OK, but thats it.

We purchased the Navigon US West App for our trip to Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, and Arizona. We use Navigon Europe for our everyday navigation in Europe, so we wanted to stick to something familiar. Generally speaking, the app served us well, but there are a lot of flaws.

1 out-dated map material
We specifically purchased and downloaded the app only a few days before our departure. Unfortunately, we did encounter many places where the map material was out of date.
E.g.: The gas station on the junction US97/OR138 in Oregon does not exist any more - and has not, by the looks of it, for quite some time. The feeling is a bit odd, standing in the middle of nowhere with the gas low not knowing if the other gas stations in the app still exist.
E.g.2.: The city of Klamath Falls, OR, does not have any Safeways supermarket any more – the app sends you to two different places in the city, but does not know the only existing WalMart there.
E.g.3.: Quite a lot of minor roads were closed for the season or to public use – a fact we only found out when standing in front of the sign. By the looks of it, these roads are either permanently closed or regularly closed during summertime. This goes especially for the area South of the Lava Beds National Monument and the area of the Modoc National Forest.

2. Hardly comprehensible routing algorithm
The algorithm calculating the routing seems to have a problem. In the San Francisco Bay area, instead of sending us along the freeway for a couple of miles, it would tell us to exit from the freeway at virtually each and every single exit and re-enter at that same exit – it seems the app "thinks" that the freeway does not continue over the exit. This happened on I-880 South and on other freeways in the area.

3 useless lane assistant
The lane assistant is useless most of the times. It happened frequently, that it told us we could use all three or four lanes – so we sticked to the right one we were on. It then turned out 150 yds ahead of the junction that only the left lane would turn left as we had to do, so that we would have had to cross three lanes within 150 yds.

4 inconsistent announcements
The "keep left"/"keep right" announcements are inconsistent. Sometimes, when you only have to change lanes, the app would advise you to "turn" left or right, whereas on other occasions, a real turn would only go with an announcement such as "keep" left or right. Sometimes, the "keep"-announcement is omitted: E.g. on the – admittedly complicated – junction of S Spokane St with Airport Road and I-5 in Seattle, WA: If you come from S Spokane St heading East and want to turn on Airport Road heading South, you come from the right side, you will first have to keep left to avoid entering I-5 South and then turn right under the bridge. In this case, the app tells you at a very early stage to "keep right on Airport Road South" and does not say anything about keeping left before that. In the traffic situation, you are forced to think that you have to take the first opportunity to your right which is wrong as this is the entrance to the I-5 South.

We got along well, anyway, because (1) we had printed maps, too, and (2) we were two persons, one to correct or translate the apps announcements by comparison with the printed map and one to drive.

Would I buy again? Probably yes. It may be a poor instrument, but it still helps, and we adapted to its flaws. Just dont expect an app that knows it all and keep alert yourself.

Korrektor2011 about NAVIGON U.S. West, v2.16