Here.com Free GPS App.

nava

I don't think is been posted before.

Here.com part of Nokia have free app for IOS/Android, Windows phone and Windows 8.1

I tested on Iphone, looked like you only get 1 map free but I tested and downloaded a couple, also include voice navigation, You can download the maps to use as Offline maps so you don't use your data or handy while abroad.

I only did a quick test today about 5 min drive, I selected Offline maps, found a bit slow creating route or changing route if I took a wrong road.

Link to their website with download links for all the apps.

ted1

The offline maps are great, came in very handy in Barcelona when I had no data connection , big thumbs up

jeffk

Was/is great

Hasn't been updated in ages and talk of Nokia selling it

BigAl81

Hey,

Only found this myself last week.

You can do offline turn by turn navigation which is awesome when traveling. I've tried it in Manchester and Kentucky so far and it works great.

I prefer the look of Google maps, but the audio prompts are a little better with Here.

Just be sure to download your country / state before you go!

BigAl.

Edit : the maps and app were free for me on Android!

Captainsatnav

Windows phone doesn't have a map service with voice prompts. You have to download this basically.

_Tombstone_

Navfree


https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.navfree.android.OSM.ALL


Google has sent me in circles so many times, grrr, hate it.

biebiebie

Been using Here maps on my Samsung/Android phones for many months now... actually since late 2014.

I get frequent map updates to download (see them when I open the app).

I've used offline maps extensively. Very handy if visiting a city abroad. Do your research on restaurants and places to visit before you go and save them all as favourites with tags so that they're ready to find. Can use navigation in walk mode also so very handy for site seeing.

jeffk

_Tombstone_ wrote: »

Navfree


https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.navfree.android.OSM.ALL


Google has sent me in circles so many times, grrr, hate it.

IF you use navfree youd better have a good enough spec phone.

I use to use it on Hauewi G510, then a few months ago tried it again and it locked up the phone. It would be up there with Facebook for memory etc usage

unkel

Now you Google / Apple heads know what you've been missing since about 2007

Did an iPhone even exist back then?

jeffk

unkel wrote: »

Now you Google / Apple heads know what you've been missing since about 2007

Did an iPhone even exist back then?

I had Ovi maps before. shame it stopped working or could use the old phone as a satnav

ted1

jeffk wrote: »

I had Ovi maps before. shame it stopped working or could use the old phone as a satnav

Ovi became here!!!

jeffk

ted1 wrote:

Ovi became here!!!

I know that, shame it meant ovi stopped working

Wonder if they sell here, what well happen to it

bmm

ted1 wrote: »

Ovi became here!!!

or was it called Navteq !

http://www.navigation.com/

moodrater

jeffk wrote: »

I know that, shame it meant ovi stopped working

Wonder if they sell here, what well happen to it

+1 ovi maps was way better there are loads of road completely wrong around my area in here maps. I have roads ending where they go under trees, farmers tracks and private access roads marked as secondary roads etc. looks like they ran some object recognition software on the satellite images. I submiitted load of corrections a couple of months ago and none have been looked at.

If the sell here I suppose it will be called There® :pac:

I've been using sygic now for a couple of years and found it great €19.99 for all of europe and russia at the moment:
http://links.sygic.mkt6669.com/ctt?kn=5&ms=MjI5MTYxMzMS1&r=MTIwOTE2Mzk2OTc0S0&b=0&j=NTgyNDQ0OTIxS0&mt=1&rt=0

Mossy

They've started a beta program that will allow people to test new features, which will apparently be updated monthly - link

I like that it has maps of the inside of some shopping centres, e.g. Jervis, Liffey Valley, so you can see what shops are where. When you zoom in close enough to see the name of the shopping centre a button appears beside the name. Click the button to enter. I'm using the beta version, don't know if this feature is in the regular version.

