Google maps or Yandex navigator which is better. The best navigation programs: rating of solutions for GPS navigators. The main differences between navigation from Yandex and Google

Good afternoon, dear friends. Today this thought came to me. Why not describe how I use maps on my smartphone. I think every smart phone owner will be interested in listening. How to install maps, where they can be downloaded from, and how to make them short review, and whether a license is needed or you can get by with a pirated version ( official updates will not be available from the company). I think the brief introduction has already been done. So, let's begin.

I've been using it for 2.5 years now HTC smartphone Explorer A310e (Pico). Great design, good functionality, although the processor is a little weak, but, thank God, there are enough programs to overclock this part. It runs on the Android operating system, so it has a lot of possibilities. Recently I have been using navigation maps. I'll tell you honestly - it's a great thing. Not without its drawbacks, of course, but I’ll tell you about that later. Although there are advantages, which we will also touch on in this article.

By the way, if you don’t know what is better and more convenient - a smartphone or a pure navigator, then . Feedback from a site visitor about his smart device with Google maps versus the old Navitel Navigator.

General points

1) What types of cards are there?

2) On what principle do they work?

3) What is GPS?

What are these cards? On this moment A large number of maps have been created, but we are interested in automobile maps. Now let's move on to the details.

The most famous in Russia and the post-Soviet space and the CIS are Google, Yandex and Navitel maps. Now let's look at each of them separately and find out what they are.

Google Maps- these are navigation systems that help the user track their location, the result of a GPS module, and indicate the nearest or farthest point from point A to point B. Well, in your own words, then this is a simple guide, only with the widest possible capabilities and colorful graphics.

Yandex maps are navigation systems that have the same functions as Google maps, only they work according to a specific algorithm, that is, their parameters, location, and satellite positioning systems are extremely different.

Navite l maps are navigation systems that are based on two previous systems, programs that also have their own differences, although it is not very different from Google and Yandex, but in many ways it gives the user its own advantages. According to CNET and PC Magazine, this product received a gold and silver medal in 2010 and 2011. What else can we talk about? These are excellent maps with wide functionality, the best GPS satellite systems and extremely fast work. It’s not for nothing that Navitel is installed in almost all models of navigators, although there are also Igo, CityGuide and ProGorod.

On what principle do they work?

I don’t think there’s much worth describing here. Let's just say that you receive the signal that your communicator or smartphone receives from a satellite (therefore, the gadget on which you are going to use these cards must have gps module). The coordinate system and the exact location are calculated by a positioning system, that is, software created using a specific algorithm.

Personal feelings after installing the cards

After installing Google maps, it was noticed that they were eating up a lot of resources on my device. True, in general, cards from this manufacturer look decent and perform their function 100%. The distance from point A to point B is shown well, traffic jams are clearly marked on the map, traffic lights, intersections, everything is clearly visible. Otherwise, positive emotions.

Next on our list are cards from the well-known manufacturer Yandex. I’ll say right away that they are good at some things: speed, productivity, detail. But there is a big minus. When you're driving along an unknown street, they don't show small intersections or house numbers, they simply aren't on the map. And this is a big minus. True, overall, an excellent manufacturer and the best functionality. Or, perhaps, in my particular situation, there was simply no update on the map.

As a result, what we are left with is the Navitel Navigator program with its maps. I would like to immediately note that this is the accuracy of positioning on the ground, open databases that are always available on the manufacturer’s website. The graphic element pleases the eyes. Speed of work, detailing of everything is at a high level. Traffic jams are shown clearly, without time delays.

Mounting a smartphone in the car interior

I think it will be important to write about mounting a smartphone in a car. There are a lot of fasteners; you can buy fasteners for smart devices at any electronics store. Installing a smartphone in the cabin is not difficult; you just need to attach it to the glass using a suction cup or a special stand. There are a lot of options, ranging from universal mounts for all sizes (smarts now come in sizes larger than old tablets) to a sticky mat and classic suction cup mount.

For a more complete overview of the types of car holders for tablets and smartphones, we have a sales consultant.

I would also like to add about charging the device in the car. For this, there are special inverters that need to be inserted into the cigarette lighter on one side, and into the smartphone on the other. Adapters, cables, everything is now available on the market.

How to install cards

This question interests many Internet users. Namely, owners of smartphones, communicators and generally advanced people in the field of technology. So, let’s look at this question piece by piece, or rather, let’s break it down so that everyone can understand what’s what.

