The best

Mapkin leaves other GPS apps in the dust. Ive been using it for around five months now. Prior, I used CoPilot or Google Maps. I thought Id give Mapkin a spin based on the novelty of the user-submitted tips. I never looked back.

Pros:
* Superior voice navigation. Mapkin gives great useful directions; youll get something like "turn left at the next light" rather than "in 350 yards, turn left." The awesome voice nav means you spend less time looking at the screen, which is all to the good when youre behind the wheel.
* User-submitted tips. This is the heart of Mapkin. By tapping the screen, or at the end of a drive, you can add tips for other drivers or correct anything that was wrong. Theyll be reviewed by a human and added along the route. Youll hear tips that drivers have left as part of the voice nav. This is great.
* It automatically kills the voice nav when youre close to home.
* Periodic checkins -- if youre on a long stretch of road with no turns, Mapkin will occasionally pipe up to reassure you that youre on the right route and tell you how long until the next turn. This is great at breaking highway hypnosis when youre driving alone. Other GPS apps should adopt this as a safety feature alone.
* When you get on a highway it verbally tells you what exit youre looking for.
* Occasional snark when you miss a turn and get back on route.
* Its quick to reroute if you go off-route.
* Very responsive devs.

Cons:
* There is currently no system for storing favorite destinations, just a history of recent destinations.
* No night mode. The green-and-white color scheme can be distracting in the dark.
* Directions for roundabouts are unclear; it will say something like "take the second exit" instead of something more useful like "take the second exit onto route 6 east" so you end up counting instead of following a road sign.

I believe the devs are planning on addressing at least the first two of those cons. I havent hit a roundabout since the new version of Mapkin arrived so for all I know thats better by now. (Havent used it in the dark yet either, for that matter.)

This isnt really a con, but if you use GPS more Waze-ily (that is, to get to a known destination as quickly as possible no matter what crazy route you have to take) Mapkin isnt going to replace that.

Overall, a fantastic app. If you try it out, do leave a tip on your drive to help everyone else!

mfrank1015 about Mapkin - GPS Navigation, Maps & Traffic