There's no option for bicycle routes, though, only by car or foot.

jeffk

Mossy wrote: »

They've started a beta program that will allow people to test new features, which will apparently be updated monthly - link

I like that it has maps of the inside of some shopping centres, e.g. Jervis, Liffey Valley, so you can see what shops are where. When you zoom in close enough to see the name of the shopping centre a button appears beside the name. Click the button to enter. I'm using the beta version, don't know if this feature is in the regular version.

There's no option for bicycle routes, though, only by car or foot.

I regularly view that site and missed it, bang goes my idea its on the way out and not updated. Happily proved wrong :cool:

yannakis

Here isn't really a bargain, considering that it was free from the beginning.. Offline feature is a good deal indeed, but for online use there's Waze and it kicks ass

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.waze

The_Conductor

bmm wrote: »

or was it called Navteq !

http://www.navigation.com/

Thats a blast from the past. I worked tech support for Navtech back in 1998-99. Those were the days.

unkel

And for many years Navteq was the only company in the world who made accurate digital maps for Ireland. After Nokia bought Navteq and announced that they would provide free GPS software with free worldwide maps (a very big thing at the time!) for every Nokia smartphone owner, I bought my first smartphone, a second hand Nokia 5800. It cost me only a fraction of what the far inferior iPhone 3 would have cost me second hand at the time.

MayoForSam

Another vote for Here, running on Android. As previous poster noted, just download your maps in advance for wherever you are going and set up your favourites for easy navigation (you can even use folders). Turn-by-turn voice prompts work really well.

I used Here in the US recently and I'm currently in Italy on holidays. Updates frequently and even has speed camera warnings built-in.

talking_walnut

I tried Here on a trip to Norway and it wouldn't show me my current position. I can handle it not doing route finding but not being shown where you currently are makes it equivalent to a paper map.

So was I using it wrong? I only needed it to find the hotel the first day so didn't keep messing with it. I've a Nexus 4 if that matters.

P.S Switched to Google Maps on a more recent trip to Berlin. Just save the needed map area offline and add hotel, etc. to "Save Place".

biebiebie

Sounds like perhaps your phone couldn't get a GPS lock at the time? That's about the only way I can think that would have left you without your current location.

Personally I've used it extensively on my Samsung both in Ireland and abroad and never had an issue.

The_Conductor

biebiebie wrote: »

Sounds like perhaps your phone couldn't get a GPS lock at the time? That's about the only way I can think that would have left you without your current location.

Personally I've used it extensively on my Samsung both in Ireland and abroad and never had an issue.

Anywhere with steep valleys/mountains/hills etc- will have a detrimental effect on your ability to pick up satellites. At home in Sligo- I regularly can't get a fix- for precisely this reason (not continuously though- as obviously other satellites will come over the rugged horizon). You need to be able to pick up a few satellites- 1 or 2 won't cut it.

marcus2000

When I use this driving, it attempts to use my bluetooth to speak the directions, however it's dreadful. It seems to connect, every time, as If I'm receiving a call ('Call' appears on my dash) , and generally I only manage to catch the last part of the direction. "Take a left in 100meters" becomes " in a 100meters". Its very annoying!! (maybe its a windows phone thing)

tigershould

Installed and Downloaded all of Europe (9gb). Used at the weekend around Dublin and it was impressive. Better than co-pilot which ive been using on iPhone. Only annoying thing was it kept switching to an overview when I was turning from main roads and then would zoom back in. Dunno if there's a setting or just me. Gets my vote anyway!

talking_walnut

The_Conductor wrote: »

Anywhere with steep valleys/mountains/hills etc- will have a detrimental effect on your ability to pick up satellites. At home in Sligo- I regularly can't get a fix- for precisely this reason (not continuously though- as obviously other satellites will come over the rugged horizon). You need to be able to pick up a few satellites- 1 or 2 won't cut it.

This was in the open in Oslo so it wasn't a line-of-sight issue.

It didn't seem to make any effort to find my location. It was like it was disabled but I couldn't find anyway to change that. I've a feeling the GPS icon didn't even appear in the notification area of my phone, but it has been a while so I could be wrong.