Installing maps is not difficult, but sometimes there is a lack of understanding of what goes where and how to do it. This means that to install maps on a mobile device (gadget), you need to go to the Play Market (Google) and download the corresponding application.

Now let's look at how I do it. So, I go to the Internet, enter the address of the resource, in my case it is (https://play.google.com), look for “Maps” there, and press download. The connection to the server occurs in 2 cases - via WI-FI or via a cable (which is connected to a laptop/computer), which each user must have in the kit (issued when purchasing a phone, usually located in the box along with the device ( gadget)).

So, maps from such manufacturers as Google, Yandex and Navitel are loaded onto my smartphone (HTC Explorer A310e (Pico). Let’s look at them in more detail, in pictures, so to speak.

Google Navigation

The first thing I installed for myself was Google maps. I’ll say right away that they made an impression on me. Now I’ll show you a screenshot so you can see how it really is. Later I’ll tell you about the functions and details, and of course about the operation of the cards themselves in general. For safety reasons information erased about my city, thank you for your understanding. It says (Here will be your city). Just so you know.

Here is the map loaded. A dot on the map shows your current location; around the map you can see intersections, streets, highways, traffic jams, etc.

Now I will show you my location on this map.

In general, everything on the menu is clear. Now I will tell you about each function that can be seen in the screenshot.

First – Search

This function is designed to search for a road, highway, street, it displays all the data about your location on the map.

Second - My places

Everyone who uses the cards can mark them for themselves, in a word, save them in order to be able to return to their entries at any time.

Third – Launch Latitude

With this function, a person launches GPS and determines his location, or rather, where he is now, on what route, highway, street.

Fourth – Routes

Here a person indicates his location in the search, from where and where he needs to go, accordingly the program gives the route to follow.

So, in general, the program leaves positive emotions after use. Maps load quickly precise definition coordinates, as well as high detail. I recommend. Maps work via the Internet, but there is one point: maps are also available that can be downloaded and used without the Internet, so to speak Offline.

Maps are available at (http://goo.gl/wawgE)

Yandex Navigator

My second installed cards were Yandex. Great cards. They installed quickly, the data loading speed is excellent, one minus is that they require a constant connection to the Internet. Let's look at them in more detail, and I'll also post screenshots and describe all the functions as a whole.

So I posted the first screenshot. As you can see in the figure, there are arrows, a road junction, a traffic light, as well as my conditional location, highlighted with the letter I (Yandex, thank you, the user will never be lost on the road, now he has a “I”)

Arrows indicate traffic on the road, intersections, and highways. The traffic light, which is located in the upper left corner on the map, works in two modes (on, off), which means show the traffic lights on the map or hide them. Now I will show it in this photo:

So, it’s time to look at the functions of Yandex cards. Of course with screenshots:

The first is “road accident”

This function includes such signs as: road markings, lane, road works, attention and write a message.

I will not dwell on each of them, but will describe them in general. All of them are designed to help the driver better navigate the road, looking at signs and all kinds of obstacles.

Second – “Layers”

The layer function includes three main maps that you need to navigate by, these are maps: map, satellite, folk or regular, with all the stops, traffic jams, in one word - data.

It would take a long time to describe it, but I’ll say this. The diagram shows a view of buildings (block structure), the satellite, as you may have guessed, shows a view from the Earth of all buildings and objects, and the folk diagram shows all the buildings, street numbers, traffic jams, highways, in general - every smallest detail, and all this , on one smartphone screen. Very comfortably.

You can also describe one function, since the rest have no meaning. This is my location on the map. I will say this, from Moscow to St. Petersburg the program shows the distance, and the user can immediately see all this on the map.

I think we have figured out Yandex maps. I hope everything is clear and accessible.

Navitel Navigator

It remains to describe the most popular program for navigation. Now I will show you screenshots and try to accessible form express your thoughts.

The first launch of the program turned out like this.

And this is what I saw. Although the program was downloaded from the market for free, it turns out it requires an activation key. The trial period is only 29 days, although this is enough to try all the functions, feel it, and suddenly the purchase will be excellent and profitable.

Immediately after installation, the program requires Internet access. It would seem, for what? The answer has been found. It downloads maps, without which viewing would be impossible. Let's look at the screenshot.

After checking the indexing, the program immediately wants to turn on traffic jams, that is, their display on the map.

