THROW AWAY YOUR GPS DEVICE

In early 2010, Google rolled out a new, free application to many Android users, Navigate, which provides audio turn-by-turn navigation to your destination. Given that I frequently travel to new cities, I had at times considered purchasing a dedicated GPS device, but I am very glad I waited. Why would I need a special device, along with its monthly subscription fees, when my phone does it for me?

Figure 7.2 Getting there by bus

Whenever you search for an address and then ask for directions in Maps, it will ask whether you want to use Maps (Get directions) or Navigate. Navigate generally takes a few seconds to load, but after it does, you will see your route highlighted on the screen. The orientation switches to that roughly first-person perspective you probably have seen in dedicated GPS navigation systems (see Figure 7.3). You then receive turn-by-turn directions as you drive, using Navigate's built-in text-to-speech voice, which my daughter decided was named Sierra.