Update: I received an email from TomTom Support:
All updates will be provided through iTunes. This application is not compatible with TomTom HOME. This application is not compatible with MapShare.
I picked up TomTom for iPhone for $99. It is really expensive, and we have a TomTom 720, but I’ve been interested in the all-in-phone concept so here we are.
We took it out for a spin today and it worked fairly well. Unlike the 720, it does not announce street names, just turn left/right etc. It does show lane changes.
The software does not appear to use the compass, as it had me facing the wrong way in the driveway. Maybe this is due to being used vertically or horizontally. The compass in the iPhone seems to stink and even then only works well when the phone is horizontal, which is not how you’d be using the GPS.
I have not tried receiving a call yet but I read that it quits the TomTom app, however, you can re-launch it and remain on your call. If this is the case, then it seems like a software update can make this better.
The TomTom support site sucks. It mentions using TomTom Home to upload maps, etc, but that just doesn’t seem right for the iPhone. Other support pages show the handheld device UI, not the iPhone’s, so that makes me believe their knowledge base is matching similar articles, not the right articles.
The performance is fine, and you can even look up addresses in the contacts list. However, two out of three of mine so far could not be recognized. It did allow me to “enter them manually” but in reality, that just confirmed the data that was already there, so I didn’t have to enter much. I believe the bug has to do with parsing the state field, as it was trying to find my address in the right city, but wrong state.
What I don’t know is how the map updates and IQ updates work. Nothing in the manual and nothing on the site about this. It should just work over the 3G/WiFi connection, but I have no clue.
The other thing TomTom could do better is handling blocked streets. We ran into a right-turn-only that TomTom wanted us to make a left on. The only option (which was buried, these should be on the top menu!) was to mark the street as blocked. TomTom should know it was asking me to make a left and offer a “Right turn only” option, which would give the software the exact input it needed.
The TomTom app seems to disable sleep on your iPhone, so don’t leave it running on battery. This includes the preferences screen too, not just the navigation map screens.
Is it worth $100? Depends if you want a GPS on the iPhone. You can’t sell this TomTom, you can’t give it to a friend. The software is yours forever. But if you don’t want charge/carry two devices, you might want to check TomTom for iPhone out.