This gorgeous navigation program has more than enough functions, but I think another screenshot is needed. This is the main menu, that is, the first boot and start of the program.

I'll say it briefly. This program has absolutely everything you can imagine. This is accurate navigation, constant tracking of satellites, including international ones, voice messages, traffic jams, routes, coordinates and many, many others. It just doesn’t make sense to list everything. You need to install it and try it. The program is worth the money, I'm on personal experience convinced. Now I have it on my smartphone.

And finally. Do I need a license or can I get by with a pirated version?

Let’s just say that a “face” is definitely needed. Each user will have access to official updates, errors will disappear, and discounts on other company products will be available, which is good news.
Although there are also those users who are ready to put up with errors, viruses, glitches and other nasty things pirated versions programs. As people say, “To each his own.”

In conclusion, I want to say - no matter what card you choose, no matter what card you play, may good luck always accompany you! Best wishes.

Comparison of maps from Yandex and Google

There are navigation systems that allow the user to supplement the navigator maps with their own objects

In the era information technologies The software market is constantly becoming saturated with new programs and applications. Just enter the word “Navigator” into the Google Market search bar to get a list of several dozen services, including both commercial and free GPS systems. Nevertheless, about 85% of users prefer software from Google or Yandex as the most accurate, reliable and easy to use. Their feedback, as well as expert assessments, formed the basis of the table below of the characteristics and capabilities of the applications. All ratings are on a 10-point scale.

Table: advantages and disadvantages Google Maps and Yandex.Navigator

Evaluation criterion	Yandex.Navigator	Google Maps
Main route accuracy	9,6	9,2
Accuracy of alternative routes	8,8	9,0
List of infrastructure facilities	7,3	8,5
List of tourist sites	8,1	10,0
Reliability of information about traffic jams and accidents	8,3	8,1
Accuracy of the GPS module	9,5	9,6
Compass accuracy	9,9	6,2
Ease of use on PC	8,7	9,7
Ease of use on mobile devices	9,5	9,3
Completeness and timeliness of voice prompts	9,9	7,8
Performance, load level on hardware	9,2	7,4
Additional developer features	8,8 (traffic camera warnings)	9,4 (building a route through several points; ability to work in the background)
Overall rating	9,0	8,7

Yandex.Navigator won by a small margin (about 0.3%). Its main advantage was the ergonomic, informative and colorful interface of the mobile application. The accuracy of the route and satellite tracking, complete and timely voice prompts were noted. Yandex has a surprisingly good system for informing about traffic jams, accidents and traffic cameras, which drivers will certainly appreciate.

At the same time, Google Maps is better suited for pedestrians and travelers - they indicate the exact location of tourism facilities and infrastructure, provide informative descriptions of most establishments, present their photographs, and indicate their operating hours.

The choice of a specific service, as always, remains yours. But it’s better to install two applications at once and compare their data - then the journey will always be easy and pleasant.

Here is the final part of the “series” about popular car navigation applications for Android. In it, we tried to summarize all the information from five previously published reviews of individual applications and give a final assessment. In order not to burden the reader, we will try to do this in the most concise and clear form using tables, providing them with relatively small comments.

Why did you choose these particular applications? The main criteria were popularity and the presence of a large number of positive reviews, as well as ease of use. The updated Shturmann did not fit into the first two criteria a little. The “Seven Roads” application did not pass all three criteria. Google Maps as a navigator is still in beta testing. Megafon navigation is essentially the same as Progorod, but only in an online version. The iGO app has not yet officially appeared in the Android version. Therefore, there are only five participants.

Prices and popularity

Putting ourselves in the buyer’s shoes, let’s start by looking at price tags and studying information about how popular a particular product has gained among users.

	Navitel	Progorod	Sygic	CityGuide	Yandex
number of downloads on Google Play, million	5-10	0,1-0,5	10-50	1-5	5-10
rating on Google Play	4,1	4,2	4,2	4,1	4,2
price of Russian cards	1350 rub.	1290 (950*) rub.	€40	1800 rub.	for free
minimum price	$1**	-	€20	990 rub.	for free
update fee, rub	for free	for free	for free	for free	for free
traffic jam service fee, rub	for free	for free	does not work in Russia***	for free	for free
allowed number of reinstallations	1	3	n.d.	3	not limited
free third party maps	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
test period, days	30	30	7	15	-

* if you purchase a key on the developer’s website. The price is for the application itself with unlimited access to the cards.
** rental of foreign cards.
*** for Europe the service is paid - from 12 euros per year.

