How To Downgrade From VZ Navigator 5 back to 4.5 As Sent In An Email From VZ Navigator's Project Manager

Wow! Kudos to Verizon for actually being on the ball and paying attention!

Today I got an email from Misty Balinsat, Product Manager for VZ Navigator. Seems she saw my review, and wanted to pass on some words of encouragement, as well as instructions on how to downgrade back to 4.5 until they resolve some of the issues. First, the instructions for downgrading from VZ Navigator 5.x to 4.5:

To be safe, if you have a bunch of favorites, it's probably a good idea to use VZ Navigator's "Sync-to-Web" option.

Uninstall VZ Navigator 5:

Open Media Center > Browse & Download
Highlight VZ Navigator & select Options > Cancel Subscription. Confirm removal.

Install VZ Navigator 4.5:

Open Media Center > Browse and Download > Get new apps > Travel & Navigation
VZ Navigator will be listed twice. Select version 4.5 & choose a purchase option ($2.99/24 hr use or $9.99/monthly subscription). Confirm purchase.

These directions might be just for the LG enV3, or enV series, but the basic idea is that you have to completely cancel and uninstall 5 before you even see 4.5 as an option.

Personally, I'm back using VZ Navigator 4.5, and it's just as simple and effective as I remembered.

FYI, also according to Misty: "You also will see a $9.99 charge and then $9.99 credit on your bill, don't let it freak you out if the credit comes 4-5 days post charge. I have Revenue Assurance running these manually once a week, and hopefully the charge and credit will both happen in one bill cycle for you, but if not be sure to look for the credit in the next one."

However, I've had situations in the past where things got double charged (new phones), and a simple call to customer service fixed it no problem.

Thanks, Verizon, for going above and beyond and actually hunting down negative feedback to address.

A VZ Navigator 5 Review

I use Verizon Wireless, and I have for some time. Around 5 years, I believe. My first experience with any sort of GPS unit was with Verizon's VZ Navigator, mainly because I'm eternally poor for some reason and decent GPS units are just now starting to creep in under the $100 mark. That being said, I've always liked VZ Navigator. I have all my favorites in my pocket regardless of what car I'm driving that day. That's a convenient thing for someone with no sense of direction.

Then came VZ Navigator 5.0. I honestly couldn't tell you if the first version of VZ Nav I used was the 1.0. Probably not. However, I can tell you that this is the first one that is complete and total trash. I'm serious. I've used it off and on for a few weeks now, just to be sure it's not just me, and it is complete and total chihuahua vomit.

It takes forever to figure out where I am. I doesn't have all the points of interest that 4.0 did. It did a horrid job bringing my favorites with it, somehow reverting my home address to the one that I used 2 years ago, and mostly not bring them at all. Once it does figure out where I am, it changes its mind once I ask it to navigate somewhere. It somehow thought I was going east on one road when I was going north on another. It actually runs slowly on my phone, which is an EnV3, hardly an old phone. It defaults to this terrible caricature of 3D. I still haven't figured out how to save a new favorite.

When trying to find a restaurant a few days ago, it claimed we were on the feeder and should get on the highway (while we were on the highway), then recalculated route and said we should be, and I'm not kidding here, basically flying sideways to get to the feeder road on the other side of the highway. There was no overpass...never has been. This is a route that VZ Navigator 4 had no problems with. It's really shocking how bad this thing is.

They even added in advertisements! It's a freaking paid feature, and they're posting ads on it! Amazing.

It's inconceivable that Verizon thinks that this program was ready for release. I'm talking, alpha stages of something that should've never been released, bad. If you use VZ Navigator, and you're still on 4.0, don't upgrade. There is absolutely no advantage. A quick look at Verizon's forums shows that I'm not the only one that has no use for it.

On the flip side, if you use VZ Navigator to find food of any kind, it could be considered a weight loss tool! By the time you figure out how to get there, you'll be so pissed off that the last thing you want to do is eat.

If you have already upgraded, you may as well cancel and buy yourself a cheap GPS unit. That's what I'll be doing, even though I can't really afford it.

Edit: Verizon responds! Read here for instructions on downgrading to VZ Navigator 4.5.