First of all, thank you ALK Technologies for giving Aweezon a free copy of CoPilot Live 8 Europe ! We downloaded it, we tried it, and we enjoyed it !

The idea was to review three GPS apps for the iPhone : TomTom Western Europe, Navigon MobileNavigator Europe and CoPilot Live 8 Europe. Why those three ? They are the first real GPS apps to appear on the App Store, similar price tags and developed by leading companies in this field.

Unfortunately, Aweezon only received CoPilot Live 8 Europe for testing. So I will not be able to properly review and make comparisons. On top of that, my existing knowledge on general GPS technologies is not great, based on the fact that I never used one before. So I am going to review only one.

This review is not for the ones that want a in-depth view of the app, but for the general public to get an understanding of what is GPS and why you should buy this app.

What does GPS means and what does it do ? GPS means “G”lobal “P”ositioning “S”ystem and it allows you to position and locate yourself on a “live” real time map (within a screen based mobile device). Based on that position and criterias you input, it can calculate and show you ways from A to B.

CoPilot Live 8 Europe will do that and more : it will calculate you trajectory based on your preferences, map with day and night vision, you can choose how you are traveling (car, bike, etc…), 2D and 3D maps, and even more. Please visit there web site for more info and full list of features. Most comments from the users on the App Store mentions that CoPilot does and has more features than the two other apps mentioned above.

For me, tons of features are not the most important part of choosing an app, and in this case, does the app actually works and take me reliably from A to B ? Yes it does ! Tried in the public bus and in my own car.

When tried in the public bus, the app calculated a trajectory that the bus was following. Strange feeling but it proved successful for a simple trip. One negative point, it is that the GPS did not like when the bus was stopping frequently : it takes around 10s for the dot on the GPS to move when the bus stops and take off again. I would tend to blame more the GPS chip than the app itself.

In the car, it calculated a trajectory that my partner was following. No problems at all beside it could not find our starting point (it could not find our house number but did find our neighbor). Then once arriving near the destination, the app showed us that our restaurant was on the right, when actually it was half a mile down the road, on the left.

The GPS map is clear and you can choose how much info you want to be displayed on the screen. As well, I enjoyed the app telling me where to go (you can choose different voices of different genders) and of course you can mute it if it gets on your nerves.

My first experience of GPS has been good and proved that my iPhone is just more than just a phone with features to show off. This app has more features than the two other ones mentioned earlier on, it’s price tag is cheaper, there is more positive reviews for it than for any other GPS app, and the company seems very active on the development and update releases for CoPilot Live 8.

If you need a good alternative to a GPS kit, then get CoPilot Live 8 !