So, the most expensive product is Sygic. It is aimed at European consumers, so the price tag is quite appropriate. In addition, you will have to pay separately for traffic jams and advanced information about cameras, but this all applies only to Europe. Network services do not work in Russia.

The prices of Navitel and Progorod seem to be the most adequate. However, Navitel has a very strict policy regarding reinstallation. Transferring the application to another smartphone will most likely not work at all.

Against the backdrop of all these restrictions, Yandex looks like a king. However, the application has a number of significant limitations, thereby leaving good chances for others.

Feature Set Comparison

The developers of most of the presented applications try to attract users with various additional functions, for example, the weather, photos on a map, articles from encyclopedias, social network tagging, displaying the location of friends, and even augmented reality.

We have summarized the entire core set of functions of all five applications in one table:

	Navitel	Progorod	Sygic	CityGuide	Yandex
Interface
Manual map zoom during navigation	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Battery/satellite/GSM indicators	Yes Yes Yes	yes / yes / no	in the menu / in the menu / not	Yes Yes Yes	OS status bar
Changing the map orientation	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Manual map rotation	Yes	Yes	No	No	Yes
Mileage information	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Satellite View Screen	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
3D mode	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Map tilt	only in 3D	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Quick Access Toolbar	DPOI only	Yes	Yes	Yes	DPOI only
"Trip computer"	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Night mode	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Augmented Reality	No	Yes	No	No	No
Search
Universal	No	No	Yes	No	Yes
Address	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
By coordinates	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
POI around / at the point / at the finish	Yes Yes Yes	Yes Yes Yes	Yes Yes Yes	Yes Yes Yes	Yes Yes Yes
Voice input	No	No	No	No	Yes
Working with routes
Save/Load	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Simulation of driving along the route	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Full display	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Working with tracks	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No
Operating modes: passenger car / truck / pedestrian	Yes Yes Yes	yes / no / no	yes / no / yes	yes / no / yes	yes / no / no
Cards
Map update	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Provider	n.d.	own	Navteq	many, different	Navteq, Scanex, etc.
Installing third-party and free maps	Yes	yes, based on OSM	No	yes, based on OSM	No
Online services
Traffic display	Yes	Yes	No *	Yes	Yes
Dynamic POIs	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Friends on the map	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No
Thematic news feeds	No	No	No	Yes	No
Photo on the map	No	No	yes (Panoramio)	No	No
Weather	Yes	No	No	No	No
Ban on Internet access	Yes	by disabling the traffic jam service	No	Yes	No

* only for European countries for a fee

This table is for self-study. Here everyone must answer the question for themselves whether this or that program has a minimum sufficient set of functions. For example, some people definitely need to work with tracks, while others need to install free OSM maps. Some applications also have extraordinary abilities. For example, displaying on a map photos of places taken by Panoramio users (from Sygic), or an augmented reality mode (Progorod), as well as speech recognition and voice commands (Yandex.Navigator).

The applications also have major flaws. Thus, Sygic does not have a function for displaying traffic (traffic jams), and Yandex.Navigator will not work fully in the absence of an Internet connection.

Interface

Since each of us has our own ideas about beauty, we will not talk much about which program’s interface is more beautiful. Our eyes found the “picture” of Navitel Navigator, Progorod and Yandex more pleasant. But this does not mean that the other two programs have any problems with “ appearance" They're all good. These just stand out a little from the general background.

But if you step back from looking at the “pictures,” then completely different properties of interfaces come to the fore - practicality and information content. The first of them is when you always feel at ease. All you need is a quick glance at the screen to get as much information as you need. A not very good example of practicality is the interface of the same Navitel - a jumble of thin lines and small details makes it difficult to read information while driving. Practicality also includes ease of operation with menus and search.

By information content we mean displaying various related information on the screen, such as the speed limit in a given area, information about cameras, etc. The presence of all kinds of tips and additional information in the POI database.

So, below we will provide screenshots of the interfaces of all programs with a short list of the main advantages and disadvantages. This time we will use a smartphone with a small screen resolution of 480x800, which is regulated by almost all software developers in today's test.

Let's start with the vertical map display option, which is the most natural for smartphones and more practical for navigation. Next to the usual map view we will place a 3D version.

