Nokia HERE Maps Released for All Android Smartphones

[ahjolinna]

Just a small reminder that HERE is owned by Nokia not M$. This is the part of Nokia that was NOT bought by Microsoft.

 

Nokia HERE Maps offers some features that even Google Maps doesn’t, which means the free software should be at least worth considering if you’re a frequent traveler.

Take for example its ability to store offline maps. Unlike Google Maps, which simply caches some data, Nokia HERE gives you the ability to save entire regions, like a state, for offline turn-by-turn directions. You can even search for points-of-interest when you don’t have a connection, which means you’ll still be able to look up the location of a new restaurant while you’re riding the subway. There are also other features, like 3D renders of famous buildings, cloud storage for saved favorites – provided you’ve created an account – and more.

 

 

Features list:

• Offline navigation: Interactive maps and turn-by-turn voice guidance are still available even without an internet connection.
• Maps to download and to use offline for nearly 100 countries.
• Public transport maps and directions for over 800 cities in over 40 countries, also when you’re offline.
• Live traffic info for more than 40 countries.
• Plan your journey on beta.here.com, then find your way there using your mobile.
• Personalise your map by creating Collections of your favourite places.
• Share your location with family and friends in real time as you go via Glympse. It’s private, secure and safe.

 

 

 

 

Recently, we launched HERE for Android on Samsung Galaxy smartphones. And now, due to popular demand, we’re making HERE for Android immediately available for everyone with a compatible smartphone.

Help us improve HERE for Android

HERE for Android initially made an appearance on the Samsung Galaxy Apps Store, but even if you don’t have a Galaxy smartphone, you’ll still be able to enjoy the full benefits of HERE – simply download the app from http://here.com/beta/android.

Since launching HERE for Android, we’ve had some brilliant feedback from smartphone owners, critics and websites. We’re also grateful for constructive criticism, helping us to make HERE for Android even better. We’re taking your comments seriously, and are already working on changes, fixes and additions. Thanks to you, we’ve discovered that some ‘cache cleaner’ apps accidentally delete the navigation voices in the HERE app. We’re very close to a fix, which will be released in the next weeks, but in the meantime we’d ask you not to use such apps if you want to use voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation.

Once you’ve downloaded the app for your smartphone, you can get in touch with us and let us know your thoughts by providing your evaluation directly in the app.

As always, you can also leave a comment on HERE Three Sixty – we’d love to know how you’ve been getting on with the app – or get in touch with us on Twitter @HERE.

How to install HERE for Android

While we’re collecting your feedback and squashing the last bugs, we’re making the app available to download from our website. It’s easy to ‘side-load’ HERE for Android on your phone; just go to here.com/beta/android and follow the steps below:

Download using your Android smartphone:

1. Tap on ‘Get the app now’.
2. Confirm the download and choose the directory on your smartphone in which you’d like to store the apk file (e.g. “Downloads”).
3. Open a file manager on your smartphone and tap the directory to which you downloaded HERE_beta_175.apk. If you do not yet have a file manager installed, you can go to the Google Play Store and install e.g. ES file explorer, Astro file manager or File Expert.
4. Tap HERE_beta_175.apk to start the installation.
5. Your phone will ask you to allow the installation. To do that, go to Settings in your phone, then Security (which could also be under Settings > More Options). Then tick the “Unknown sources” box. This allows apps from sources other than the official app store to be installed on your phone.
6. When the installation is finished, you can open the HERE app from the app drawer.

OR

Download using your PC:

1. Download the HERE_beta_175.apk file to a folder on your PC (e.g. “Downloads”)
2. Connect your Android phone to your PC (e.g. via USB cable or Bluetooth). Remember to unlock the screen, if it’s locked.
3. Open the file explorer on your PC and copy the HERE_beta_175.apk from the directory where you downloaded it to a directory on your phone.
4. Disconnect your phone from your PC.
5. Open a file manager on your phone and tap the directory to which you downloaded HERE_beta_175.apk. If you do not yet have a file manager installed, you can go to the Google Play Store on your phone and install e.g. ES file explorer, Astro file manager or File Expert.
6. Tap HERE_beta_175.apk to start the installation.
7. Your phone will ask you to allow the installation. To do that, go to Settings in your phone, then Security (which could also be under Settings > More Options). Then tick the “Unknown sources” box. This allows apps from sources other than the Google Play Store to be installed on your phone.
8. When the installation is finished, you can open the HERE app from the app drawer.

