Say Where! – Review

Our rating:

By: Say Where!

Version #: 0.0919

Date Released: 2008-09-28

Developer:

Price: 0.00

User Rating:

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As I have noted, I am finding the iPhone 3G’s GPS abilitites far more useful than I had ever expected I would. While it does not give voice prompts, it is easy to use, accurate and, at this point, already indispensable to me. As easy as the iPhone’s GPS is, though, thanks to Say Where! it is now even easier.

I have to admit that, at first, I wasn’t sold on this app. Having used it a bit now, however, I find that while it is not perfect, it is very useful.

Let’s talk about the negatives first.
Many of the issues I have with Say Where! do not belong to the app itself, but rather to the iPhone and its design. Like the voice dial apps that have continually disappointed me, the iPhone just isn’t set up for simple voice applications. The lack of a dedicated hardware button means that in order to actually use the app you need to

-bring it out of sleep mode
-go to the app page where Say Where!’s icon is
-start the application
All of that doesn’t get you using the app, but rather gets you to the point where you finally can start using it. Not Simple, Not Quick, Not Intuitive, but also Not the app’s fault.

The app itself picks up from there and, unfortunately, it too is not without its faults. I think I am pretty familiar with the iPhone and iPhone apps at this point, yet it took me quite a while to figure out how to actually use the app. There were no instructions that I could find, and the actual button for initiating the speech recognition component (the whole reason for an app like this in the first place) was anything but intuitive for me. Who knew you needed to select the direction service (there are six from which to choose) and then tap the address book icon before you actually see anything that indicates you can search using your voice?

In all, it takes six steps to get from an iPhone in sleep mode to the screen that says “Press while speaking”. That is ridiculous!

Or at least it would be if the app wasn’t so unique and didn’t work quite so well. Thnaksfully, it is and it does.

Thanks to Say Where! I can now find an address or business note by simply speaking. For exmaple,if I am using Google Maps I can press and hold the button marked “What City and State?” it quickly searches for my request, provides a short vibrating indicator that it is found and then asks “What address or interesction?” A few seconds later the iPhone vibrates and either displays the location or offers a number of possibilitites. In numerous trials of the app the accuracy was pretty amazing.

Quick Take

Value: High (read- free)
Would I Buy Again:  I am now finding it quite useful
Learning Curve: Medium to high initially.
Who is it for: Anyone who makes a good deal of use of the iPhone 3G’s GPS chip
What I like: Once I learned how to use it, it became a huge convenience and time saver
What I Don’t:  iPhone not set up for an app like this.

Final Statement:  I almost  removed the app shortly after downloading it. I’m glad I didn’t. Once you get used to its interface it has the potential to be quite handy.