Nokia Here Maps app hits iOS and Android

Until this year, Google Maps had been the default mapping app on Apple devices.

But with the release of iOS 6, the latest iteration of Apple's mobile OS, Apple booted Google Maps in favor of its own in-house mapping application.

Which is a problem, since Apple Maps is well behind Google Maps (although to be fair to Apple, the company is doing its best to bring the app up to speed). 

A few months later, and we've got a spot of good news: Nokia has released its own mapping app, Here Maps, for iOS and Android. The app is free to download, and offers maps and search capability in approximately 200 countries. Like Google Maps, Nokia Here includes public transit, walking, driving directions. 

The maps, pictured here at left, are bright and easy to navigate. The interface is uncluttered and clean. 

So, is the Here app actually any good? Well, in a review over at Cult of Mac, Giles Turnbull found some slowness in the software, and some less than optimal detail quality on certain towns. 

"Overall though, I’d say Here is a success, and a useful addition to any iPhone," Turnbull writes. "Ultimately people want simple, clear maps, and they were something found wanting in Apple’s own maps when iOS 6 was released. Here provides them, and it costs you nothing. There’s no turn-by-turn navigation, so Apple wins points there. But there are step-by-step walking instructions, so Nokia wins some back."

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