GPS On Your Smart Phone - Valley News Live - KVLY/KXJB - Fargo/Grand Forks

  Sales of portable GPS units have fallen, but plenty of people are
downloading navigation apps to get where they're going. Consumer Reports
tests some of the latest GPS apps for your smart phone.

  Navigation apps are getting better than ever, says Consumer Reports. Some
sport features like reality view to show major intersections … or celebrity
voices that you can download for some laughs.

  If you own an Android phone, you're in luck. It comes with free Google
navigation built right in. And it has turn-by-turn directions, just like you'd
find on a regular GPS.

  But if you're an iPhone user, you need to download an app to get GPS-style
navigation.

  Jim Travers/Consumer Reports: "There are plenty of free options available, but we've found you tend to get what you pay for."

  Consumer Reports says you can't go wrong buying an app from one of the
GPS giants — TomTom, Garmin, Navigon and Magellan.

  Jim Travers/Consumer Reports: "It's no surprise that the companies whose GPS navigators do best in our testing also make some of the top apps for the iPhone."

  But expect to pay up to 60 dollars for a quality, name-brand app. And know
that the download can eat up a chunk of your iPhone's memory.

  And no matter which phone you have, be aware that most have smaller
screens than portable GPS units. And you'll have to factor in the cost of a
mount and a charger to make the most of your smart-phone navigator.

  Consumer Reports says the price of apps fluctuates, but you can save by
shopping for sales, or by limiting your download to a specific region — say,
maps of the East Coast.

And a word about safety — no matter how you choose to navigate, pull over
and come to a full stop whenever you program your device.