Voice Navigation Round-up (part two): aSpass vs. Silver Navigator

In the 2d part of our Windows Phone voice navigation circular-up, we ready our sites on aSpass and Silvery Navigator. In function one of the circular-up we took a look at GPS Vocalisation Navigation and Turn by Plow Navigation. Both were very good navigation apps but we gave the edge to Plow by Plow Navigation.

aSpass and Silver Navigator aren't every bit feature heavy as GPS Vocalisation or Turn past Turn nor are they as expensive. aSpass is running $3.99 while Argent Navigator runs $2.99.

Over the by week nosotros took both vocalization navigation apps on the road to see how they performed. Nosotros hitting neighborhood streets, highways and by-ways. Areas where signal forcefulness was strong and where information technology was dismal. Does the lack of features injure these apps or is simpler meliorate? We'll break things down later the interruption.

Silvery Navigator

General Layout

Silver Navigator has a basic map layout with navigational stats at the top of the screen and control buttons to the bottom. Silverish Navigator utilizes Bing Maps with back up for hybrid (satellite view) and road maps.

Controls at the bottom of the screen cover road planning (the Go To push button), map link (locks your map to your position), close await push button (zooms into your location) and a Where am I? button (pop-up window appears showing your current location).

The iii-dot menu covers route details, settings, a help department and data about the app and developer. Settings cover your units, map rotation, hibernate/bear witness zoom buttons and other bones functions.

Road Planning

One of the nice features of Silver Navigator is the route planning options. When you tap the "Go To" button y'all volition pull up iv options or means to set your destination. Yous can search destinations past address search, keyword search (e.g. business name), contempo destinations, and by map point.

Once y'all discover your destination, you can choose to plan your route by car or walking. One time the route is generated you are returned to the map view where your plow information sits at the top of the screen forth with speed and time.

Once the route has been established, yous can pull up plow by plough details from the iii-dot menu. You likewise clear your route from the Road Details feature.

Performance

While Silver Navigator's layout is nice, the interface decent, the app falls short with regards to operation. I don't mean to exist harsh but the app actually needs some fine tuning.

Silver Navigator has a handful of quirks with respect to functioning on the route. First, I have to say information technology re-drew maps very good. Where other phonation navigation apps lagged at times, Silver Navigator maps were prissy and clear.

While they clarity of the maps were good, I couldn't zoom in enough to get detailed information on the roads. It was equally if you were belongings a map at arms length trying to read street names.

Think the teacher's vocalisation on the erstwhile Charlie Brown cartoons? The one's that went "Wa, wa wa, wa wa"? Silvery Navigator's voice commands were but a smidgen better. I could option up on the general text of the commands just I was driving familiar roads. In an area where the roads aren't as familiar, I could encounter the lack of clarity in the vocalization commands to be a problem.

GPS accuracy was good with regards to positioning and speeds. Everything was inside 10 yards and a few miles per hour of actual performance.

I deliberately missed turns to see how well Silverish Navigator re-calculated routes. While Silver Navigator re-calculated things, the display maintained the erstwhile route, suggesting you turn around. Routes were re-calculated at various speeds often non being complete until I had passed several alternating turns. Slow would be an advisable clarification.

As maps reload or routes re-calculated, a square download windows appears in the center of the screen. Where other apps put a "re-calculating" bubble in a discrete location, Silverish Navigator plants is square in the center of the map. It obstructs the view of the map while you lot expect for things to re-summate.

Overall Impression

Silver Navigator is a nicely laid out vocalization navigation application. While it has a nice foundation, information technology really needs some work for usa to recommend it. Voice directions demand to be more understandable and routes need to be re-calculated faster. Also the download foursquare has to go.

Silver Navigator has potential simply until a few updates hit to improve navigation, take advantage of the trial version. The full version runs $2.99 and both tin can exist institute here (opens Zune) at the Marketplace.

aSpass

Quick footnote on aSpass. The application was recently updated from version 1 to version 1.1. The update noticeably improved overall performance but scrapped a characteristic that I found useful (more on this in a infinitesimal). I accept tested both versions and the review comments are based on version 1.1. Additionally, in that location'southward another update in the works, version i.2, and I'll affect this in a bit.

General Layout

aSpass, asides from having the odddest name of the bunch as well has the flashier appearance.

While others voice navigation apps get straight to the map view, aSpass opens upward to a Main Menu. From the carte you can get directions, access options, show the map, and access the help/about section.

Establishing directions has 3 choices, search for the address of the destination, choose from favorites, or select from last search results. There is no support for keyword searches merely you can set your destination by borer on the map.

Map layout is your typical navigation information up peak and push controls on the bottom. Button colors lucifer your Windows Phone Theme and there is no three-dot carte du jour to pull upwards push button descriptions or additional items.

The Help/Well-nigh section does a nice job of detailing what all the controls represent but you have to get out the map to access that information. Not exactly the best option while on the road.

The buttons control:

• Stopping your routing
• Refresh your road
• Map zoom in/out
• Access settings
• Adding to your favorites

Settings for aSpass cover a wide diversity of settings including distance unit of measurement choices, map auto-zoom, voice quality, map caching, and map type. aSpass gives you the choice between Bing Maps and Openstreetmaps. Openstreetmaps can be buried to improve re-drawing rates and for those times you find yourself in a poor reception area. Bing maps can't be cached.

The cache characteristic is nice in that it downloads larger sections of the maps to minimize the frequency in which aSpass has to refresh the map.

Voice instructions can exist set to loftier quality or low. High quality simply supports English language but low quality will automatically prepare itself to the phone's language settings.