Thanks for the feedback though. At least I know it should work. I'll try it out at home.

eamon234

Always liked this on Windows phone especially that it shows your speed and flashes if you go over the limit for the road you're on. Obviously not accurate for a lot of roads but handy for main routes. Will try it on IOS.

September1

I used it Australia but I also use it in Ireland - being offline means that maps are much quicker and more responsive.

munchkin_utd

I've done a few test runs with it on an iPhone and its spot on.

I REALLY miss the lack of lane assist (say where a 4lane motorway meets a 3 lane one and a junction right after!) which is available on Google Maps , but for trudging about Ireland where the road network is pretty simple it shouldnt be an issue and at the end of the day the offline mode when travelling abroad or working on a limited data pack is more beneficial than lane assist.

moodrater

munchkin_utd wrote: »

but for trudging about Ireland where the road network is pretty simple it shouldnt be an issue and at the end of the day the offline mode when travelling abroad or working on a limited data pack is more beneficial than lane assist.

Problem with trudging around Ireland is exactly where you need it in terms of trudging it falls down. Manty rural secondary roads missing, partially or incorrectly mapped. Local and private roads have the same routing priority as secondary roads. So it will send you the bog road over the mountain rather than a few metres extra on a good road. It also tried to send me wrong way down one ways in Dublin three weeks ago and told me the best way to the N4 from lucan was via Leixlip and Maynooth.

Slutmonkey57b

It's not as well updated as google maps (what is?) and it does assume that a road with a 100 km speed limit isn't a bog track, but the offline maps are great.

Osmand is a good alternative for android anyways - tried nav free before but it wasn't great. 10 free maps with osm and.

cormie

I've been using a Garmin Sat Nav for years, it's been essential as I work in transport and drive to new destinations all the time, all over Europe. I've now started using Google maps as my primary navigation. I'll always have the Garmin on in the van as a backup, but the live traffic updates and route suggestions and ETA's are far more reliable than Garmin which makes it my primary focus. The on the fly route options with the "10 minutes slower, 5 minutes slower, similar eta" are brilliant too. Garmin of course has the advantage of having all the map details and no need for a data connection.

I've never properly calculated how much an 11 hour drive through different European countries uses data wise, I just did a quick google which suggests a 4 hour journey was less than 20mb, so if say 12 hours on the road is 60mb@20c per MB roaming, that's €12, or €1 per hour which is nothing compared to the other costs driving an hour and the possible lengthier journeys without it. Of course if you have a better data roaming plan with the likes of Vodafone Red or eMobile you'll do much better. One warning with Google, if you lose your connection and make a wrong turn, it won't be able to reroute from my experience.

I heard a lot of good things about Here and when I was in a place with limited data connection I downloaded it over wifi before going on the road, I had a quick look and wasn't really impressed at all after all the good things I heard about it. Maybe I just didn't give it enough time?

The Garmin then excels in options such as detour points, looking up favourites, looking up fuel stations along a route etc so I find myself using the two for their own merits.

If someone has a similar experience but still uses Here as their primary navigation, I'd be interested to hear why. If it's possible to get the best of both in one app then it would be nice.

Slutmonkey57b

I'd say it wouldn't replace a sat nav for someone driving on a professional basis, but it's more than good enough for the casual holidaymakers or the occasional trip into unfamiliar territory.

jeffk

Strange how when I look for directions I get one set and that's it

In say waze I different routes

jeffk

http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/07/21/report-nokia-nearing-sale-of-here-maps-to-german-trio-of-bmw-volkswagen-and-mercedes-benz/

_Tombstone_

jeffk wrote: »

http://www.androidpolice.com/2015/07/21/report-nokia-nearing-sale-of-here-maps-to-german-trio-of-bmw-volkswagen-and-mercedes-benz/

^^^

Nokia, in their continuing withdrawal from the mobile phone and software industry,

Nokia spokesman Brett Young has now made it known that Nokia is looking to get back in the phone market just as soon as it’s contractually able.

dermiestv

App worked great offline in both New Zealand and Malaysia on an iPhone.
No tech issues. Very impressive for a freebie.