Navitel Navigator 8.5

Progorod 2.0

Sygic 13.4

CityGuide 7.8

Yandex.Navigator 1.5

This is the junction of the Warsaw Highway and the Moscow Ring Road. Alas, the picture is static, and its perception while moving, when the scale of the map is constantly changing depending on the speed and upcoming events (turns), is radically different from what you will get simply by contemplating these two sets of screenshots. In addition, in 3D mode a lot depends on the tilt angle, which is adjustable in all programs. The developers have made it so that from one angle the map is beautiful and practical, but from another it is inconvenient to use, because the detail, perspective, etc. change. A similar remark can be made about scale. Therefore, we will give a verbal comment, but first we will post another portion of screenshots taken in navigation mode:

Navitel Navigator 8.5

Progorod 2.0

Sygic 13.4

CityGuide 7.8

Yandex.Navigator 1.5

Navitel Navigator

The picture deserves all the praise, but it is extremely impractical. The accumulation of a mass of small lines and contours makes it difficult to perceive the route line on the screen, which is slightly thicker than the road itself, but with busy traffic jams is in no way different from it in color. Camera icons, signs and other details are barely visible on the screen.

Progorod

The “Picture” is a little similar to Navitel, but there are fewer small details, and the route line is much easier to read than in the previous case. There are two complaints: the status panel takes up a lot of space on the screen and chaos reigns on it, as well as the graphics and all the control buttons are too small.

Sygic

In the screenshots, the interface is unimpressive, but from the point of view of ease of reading information while driving, it deserves the highest rating. There is one significant drawback - house numbers are not displayed in navigation mode. They only appear if you try to scroll the map in one of the directions, which will switch it to viewing mode.

CityGuide

The map interface is quite good in practical terms. It may not be as beautiful, but it is quite comfortable.

Yandex.Navigator

Trying to find fault with the Yandex.Navigator interface did not work out well. He is very practical. The only issue is users of platforms with screens with high density pixels per inch complain about small buttons and other menu items. For some reason, these UI elements did not fully comply with Google's developer guidelines, and programmers were working with absolute units of element sizes instead of relative DP and SP.

Well, for those who for some reason prefer the horizontal position of the map, we will post another set of screenshots.

Navitel Navigator 8.5

Progorod 2.0

Sygic 13.4

CityGuide 7.8

Yandex.Navigator 1.5

Cards

Unfortunately, most developers do not provide detailed information about their cards, since they may not look so brilliant compared to competitors.

We tried to collect as much information as possible and summarize it in one table. Pay attention to the line “Map online” - this is your chance to independently evaluate the quality of coverage. True, it also does not entirely accurately reflect the situation. Navitel and Progorod do not have the latest release online, while Yandex’s maps in the app and online are strikingly different in places, which sometimes causes confusion.

	Navitel	Progorod	Sygic	Cityguide	Yandex
Russia: populated areas	149 047	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	≈170 thousand
Russia: cities with details	8762	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.
Road graph, km	3 809 652	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.	n.d.
POI objects	992 163	n.d.	n.d.*	n.d.	n.d.
Card capacity, MB	1250	1131	623	1900	1910** (Moscow only)
date of last update	25.10.2013	22.10.2013	12.2013	22.01.2014	n.d.
Update frequency per year, times	3-4	2	1-3	2-10***	n.d.
Map online			-	-
Maps of foreign countries, pcs.	52	28 (OSM)	≈130	10	1****
Information about maps on the developer's website			-		-

*data from Foursquare is also used as POIs
** the volume of the full map of Moscow is indicated
*** The map of Russia is updated almost every month, but changes in it each time concern a couple of separate areas. If we take, for example, the map of Moscow, it is updated twice a year.
**** Ukraine, Belarus and Türkiye are mentioned. There is no longer a word about Turkey in the company video, and only Ukraine appears on Google Play. However, in the list of maps for download you can find, for example, a map of Almaty.

According to the results of the 2010 census, the number of settlements in Russia was just over 153 thousand and about 20 thousand of them do not have a permanent population. Where did Yandex get 170 thousand from then? Firstly, nesting. A specific settlement always belongs to other territorial units. Secondly, the census does not take into account all types of settlements. Railway stations, winter huts, etc. may fall out of it.

So, our leaders, apparently, are Navitel and Yandex. The volume of cards is an indirect indicator. In Yandex.Navigator it has such unimaginable values because these maps contain a huge number of raster images.

As for the details, this issue is complex and requires a lot of time to study. For our own understanding, we took several settlements and looked at how things stand with this issue.

