By CoPilot may have seemed like a hefty investment for a GPS app – clocking in at $19.99 for maps of all of North America – but CoPilot has just announced that they’ll be releasing a USA-only version for $4.99. Most will argue “why not just use Google Maps for free?” The answer is because you have to rely on mobile data for Google Maps. Without it, you’ll be as lost as you would be without the phone. With CoPilot, maps are stored on the phone so you can wander off into the depths of the countryside without having to worry about getting lost after losing a data connection.
They’re also offering their ActiveTraffic add-on which will add an additional $9.99 to that price tag, should you opt for it. Find it now in the Android market by searching for “CoPilot USA.”
Haha…wonder how much space it’ll eat up.
I believe it takes up around 2gb of SD storage.
They should give you access to all of the US, but allow you to chose how much space it takes up. I would only need my local city normally and if I was traveling I may want a certain state or a region.
Having done a road trip around Colorado recently where a majority of the trip was on mountain roads with no cell reception at all, this would have been ideal. I didn’t want to spend the $20 on all of North America, but $5 for just the US is perfect. As it was, we just made ample use of KOA WiFi before heading out on each leg to get Google Map data, but it was a major annoyance.
Try Back Country Navigator! I have been completely satisfied with it for navigation where there is no service. Does topo maps, too!
I like this, assuming it gets updates on the maps for free?
Hmm, watch us all buy this then google comes out with a google maps update to store data on your phone lol.
Ahhhh, this is what I’ve been waiting for.
I just DL’d it, you CAN download only certain regions of the US! “Eastern, South, Midwest, Plains & Rockies, Southwest, Northwest, Alaska, Hawaii, District of Columbia”
Only if I could buy apps at all. Damn you Google!!! Hurry up and fix my checkout account or I have to go with the pirating route, which I’d rather not do. :9
Oops. Meant to do the sad face. :( There we go.
I think CoPilot’s algorithm is a lot better, but Google Maps is easier to locate a business. My experience is that Google Maps can route you very inefficiently compared to CoPilot.
That said, I find myself using Google Maps for short distances where I don’t want to bother typing it in and can just say the business name. For long distance road trips, I prefer copilots algorithm as I know I’m not wasting an hour or two with crappy directions.
I really wish CoPilot supported 2.2’s move to the SD Card. It’s a pretty big program.
I have had CoPilot North America since my HTC Hero didn’t support Google Maps Navigation when I first got it. Now I use a Nexus One.
Totally useless if we can’t move the maps to the SD Card.
Once they add that feature (also selective state maps saved only can help), then I’ll consider buying it.
@Franz: Haven’t you read any of the previous comments? You can move the maps to SD card, as well as installing only the regions you want. The thing CoPilot doesn’t do right now is support moving the app itself to the SD card. The maps do install to the SD card.
Meh… I’ll stick to the FREE Google Nav.
If it synced with google places then yea i would get it. The fact that google maps uses data and interferes making phone calls is a bit of a let down but if i can still get some functionality and use the copilot to pilot my way around and not miss a call then this would be perfect. plus storage on sd.
lol… google maps interfere with phone calls? lol… you must be on verizon/sprint.. lol.. sux to have smart technology on a dumb network…
yes, Copilot supports maps to SD. N.American maps use about 1.9GB of space. With Europe & Africa it’s using a little over 4GB for me. I got it off warez with all of the maps (going to travel in Europe, can’t rely on data traffic … or spend $ money on it :) So far CoPilot is very fast and functional in US … just have to get used to it a little after using Garmin for 5 years.
For five bucks I’ll buy it. It’ll be one less beer I get at the bar.
It doesn’t require a data connection for maps, but won’t it need one for phones with AGPS only?
@observer: I love that you say “can’t rely on data traffic … or spend $ money on it :)” which implies you can’t afford $5, yet you own a smartphone. If you are so broke you can’t spare $5 to legally buy an app (a bargain, I might ad), I suggest getting a dumb phone and dropping the data plan. Pirating is lame.
Even if I only need it once or twice when I can’t get data it is worth the $5.
Is CoPilot maps up to date yet. I purchased it before form my TP2 like 6 months ago and it could not find a street in Elk Grove, CA. I want to try it but I don’t want the same issue like last time.
Does this take forever to download? If the maps take up 2gb of storage on the SD card, does this have to be installed from a computer? I’m confused, as this would take forever for my phone just to install it.
2gb…is that all, No problem for my 32gb Galaxy S Vibrant. :)
@Jeff
Before downloading maps, co-pilot suggests you enable wifi. Took me about 15 minutes to d/l the maps to SD.
Too those above discussing priating / warez of the apps, you’re the reason there aren’t more great developers out there. Can’t afod $5? How much is that freaking phone costing you every month yet you have to steal the apps?
The “what if your in a Cell Phone Dead Zone” arguement is so 15 years old. Only way I’ve got not signal now is if I’m in an elevator and even then it’s debatable. Heck I get 5 bars Skiing.
“what if you’re not connected” simply doesn’t hold water in today’s world. You are connected all the time. And that means Google Maps is free including the traffic report.
I have to say I’m interested in this application. I use my GPS 5 days a week to get me all across PA/NJ and absolutely love my Google Maps. BUT, as we all know, Verizon’s service will not allow data while on a phone call. So I can make or receive a call while Google Maps is running, but if I’m in a call I can not get directions or rerouted if I miss a turn. This has been an issue several times already, so I’m tempted to try this out. I do have a few concerns about the software from the posts I’ve read here, but I guess $5 won’t kill me. I can’t believe there’s no contact support though. That’s how I do 99% of my routing. That being said, from what I read on their site just now, it looks like you can do multi-stop routing on the Central 2.0 companion software and send it to the phone. That might be a fair trade-off for now. I hate to spend any money when I already have something that works great for free, but until there’s an LTE Droid X or offline Google Maps, I guess it’s my best option.
