Recently we heard that HERE maps were made available to Android running Samsung Galaxy Smartphones and today this offline map & navigation service has been made available to more Android users than just Galaxy users.
On the website HERE writes ” Recently, we launched HERE for Android on Samsung Galaxy Smartphones. And now, due to popular demand, we’re making HERE for Android immediately avaialble for everyone with a compatible smartphone”. By compatible smartphone they mean any device running Android 4.1 (Jellybean) or greater and with at least 1 GB of RAM for smooth functioning.
User Interface:
HERE for Android has a beautiful UI, clean and sleek as always. It works smooth and accurately on my Google Nexus 7. Scrolling through the map is easy with just small icons on all the corners for dedicated job.
Unlike WindowsPhone the HERE Maps & HERE Drive apps are integrated in one & can be accessed through a drop down menu from the top left corner. It’s easy to switch between maps & drive.
With just simple taps it is possible to switch the view from map to satellite and also the map details to show the transport or traffic status. The USP of HERE has been the feature to use both Maps & Drive offline and it does carry the same legacy to Android too providing the option to download and use maps offline.
Searching for places has always been very easy with categories on HERE and it’s available on Android too (this doesn’t feel Beta version, works fine). I like the interface to conclude, everything is easy to pick and nicely laid out.
How to get HERE for Android?
HERE is currently in Beta and isn’t available on Play Store for download. You can download HERE for non Galaxy phones from here & side load it to run on your device. Make sure under settings, “Allow installation of apps from other sources other than the Play Store” is ticked before you start installing.
Features:
– Offline navigation: Interactive maps and turn-by-turn voice guidance 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 offline.
– Live traffic info for more than 40 countries.
– Personalise map by creating Collections of favourite places.
– Share location with family and friends in real time via Glympse.
Before I conclude, to use this service, you should create a new account, your pervious Nokia Account won’t work with this.
Stay tuned for more tech news.
by @Tiwaash
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