iPhone GPS solution?

I got an iPhone a couple of days ago. I tried using the ATT Turn by Turn Navigation program, but the audio on the iPhone speaker phone was not loud enough to hear on the freeway. So, i want to just play the iPhone GPS through the Prius speakers.

i think what i need is an auxiliary cable. Is the auxiliary jack inside the console? I looked in the manual, it looks like it's in there. If i just plug an auxiliary cable into the jack and into the iPhone and press the DISC/AUX button on the stereo, is that all i need to do?

I would like to get something that i can use to mount the iPhone where i can see it easily for Navigation, which will play through my car speakers, and which will charge the phone at the same time. Is there such a thing? I have a 2007 package 6. I would like to be able to play music from the iPhone through the car speakers too, but i work a lot in my car so i don't use music as much as navigation and phone for phone calls--i use my work phone, not the iPhone, for work calls (because they pay for it).

I've seen a lot of products that talk about playing your music from iPhone or iPod and having steering wheel controls, which is excellent, but they don't say anything about playing the GPS turn by turn directions and traffic updates on the phone through the car speakers.

The reason i don't simply use the Prius Navigation is because i can do almost nothing on it while i'm driving and lots of times i need to get directions while i'm driving and most of all traffic reports. I have been using Verizon VZ Navigator which i love, it's near perfect. I can easily see traffic conditions on various freeways and choose which freeway to take in real time, having the best chance of making the right choice for avoiding bad traffic. I'm hoping i can use the iPhone to do that and let the Verizon phone go. I do use the Prius GPS, i like it, it helps me find points of interest. But it doesn't meet the needs the VZ Navigator meets which i use day in and day out.

 

My first GPS experience was with the Verizon navigator. Rather than putting out $300 for a device i decided to try it out (first month free) on the phone. This was about 3 years ago. I loved it from day 1. i didn't know how i ever lived without it. Always before it was struggling with the Thomas Guide, dog eared with pages falling out because of how often i have to use a map. The turn by turn voice prompts were a dream come true, amazing. Everything about the VZ Navigator was easy straightforward intuitive user friendly, there was nothing to figure out, it's a very simple thing, all the info i need is right there on my little razr screen, arrows letting me know if i'm going right or left or straight, boldly drawn and easy to see in a quick glance, bright contrasting colors, nice loud clear voice, easy to go forward and see the next step or steps, again, in just a glance, everything is so simple and to the point, easy to repeat a prompt if i wasn't listening and didn't hear one, just press the middle button, no need to look at the phone. It's been perfect.

At first i didn't have traffic. Since adding traffic, the device has been better than ever. Same good qualities as the navigation, clear bold lines, two or three button pushes to find anything out, easy to operate without looking at the phone, using a thumb. It adds so much to the quality of my life.

So, about a year and a half ago, maybe more, i decided bigger would be better and i got a Magellan Maestro 3140. What a disappointment. I had to struggle with it all the time, i couldn't use it while driving, it took too much attention, the touch screen was not very responsive and i much preferred the simple push button operation of the VZ Nav. You could not repeat a prompt if you missed it. Too bad, you're out of luck.

The VZ Navigator would remember my previous streets and cities so that i only had to type one letter and it would fill in the most common places i went, or anywhere i'd gone before. Not so with the Magellan.

Also, the only way to mount it was on the window which is illegal in my state. And the suction cup didn't stay up, it fell off. There were other problems i have since forgotten. To be fair, i was spoiled by how perfect the VZ Nav was for my needs. Tough act to follow.

So i wasn't expecting much when i got the Prius, but i like it, it's much better quality than the Magellan, the touch screen is responsive, it's bigger so it's easier to see. The VZ navigator doesn't need to be big because it boils all the info down to the very basic things you need to know. It's a very different format from touch screen Navigation.

But if i can't check traffic while i'm driving, my life will be a less happy one. I will be having to fight and squeeze my way over to off ramps, it in surface street traffic, wait at lights until i can find some place to park, then sit there and check the traffic, then fight and squeeze my way back onto the freeway, and i will lose a half hour just to check the traffic. Much better to tap my Razr with my thumb and have it show me bright colored lines so i can tell if the route i'm planning is OK or not, accomplished in moments without getting off the freeway.

Because my work involves driving around a lot, and without necessarily a fixed itinerary, and i have to find places, the VZ Nav at $10 a month has been more than worth it. I remember what life was like before it. I don't want to go back. So i have hopes for the iPhone. I'm told there will be apps. The traffic feature on the ATT Navigator, as far as i can tell, is just announcing "congestion ahead in 3.4 miles," that kind of thing. What i want and need is something that looks like Sigalert.com, and the VZ Navigator looks like a simplified version of that. So, i imagine that on the iPhone i can use Sigalert.com.

 

I haven't gotten around to using voice commands with the Prius navigator. Can you ask it to find an address while you're driving? That would be very helpful for me. When i tried to get info from it while driving, the options seemed to be blocked, which i respect, i do think it's reasonable to enforce safe use. i don't usually try to find locations while driving, but i do use Traffic a lot while driving.

Is there any way to update the map data on the Prius?

As for operating the Verizon navigator while driving, it's nothing like regular Navigators, it's less involved than operating the radio to get the station you want or the mode. It takes less attention than that. I don't actually enter addresses while i'm driving but i do sometimes check steps ahead and i constantly check traffic. I barely have to take my eyes off the road to do it. The iPhone looks like it's going to be more difficult, but i need to give it time, i need to get used to it and see how it works. After 3 days of iPhone, i'm very impressed. It's great!

As for the $10 a month, i would love to not have to pay it. As i said in the previous post, i tried one of the stand alone GPS navigator devices and was very disappointed. it didn't do what i needed, it was a struggle. I'm sure they work great for most peoples' needs. My situation is pretty unusual, driving around and making appointments for the same day on the fly, adapting my itinerary as i go, depending on who's available, covering some pretty big distances, many freeways a day. $10 is a small price to pay for how much help i get from ongoing traffic info and a very well designed dependable GPS Navigator device.

 

Wow, that's great. I tried it out. It's a bit cumbersome and weird but it works! Excellent. I didn't realize it had any functionality while you're driving. I got the impression it wanted you to do everything while parked on the side of the road. I was too quick to judge. I fell back on my comfortable VZ Navigator and didn't bother with it after some initial frustrations.

Yes, i take your word for the superiority of the Garmin GPS devices. The Magellan was poor in many ways. One of them was that they didn't provide a beanbag. I looked longingly at those bean bags for other brands, before i sent it back to Amazon for a refund.

 

Thanks for those options. The longer i have the iPhone, the more stoked i am--very happy with it, great little device.

I got one of those mini plug cables today and it totally works, so the problem of the ATT Navigator audio is solved. Unfortunately, the GPS didn't work too hot. First, it found the car wash i wanted and pulled up a route right away. Then, i wanted to look at a second car wash on the list, clicked on it, and then waited...and waited...and waited, while the progress bar slowly creeped across. It finally finished and then told me that no GPS was available and i should move to a different spot. My Verizon one doesn't do that. Then, i tried again without moving and it quickly pulled up the second car wash. I asked for driving directions and it told me the first step, a quick left turn. After making the left turn i drove a very long way before the GPS made it to the second step. If i hadn't already known where i was going, it would've been a big problem. It just kept telling me to make that first left turn, until a mile or two later.

But i expect there will be lots of solutions developed for the iPhone over time.