Coverage? for your iPhone and iPad is helpful yet depressing
Coverage? (US$0.99) is a new iPhone/iPad app that will let you see detailed cell phone coverage maps for all four of the major US providers. The app can find your location, then show you AT&T coverage. Even better, it will allow you to also see Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile coverage, and you can overlay any combination of coverage maps over your position.
If you're traveling, you can show any location in the US, and you can also see what the good or bad news is for other destinations. Of course, that is the depressing part. Seeing the Verizon and AT&T maps together for where I live in Arizona isn't pretty. You can compare the 2G maps, 3G coverage, or even where there are roaming agreements. In almost every comparison, Verizon simply looks better. In southern Utah, where I spend time doing photography, the comparisons are even uglier.
Since the maps are built into the app, you don't have to download them, which is a good thing, since in many places you wouldn't have good enough coverage to see them. The app is 14.9 MB, by the way. If you don't want to pony up the $0.99, take a look at the free Cell Phone Coverage Map app. It's only good in big cities though, where you may have better reception anyway. Of course, AT&T has some issues in metro areas too.
Coverage? is a really useful app. It will be used on every trip I take, and even around town it shows why some calls may drop. Ultimately, and sadly, this app is a great marketing tool for Verizon if, as rumored, they do get the iPhone next year.
Coverage? is a universal app and requires iOS 4.2 or later.
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Coverage? (US$0.99) is a new iPhone/iPad app that will let you see detailed cell phone coverage maps for all four of the major US...
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Gotta agree . i mean i had an iphone for six months and finally sold it because I was so sick of my calls dropping! I needed a change and went prepaid cause I figured itd be cheaper. did straight talk. that unlimited plan. ( same what i had on iphone) but half the price.. and what do u know. NO DROPPED calls. I was once on hold for 20 minutes for an airline.THEY DROPED THE CALL ( at&t) and i almost screamed. Now I just feel a lot more protected wth straight talk.
January 22 2011 at 2:28 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyRoot metrics dose the same kind of stuff but has supplemental data, reporting and active sector overlays. And um, free.
December 27 2010 at 3:26 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyRoot Metrics is a nice app, but it only provides information on a handful of major cities. It is useless for helping you plan how to stay connected on a cross-country road trip, for example. And Root Metrics also does not work offline. What good is a coverage map that you can't check when you have none?
Coverage works offline, and covers the entire nation. In this regard, it is absolutely unique.
We wrote Coverage because as full time travelers, we needed it!
- Chris // www.technomadia.com
It gives me a lot of little mirths when I see them iPhone lofted to the sky in the perpetual search for a better signal. Out comes my tracfone, and onto a legible conversation as easy as it is to operate a simple sub $15 phone. That's right all ye apple snobbies - the weep appy's right here :)
December 27 2010 at 2:12 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThat's a bit spiky there. If anything you sound a little bitter. You're not wrong about the tracfone being better for speaking on, and getting signal. It is however important to point out that this doesn't happen on it's own. You as the purchaser of a tracfone, have to choose the right network for you. If you're in a rural area and you chose wrong - well sorry, at least with an iPhone you can then entertain yourself on the side of the road while the battery last.
January 27 2011 at 4:27 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIsn't East Bufu, UT, a 4G test market for Sprint?
December 23 2010 at 2:55 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThe maps also do not show how much THROUGHPUT each carrier supplies. AT&T has 5 bars here in downtown Wilmington DE but good luck getting much data during business hours. The tower is overloaded and has been for years. Coverage accessibility.
December 22 2010 at 9:16 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply(That should read "coverage does not equal accessibility".)
December 22 2010 at 9:18 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThe map for Utah looks bad, until you look at this one:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Utah_population_map.png
In short, AT&T has less coverage in the middle of nowhere, where no people live. Can anybody seriously expect *every* cell company to build multimillion-dollar towers in East Bufu to serve the 1 or 2 customers per square mile that's out there?
YMMV, but it certainly doesn't lead automatically to the "AT&T sucks" conclusion.
I find this sort of thing useless. As someone who lives on the verge of a lot of carrier coverage anything based on the carriers maps is pointless. I need real facts, those are not so easy to get.
Oh hey I'm clearly in AT&T 3G! In reality. NOPE. Verison says I should have decent service here! Reality.... 1 or 2 bars as most.
What a stupid app. You'll know immediately if you have coverage or not because your iPhone will either have a signal or it won't. Ta-da!
December 22 2010 at 4:16 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyIs this just providing publicly available data in an app? If so, where is this data from?
Also, how current is that data? New cell towers continue to go up.
I don't think the maps are terribly current...the map shows NO AT&T 3g coverage within 20 miles of me, yet my phone has FULL 3g coverage in this area. I do know that 3g coverage here is fairly recent, within the last few months, but still, I'm pretty disappointed in this app.....oh well, only $.99.
December 23 2010 at 6:45 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyVerdict? AT&T sucks
December 22 2010 at 3:44 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyDeals of the Day
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