Nokia's dedicated 'Here' maps app hits the iOS App Store
Nokia on Tuesday made good on a promise to bring its new "Here" mapping service to iOS as it launched a free app complete with offline caching and voice-guided walking directions.
Nokia's new "Here" mapping app offers walking and public transit directions.
First spotted by The Next Web, "Here" comes exactly one week after Nokia CEO Stephen Elop announced that the app would be available for iPhones, iPads and iPods sometime in the coming weeks.
According to Nokia, the HTML5-based mapping solution includes offline capabilities and, unlike Apple's own Maps app, voice-guided walking navigation and public transportation directions.
"Maps are hard to get right - but location is revolutionizing how we use technology to engage with the real world," said Nokia's Executive Vice President of Location & Commerce Michael Halbherr, who is responsible for Here. "That's why we have been investing and will continue to invest in building the world's most powerful location offering, one that is unlike anything in the market today."
The Finnish company also noted that future updates will come with 3D capabilities akin to Apple and Google's solutions, which will come from technology acquired by earthmine. Nokia is rolling out the mapping service on its Microsoft Windows Phone handsets as well as versions for Google's Android and Mozilla's Firefox OS.
Nokia's app is one of the first major no-cost mapping submissions to rival Apple's Maps app, which caused a flap with consumers and the media when it was released as part of iOS 6 in September. With Maps, Apple chose to move away from its longstanding partnership with Google Maps to a proprietary solution built completely in house. Upon launch, however, the program was fraught with problems like rendering issues and incorrect location data.
The internet search giant is said to be planning its own standalone iOS app that may see release soon as rumors claim the company is distributing near final versions of the software to outside testers. One of the major gripes with Apple's solution is the lack of Google's Street View option, however that feature was brought back to mobile Safari with the Google Maps web app in October with limited functionality.
Nokia's Here is available now for iOS as a free download from the App Store.
Nokia's new "Here" mapping app offers walking and public transit directions.
First spotted by The Next Web, "Here" comes exactly one week after Nokia CEO Stephen Elop announced that the app would be available for iPhones, iPads and iPods sometime in the coming weeks.
According to Nokia, the HTML5-based mapping solution includes offline capabilities and, unlike Apple's own Maps app, voice-guided walking navigation and public transportation directions.
"Maps are hard to get right - but location is revolutionizing how we use technology to engage with the real world," said Nokia's Executive Vice President of Location & Commerce Michael Halbherr, who is responsible for Here. "That's why we have been investing and will continue to invest in building the world's most powerful location offering, one that is unlike anything in the market today."
The Finnish company also noted that future updates will come with 3D capabilities akin to Apple and Google's solutions, which will come from technology acquired by earthmine. Nokia is rolling out the mapping service on its Microsoft Windows Phone handsets as well as versions for Google's Android and Mozilla's Firefox OS.
Nokia's app is one of the first major no-cost mapping submissions to rival Apple's Maps app, which caused a flap with consumers and the media when it was released as part of iOS 6 in September. With Maps, Apple chose to move away from its longstanding partnership with Google Maps to a proprietary solution built completely in house. Upon launch, however, the program was fraught with problems like rendering issues and incorrect location data.
The internet search giant is said to be planning its own standalone iOS app that may see release soon as rumors claim the company is distributing near final versions of the software to outside testers. One of the major gripes with Apple's solution is the lack of Google's Street View option, however that feature was brought back to mobile Safari with the Google Maps web app in October with limited functionality.
Nokia's Here is available now for iOS as a free download from the App Store.
Comments
got it
From a user point of view, having several Maps apps is a loss of time and also increases the risk of cluttering. The way Apple should have fight against Google Maps is exactly the way they dropped PowerPC: They only released Intel support when it was 100% ready and it matched all the 100% of functionality of the PowerPC versions. For maps, they should have followed the same approach: develop Apple Maps in secret, until it matches -or surpasses- the 100% of Google Maps functionality, and in the mean time continue supporting Google Maps as the official maps app for iOS. Then, one morning you announce Apple Maps, and the same afternoon the app is ready for download. End of story. That's the way Apple always played these games, and that's how they should have done it now.
Instead, they argued you had lots of maps apps as alternatives to Apple Maps and Google Maps. That's bad, you don't need cluttering alternatives, you want Google Maps, and -when it's ready-, Apple Maps. Just keep it simple.
Now let's wait until we also get Sony Maps, McDonalds Maps, and Barbie Maps.
No retina graphics. It's slow. Pinch to zoom is wonky. Search results are not centered on the map, so when you try to zoom in the search result immediately scrolls off screen. Search results are worse than Apple Maps.
Most of the search problems with Apple Maps in my area were resolved within the first two weeks of release. These same problems are still present in Nokia's maps.