If you need more help, a very well-done video guide on how to ‘side-load’ Android apps on your smartphone is available at Phandroid.com.

Is my Android phone compatible?

We’re testing HERE for Android with as many devices as possible. The general rule for compatibility is a device with Android 4.1 (‘Jelly Bean’) or greater. However, if you want to get the best results, we recommend smartphones with 1GB of RAM or more and a screen size between four and six inches.

By ‘side-loading’ the app onto your Android smartphone, please be aware that the app will not automatically update if newer versions are available, so stay tuned to HERE Three Sixty for any updates.

Get the most out of HERE for Android

HERE for Android is easy to use, but if you want to make the most out of it, follow the tips & tricks we’re regularly sharing on HERE Three Sixty. We’ve already explained how to get a HERE account and sync your favourite places with the web, how to set up HERE for Android for the first time, how to use it in the car. Update: we now have also a guide how to get transit routes and walk navigation.

source : http://360.here.com/2014/10/21/here-for-all-android/

[jbr]

Does this work on Galaxy Tab 4 tablets?

[mach]

sounds too good to be true:)

[jbr]

sounds too good to be true:)

 

How?, there are plenty of offline maps available but they generally suck.

[mach]

How?, there are plenty of offline maps available but they generally suck.

exactly

[HippY]

exactly

Nokia is known to have a good quality map app for while, like N series

[Dredgy]

HERE is pretty good. Around Brisbane and the Gold Coast, walking directions are far superior to Google Maps. It's just it doesn't "know" as many locations, though it does as well as Apple Maps in general. It's speed limit knowledge is also superior to that of the Tom Tom in the car, though annoyingly beeps when you are speeding.

[Deli]

Good news. 

[sof006]

Omg now all we need is for it on iOS. I remember when I had my windows phone. This app was amazing, much better than any turn by turn navigation app I've used!

[ahjolinna]

Omg now all we need is for it on iOS. I remember when I had my windows phone. This app was amazing, much better than any turn by turn navigation app I've used!

The IOS version is coming. I don't know when, but Nokia said that they are working on it

[Matsy]

Downloading.

Will give it a try, been using the TomTom App for awhile.

Doesn't seem to have many options (fasters,shortest route though)

[dmegatool]

Doesn't seem to have many options (fasters,shortest route though)

It does on Windows Phone. If it's not there, it will probably be added later.

 

Edit: Re-reading your post I'm not sure if you're saying there's no faster/shorter option... 

[Matsy]

It does on Windows Phone. If it's not there, it will probably be added later.

 

Edit: Re-reading your post I'm not sure if you're saying there's no faster/shorter option... 

 

Yeh theres no option to choose what kind of route you want (faster, shortest, longest etc) like on pretty much all satnav app's.

[StingBull]

Great. HERE maps was making me jealous of ancient Nokia phones because of its offline storage capability.

[GoodBytes]

Nokia maps was the best feature of the Windows Phone. From what I saw, and people say, is massacre everything on the market.

It was Windows Phone killer app. Sadly it was not enough.

[euniqe]

Nokia maps have some good features, but the navigation has always been complete crap.

 

It once made me perform a 50km detour for NO REASON. And there has been countless other times it simply doesn't know the correct way to go, or makes me turn off a road then turn back onto THE SAME ROAD when all I had to do was keep going straight. 

 

But other than that, for searching for places and finding out where you are etc. it's peerless.

[sof006]

The IOS version is coming. I don't know when, but Nokia said that they are working on it

Woo!

[n0ah1897]

Nokia's HERE applications are absolutely fantastic. Biggest plus with my windows phone. They work splendidly.

[WelshDdraig]

This is music to my ears (Insert Handel's Messiah Hallelujah Chorus here, unable to due to legal reasons, jk). I have missed using Nokia maps since I moved from my Lumia 710. Sorry Google, but I feel Nokia did it better, especially for navigation such as a satnav.