Photo-A-Day #2269
When I got my new DROID nearly two years ago I was excited that I’d finally gotten navigation on my phone. I fired up Google’s navigation and was quickly disappointed in the service. On my first time with the navigation I turned it on and drove into Boston only to have the signal get lost on me and thus have me end up getting lost. It has been frustrating using the navigator that comes with the phone. I did not realize that I had any other options….
Enter TeleNav.
I learned about TeleNav from my friend and fellow blogger Adam Cohen who runs the blog DadaRocks. He’s also podcasting and a conference speaker. He’s everywhere. He asked if I’d like to participate in something related to families and GPS. So because of him I got brought on as a TeleNav Navigator in Chief Dad Blogger.
For the next couple of months I’m going to be using the TeleNav app on my Droid. I’ll be learning all about how it works and what makes it a better choice than the navigator app that comes with an android phone. I’ll also be, talking with the media, taking mini trips and more.
So far I’ve only used the free version of the app and I’m already impressed. The app is far quicker than the navigator app I had been using. I turn it on and I can click Drive To. Immediately I see that I can click my home location so instead of typing in my address every single time I want to go home I can just click home and from wherever I am I get directions home. You do have to set your home location the first time you use the app but that is better than typing it every time.
There is also a places button. With places you can click and see places like ATM machines, places for Food, Gas, grocery even Wi-Fi. I discovered a few places near me that had free Wi-Fi that I didn’t know existed. And that is the thing with the TeleNav app, it isn’t just for directions and GPS navigation, it helps you discover new things and get more done in your life easier and quicker. I like also that there is a local apps feature and movies is one of those apps. I can put int he name of the movie I want to see and be shown where it is playing near me wherever I happen to be. It was faster than movie specific apps that I was already using on the phone.
Yesterday when I was driving to work I noticed that there were signs indicating a concert at Gillette Stadium. since I drive to work on the weekends and this is when there are concerts or games I’d better work out alternate routes to get to work on time. I hadn’t done that. So when I went to work today I used TeleNav for the first time.
I put my destination address into the app and was given 3 different routes to chose from. I wanted to avoid the regular route so I chose one that was far enough out of the way to avoid the traffic. Even though I had the route selected I went even further out of the way and while TeleNav did re-route me and try and get me back to the route I had chosen it did re-route quickly.
I do use my phone to listen to podcasts while I drive so I turned the sound off on the turn by turn directions. I would have liked a quick mute button on the interface but I couldn’t find one so I turned off the sound in the settings. So far that is one complaint in the app.
I did get to work on time and I like the running visual of an approximate ETA and I knew that if I kept following the route I’d get to work right on time.
I’ll be upgrading to the full version to unlock some additional options that will make my daily driving even better. But in the meantime you can follow the TeleNav Navigators in Chief Dad Panel on Twitter with the hashtag #TeleNavDad. There are five of us in all including the aforementioned Adam Cohen (@dadarocks) of DadaRocks, Josh Becker (@DadStreet) of DadStreet, John Taylor (@TheDaddyYoDude) of The DaddyYo Blog, and Tshaka Armstrong (@Tshaka_zulu) of Digital Sheperds. We’ll be talking about the TeleNav app and how it can enhance your everyday life. So please join us and learn more about TeleNav.
You can find out more about TeleNav through these different outlets.
- Navigating Life (blog): http://blog.telenav.com/blog/
- YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/telenav
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/telenav
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/telenav
- Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/23382466@N03/
Disclosure: I am a member of the TeleNav Navigator in Chief dad panel and was provided compensation to participate. While I have received compensation to participate in the program as with anything that I review the opinions are 100% mine.
Sounds like the app works like a normal GPS which is nice. I too fooled with the gps option on the iphone when I first got it and realized it was not so great. I will be curious how this works walking. With both my cars now having built in GPS I only use my phone one occasionally and that is if I have to take the train and walk somewhere.
Karen,
There is a version of TeleNav for the iPhone too. It not only acts as a simple GPS but there are ways to quickly find places near you for food and more.
I love TeleNav, being blessed with a total lack of directional sense. Used it on our mega road trip earlier this summer and need to write about it soon…
Naomi,
I’m becoming more of a fan every time I use this app. It is very fun and informative.
Does it do anything to address the issue you mentioned in your post? I assume it still uses the GPS on the Droid phone which would mean that you are still out of luck if the phone’s gps loses contact with the satelites.
It does seem like a cool app I might just check it out.
Andy,
Actually it downloads maps and when the satellite gets interrupted it keeps giving you the directions. Take a look at the free app at least, see if you like it.