This Google Maps Rival Came Up with a Brilliant Navigation Feature

And the list of competing products includes several big names, such as Waze and Apple Maps. But one of the most advanced navigation solutions isn’t created by a tech company but by the navigation experts at Sygic.

Sygic GPS Navigation is currently a fully featured solution that comes with everything you’d need when getting behind the wheel, including must-have navigation capabilities such as camera alerts, offline maps, and so on.

But in addition to the essential package, Sygic has also developed several innovative navigation features. This is precisely the case with Real View Navigation.

While its name isn’t necessarily self-explanatory, the Real View Navigation feature bundled with Sygic’s software is supposed to provide navigation guidance based on live images captured by the phone’s camera.

In other words, you’re not seeing a digital map of the region you’re driving in but actual live images of what happens in front of the car. The mobile phone must be placed on the dashboard of the vehicle to be able to see what’s ahead, so Sygic’s software can therefore place navigation instructions on top of the captured images.

Augmented Reality features have been around for quite some time, and Google Maps itself supports similar capabilities for exploring certain regions by foot. But Sygic has pushed the concept to a whole new level, employing AR for real-time navigation even when getting behind the wheel.

“Instead of the classic view where you see the route on a map, Real View draws the line of the route directly over a live image of the road ahead of you which is captured by the camera of your phone or tablet. You just have to place your device so its rear camera has a clear view forward through your windshield,” Sygic explains.

There are many benefits to this great idea. First and foremost, the navigation experience overall is a lot more straightforward and convenient. Given you already see what’s ahead before you look at the phone, it’s easier to figure out which way to go when checking out the instructions provided by Sygic’s software.

Then, you get a lot more information by simply glancing at the screen of the device, as you don’t have to spend too much time staring at the display. And last but not least, the distraction behind the wheel is greatly reduced, something that all navigation solutions should be able to do from the very beginning.

“Real View works anywhere in the world, it doesn’t have any special requirements for your device to be able to use it, and it works offline so no internet connection is required,” Sygic explains. “A major advantage of this mode is that you can still see what is happening on the road before you, even during moments while you are glancing at the screen of your device.”

Now the bad news. While this is such a great feature that many people out there would love to try out at least once, you can’t do it unless you get the Premium+ subscription. That’s right, Sygic isn’t offering the Real View Navigation for free, so only paying customers can get it for the time being.

It’ll certainly be interesting to see how Google Maps plans to respond to such great innovations, especially as the competition in the navigation software battle is getting fiercer. Let’s not forget that Apple is also offering 3D navigation, so Google must come up with something big to keep Google Maps up-to-date with the latest ideas in this world.