source : Indiatoday

Nokia's Here Maps now free for Android users 

 

Nokia's Here Maps have been here for sometime. In fact, when Nokia was rather infallible in the late 2000's before its switch to Windows Phone, Nokia's Mapping division was numero uno. Here Maps, made a brief stint on Android in 2012, before it was pulled, and last year it returned after Nokia's devices division was sold to Microsoft. It remained exclusive to Samsung's devices, but now Here Maps is available to all Android users, albeit in a beta avatar. The app is live on the Google Play store.

Here Maps specialises at navigation and offline mapping. The app has support for 18 countries and Nokia has fixed a lot of bugs in the app.

As the user can download the entire map of a city, country or even a continent, it is a better option for travellers. It is better than Google Maps as Google's app does not offer offline mapping in the truest sense. It only cache's the map for an area.

Many even argue that Nokia's maps are also superior to Google's. This advantage was unquestionable a few years ago, but with the popularity of Android and dwindling fortunes of Nokia, this advantage is not clear. That's why it is logical for Nokia to have the app on Android, which is the dominant mobile platform. Nokia says an iOS app will come in sometime in 2015.