Here Maps (app)

This article is about the maps and navigation application. For the mapping company, see Here (company). For other uses, see Here (disambiguation).
Here Maps

The current HERE app for mobile devices

The current maps.here.com browser interface
Developer(s) HERE Global B.V.
Initial release 10 December 2014 (2014-12-10)
Stable release 1.1.10271 (Android), 1.2.0 (iOS) / 27 April 2016 (2016-04-27), 27 April 2016 (2016-04-27)
Development status Active
Operating system Android, iOS, web, Tizen, Windows Phone (discontinued, cirtical updates only), Windows 10 (discontinued)
Available in English
Website here.com/app
maps.here.com

Here Maps is a maps and navigation application by Here for Android, iOS, Windows Phone and the web. Originally developed by Nokia, the application was first released for Windows Phone and the web in 2014, and later for Android and iOS. Maps are updated on a bi or tri-monthly basis.[1] Here Maps was released to the Google Play store on 10 December 2014 and to the iOS store on 11 March 2015.

In December 2015, Here, at the time a division of Nokia, was sold to a consortium German automotive companies as HERE Global B.V.. In March 2016, the new company announced it is discontinuing Here Maps for Windows Phone and Windows 10, however, it continues to provide mapping for Bing Maps.

Availability and compatibility

As of June 2015, the Here app is available as a free app in 118 countries and territories across the world for the Android, iOS and Windows Phone platforms.[2]

On 29 August 2014, Here was also launched for the Samsung Gear S, which utilises the HERE for Gear app specifically made available for Samsung devices.[3]

On 3 September 2015, Here announced that its app would be available for the Samsung Gear S2 when the smartwatch is released later this fall.[4]

On 15 March 2016, Here announced that it would discontinue support for its app for Windows 10 Mobile on 29 March 2016 due to its use of "a workaround that will no longer be effective after June 30, 2016", and that the existing Windows Phone 8 app will only receive critical updates after this date and no longer be actively developed. Here maps licensed by Microsoft are still offered as part of the existing Bing Maps-based software on these devices.[5]

Features

Offline maps

HERE can download maps of countries to the internal storage of the respective device. In addition to map browsing, users can also search for places, plan routes and utilise turn-by-turn navigation without incurring any mobile data costs. Switching back from 'Use app offline' to 'online usage only' provides live traffic data and additional venue information.[6]

Venue maps

HERE also contains a range of indoor venue maps for large indoor venues such as shopping malls, airports and other public places. These offer multi-level building navigation in three dimensions, giving the user access to the destination/information they require for a particular place.[7]

Street view

HERE street view car in Palhoça, Brazil
HERE Maps street level views coverage with:
  partial coverage
  full or partial coverage planned (official)

Street level views are available on Windows platform and on defunct Yahoo! Maps site for some countries including United States, France, Spain, United Kingdom, Finland and United Arab Emirates.[8]

Country or territory Continent Year added Notes
 United States North America 2014 Firstly available on Yahoo! Maps, low and high quality images available for many cities
 Finland Europe 2014 Firstly available on Yahoo! Maps, low quality images
 France Europe 2014 Firstly available on Yahoo! Maps, low quality images
 Spain Europe 2014 Firstly available on Yahoo! Maps, low quality images
 United Kingdom Europe 2014 Firstly available on Yahoo! Maps, low quality images
 United Arab Emirates Asia 2015 Firstly available on Yahoo! Maps, high quality images
 Argentina South America 2016 Only available by looking for directions on here.com website[9]
 Colombia South America 2016 Only available by looking for directions on here.com website[10]
 Canada North America 2016 Only available by looking for directions on here.com website[11]

Future coverage

Continent Countries listed on HERE's site[12]
Africa
Asia
Europe
North America
Oceania
South America

Turn-by-turn navigation

HERE provides turn-by-turn navigation in both offline and online modes. Users can enter a destination address or landmark/business name and directions and distance to the destination are automatically calculated by the app. Real-time traffic data (where available) is also factored and a prediction made on arrival time to the destination.[13]

HERE used to provide text-to-speech "Hi-Fi" navigation voices on Android, but eliminated them to focus on "bringing a larger variety of good quality voices instead of handful of Hi-Fi voices.".[14] On 17 August 2015, HERE announced that navigation voice 'Surfer Dude' was made available in the HERE iOS app with the Android app to receive the update in the near future.[15]

Public transport directions and pedestrian navigation

Public transport data is also automatically pulled by the HERE app whilst planning a route, for transport options such as buses and trains. This is made available simultaneously with pedestrian (walking) data, enabling users to select the transportation mode. Time and distance estimates are also provided (as is the case with driving navigation).[16]

Full transit information is available in Switzerland, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Israel, The Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Sweden, Taiwan and Ukraine,[17] and partial support for transport directions in other countries.[18]

Real-time traffic and reversible lane traffic

As of June 2015, HERE has real-time traffic data available for 50 countries, such as the United States of America, Canada, Brazil, Australia and New Zealand. This data provides up-to-the-minute information regarding traffic conditions and incidents that may cause delays in a commuter's travels. Most recently, the countries Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Bulgaria and Romania came onboard with live traffic data.[19]

In late June 2015, HERE added real-time traffic for reversible express lanes, across the United States of America and Europe.[20]

