[jwinch2]

Well, today I had my first real opportunity to use the beta version of Nokia Drive for Windows Phone 8. I was operating a Nokia Lumia 920.

Overall impressions:
The app worked quite well for the most part. It found our current location quickly and got us to where we were going with only 1 error (a dead end street that the app seemed to think went on to link up with another street), and one bug (a street name that is inaccurate on the app - The name of the street is Andria drive and the app says it is Andrea drive). The second issue is relatively small, but if I was in a bigger city, it could have been a major problem. On the plus side, the interface was nice, the maps were very clean and attractive, and the voice guidance worked well including the use of street names.

Having used the app to go around town to 11 different locations in a row, there is one big thing that needs to be improved in my view. The Nokia drive app needs to have an integrated voice command function for finding addresses. As it stands now, you can go through the search function for the phone, or the voice command function from the OS. As a bit of a tip, I found that there were a few times that I hit the voice command (hold the home key for a few seconds) and did a search for an address, but no map came up. This could be remedied it seemed by adding the word "map" at the end of the search. For example when searching one could say "search for, 555 main street, Dallas Texas, map". That seemed to bring up the Bing map of the location and one could ask the phone to provide direction from there by clicking on the flag that highlights the chosen location.

Regardless, this needs to be more completely integrated in the Nokia drive app itself. Or, Nokia drive needs to be integrated with the OS more effectively. With my android phone, I could hit the voice command button and simply say "Navigate to 555 main street, Dallas Texas" and it would pull up the Google Navigator from there and everything would be automatic from that point on. It worked very well and was intuitive. There is no reason that this should functionality should not be enabled on this platform with the promised integration between the phone OS and Nokia's locations services.

The other big thing which needs to be added is, when you are approaching your destination, the app needs to tell you if you need to be looking to the right or left. For example, other navigation systems I have used all say something like "... in .2 miles, your destination will be on the right". This is a valuable piece of information to have, in particular in cities with multi-lane streets and in busy traffic.

So, in short: 1) allow for direct opening of the app through the voice command activated by the home button, 2) provide information as to whether your destination is on your right or left, and 3) fix a couple of other minor bugs, and this will be an awesome app and as good or better than any navigation system I have used.

As it stands now, sans those things, I give it a B at best.

[cre8tivspirit]

I too have been playing with the Nokia Drive +Beta for a couple of days now and I'd like to add more thing that would dramatically improve this app. It needs to be capable of accessing my contacts when I'm setting a destination. I don't understand why I should have to search for an address that is already in my contacts list. Damned inconvenient if you ask me.

[jwinch2]

I too have been playing with the Nokia Drive +Beta for a couple of days now and I'd like to add more thing that would dramatically improve this app. It needs to be capable of accessing my contacts when I'm setting a destination. I don't understand why I should have to search for an address that is already in my contacts list. Damned inconvenient if you ask me.

Agreed. That would be a good idea.

[BeaverJuicer]

It needs to be capable of accessing my contacts when I'm setting a destination. I don't understand why I should have to search for an address that is already in my contacts list. Damned inconvenient if you ask me.

I have found a workaround for this. If you go into your contact in people, and click on the address there, it will pull it up in maps. From there you can get your directions. It would be nice to be able to get to the address with either workflow, yes.

[jwinch2]

I have found a workaround for this. If you go into your contact in people, and click on the address there, it will pull it up in maps. From there you can get your directions. It would be nice to be able to get to the address with either workflow, yes.

That is very helpful. Thanks for that!

[Odog4ever]

Thanks for that tip/workaround for searching an address using the voice commands (by adding "search for" and "map") Worked like a charm. All in all I'm happy with these first steps from Nokia Drive as its a viable and free alternative to get turn by turn spoken navigation, with street names, on my 920. It says its in beta so I expect them to keep rolling features out over time and since its decoupled from the OS the updates can be more frequent.


As a next step I hope they make it easier way to get a list of directions once you are in the Drive app. I like to vet the directions. Especially since I once did a search and Nokia Drive beta was going to route me to the middle of the city and not the actual address, good think I decided to zoom out and confirm where the endpoint was at. For some odd reason you can start a search in Nokia Maps, get a link to turn by turn driving directions in Drive but you can't get a link back to Nokia Maps and list directions.

[KoukiFC3S]

Thanks for the impressions. I would like to see more integration in the future.

[Dan Draper]

I was using the navigation last night and it is a good start, but not up to snuff with Google yet. I converted from an HTC EVO to the Nokia 920. I love Windows 8 and the phone, but I definitely want to see the maps and nav improve with the following features (some mentioned above):

1. Give advance warning about the turn after the next turn. For instance, "take the exit in 1 mile" is great, but which direction do I go when I exit. I can look at the map to see, but I am guessing that is not always the best thing to do.

