My experience with Nokia Drive - Beta - WP8

jwinch2

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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.
 
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cre8tivspirit

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.
 

Dan Draper

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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).
 

jwinch2

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Well, HERE Drive screwed me again today. I have been having ongoing issues. Pretty much anytime I get into a major metro I run into problems with it. From not telling exit numbers, to taking me way out of the way when there was much easier, shorter, and less chaotic way to get where I needed to go, to blatantly taking me in the wrong direction I have had more problems with the app in big cities than I care to mention. I know its free, so it is hard to complain too much, but if Nokia is going to bill itself as a mapping and data company and really hang their hat on that service, they are dropping the ball big time. Google drive was free on my android also and I never ever had these problems.

Time to pay for what will hopefully be a better service.
 

o0Nighthawk0o

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And my experience was very good this last weekend. I used my Lumia 920 and Here Drive+ for navigation from Indiana to Connecticut and back. Flawless on the way there. Told street names, exit numbers and even rerouted me when I missed an exit, D@mn NY drivers anyway. Took me right to the front door of my hotel. We cam back by way of Stoystown, PA, we stopped by the Flight 93 memorial. Got me there with no problems and from there to my house. The only thing I found was while driving US 30 in Ohio it would tell me to keep right in 2 miles or keep left or stay in center lane. I was staying on 30 and it was telling me this stuff at every exit or intersection. It kept this up for about 40 miles and then quit. While not a major problem it was very annoying having this woman yacking every two to four minutes telling me the obvious. I already had my wife in the car, I didn't need another one. :winktongue:
 

blegs38552

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All in all, I like this app. Always gets me where I want to go, usually with the best route that I know of. Hopefully, improvements will keep on coming. I would like it to be traffic sensitive, and have it recommend alternate routes in the event that there is a delay ahead of me. I don't know if this is incorporated into it - so far, I have not received any warnings or advisories of this type.
 

MKairys

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I have a question for you Here users: what does it need a background task for? Is this required for continuing navigation under lockscreen or something like? I ask because I have too many background tasks right now and I'm looking to pare them down...
 

jwinch2

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And my experience was very good this last weekend. I used my Lumia 920 and Here Drive+ for navigation from Indiana to Connecticut and back. Flawless on the way there. Told street names, exit numbers and even rerouted me when I missed an exit, D@mn NY drivers anyway. Took me right to the front door of my hotel. We cam back by way of Stoystown, PA, we stopped by the Flight 93 memorial. Got me there with no problems and from there to my house. The only thing I found was while driving US 30 in Ohio it would tell me to keep right in 2 miles or keep left or stay in center lane. I was staying on 30 and it was telling me this stuff at every exit or intersection. It kept this up for about 40 miles and then quit. While not a major problem it was very annoying having this woman yacking every two to four minutes telling me the obvious. I already had my wife in the car, I didn't need another one. :winktongue:


I have had good luck on long distance trips as well. My issues with the app only seem to come up when I am in the middle of a major metro.
 

BenTR

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A couple of things that came up when I used HERE Drive+:

1. I had to go to HERE Maps to get written directions. Is there an option to get this directly from Drive+?

2. Is there a way to get exit numbers? On the interstate we were navigating, there were about four hundred trillion exits in a row onto the same highway. I couldn't tell the driver ahead of time which one to look for, because exits were only identified by road name.

3. Scale. Is there a way to display scale? It would be nice to have a sense how far away destinations are by looking at the map. I could not find such a feature.
 

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