At $5 this is a steal.
I happily paid over $40 for the Australia / New zealand version and actually prefer it over the Tom Tom which my SO uses.
I sprung for the $19.99 for CoPilot on my Captivate. It works nicely – the voice is much clearer to understand than the mechanical voice on Google Maps and plenty loud. This app was more like a “professional” GPS app. The one thing I didn’t like was that when arriving at your destination, it doesn’t say whether the destination is on the right or left. So, you’re left rubbernecking it when you arrive. But I really did like the way it showed which lane you should be in when your turn was on a multiple lane highway – that was really the best thing about it.
I’m looking forward to see if the Froyo upgrade helps with the slowness of locking on to a satellite. If not for that, I don’t think there is a weakness in the Captivate – love it!
Nice intelligently stated review Chuck. You just convinced me to give it a shot. Thanks.
“The answer is because you have to rely on mobile data for Google Maps. Without it, you’ll be as lost as you would be without the phone. With CoPilot, maps are stored on the phone so you can wander off into the depths of the countryside without having to worry about getting lost after losing a data connection.”
So true, I am always driving off the main cell coverage area for work where data is a hit and miss and copilot was very usefull when I had my TP2 as a standalone GPS unit..lol,but did not want to have to carry two phones with me. I am so happy they made a USA version for android. Many Thanks 8)
I’m going to try this…I’ve been looking for a good offline map program. The sad part about google maps (which I love 99% of the time) is that it doesn’t work when you need it most. It works great for getting around cities towns…but you can always stop and ask directions in populated areas anyways.
But when you’re in a desolate area of states like Utah or Colorado with no cell phone signal and NOBODY to ask for directions, it really sucks! The worst part about my last road trip was that the reason I ended up in remote Colorado mountains was because Google maps was trying to guide me down a road that didn’t exist (I reported it and they fixed it). Oddly enough, it was kinda fun and exciting being lost in the mountains with no google maps–I had forgot what that felt like.
What’s the difference between the US and the NA version? Just availability of maps (IE Canada and such?
@ Justin
What are you talking about? Being on Verizon, I still lose a 3G signal every so often, even here in DC (being right next to a hub of radio towers, damn you NPR ;). We’ve driven through western NC and lost signal, fortunately we already knew where we were going. I think I’m definitely going to pony up the $5 for this app.
strong buy I would say, the Europe version is ~$80… :'(
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Offer a part in general I saw that the maps in EU are much more expensive that US, anyone knows the reason?
Maybe they feel the competition with Google Nav which instead in EU is much less of a viable option as the moment you leave your country you would be in roaming with no data plan.
I can’t even get it activated on my Samsung Fascinate…and there are a LOT of reviews saying it’s “junk”.
CoPilot was the truckers choice for a long time, because it would navigate you on roads that were legal, and had the right bridge clearances, etc.. If this version also does this, I imagine it would be a big hit with the truckers.
$5 for the US version and then a stupid price just so we can use it here in the UK.. sounds fair..
Has anyone purchased this, and been able to download the map data? So far, I’ve had no luck. Tried to dl maps straight to my Droid via Wifi, and the dl kept failing. Tried to do it via desktop computer and the dl won’t even start. I can see where all the negative comments are coming from in the Market.
To Justin.G11 and the others who say that the “What if you’re in a cellphone dead zone” argument is not valid anymore, you obviously live in a major metropolitan area and never travel outside of it.
I assure you, there are many, many, many areas that receive ZERO, and I do mean absolutely no cell signal at all.
Prime example, try driving through many areas of northern Colorado, or even some locations in central Illinois.
A lot of people live in or near areas that can not get cell data reception.
It’s a big country.
Wow Justin.G11 what a nice generalization. There is not service everywhere. You must not get out much. I was just at the grand canyon this weekend…. no service.
5 for USA. Great, now 78 For Europe. How great is that.
Yeah, I have a cabin in the mountains and there is occasional cell coverage there is no data coverage even in town. On that note, do these maps include forest service roads? Seems like a great option for $5.
I installed the program and it crashed repeatedly after downloading the maps.
I emailed CoPilot and they responded quickly, sending me a link to download the directory structure as a zip file, which I unzipped on the computer and copied over to my Vibrant. It was a number of subdirectories and several thousand files, which is why I think the phone was choking on unpacking all the data.
Everything works fine now. A bargain at the low price.
I took my Evo on a long road trip this Summer (and will again next Summer, since we do them every year). This app would’ve been great for the times when I’m driving to tiny mountain towns and cell coverage is spotty. Yes, i can see how this app could come in handy.
I use to own co pilot on my lap top back in 2001 and it cost me 300 bucks. Having a younger version for 5 bucks is a steal. I may get it because Google maps is so freaking unreliable. I mainly use it for traffic but the directions suck. I’m assuming it’s because of the traffic data and rerouting tendencies.
The maps are insanely old. I do not beleive this is the final product. From the their site it looks like they are going to change to real maps and charge some whopping subscription fees. Looks like a bait and switch to me.
Correct me if I’m wrong but it’s $5 for the app and a 1 time download of the current US map. It’s then $30 for a one year subscription/life of v8? When they decide to update to version 9 you’ll need to buy that version for the privilege of purchasing the next round of maps?
So, worst case it’s $35 a year for updated maps and application? The lack of clarification makes me wary. ALK NEEDS to makes this clear to it’s current and prospective customers. Like, FAQ point 1.
I just got it for the iphone. Its a joke these maps are 10 yrs old