TomTom for Android has finally arrived in the Google Play Store offering Free lifetime maps, IQ Routes, lane guidance and spoken directions with street names all in Australian English. Currently in use by 65 Million people TomTom has been around in the mapping and GPS game for quite a while, starting out in PDA based GPS solutions before moving into their own all-in-one devices such as the TomTom Go.
The TomTom app which costs $51.99 at the moment for the Australian maps has a few limitations in that it doesn’t support a huge array of devices including the most popular Android devices here in Australia such as the Samsung Galaxy S II and III, HTC One X and of course the Nexus 7. The Verge clarified with TomTom who advised :
The apps support devices with Android 2.2 or higher, running at either 800 x 480 or 854 x 480 resolutions, but the company is “committed to supporting higher resolutions on an ongoing basis.”
Despite the limitations on resolution, once you can get access to the app the list of features from the Google Play Store entry reads pretty well, however I don’t see one of my favourite features from when I used to use a TomTom for my GPS : The ability to upload celebrity voices, I mean who doesn’t want KITT or Darth Vader directing them to their destination?
- 2D/3D driving view
- Clear voice instructions
- Fast route recalculation
- Multi-stop routes
- Eco Routes
- Navigate to contacts
- Millions of pre-installed POIs
- Automatic music fading
- Automatic day & night mode
- Car symbols
- Map colours
TomTom is also aware of the existance of fake apps on the Google Play Store and encourages people looking for the app to search for their country by checking that apps are from TomTom International BV. I don’t know if I can be encouraged to part with $50 for a navigation app when Google Navigation works so well for me at this stage but it’s nice to know the option is there, check it out in the Google Play Store here.
TomTom does the Robot: TomTom Navigation now on Android :
