use the phone hands-free without the fine. Adam Turner
Navigon MobileNavigator Australia $69.99 (iOS), $59.99 (Android)
Navigon's display is less confusing than Sygic's but still crams in too much information. It offers the clearest diagrams of what an upcoming intersection looks like but the lane-assist features seem to be reserved for freeways and major intersections, whereas TomTom provides them more often. The Navigon also has a habit of occasionally offering suburb names rather than street names when telling you to turn. When setting a destination, you're offered the choice of up to three routes, plus it presents plenty of information about your destination, such as the weather, nearby parking and places to get food. You're not warned of tolls before each trip, you've only the option to avoid toll roads in the global settings. Navigon's live traffic updates are a once-off $25.99 purchase.
navigon.com
Sygic Australia & New Zealand $34.99 (iOS & Android)
Sat-nav's primary job is to tell you clearly and concisely what to do next but Sygic's display is too cluttered. It's littered with points of interest, which you can disable, but it also pops up names of irrelevant streets, suburbs and even parks in the distance. The map also uses a jumble of colours on the roads. All of this makes it harder to take in important information at a glance. Sygic's pronunciation is the poorest of the bunch and pop-up lane change warnings are also awkward as they're in 3D, so the information you need to see is sometimes lost in the distance. When setting a destination you're not offered a choice of routes unless there is a toll road en route (which you won't know unless you press options). Sygic's live traffic updates cost $20 a year.
sygic.com
TomTom Australia $74.95 (iOS)
The TomTom's interface is the least cluttered of the bunch, making it easy to tell where you're going at a glance rather than forcing you to study the display. It also makes it easy to see the name of the street you're turning into, plus it regularly offers clear lane-assist advice. The current speed limit is displayed in the bottom menu rather than on the map, although you still get notifications of changes to the speed limit. When setting a destination, you're not offered a choice of several routes but you can tell it to find an alternative route and you're always offered the option to avoid tolls. TomTom's live traffic updates cost $7.49 a month or $41.99 a year. TomTom also lets you purchase celebrity voices but the novelty wears off quickly.
tomtom.com
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