2. Give a street name or exit number. Google tells you "take exit 27 and stay right" where Nokia says "take exit on right in 1 mile". There were a couple of occasions where there were two or three exits close together and it was difficult to determine which "exit in 200 ft" was the right one. This omission alone will keep me from using drive again. I will carry my EVO in the truck, turn on the hotspot on my Nokia, and use Google Nav.

3. No voice command????? I know there are other workarounds for that (thanks to those above), but that is a big omission. I really like being able to press the microphone in Google Nav and just speak. I have to believe they will fix this.

4. Text route - they need to enable users to see text route

5. Traffic and alternate routes missing

On the plus side, it is a very simple and clean app. Hopefully they are seeing the forums and reading the suggestions. They would kill Google's Nav if they added these features and integrated more completely with WP8.

[jwinch2]

I was using the navigation last night and it is a good start, but not up to snuff with Google yet. I converted from an HTC EVO to the Nokia 920. I love Windows 8 and the phone, but I definitely want to see the maps and nav improve with the following features (some mentioned above):

1. Give advance warning about the turn after the next turn. For instance, "take the exit in 1 mile" is great, but which direction do I go when I exit. I can look at the map to see, but I am guessing that is not always the best thing to do.

2. Give a street name or exit number. Google tells you "take exit 27 and stay right" where Nokia says "take exit on right in 1 mile". There were a couple of occasions where there were two or three exits close together and it was difficult to determine which "exit in 200 ft" was the right one. This omission alone will keep me from using drive again. I will carry my EVO in the truck, turn on the hotspot on my Nokia, and use Google Nav.

3. No voice command????? I know there are other workarounds for that (thanks to those above), but that is a big omission. I really like being able to press the microphone in Google Nav and just speak. I have to believe they will fix this.

4. Text route - they need to enable users to see text route

5. Traffic and alternate routes missing

On the plus side, it is a very simple and clean app. Hopefully they are seeing the forums and reading the suggestions. They would kill Google's Nav if they added these features and integrated more completely with WP8.

In response to #2, you can download the voice you prefer to hear, with or without street names. If you choose with street names, it will take care of your problem.

[jwinch2]

Well, a couple of months down the road and I was able to put Nokia Drive Beta to a bit more of a test. I drove across about half of the country for the Holidays and also got off route a couple of times in some fairly major cities.

Overall, the app did well with two notable exceptions.

The first issue happened in a lower sized city (half a million people) when I had stopped for food and gas in a relatively known (to me) area. What I was unsure of was the best way to get back on the interstate from where I was. When I put the app back on and selected my destination address, the app wanted to take me way out of my way, like 10 miles or so out of my way, to find the entrance ramp to the interstate. I knew that was wrong and drove in the direction where I knew there was a ramp, but that I didn't know exactly where it was, approximately half a mile away. As I got closer, I saw a sign for the interstate and about that same time, the app recalculated my route and found the ramp.

The second issue had a similar genesis, but could have been even worse in terms of outcome. I had stopped for good and gas, in a larger city this time (1 million or so), again in an area that I knew somewhat from having lived there years ago. When I finished eating and gassing up, I again plugged the destination address in the app, and this time, not only did it try to take me out of my way for a ramp back to the interstate, it tried to take me on entirely the wrong route. I needed to be on one interstate going south, and it tried to take me on a different one going west (the city is at the junction of three different interstates). I am not sure how far it had me traveling on the incorrect interstate, but when I scrolled out, it was pretty far. Obviously, since I knew it was wrong, I ignored it and got on the correct interstate at which time the app recalculated and showed the proper route.

Now, since in both of these situations I knew the basics of where I was and where I needed to be, this was pretty much an annoyance more than anything. However, if this was a bigger city or one that I was not familiar with, it could have been very very bad. I am not sure why this happened or what the problem was, but I do know that it was steering me wrong, very wrong, more than once.

At this point, my trust for the app is pretty low. It can get you from state to state on the highway no problem, but I would not recommend counting on it to get you around in a big city or out of the city to another state far away.

[petersun21]

Here is my experience with It. Driving from Milwaukee to 100 W. Erie St., Chicago.
As soon as entered I94 toll way, Nokia drive is asking me to get off I94 whenever there is an exit. This continued until I hit I90. Coming back Nokia recommended I290 - I294 - I94. Both directions are way off.

[cametall]

Here is my experience with It. Driving from Milwaukee to 100 W. Erie St., Chicago.
As soon as entered I94 toll way, Nokia drive is asking me to get off I94 whenever there is an exit. This continued until I hit I90. Coming back Nokia recommended I290 - I294 - I94. Both directions are way off.

Not sure if those are toll roads or not, but Drive was set by default to avoid toll roads when I first installed it (8x), which I didn't realize when I tried it out for the first time. It took me through an unsavory neighborhood when the turnpike would've been much faster (and safer).

[petersun21]

There is not setting I can chhose