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Hands-on with Here WeGo's Android Auto beta, your next Google Maps alternative
A promising start, minus a few speed bumps
Google Maps might be the default navigation service for most Android users — and, if we're being honest, most iOS users, too — but third-party map apps have come a long way. Ever since Android Auto gained support for new navigation apps, we've seen everything from ultra-localized GPS platforms to offline-first services launched for cars. Here WeGo is one of the best Google Maps alternatives on the Play Store, and with its latest beta update, it finally has support for in-dash displays.
HERE Maps was a pretty descriptive name, but it lacked pizzazz. Starting today, the app is called HERE WeGo, and it's getting a few improvements to make navigation easier. There are even some entirely new navigation options displayed in the app if you happen to be in certain cities.
These days mobile navigation apps don't just tell you how to drive to a location, they map out subway lines, bus routes, and other ways of getting around town. Today HERE announced the feature for many new cities, bringing the total number of supported places to over 1,000.
Last month HERE showed off its upcoming route sharing feature, which lets users send others the route they're taking to get to a destination. This way you can answer "How are you getting here?" without having to go through the effort of explaining. Tapping the standard share button and having the question-asking-person read the plain text that appears on his or her phone, or open the instructions inside HERE, should be much less of a headache.
Since arriving on Android the HERE app has been a solid alternative to Google Maps. Each update brings something new, and as usual, beta users get the goods first. Today's new feature is the ability to share your route with other people.
When HERE Maps launched a new beta program back in July, the first major feature was a new contextual menu. Whenever you long-pressed anywhere on a map, four bubbles would pop up that offered information on the location, the option to share, the ability to pull up directions, and the choice to immediately start navigation.
If you prefer HERE Maps to Google Maps for the former's offline functionality, and you live in a few specific (and some other VERY specific) places around the world, you're getting better service starting today. The Nokia-created subsidiary announced a host of improvements on its official blog, most notably in Belarus, Barcelona, Brazil, and even some other places that don't start with B.
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- HERE's blog has shared the news and further detailed the implications of this deal. Among them is an explanation that the service's consumer offering is intricately and critically entwined with its automotive business. So we can all rest assured that, at least in the foreseeable future, HERE maps' mobile apps aren't going anywhere.
Nokia has hinted at a sale of its HERE mapping and location unit since April, when it announced its merger with Alcatel-Lucent and a strategic review of HERE. The rumors at the time pegged Uber and unnamed German carmakers to be interested in the acquisition, then were more substantiated last month when Bloomberg revealed that the trio of BMW, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz were the most likely candidates.
Nokia, in their continuing withdrawal from the mobile phone and software industry, appears close to selling off their best remaining asset in that market: HERE Maps. According to a report by Bloomberg, Nokia will sell their mapping technology and know-how to Germany's three biggest automakers, BMW, Audi (owned by Volkswagen), and Mercedes-Benz. Though they typically compete against one another, each shares common concerns about Google's market position and privacy policies.
Google Maps may be the go-to mapping and navigation app for a grand majority of Android users, but that doesn't stop the competition from pushing ahead, adding new features, and trying to grab more users. That's the case with HERE Maps, which is not content with offering a better offline mapping experience, but keeps on trickling updates to its Android app. Lately, it added reversible lane support in 12 cities, and now it's launching a beta program to help you test out new features before they make it into the stable release.
In Lebanon, we have one seaside road where traffic direction reverses reliably at 11am and 11pm to lower congestion and help more people get into or out of Beirut as fast as possible. It doesn't do miracles on very busy days, but it helps a bit. The idea isn't unique to us and if you live in big metropolitan U.S areas with heavy traffic on some of the highways, then you know what reversible lanes are. The problem is that mapping software doesn't take these lanes into consideration when planning your routes, or isn't always up-to-date on the direction or load of traffic in those lanes.
Nokia's HERE Maps application continues to be a popular alternative to Google's own maps, thanks to wide availability and an easy-to-use download feature. The latest update adds a few new bells and whistles in the name of accuracy, especially if you happen to live in sub-Saharan Africa: according to this blog post, the downloadable maps in the regions of Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, São Tomé and Príncipe, Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, and the Seychelles have all been considerably improved.
Shortly after confirming the rumors of its talks with Alcatel-Lucent yesterday, Nokia has announced today that it does indeed intend to buy the French firm. The deal would combine both European companies' assets under the Nokia Corporation name, with headquarters in Helsinki and a strong presence in France. No cash transactions would be involved, instead the acquisition is a public exchange offer whereby 0.55 Nokia shares are offered for every Alcatel-Lucent share. The valued total amounts to 15,6 Billion Euros.
Just yesterday, HERE Beta sent out an update with a few minor improvements. Today, they came out like gangbusters by dropping the beta label and adding some serious polish to the app. This navigation app, perhaps the most serious challenger to Google Maps, is developed by once-ubiquitous OEM Nokia. Now, they think they are ready for showtime.
Nokia's Here maps app has proven a popular alternative to Google Maps, thanks largely to its strong international support and offline navigation mode. There's an update rolling out today that improves mapping data across a number of countries and adds new turn-by-turn locations.
Nokia is generally regarded as the best maker of Windows-powered phones on the market, which is probably why Microsoft snatched them up. While most of that attention is focused on the Finnish company's solid hardware, Nokia's custom HERE mapping platform has also received rave reviews, with many saying it outperforms Microsoft's own maps. Now Nokia is bringing a beta version of HERE Maps to Android... but strangely, only on Samsung hardware.