ALK's incredibly successful CoPilot sat nav app has had a major refresh, with CoPilot Live 9 offering a redesigned user interface and some handy new social features.
TechRadar managed to get a recent hands-on with the application and were pleased with what we saw.
While CoPilot has never looked displeasing to the eye, the sat nav's new user interface is a joy to use. Cleaner and simplified, the UI means that the app is now easier to get around and some features that were buried before pop out at you, begging to be used.
One of the new features that caught our eye was the ability to manipulate your route to your pleasing.
We have all shouted at a sat nav, telling it that it is taking us the wrong way, well CoPilot has fixed this with a simple 'touch and move' function. So, if you don't like the route you just grab it and bend it to where you want to go – this is also great if you want to go to A to B, by way of C.
Another neat little idea is that you can now double tap the screen anywhere to be given the option to be directed to this spot. There is nothing worse than reprogramming a sat nav when your are driving, so this double tap functionality makes a lot of sense.
If you want to know more about a place, the same double tap will also give you the option to see more information about it.
While the user interface has been simplified, ALK has assured us that there's now more features than ever before in the app.
Additional options include a 'find my car' option, so you can save the exact location of your car (there's some apps that do this already but they are pretty pricey), and you can copy and paste locations straight into the app.
Back to the maps and the first thing you notice is that while the whole app screams of simplification, the maps now have more detail than ever before.
What's that coming over the hill? Well, it could be a river, lake or park and you would know about it as they are all clearly labelled.
For those who are easily distracted, you can have the maps turned off for the majority of your journey, only to pop up when you need to change direction.
Couple this with the ability to sign into Facebook Places through the app and connect up to Twitter and CoPilot Live 9 is looking likely to be the sat nav app to beat this year.
Although there's no word on pricing, the CoPilot Live 9 UK release date is Q2 of this year.
The app will be available for Android and iOS smartphones.