'Collections' and location sharing

HERE also has the ability for users to save the location and details of their favourite destinations as 'Collections'. Users are also able to manage their collections through renaming, editing and deleting. Access to the 'Collections' hub is straightforward in being present on the main tab under 'Maps' and 'Drive' within the HERE app itself.[21]

Within 'Collections' is the additional ability to share your saved or current location via a variety of methods. Users may do this using Glympse, or more traditional methods such as Google+, Facebook Messenger, email or Twitter.[22]

HERE for Android public beta

Initially the HERE app was announced as a beta only for select Samsung Galaxy smartphones on 29 August 2014.[23] The app was downloadable from 8 October 2014 from Samsung's Galaxy Apps Store.[24]

The first public release of the beta HERE app (across all of the Android platform) was initiated on 21 October 2014, as an APK download from the HERE.com website.[25] The reach of the HERE app was further extended through its availability in the Google Play store from 10 December 2014 onwards.[2]

On 12 February 2015, HERE shed its beta tag and became a stable release on the Google Play store.[26]

On 9 July 2015, HERE launched a new public beta of its Android app, thereby inviting members of the public to assist in testing the newest features. In turn, the provided feedback and user data will provide faster iterations of the stable build of the HERE app.[27]

Download statistics

HERE reached 1,000,000 (1 million) downloads on the Android platform a couple of weeks after launch, and after 12 weeks following its launch reached 2.5 million downloads.[28] In mid-February 2015, HERE had accumulated more than 3 million downloads for the Android version of its app.[26] In March 2015, HERE accumulated a total of 4 million downloads through the Google Play store alone.[28] As of 4 August 2015, HERE reached 5 million downloads for its Android app in the Google Play store, and reached more than 10 million downloads in early 2016.[29]

Previous iterations

Symbian^3/Belle

HERE was available on the Symbian^3 platform under the previous name, Nokia Maps. The latest, and the last, Version 3.09 included:

Nokia stated that the Nokia 808 from 2012 will be the last Symbian phone.[33] Symbian development has halted, therefore no new features for Nokia Maps are to be expected. Accenture is responsible for maintenance of Symbian and Nokia Maps until 2016.[32]

The supported phones are:

Asha/S40

Maps for S40 were limited compared to other platforms. The maps were streamed online into the device or you can pre-download them with Nokia Suite. At some markets, the phones came with a SD card with preloaded local maps. They don't have turn-by-turn navigation and you can only plan pedestrian routes max. 10 km (6 miles) long with them. As none of Asha series phone had GPS, positioning is done by Cell ID of the cellular network or by using the Wi-Fi positioning system.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "HERE updates maps worldwide for Android, iOS and Windows". HERE 360.
  2. 1 2 "HERE for Android now available for free on Google Play". HERE 360.
  3. ↑ "HERE for Gear: apps inbound for Samsung Tizen". HERE 360.
  4. ↑ "HERE says hello to the new round-face Samsung smartwatch". HERE 360.
  5. ↑ "Here Maps drops support for Windows Phone and Windows 10". The Verge. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  6. ↑ "Offline navigation really matters if 500 MB of data costs a week in wages". HERE 360.
  7. ↑ "Get inside Venue Maps – now on HERE for Android". HERE 360.
  8. ↑ "HERE Maps Street View Levels to the UAE". TechView.me.
  9. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ljk4ZdBhz3I
  10. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ljk4ZdBhz3I
  11. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ljk4ZdBhz3I
  12. ↑ "here.com vehicles drive schedule". here.com.
  13. ↑ "Turn-by-turn navigation with HERE for Android: The basics". HERE 360.
  14. ↑ "Getting vocal about HERE spoken navigation". HERE 360.
  15. ↑ "Surfer Dude, a fan-favorite HERE navigation voice, is back". HERE 360.
  16. ↑ "Using HERE for Android to get around with transit and on foot". HERE 360.
  17. ↑ "HERE expands city-to-city transit coverage to 14 countries". HERE 360.
  18. ↑ "HERE Maps". here.com.
  19. ↑ "50 countries with HERE Real Time Traffic, and counting". HERE 360.
  20. ↑ "HERE adds reversible lanes traffic to Android, iOS and more". HERE 360.
  21. ↑ "Managing Collections with HERE for Android and iOS". HERE 360.
  22. ↑ "Sync, share and plan routes with Collections on HERE for Android". HERE 360.
  23. ↑ "Android fans rejoice: HERE for Samsung Galaxy smartphones". HERE 360.
  24. ↑ "Getting started with HERE for Android: the basics". HERE 360.
  25. ↑ "HERE for Android unleashed on more smartphones!". HERE 360.
  26. 1 2 "HERE for Android updated and improved, leaves beta". HERE 360.
  27. ↑ "Announcing the HERE for Android Public Beta". HERE 360.
  28. 1 2 "It’s official – HERE is everywhere". HERE 360.
  29. ↑ Nokia Apps LLC. "HERE Maps – Android Apps on Google Play". google.com.
  30. ↑ "Map reporter FAQ". Archived from the original on 27 April 2015.
  31. ↑ Rafe Blandford (6 April 2010). "Custom 3.03 version for Nokia E71 and Nokia E66". Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  32. 1 2 "Nokia outsources Symbian support which will continue until 2016". 4 October 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  33. ↑ "Nokia Confirms The PureView Was Officially The Last Symbian Phone". Techcrunch. 24 January 2013. Retrieved 18 July 2013.

External links

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