TomTom iPhone App Fail
I’ve been excited for TomTom’s iPhone app ever since Apple’s keynote at WWDC 2009. It was definitely the most exciting third party announcement during the show. Watch the announcement.
I’ve never had a reason to get a standalone GPS navigator because I have a great sense of direction, I know how to get almost anywhere in Sydney (my home town), and when I was traveling in America I’d easily learn how to get somewhere after navigating it once or twice (by foot OR car). Moreover, I suppose a turn-by-turn GPS navigator would be helpful if I was alone or road tripping with someone in an unknown land.
That said, I hadn’t had much experience with a standalone GPS navigator until I got back to Australia in July and my mom had one (which she doesn’t really know how to use, and has shattered the screen twice). I used it (between shatters) and found the fixed speed camera, red light camera, and exceeding the speed limit notifiers quite handy. I’m sure the ‘place of interest’ function would be handy in an area I’m unfamiliar with, too. Yes, Mom’s GPS is a TomTom.
In mid-August Corey mentioned that the TomTom app was available in the Australian iTunes Store (opens iTunes). I was rather baffled because Australia rarely gets any technology before the USA, but sure enough I had a look and it was there… priced at AUD$100. (Okay, so it’s actually AUD$99.99, but that 1 cent to make it look cheaper annoys me.)
I was expecting possibly US$20/AUD$25 for the app. I understand that a standalone TomTom device is around $100, but this is an application with the option of a cradle (that costs another USD$150; totaling the TomTom iPhone car kit to ~$250).
This is the way it should work: ~$20 for the application and ~$100 or less for the cradle. Sure, $100 is still far too much for a some plastic and a cable, but the cradle MUST come with the application included (I.e., a coupon that you enter in iTunes which gives you the app for free). Thus, your $100 gets you the $20 app + the cradle for $80. Fair? Close enough.
On top of the pricing being quite excessive, I heard Alex Lindsay mention on MacBreak Weekly#154 that the app lacks many features of a standalone TomTom. That there officially killed it for me. I’d rather look at my sexy Google Maps than deal with a clunk bunch of pixelated blocks with an arrow in the middle.
I take the opinions of my peers very seriously. I’ll be waiting for a review of the TomTom app version 2.0 before I consider buying it again.
Oh, and there should be some discount for users that want maps for different countries. AUD$390 (combined price) for the Australian, US/Canada, and Western Europe is too much in my opinion. Maybe there should be a worldwide edition (imagine the file size on that 
). I’d pay ~$100 for every country currently supported and free additions of new countries. Then again, when on earth am I going to be driving around EVERY country?
TomTom, you lost me at $99.
