Worse than that, though, is the way you have to input directions. I've become very proficient with the iPhone's standard keyboard, so having to switch to a different layout in order to use this app is more than a little irritating. The first thing I did was switch to a QWERTY-style keyboard, but even this keyboard is irritating to use, because NDrive uses its own keyboard style rather than the one built-in to the iPhone OS. By default, the app has an ABC-style keyboard which I found maddening to use. The UI of the app is somewhat confusing and frustrating, especially compared to the simplicity of the iPhone's built-in Maps app. Another even funnier voice quirk occurred several times - depending on how the word "street" is abbreviated, the program will sometimes misinterpret the abbreviation as "Saint," which leads to laughter-inducing but also potentially confusing directions like, "In 50 metres, turn right at Grey Saint." Also, state highways in New Zealand, abbreviated "SH 1" for example, are pronounced literally - rather than telling you "In 300 metres, merge onto State Highway One," NDrive will say, "In 300 metres, merge onto sh one." Those minor quirks aside, the text-to-speech feature of the app is by far its most useful feature. For example, Ruahine, a street in Palmerston North, is pronounced "roo-uh-hee-nay" or "roo-uh-hee-nee" depending on who you ask NDrive pronounces it "roo-uh-heen," to the endless amusement of everyone who's heard it. Predictably, the voiced announcements usually mangle the pronunciation of Maori city and street names in New Zealand, often with hilarious results. Even if you do miss a turn, though, the app will automatically re-calculate a new route, which is another major advantage it holds over the iPhone's built-in Maps app. though as the US review noted, turn announcements often come uncomfortably close to the turn itself, making it easy to miss a turn if you're not anticipating one.
The voiced turn-by-turn directions are the main draw of this app, enabling navigation without even having to look at the iPhone's screen while driving. The US review noted that text-to-speech was still forthcoming at that time four months later, the Australia/New Zealand app has four different voices in three different accents (Australian, British "Received Pronunciation", and General American), with text-to-speech offered in the Australian and American accents. Many of the quirks mentioned in that review seem to have been resolved in the months since. We reviewed the US version of NDrive back in November.
When it was pointed out to me that I won't always have a co-pilot with me, thus making it all but impossible to use the built-in Maps app without unintentionally going off-roading in my Toyota, I agreed to give NDrive Australia & New Zealand a try.Īfter using the app for a few days navigating around Palmerston North and some of the backcountry roads of New Zealand, I came away more impressed with the app than I thought I would be - but it still has some flaws that will likely keep me from relying on it as my primary GPS app. The biggest advantage she offers over any nav app is her ability to intelligently adapt to changing conditions. Since getting my iPhone 3G a bit over a year ago, my wife has been the human half of my turn-by-turn navigation system.
#Ndrive maps update plus
"The problem with these nav apps is they don't really seem to offer me a compelling alternative to the free Maps app plus a co-pilot," I said. When asked if I wanted to review NDrive Australia & New Zealand (currently US$24.99, AU$29.99, and NZ$30.99), I was initially reluctant.
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