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Nokia’s HERE first released a version of its offline maps and navigation software for Android back at the end of August, but it was only made available for Samsung Galaxy devices.
Upon seeing the response the app was getting from the Android community, HERE released a beta version to all Android users soon after. Unfortunately, it was only available from HERE’s own beta site and didn’t play well with many devices. Even with those teething issues, HERE mentioned that the user base had surpassed a million since that launch with the most active downloaders coming from Germany and the USA. Still, the move to open up the app to other Android devices was a crucial one as HERE was able to get more people to try the app out on a lot more devices.
All those input must have helped HERE because now, it has published its HERE Beta: Offline maps & nav app on Google’s Play Store. The app is still free and looks like it will be kept that way though we’re not sure how HERE, and its parent company Nokia, will monetise the app.
Now that its available on the store, users would not have to sideload the app manually. This will remove concerns about the safety and security of the installation. The presence on the Play Store will also enable HERE to push updates regularly without having to get the users to manually download and install a new version from its website, every time there’s an update or a patch.
With its downloadable offline maps, the hybrid HERE maps does look like a better proposition than Waze or Google Maps; which by default requires an internet connection to operate. I dub the app hybrid because, just like Waze or Google Maps, it too gets live traffic information when it starts to plot a trip (provided that it’s not in offline mode). Users can pre-download maps from any of the 118 countries available (from 6 different continents) and use them later without the need for an internet connection. What makes HERE maps even more interesting is the fact that all of them are completely free. For bigger countries like the USA and India, users can save on memory usage by only downloading the necessary map to a particular state.
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For voice navigation, users can choose between Regular or Hi-fi quality from a selection of 35 for the former (including Bahasa Malaysia) and 12 for the latter. The two quality types have also got to do with the size of the available space on the installed device. As an example, the size of the Hi-fi version of the English (UK) – Male voice pack weighs in at 47.2 MB while the Regular one is about 1/6 of that at 7.4 MB.
Users can register for a HERE account and then use the account to save ‘Collections’ or favourite destinations for a quick access. For the travel mode, users can choose between driving, taking public transportation or even walking from within the app. Once a destination has been selected, the app will provide 3 of the best routes for users to choose from and HERE will also take into consideration the traffic situation in its calculation. Users can share locations using the built-in Glympse feature and set a self-destruct timer before sending the info off to others.
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HERE also has an online presence for laptop or desktop users to plan their travel using a browser. Users can fill up the ‘To’, ‘From’ as well as the ‘Time and date’ for the travel and this will give them a simulated estimate of how the traffic might be at that particular travel period and also the time it will take to travel (similar to Waze’s web based Live Map feature). With the HERE account, users will also be able to bring up their ‘Collections’ on their computers to quickly plot a travel to a favourite destination without having to search for it.
HERE is available now for download on Android, Samsung Gear, Windows Phone, Nokia X, and Windows 8.1. For iOS, the development team is working to launch the app in early 2015.
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