	Navitel	Progorod	Sygic	Cityguide	Yandex
Olenegorsk, Murmansk region	detailed, with houses (3D)	three main streets	only the main street, with errors	detailed, with houses	three main streets
Bogoroditsk, Tula region	detailed, with houses	detailed, with houses (3D)	only the main street	detailed, with houses	three main streets
Angarsk, Irkutsk region	main road network	detailed road network	only the main street	detailed, with houses	detailed, with houses
Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky	detailed, with houses	detailed road network	only the main street	point on the route	detailed, with houses
Astrakhan	detailed, with houses	detailed, with houses (3D)	detailed, with houses	detailed, with houses	detailed, with houses
Sochi	detailed, with houses	detailed, with houses (3D)	detailed road network	detailed, with houses	detailed, with houses
Chekhov, Moscow region	detailed, with houses	detailed, with houses (3D)	detailed, with houses	detailed, with houses	detailed, with houses
Tver	detailed, with houses	detailed, with houses (3D)	detailed, with houses	detailed, with houses	detailed, with houses
Rybinsk	detailed, with houses	detailed, with houses (3D)	detailed, with houses	detailed, with houses	detailed, with houses
Pechory, Pskov region.	detailed, with houses	main road network	three main streets, with errors	detailed, with outlines of houses, without addresses	three main streets
village Lanshino, Moscow region	part of the road network	a point on the map	detailed road network	detailed road network	main road network

The leaders were Navitel, Progorod and Cityguide. Moreover, the maps of Progorod in almost all settlements from the table have buildings not only with corresponding contours, but also with height. Although CityGuide is good (OSM maps are used), you will have to search for maps of the regions you need in a large list and download them separately, which is not very convenient. For some reason, you can’t download the entire map of Russia at once. In addition, the Kamchatka Territory was not on the list.

Yandex.Navigator surprised me a little, and this considering the fact that the online browser map is beyond praise. At the same time, it is very funny that in the same Bogoroditsk you can indicate the exact address, it will be marked with a marker on the map and the route to it will be built. But the "last mile" will not be displayed correctly.

Well, Sygic doesn’t like small towns the most. He knows them only by hearsay.

The issue of map relevance is also important. Here we looked at the map of Moscow, noting the presence of new well-known roads, overpasses and interchanges that were opened in the summer-autumn of 2013. Progorod, Cityguide and Yandex had no problems with this. Navitel had all the junctions and overpasses we were looking for, but at the intersection of Yaroslavskoe Highway and Malyginsky Proezd, for some reason there was no turnaround under the overpass. But Sygic's map is at least a year old. We did not find any of the required road objects on it.

Our selection by cards: Navitel, Progorod and Cityguide.

Routes and navigation

All applications build quite adequate routes. And this is the most important thing. Navitel has some minor glitches. We described one of them in detail, but there is no reason to panic here. But it’s definitely worth reducing the sensitivity to traffic jams in its settings for residents of megacities.

To save the reader time, we will collect information on routes and navigation into one table.

	Navitel	Progorod	Sygic	Cityguide	Yandex
adequacy of constructed routes	OK	OK	OK	OK	OK
number of alternatives	No	2	1	No	1-2
exclusion of toll roads / other settings	Yes Yes	Yes Yes	Yes Yes	Yes Yes	no no
logic of behavior when leaving the route	customizable		return to old route	changing lanes in detour mode	changing lanes in detour mode
traffic jams on the route	Yes	Yes	No	yes, but at a short distance	Yes
speed warnings	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
camera warnings	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	yes, late
DPOI	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes
work without an Internet connection	Yes	Yes	offline only	Yes	functions are very limited

It will be most convenient to travel with Progorod, Cityguide and Navitel. Sygic, despite its very practical interface, works only in offline mode: no traffic jams or DPOI. In addition, his logic of behavior when the driver leaves the route is far from civilized. But there are no less problems with Yandex: it will not warn you about speeding, it will only tell you about the camera when you drive past it, and without a connection to the Internet, search and route planning will not work in the application! But before starting navigation, it will prompt the user alternative options routes that you can view on the map and select the most suitable one. Progorod can do this too, although it uses a slightly different logic. We really liked both of these features.

Our choice: Progorod and CityGuide. With some stretch - Navitel and Yandex.

