Top 15 GPS Apps and Devices for Holiday Travel (and Beyond)

Even when I’m driving around San Francisco, where I live, I often use a GPS navigation app. It’s not because the city’s layout is so perplexing; it’s because the better apps help me avoid traffic. So even if you know where you’re going this holiday season, you might still want to fire up a GPS app. But which one? And what about dedicated GPS devices? With so many navigation apps, is there any reason to own one? Navigate your way through the following 15 GPS apps and devices for the answers. I’ve tested almost every app/device in this slideshow, which are arranged in no particular order (though my current favorite is first). All are free (or freemium) unless otherwise noted.

iOS

Magellan’s RoadMate USA was once my favorite GPS navigation app. I liked the uncluttered interface, the app’s capability to quickly look up points of interest on Google and navigate to them, its often-sensible directions, and its above-average pedestrian mode directions. But from time to time, the app would have a “crisis of confidence,” changing its mind suddenly about the direction I’m supposed to take. I put it up with a few times, but when it encouraged me to immediately cross several lanes on a busy boulevard, I decided enough was enough. Plus, at $45, the app is expensive, doesn’t have any particularly wow-worthy features, and isn’t regularly refreshed or refined. As of this writing, its last update was in February 2014.

Android (beta), Windows Phone

Nokia Here recently became available in the Google Play store as beta software; an iOS release is expected in “early 2015,” according to the company. It’s probably one of the most international GPS apps available, with maps and directions for more than 800 cities and 40 countries—more than any other mapping service, Nokia claims. You can download maps to your device for offline navigation; share your location with others via SMS or email and Glympse; and choose from lots of voices for navigation, including French Canadian, Bahasa Malaysia, and some I can’t pronounce. I like how the app clearly presents you with multiple routing options at the beginning, with estimated travel times based on current traffic conditions.

Android, iOS

Amsterdam-based TomTom offers multiple navigation apps, include USA apps for Android (for the curious sum of $37.01) and iOS ($25). Before spending that money, though, be aware you can download the Try TomTom GPS Navigation app for iOS for $1, which is good for 30 days. (Oddly, I didn’t find an Android equivalent.) Along with the usual navigation features, TomTom USA lets you download maps to your device; create multi-stop routes; and navigate via ‘eco’ routing, designed to get you from points A to B using as little gas/batter power as possible. I’ve not used TomTom USA much, mainly because with so many other options, I haven’t felt compelled by its fairly-standard-but-respectable feature set.

Android, Amazon, iOS, Windows 8

As online navigation goes, MapQuest has been around longer than most (since 1996). I used it often for years, but my affections cooled as GPS devices came down in price and apps proliferated. Still, MapQuest’s mobile apps have their fans. Among their best features is the capability to create multi-stop routes —which, surprisingly, a lot of GPS apps and devices either don’t allow or make difficult. You can also click on gas stations nearby to compare prices and book hotel rooms. I like MapQuest, but it’s guilty of taking me down some circuitous paths. And it lacks some features that I appreciate, such as the capability to download maps for offline use. MapQuest will cache maps for routes created on iPhones while on Wi-Fi, however.