VZNavigator

[fenceme]

Am I the only one totally disgusted with the VZNavigator 5.1?  It borders on almost totally useless with an arcane user interface and uncountable bugs (I got tired of trying to wade through them all)  The worst is it usually won't even fire up because it usually can't find the GPS, even though my other Aps do.  I tried to downgrade to version 4.x, but Verizon refuses to make it available to me.

This is a simple general public flame, because Verizon provides no way to give feedback on products.

If you fell the same, just add your comments.  I am quiiting the service anyway as it would seem impossible that this will be solved by Verizon in the short term.

[SaNDman]

The only useless part for me is, if the address is not part of contacts, or something it refuses to follow through. It has follow me thing. VZ Navigator tracks where I'm going. Other part???

[cstrait001]

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SaNDman wrote:

The only useless part for me is, if the address is not part of contacts, or something it refuses to follow through. It has follow me thing. VZ Navigator tracks where I'm going. Other part???

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The previous verision of VZ Nav, including the last one 4.2, had the Follow Me function.

You should be able downgrade to verision 4.2 from the Application Center on the BB Homescreen or by using the BB  Desktop Manager software.

Scratch that above. The App Center says a downgrade is available but when I actually try to download, it says version 5.0. Also I can only uninstall from the BB Desktop Manager.

[SaNDman]

I admit I never used the Follow Me function on the previous version of VZ Navigator. Why? Because on the Razor, the screen is small, compared to Storm. Also, only recently I started to go "off roading" with friends. Maybe it's better to get a different GPS device, instead of using Storm.

[fenceme]

For starters-

1) if it can't load the GPS when starting it crashes; and it can never load the GPS at my home even though other Aps are tracking as many as 10 satellites - so I cannot load an address until I am driving on the road

2) Favorites cannot be loaded until you start navigating - then you go back and somehow load it

3) the only option for editing Favorites is "Delete All"

4) the menu options are minimal - most  screens have only Close or Exit as options

5) the back button does not work on most screens so you need to close and navigate back up the chain -see above

6) It discontinues Navigation when you go on map view

7) you cannot pick a location from a map view, and map view is unavailable except when you have started navigation

😎 can't set current location to Favorite

9) I dislike the content carousel but cannot disable it

10) Places on map randomly show up even where turned off

11) It's an absolute battery killer, so you use it plugged in and  be careful to exit properly, otherwise you will have no phone in an hour or so.

12) The whole user interface is extremely poorly thought out as shown by the example above.

I might not have all of them correct, I quit caring. , but there are probably more issues.   SInce I can't even turn it on in my home - see #1 above - it makes it very difficult and annoying to troubleshoot it any further.

[Sybella]

You aren't the only one disgusted. I loved the VZ Navigator, until I was "forced" to upgrade.

Sure, the carousel is adorable but the main service doesn't work worth a darn. The menu I always used before, to find places along your route, is gone. It used to be that I could put in a "topic" and a general vacinity and get local hits, and the navigator would give me my miles from my current position, rather than they center of the city I typed in. Now, I only get the option of putting in the topic seperately and changing the destination to where I want it sometimes supercedes my initial search, and my results are not only off base but out of my way and miles and miles away from where I want to be searching. I liked being able to fill in two fields, on the same page, and hitting one button, rather than doing all these extra steps for no good reason. By off base, I mean that half the time when I search for something speficic, I get a list of unrelated stuff...like when looking for Thai food restaurants, I get H&R Block, dry cleaners and other "weird" results.

Customer service said all the same features were there, just posed a little differently but I can't get this version to do what the old one did. I want to downgrade but as you all have discovered for yourself, it's a lie. The downgrade feature in our BB applications, if it shows up on the list at all, doesn't work.

So, now I'm trying to find a way around this...Has anyone found a previous version online, and done a manual install an older version with DM? Someone must have a copy of the previous version, yes?

'Bella

[normalchildhood]

I absolutely hate the new VZ Navigator (5.0). Why did they have to mess with something that worked just fine? I want to downgrade but don't know how or if it's even available. I am so frustrated!! Here's what changed that I hate:

• The icons that show up on the map as you're driving make it so cluttered. I just want to see the map!
• The turn arrows aren't different colors. They used to be red for left turns, blue for right turns. Now they're all green.
• I can't forward through the navigation. I used to be able to forward through to future directions to see what route it was going to take me, but apparently it doesn't do that anymore.
• There is no easy access anymore to getting directions back home or to work. Instead I have to fumble my way through to find my favorites list (which is now buried!).
• The small font size on the screen is ridiculous! The miles and street names that appear onscreen as you drive are so small it's a danger to drive with the thing.
• No more dashboard view! I used to use this and it was great. It showed how many miles till my next turn, the name of the street I needed to turn on (in large font), what my current street is, miles total left, time, etc. Now that's all been ditched. The 3D and 2D view are not helpful because of such a small font size and cluttered maps.

Verizon! I am so irritated! Bring back the old version! I depend on this application multiple times a day as I drive all over the state for my work. This new version is totally unacceptable.

[StreetDocRN]

Hi,

I am working on trying to get an answer for you on whether or not VZNavigator can be reverted back to 4.0.  I will keep you updated as soon as I can get more information.

Doc

[aintigreat]

Bing 411 (1-800-246-4411)

What Bing offers to set it apart are two features for users without data-connected smartphones. One is turn-by-turn directions from wherever you are, and you can even save a "home" and "work" location with the service to save time, entirely over the phone. It tells you what highways are involved at each step before rattling off the directions, and you can skip to any those highway steps if you kind of know where you are but just need a little off-ramp clarification.

[StreetDocRN]

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Sybella wrote:

You aren't the only one disgusted. I loved the VZ Navigator, until I was "forced" to upgrade.

Sure, the carousel is adorable but the main service doesn't work worth a darn. The menu I always used before, to find places along your route, is gone. It used to be that I could put in a "topic" and a general vacinity and get local hits, and the navigator would give me my miles from my current position, rather than they center of the city I typed in. Now, I only get the option of putting in the topic seperately and changing the destination to where I want it sometimes supercedes my initial search, and my results are not only off base but out of my way and miles and miles away from where I want to be searching. I liked being able to fill in two fields, on the same page, and hitting one button, rather than doing all these extra steps for no good reason. By off base, I mean that half the time when I search for something speficic, I get a list of unrelated stuff...like when looking for Thai food restaurants, I get H&R Block, dry cleaners and other "weird" results.

Customer service said all the same features were there, just posed a little differently but I can't get this version to do what the old one did. I want to downgrade but as you all have discovered for yourself, it's a lie. The downgrade feature in our BB applications, if it shows up on the list at all, doesn't work.

So, now I'm trying to find a way around this...Has anyone found a previous version online, and done a manual install an older version with DM? Someone must have a copy of the previous version, yes?

'Bella

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Hi,

I may have found a way to downgrade VZNavigator back to 4.0.  Here is what to do. 

Download the Enterprise .ALX file for VZNavigator from Verizon's web site.  Then, open the zipped file and extract the 4.0 .ALX file for your particular phone and install that file into Blackberry Desktop Manager on your PC.  Then, you have to downgrade the current version via Blackberry Desktop Manager's Application Loader on your device.

Doc