Tests

We ran a series of tests to show how fast these apps would run on different mobile platforms. In a separate table we have summarized the results obtained on two systems, the main characteristics of which are as follows:

Both platforms are budget, but the tablet has a 4-core SoC, while the smartphone has a single-core SoC, but with a more modern architecture. Will there be any significant difference between them? In the table, smartphone and tablet data are separated by two vertical bars.

	Navitel	Progorod	Sygic	Cityguide	Yandex
Loading time, s	11 \|\| 8	5-6 on both platforms	6 \|\| 3	12 \|\| 9	≈2 in all cases
Satellite search time	in accordance with GPS technologies (1-2 min.)				≈20-30 sec.** on both platforms
Route planning time, s*	2,5-5 \|\| 1,5-5	1-4 on both platforms	12-20 \|\| 6-15	≈2 in all cases	-***
Utilization of computing cores in motion, %	60 \|\| n.d.	70 \|\| n.d.	40 \|\| 15	65 \|\| 19	20 \|\| n.d.
Smooth scrolling and zooming with traffic jams disabled	with strong jerks	with jerks	relatively smoothly	relatively smoothly	smoothly
Volume of network traffic on the route, MB/h	2,5	n.d.	-	n.d.	n.d. - 4****
Volume of network traffic in a metropolis, MB/h	4,5	1	-	1	3,5-6,5****

* the dash indicates the time of laying two routes: from the south of Moscow to the city of Olenegorsk in the Murmansk region; the second route is to Vladivostok.
** already two seconds after loading you see your approximate position on the map, determined by signals base stations and their coordinates. And after another 20-30 seconds the device “clings” to the satellites.
***routes are calculated on remote server, and the construction time depends on the quality of communication at a particular point in time. In GPRS or EDGE coverage area it may take a minute or more, but with good connection - 2-3 seconds.
**** The first digit indicates the traffic volume in the case of a pre-loaded full map of the region. The second digit indicates an empty card cache.

So, the main problem with application performance is the inability to use all available computing cores of the SoC. And although multithreading is declared by almost all developers, in practice on a 4-core system this results in one core being loaded at 100%, the second at 30%, and the other two cooling down. The only exception is Yandex. The application not only has low requirements for system resources, but also, when actively running on four cores, can show a total load of 60-70%, which indicates that someone is still able to create multi-threaded applications (benchmark developers are not check).

If we talk about the smoothness and comfort of working with the map, then Yandex, Cityguide and Sygic behave quite well, which cannot be said about Navitel and Progorod. Scrolling the map and scaling occurs with noticeable jerks, slowdowns and jerks. Moreover, if your smartphone has a resolution of 1280 pixels or more, the situation will worsen regardless of the type of SoC installed in the system.

Our choice: Yandex, CityGuide and, probably, Sygic. The latter takes a very long time to build routes, but otherwise is very smart.

Application Features

Since the competition is great, developers try to add a few highlights to their creation, and it would be a shame not to mention them.

Navitel Navigator

Progorod

Here we will only note the augmented reality mode, which will work quite well on those devices that have an orientation sensor.

Perhaps it will come in handy when traveling by car.

Sygic

Sygic tries to attract users with all sorts of useful and interesting little things: universal search, photos on the map from Panoramio, POIs from Foursquare, articles from Wikipedia (if they have a link to coordinates), a sidebar and a trip computer. All details in the corresponding .

CityGuide

Nothing unusual.

Yandex.Navigator

The main trump card is a universal search with a speech recognition system and voice commands, which works quite well.

Results

So, the most mentions marked “our choice” went to CityGuide and Progorod. Navitel, Yandex.Navigator and Sygic are lagging behind. But if we evaluate applications by their main functions (the quality of maps and the navigation process), then the following three leaders emerge before us: Progorod, CityGuide and Navitel. The cheapest of them is Progorod. The most expensive is CityGuide. And Navitel will receive the title of the most unfriendly due to the impossibility of transferring the application to other smartphones.

If you live in one of the Russian megacities, there is reliable and high-quality cellular If you are not afraid of speed cameras and prefer not to spend extra money, then you can use Yandex.Navigator. It's free. Moreover, it works quickly and has a practical interface.

Sygic can be useful when traveling abroad. However, it will not be cheap at all. In this regard, Navitel is many times more attractive, but it will not contain information about traffic. Just like Sygic in Russia.

