Useful features of navigation apps you should know

Useful features of navigation apps you should know. January. 14, 2017 07:12. by Do-Young Kwak now@donga.com. Smartphone navigation services are getting smarter every day. As the driving data of users has amassed, such apps begin to offer more accurate estimated time of arrival and much more. Navigation apps not only show directions but also provide the information on famous restaurants and gas stations nearby.

T-map, the nation’s No. 1 smartphone navigation app, answers your question if you ask, “Am I going to be late if I leave the house at 4 p.m.?” The “when to leave” function of T-map allows you to know the estimated time of arrival based on the traffic data stored in its database when you enter the time of departure and destination. This function is useful to set the time to go home for Chuseok or Lunar New Year’s holidays or departure time to visit wedding hall or the Incheon International Airport.

The “invitation” feature is also useful. This feature makes it easy to invite guests along with the trend of increasing names and venues for celebrating events such as first-birthday parties and weddings. If you press the invitation feature on T-map and submit the title as “the first-birthday party of reporter Kim’s baby” and other information such as date and location, the app will guide you to the destination by searching the title of “the first-birthday party of reporter Kim’s baby.” This service is offered for free and you can save the schedule of following three months.

Another useful function is “Blackbox.” This feature is provided via smartphone camera and it starts to record video when pressing the Blackbox button. This function is useful as a replacement of a car black box if you do not have the device or when it is not working.

You can also find the nearest station with the lowest gas price on your route with navigation apps. Press “nearby” button from the main screen and select “gas station” menu. Then, the app navigates the fastest route to the selected gas stop. You can search parking lot, restaurants, marts, repair shops, banks, and hospitals that are nearby the destination sorted by distance.

With its strength in social networking service, the nation’s second largest navigation app Kakao Navi is closely chasing T-map.

　

Users can check and manage address lists with tags by saving locations with hashtag (#). For instance, if you save the home address of family members and relatives with “#Newyear,” you can easily find the address all at once. You can check the saved tag lists and tag recommendations presented by the provider from the ‘”tag” menu at the bottom of the first screen.

You can share information in the app service via KaKao Talk messenger. If you send the location data to chatrooms and your friend will share the information and the app shows the route to the destination without KaKao Navi. KaKao Service also enables you to share the current location via KaKao Talk messenger while on the move. Press “share your location” button from the route guide screen and select friends to share. Then, the information of current location, destination, and estimated time of arrival is shared with your friends.

If you save the information of your car in advance, the app will provide you with a targeted guide on the route based on the saved information. For instance, the app informs you expressway toll fees of your vehicle type and guides you to drive the designated lanes for high pass users if you have installed such program. Also, if you save the fuel type of your vehicle, KaKao Navi will provide you with the concerning gas price in real time when you search nearby gas stops.