iPhone World

A few days ago I posted about Google Latitude. After having a while longer to play with it, I’ve determined that the fact that it is a web app is pretty much a deal breaker. Even on a 3GS with Backgrounder, it just won’t do. Folks who frequently use the Safari download toggle for SB Settings will have to re-start Latitude after each toggle as well. Not to mention the battery drain. Even if you do keep Safari running in the background (or foreground), does it even function if Latitude is not the active page?

So, enough with Latitude, at least for now. I’ve begun using an app called Navizon. It is available from Cydia for both OS2 and OS3. If it does not show up when you search, add the Navizon repo (http://cydia.navizon.com/) (or xsellize). The two main differences between Navizon and Latitude, are Navizon is a real app, and it does run in the background. Along with that it updates the location every 10 minutes, so it’s not hard on the battery, and can be turned off at any time.

One thing that would be nice is the ability to change the update interval, but maybe that will come with the next version. When active there will be a GPS crosshair icon in the status bar.

Tapping the GPS icon at the bottom left will show your current position. Tapping the buddy icon will show an overview of all of your buddies. The zoom level for buddy view is anything but intelligent. You can quickly pan and zoom on your own though.

The buddies button at the upper right will show everyone on your buddy list along with their status, last update time, and method of location.

Locations can be reported based on Phone (cell tower), Wi-Fi, or GPS.

Tapping the name of a friend in the buddies view will zoom to that person’s last known location.

Tapping the arrow next to a buddy will allow you to quickly get directions to or from their location, show them in the maps app, or email their location.

Along with everything in the app, there is also a website that you can use to view the location of your buddies using Google maps. For a fee of $10 (one time) you can also have historical locations stored, for yourself only, that you can view on the website.

On the site you can set up alerts. You can either have an email sent or a user defined URL called when a selected buddy enters or exits an area you designate. Keep in mind though, that you might want to make the radius of the alert area larger than you would think. Because the background service updates every 10 minutes, if the area is too small the person could enter and exit between updates and no alert would be triggered. Without the $10 fee I believe you can have 5 alerts per month.

As an added bonus, if you are planning a trip, you can use the ‘My Coverage’ section to view the locations of previously mapped cell towers. Wi-Fi Access Point and cell tower locations are all ‘provided’ by other users running Navizon on GPS enabled phones. As you drive, walk, etc, if Navizon finds an AP or cell tower, and has a GPS location, it will report back to their servers and make those AP’s/towers able to be used as locators for those without GPS enabled phones running Navizon. As you locate and report (all automated) new APs and towers, you receive reward credits.

• Wi-Fi Access Points discovered by you / already mapped: 3 points / 1 point
• Cell towers discovered by you / already mapped: 15 points / 2 points

If you rack up 10,000 points, you can redeem a reward of $10 via PayPal. Free users can redeem only one reward, coincidentally the same amount as becoming a paid member. If you live in an area with few access points mapped, take a slow cruise or a walk around your neighborhood with the Navizon app running to get some easy points, or look for areas with few or no cell towers mapped. In 3 days of just background use, I have gotten 67 points.

The website at times does not like to cooperate though. When trying to view coverage for a large area it can take quite a while for it to load. Setting your home area and alert areas can sometimes take a few attempts to get the bounds where you want them.

Overall, Navizon definitely beats out Google Latitude, at least for now.