P.S. Better to see once than hear a hundred times. Therefore, we encourage you to try out the apps you like and draw your own conclusions. But at the same time, it is important not to forget that all navigation programs, without exception, after they are removed through the application manager, leave almost all of their files in internal memory phone forever, “freezing” hundreds of useful megabytes. Don’t forget to delete them manually later, based on the names of the folders on the drive. Oh, Android, Android...

Using GPS navigation is an integral part of the lives of many motorists. Today, there are quite a lot of specialized devices and programs for gadgets that allow you to use all the delights of GPS navigation, so choosing “just one” can be extremely problematic. The trend in recent years is that the most used programs for tracking movement are Yandex and Google Navigators. But which one is better? Let's figure it out.

The main differences between navigation from Yandex and Google

It would seem that GPS navigation in its various forms is not different at all. Whether it is a special device or a program in a smartphone, the principle of motion tracking is simple - the data is transmitted to the base, processed and transmitted back, which ultimately forms a navigation map that is convenient for everyone. In general terms, of course, everything is exactly like this, but at one of the stages of the formation of navigation information there is a certain feature that forms the very differences between Yandex and Google Navigators.

This subtlety lies in software analysis methods that allow a person to use all the delights of GPS navigation. That is, the main difference between navigation programs from Yandex and Google is a different software core that forms both the advantages and disadvantages of each type of navigation.

Considering the facts presented above, it is extremely irrational to think that only the shell is different in navigation programs and devices. In addition to appearance, Various types navigation differ in speed of recall, data output, ability to drill down, and others functionality.

Important! The difference between the Yandex and Google Navigator programs lies in the software algorithms embedded in them, the functioning of which can be convenient for some people, and simply unbearable for others, which is important to consider before choosing one application or another.

Advantages and disadvantages of Yandex Navigator

Let’s immediately agree that in today’s article we will not give a clear answer to the question of which is better: Yandex Navigator or Google Navigator. This is largely due to the fact that each person has subjective concepts, so it is rather stupid to give an exact answer. This can only be obtained by a person who has tested both types of navigation through his own experience and identified the individual pros and cons of each of them. Our resource will make this task easier for readers and will consider the advantages and disadvantages of Yandex and Google Navigators in the paragraphs of this article. Let's start, perhaps, with navigation from Yandex.

So, judging by numerous user reviews, Yandex Navigator has the following advantages:

convenient and pleasant-to-hear voice prompts that help the driver while driving and do not require him to once again look away from the road to the screen of his smartphone;
availability of warnings about cameras on the roads along the selected route;
synchronization of favorite points;
display of significant events that happened along the current route (traffic jams, renovation work and so on.).

The disadvantages of navigation from Yandex are as follows:

an insufficiently well-thought-out system for displaying traffic jams, or rather, a long update of the situation on the road (up to 20 minutes), which can come back to haunt the user of this Navigator;
turning off the program when answering a call or doing something else with the phone, instead of conveniently minimizing it to the tray;
small flaws (rare problems with choosing a route, little information on some roads, etc.).

In general, Yandex Navigator is quite convenient program, does not cause any special problems during use and has fast performance, as well as response to user commands.

to user commands.

Advantages and disadvantages of Google Navigator

As for Google Navigator, the situation here is slightly different than with its brother from Yandex. In particular, there are significant differences in the advantages and disadvantages of these programs, which are quite clearly visible. You can view them below.

So, the advantages of Gul Navigator are as follows:

convenient and pleasant interface, characterized by excellent rendering and clarity of images;
display of significant events that happened along the current route (traffic jams, repair work, etc.);
a more convenient and faster system for displaying traffic jams;
greater information content about the road situation in general;
more optimal and convenient choice of route;
the ability to work with several points, which, by the way, Yandex has, but it is better organized by Google Navigator;
indication of movement along road lanes, which is not available in Yandex Navigator, but is very necessary;
the ability to minimize the program to tray when making a call or other action with the phone.

There are also some drawbacks here. More precisely, in Google Navigator they are as follows:

less convenient voice prompts (the voice speaks much earlier, sometimes changes to another, etc.);
lack of notification about cameras along the current route;
inconvenient system for working with selected points and routes;
small flaws (rare problems with choosing a route, poorly drawn traffic lane, etc.).

This is where we will probably finish the description of the types of navigation under consideration. We hope that, using the information presented above and conducting some practical research, you will be able to answer the question - “Which navigator is better: Yandex or Google?” Good luck on the roads!

Video review of different types of navigators: