Nokia’s HERE Mapping App Is Back On iOS

on March 11, 2015 at 3:14 pm

First app for Apple devices was pulled in late 2013, but all-new version is returning to the App Store after 4m downloads on Android

Although Nokia is no longer in the smartphone game, it has remained committed to its other businesses. One of those is its mapping division, which almost six months ago debuted a new Android app capable of giving Google Maps a run for its money. At the same time, Nokia teased the launch of a completely overhauled iOS app, but its development has been shrouded in some secrecy.

Nokia pulled its first iOS Maps app after admitting things “went horribly wrong,” and its developers have had a lot of work to do to make sure it doesn’t suffer a repeat this time around. The company believes it’s fixed all the ticks, and now the app is available to download on the App Store.

Mapping apps can’t afford to be too unique or they risk alienating users. Fortunately, this means that if you’ve ever used Apple Maps or Google Maps (or Here Maps on Android for that matter), you’ll know exactly what to do. You will first be asked to create or sign in with a Here account, which you’ll need if you intend on downloading maps or saving locations, but after that you’re good to go.

While other apps offer offline mode for entire countries or regions, and Google lets users save small parts of a map for offline use for free, Here brings full offline functionality completely gratis, letting you download continents, countries, and in some instances specific parts of countries such as Scotland from the U.K., or Alabama from the U.S.

Some notable features include full turn-by-turn directions with voice, real-time speed limit alerts based on the actual limits on the road you’re driving on, live traffic data (online mode only), and public transit directions covering 950 cities globally.

The app also lets you build “collections” of places, which are basically groups of all your favorite places sorted by theme — this could be “pubs,” “family members,” or “museums” — which can be created and accessed from any device you login on, across Android, Windows Phone, iOS, and the Web.

There are a handful of notable omissions from the first version of Here on iOS however — for example 3D venue maps are nowhere to be seen. But these are expected to be added in future iterations.

Source: Venture Beat