Nokia plans to bring its HERE maps app to more Android devices by the end of 2014, according to the Wall Street Journal. This news comes a few days after Nokia announced plans to launch HERE maps for Samsung's Android smartphones and Tizen watches.
According to a post on Nokia’s HERE blog, HERE for Android is today available for all supported Android smartphones. The company says it’s testing as many devices as possible, but the general rule is that the smartphone should be running Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) or higher. For best results, the phones should have 1 GB of RAM or more, and a screen size between 4 and 6 inches.
Nokia has not yet launched HERE for Android on Google Play, however. Instead, users are directed to “side-load” the app onto their phones from Nokia’s website or by side-loading the app to the phone from a PC. (Instructions for both are posted on Nokia’s site.)
Ostensibly, the decision to stay out of Google Play for now is because the new mapping application is still in beta testing, and Nokia wants more time to take in feedback, criticism, and bug reports before releasing the app more broadly. The app launching today is not without its glitches, after all – for one thing, Nokia says it found that some Android “cache cleaner” applications actually wiped out the navigation voices in the HERE app, and a fix is still a few weeks out.
- Offline navigation: you get interactive maps and turn-by-turn voice guidance evenwithout an internet connection. You can download and use offline maps for nearly 100 countries.
- Nokia HERE Maps brings public transport maps and directions for over 800 cities in over 40 countries, also available offline
- Live traffic info for more than 40 countries
- The ability to share your location with family and friends in real time as you go via Glympse which is private and secure
Now it’s time to back-up a little, though. We’re in danger of missing out on one of the major advantages of HERE for Android: offline navigation.If you download the maps you use most often to your phone, then there are two massive benefits:
- The whole app moves faster. Panning from where you are now to somewhere miles away happens in a moment, not minutes.
- You don’t need to be online (d’oh!). You can move round the map, find places, plan routes and navigate, all without any mobile data use. There are some advantages to being online, though – you’ll get current information about traffic congestion, for example, and can view satellite maps – but the number one priority is getting you wherever you need to be and that’s all possible while you’re entirely offline.
There are more things to download in the Settings menu, notably the voice files you can use for guided navigation. But more on those in our next article about HERE for Android. For now, one last tip that falls into the ‘basics’ category.
Nokia’s Here Maps division is among the last products remaining under Nokia’s brand, since Microsoft has made it clear that it plans to rebrand Nokia Lumia devices into Microsoft Lumia.