User Reviews on ALK CoPilot Live Premium

Needs work, polish

6/10

Chris

27th July 2011

The interface has been massively improved from v8, so that's a plus. However, like many users I've experienced a number of basic issues with mine. Routing is suspect (though can be improved by adjusting preferences), ETAs are way off, and there's a general lack of polish that I wouldn't expect from even the most basic dedicated satnav. For example, the interface hasn't been optimised properly for landscape use (particularly on widescreen devices like my Arc), voice guidance isn't speed sensitive so will always prompt you a set distance from your next turn, and it often makes pronunciation errors that aren't down to the TTS engine. For example, 'St. John's Road' is pronounced 'Street John's Road'. See what happened there?

Hopefully some of these issues will be sorted in due course. I'll be sticking to Google Maps Navigation for now. Google's offering is a basic but reliable and nicely finished alternative, and it's free.

Great Value

8/10

Andy B

27th July 2011

I'm using the Android version, but I think all of the main points in this article apply to both iThings and Android devices.

The old clunky UI was a bugbear of mine, and the new one is so much better. Routing seems to be pretty good, and a few times it has redirected me round areas that I know are often very congested.

The maps is easy to follow, although the spoken directions can get irritating (I don't need to be told to turn left at the next roundabout 3 or 4 times each) although you can edit these.

All in all very good - the only real issue is the lack of an upgrade path from earlier versions, which is a bit of a slap in the face for their customers. That said, its not too expensive as satnav apps go, and its certainly good value.

Back into the arms of TomTom

1/10

Pugwash

27th July 2011

I have always used dedicated TomTom devices, but purchased CoPilot 8.0 for my iPhone for the luxury of having SatNav when I wasn't in my own car. For this reason I have probably only used CoPilot twice in anger, but was happy in the knowledge that the high purchase price was also covering any future updates. What these greedy corporates need to understand is that I have already paid for the hardware; I refuse to pay a premium price for subsequent, mediocre software updates.
ALK won't see another penny from me. Here's hoping the rumours are true that Apple will be bundling their own navigation software with the iPhone 5.0

A Dismal Release

1/10

dlorde

27th July 2011

As a fairly satisfied CoPilot v8 user, I was expecting v9 to be a major step forward - positioned, as it is, as an entirely new product rather than a v8 upgrade. However, I have to agree with henryg, that it is a major retrograde step. New social networking features have been added (why?), but several useful features of v8 are missing or replaced with less functional ones; there are serious problems with basic functions, especially routing; and there are major bugs, including crashes, lock-ups, graphics problems, map problems, traffic monitoring problems, POI problems, speech failures & non-stop repeating, etc., etc.

Following the support forums, it's clear that support from ALK has been poor, and there are a large number of request for refund. Beta at best is a generous assessment - I've reverted to v8.

Terrible, terrible update

1/10

henryg

27th July 2011

Awful update - stay away!