Road Planning

aSpass lets you establish routes two ways; from the Main Menu and by tapping on the map. From the Primary Card you can search by address, choose a favorite, or go into the map view and tap on a bespeak. If you choose the search by accost option, yous'll accept the boosted options to choose the fastest/shortest route and whether or not y'all are driving or walking.

From the map view, just tap away and a pop-upwardly window appears with the address details and a choice to "summate route".

In one case you've established the route, you can tap on the More Options tab and download the map of your current route. You also have the options to choose the detail level of the map.

When all is said and washed, your routing information is displayed at the tiptop of the map that shows you the nature of your next turn, speed, distance, and estimated time of arrival. You likewise have a text description of your current location.

aSpass does non provide a route detail summary or listing.

Operation

On the road, aSpass performed nicely just in that location were several glitches that gave me pause.

Map re-depict/reload times were really skillful with or without the caching turned on. The enshroud feature downloads your map in tiles/grids/sectors and every now and over again, one of these squares would come up up missing. It was noticeably worse with the previous version (v1.0) and the recent update to version 1.one has minimized this problem greatly.

Accuracy was a little bit of a problem. With regularity, I would find myself stopped at a turn and aSpass would tell me that I was 100 feet from the plow. At times, the distance would be every bit slap-up every bit 500 anxiety.

Voice commands came across loud and clear but one feature that was present with version 1 has been removed with version one.i. With version 1, vox commands would not just alert you of an upcoming plough but also tell you what street/highway/exit your were turning onto. For example the vocalism command would say, "Turn right 100 yards on to U.S. 280 E toward Childersburg". At times information technology would add the directional reference and tell yous when the name of the route changes. I could almost navigate solely by the voice commands.

With version ane.1, the vocalization commands simply state your upcoming turn with no street information (e.g. Plough right 100 yards). This feature comes in handy to give y'all a point of reference as you travel on uncharted roads. A feature that should accept stayed in identify.

Road re-calculations were decent with regards to speed only aSpass relies likewise heavily on U-Turns. The first re-calculation comes in quick but always involves making U-Turns. I institute myself passing iii or four alternate routes earlier aSpass would surrender on directing me to make a U-Turn.

Why is this an result? On some roads, in some jurisdictions, U-Turns are prohibited and volition result in a costly traffic ticket. If you are inclined to turn effectually and resume the original road, practise so safely by turning effectually in a parking lot or circumvoluted a block.

Update in the works

There'south yet another update (version 1.2) in the works with aSpass that will bring two central features to the awarding. The update will bring map downloads and keyword or betoken of interest searches to the app. Map downloads will allow you to download the route map. It gives yous a variety of map quality choices and will help reduce the dependence on information while traveling.

Finding your destination by keyword or point of interest is another bonus heading to aSpass with the version i.2 update. Non certain of the address, cardinal in the business name and if information technology's in the map database, y'all'r half mode there.

Overall Impression

aSpass is a prissy voice navigation app for your Windows Phone. With each update it gets a little ameliorate but at that place's still room for improvement. Maps redraw nicely but in that location are yet a few blank spots at fourth dimension. Accuracy of location has gotten better just being 100 feet behind your actual location is significant. I also not sure if road re-calculations relying so much on U-turns is a good matter.

I wouldn't listen seeing a three-dot menu that would at to the lowest degree pull upwards the button details. The menu layout takes a petty getting used to but it does grow on you. aSpass does accept a trial version available with the full version running $3.99. You can observe both here (opens Zune) at the Market.

Summing information technology all up

We've looked at four vocalization navigation apps for your Windows Phones. The apps range in prices ($6.99 to $2.99) also equally features and performance.

The biggest challenge with any of these apps is the dependence on information. Because of that, these apps will be hard pressed to knock TomTom off my dashboard. That's not and then say that a Windows Phone navigation app will always suck wind.

Three of the four apps I've looked at have made improvements to minimize the dependence on data. Either by downloading maps outright or downloading a larger map that your road goes through, you tin can find yourself in a weak signal area and not loose your maps. If they could find a way to minimize the information needed for route calculations, the efficiency would meliorate greatly.

Each of the voice navigation apps take a sure corporeality of appeal and each have room for improvement. Some, more room than others. The developers are open up to suggestions and feedback from users with some of the updated features coming from this feedback. The nice affair about it is that each has a trial version to allow you to examination it out before purchasing.

Here's how they break down.

Turn by Turn Navigation ($4.99): Overall, this was the best performer. I wish the navigational header was a piddling less cluttered to brand it easier to pick up the details just the downloadable maps, keyword searches, and favorites make up for it. Rating: 8.five

GPS Vox Navigation ($half dozen.99): Another fine voice navigation app for your Windows Telephone. Recent updates have improved the functioning of this app just I would easily trade multiple map sources for downloadable maps or keyword searches. The routing header is like shooting fish in a barrel to read and the increased download cache for maps helps the map keep pace with your travels. Rating: 7.5

aSpass ($3.99): aSpass is a nice vocalism navigation application with a lot of potential. The recent update pushed things in the right direction simply there still needs to exist a little work done on the accuracy of your location, stop defaulting to a U-Turn for re-calculating routes, and bring back the old vocalism commands.

Had the voice commands stayed every bit informative with version one.0, I would call information technology a tie between GPS Vocalisation and aSpass. Without the old voice commands, I've got to put aSpass slightly backside GPS Voice. Rating: 7

Silver Navigator ($ii.99): I like the design, user interface and features but the delivery falls way short. Silverish Navigator shows promise merely even as the lower toll choice, y'all really should give the trial version a go before ownership.  Silver Navigator has potential just it's a couple of updates behind the rest of the pack. Rating: 5.v

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Source: https://www.windowscentral.com/voice-navigation-round-part-two-aspass-vs-silver-navigator

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