"Maps are hard to get right"
And they got them wrong. Very slow, shitty typography, zooming isn't continuous, so whenever you stop pinching it'll jump to the nearest accepted zoom level (in practice not even close to what you wanted). Several roads missing (including half my entire neighbourhood), some in the wrong place, and a complete lack of POIs that makes Apple Maps (which is great on roads but poor on POIs in my city) look like a gold standard. Transit directions were also missing from my city.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ecs
From a user point of view, having several Maps apps is a loss of time and also increases the risk of cluttering. The way Apple should have fight against Google Maps is exactly the way they dropped PowerPC: They only released Intel support when it was 100% ready and it matched all the 100% of functionality of the PowerPC versions. For maps, they should have followed the same approach: develop Apple Maps in secret, until it matches -or surpasses- the 100% of Google Maps functionality, and in the mean time continue supporting Google Maps as the official maps app for iOS. Then, one morning you announce Apple Maps, and the same afternoon the app is ready for download. End of story. That's the way Apple always played these games, and that's how they should have done it now.
Instead, they argued you had lots of maps apps as alternatives to Apple Maps and Google Maps. That's bad, you don't need cluttering alternatives, you want Google Maps, and -when it's ready-, Apple Maps. Just keep it simple.
Now let's wait until we also get Sony Maps, McDonalds Maps, and Barbie Maps.
And this is a great thing. Even Google Maps for iOS will become much better JUST BECAUSE Apple did the right thing. Maps in general will be better because of what Apple did.
If you don't understand it, you are hopeless.
Deleted and 1 starred in the App store now.
Re: the bolded.
I don't know where you were during the transition to Intel, but there was plenty of complaining because many apps ran slower - and some apps wouldn't run at all on the Intel machines. It took years before the transition was largely trouble-free.
This is a good app that has well tested map data behind it, but I still prefer the new Apple Maps. Apple Maps just looks and feels better to use and as it matures will rule the maps of the universe.
This Nokia app was probably being developed because the automotive industry which uses Nokia maps heavily is considering iOS based automotive computer system. They probably want many GPS mapping options and if they already have contracts with Nokia maps then they would want Nokia to port it's GPS to iOS.
It's a win win for Nokia and Apple and a lost for Google.
Time will tell.
Type Cayman Islands in both Apple Maps and Nokia Here Maps. In Apple Maps there is only the airport, NO STREETS AT ALL, but in Nokia Here Maps there are streets and everything! That's the difference! Apple Maps SUCKS if you are not in USA!
Took a quick look at HERE. Like many have said, it is a little backward compared to Apple or Google Map. Nothing compared to Apple Map in terms of speed. Search is Google's specialty, but one can get by with the Apple map in the US. I still prefer Apple map for its speed. For the time being, the HERE map is here to stay to supplement Apple map for its offline capability. We'll see what Google brings to the table. After all the trash talk (Apple won't approve 3rd party map app), they better do the walk and not hold back on functionality. The hurdle is getting higher and higher for a map app to stay on my devices. Competition is good for the users. I am glad that Apple brings out their own map to raise the bar.
than anyone. I also dont care for the hacky HTML street view which is inferior to the google app for the way i want to use maps.
I don't like it when a company removes a feature that I paid for and really like. I really dont care if 100000 other people love the new app. When I pay for something I like with my money and its removed its all about me!
I had a quick poke round London and Mumbai (neither of which I know, I have to confess) and the satellite images were perfectly clear. What mosaicing there was [I]CLEARED UP IF I LEFT THE THING TO SETTLE DOWN FOR A FEW SECONDS[/I] (rather than having a tantrum and taking a snap of it for online uploading
I even "located" family in Adelaide, even with inadvertent misspellings.
For a version 1 (or "1.0.1") I find it to be surprisingly good, and not the pre-alpha disaster that its critics have accused it of being.
I tried the browser version of Nokia Maps last week, and they seem good too, although I was put off by the ad banner (admittedly it can be hidden). I haven't downloaded "Here" yet, but at the moment I don't need to. That may change, of course, and many people will no doubt say that it [I]will[/I].
So far, so good: [I]VERY PLEASED[/I]
Try this test: type the word 'shill' into your browser.
Wiki definition sound right ?
Gave it a try and then promptly deleted it. Terrible app. Everything was fuzzy and blocky (no Retina graphics). It uses only bitmapped maps which, after using Apple Maps, is joke. It was choppy in trying to find my location and I felt like I was playing an Atari game.
Perhaps the only thing I have found lacking in Apple Maps is a more intelligent search algorithm to make up for my lack of intelligence when searching for things. For instance, I may just type "FedEx" to find nearby FedEx stores, but it only would find FedEx warehouses or miss out on other business locations that can ship FedEx. Otherwise, the quality of the maps and routing I've found to be excellent.
That's some thorough review you did there...