When Apple announced that the iPhone 4 had true GPS technology, I was quite pleased. I figured I would be able to skip the purchase of a stand-alone GPS if the iOS experience was adequate.
Unfortunately, though, the Maps application didn’t quite stack up to a TomTom. There are a number of crucial elements that Apple left out of the Maps application that, if included, would have really transformed the phone into a navigation device.
Among the many oversights in the Maps app, the lack of a speedometer, while not devastating, is surprising just because it’s a standard on every true GPS. This is especially frustrating because the iPhone 4 has the capabilities for such a feature, Apple simply didn’t include it. How do I know this? Well, a new jailbreak tweak called Speed for Maps proves it.
According to 9to5 Mac:
“The Speed for Maps tweak (via Funky Space Money), as the name suggests, adds a cool speedometer icon to the Maps app that feels as if it were integral to the experience. You can even pick you speed unit in settings (MPH, KPH, FPS and Knots). It won’t replace a pedometer in your iPod nano, but you no longer need a dedicated GPS app (the better ones don’t come cheap) just to be able to read your velocity while in Maps. This is one of the little things Apple should have thought of.”
This tweak is available now, so if you’re looking for a cheap alternative to purchasing a stand-alone GPS, definitely give this a chance. If you’re already using Speed for Maps, how do you like it? Does it function as well as it should, or is it plagued with the bugs that so often appear in jailbreak tweaks? Comments
