HERE Maps Vs Google Maps Vs Apple Maps (Voice Turn-by-turn)

[stephen_az]

I was a long time Android user and was always very happy with their maps/navigation system. I absolutely LOVED the voice turn by turn with Google. I recently (five months ago) got the iPhone 5 and it's Maps with voice turn by turn is equally as brilliant....albeit Apple had a rough start when their Maps first came out....it's now tip-top.

The point of this post is that I'm about a week away from selling my iPhone 5....driving to the Orlando Microsoft Store, and buying the Nokia Lumia 1520. I was wondering if HERE Maps had a good voice turn by turn navigation system like Google and Apple does....if not HERE Maps, perhaps another Maps app? I am moving to the DC metro area in just over a month and I would very much like my 1520 to be equally a life saver as my iPhone 5 and Galaxy Nexus once were.

I have been doing a LOT of research on this OS switch.....and I am both excited and nervous. I'm pretty set up app-wise....99% of my must have apps are in the Windows app store....but Maps and a GOOD "voice" turn by turn navigation worries me. Plus I do hope this "Cortana" comes to pass......not that Siri is the end all be all of my iPhone, I hardly use her/it....but it would be sweet to have.

In the Phoenix metros areaI have found Here Drive to be appallingly bad. In fact, it is almost Apple Maps level of embarrassing. It consistently gives directions that are slower and longer than any other app I have used. I have also posted previously on an occasion that it gave me directions that looped me a mile away from my destination if I followed them, when the location was literally on the opposite side of the road. I posted a screen capture in that thread to demonstrate how stupid the directions were in that case. I have also had multiple instances of it either picking the wrong exit off a highway or directing me onto a road in Phoenix blocked by a canal (as if the road was continuous).

Just yesterday I also had another comparable experience so I know the problems have not been addressed. I was going to Pinnacle Peak Park in North Scottsdale and just wanted to remind myself of the last turn so I got directions using Here Drive. Since the phone was connected to the Bluetooth in my car though and I hadn't turned of the program it also then started giving turn by turn directions. Starting just east of Indian Bend and Scottsdale Roads in Scottsdale, it first gave directions to go the opposite direction of my destination. That means instead of directing me north and east, it wanted me to make a u turn and back track to Scottsdale Road (to the west) and head up north on the most congested surface road in the area. Upon ignoring that direction, it then wanted me to turn on to Hayden Road and Pima Road (again surface roads) when the fastest and shortest route was to just go 0.5 miles further east and get on the AZ Loop 101 freeway. The bad mapping logic was pretty obvious and has been a fatal flaw in its directions in Phoenix since the day it was released. The destination was off Pima Road in the far north valley but instead of recognizing you could get off a highway onto Pima Road in the north valley, it assumed the fastest route was to essentially just take the surface road all the way from Central Scottsdale instead of the highway that the road parallels.

BTW, one other nuisance which has also been present since release (at least with the 928 on VZW) is it always initially remembers the location when it was last turned on and will take up to a minute to recognize that I am not in Tucson or Sierra Vista (hours away) but in Phoenix. It does correct itself but it is still an annoying quirk that I have to wait for a phone that already knows where it is if I start from Here Maps. Here Maps will instantly have my correct location but if I switch to Here Drive I am initially still in Sierra Vista. Quite frankly, if Here Drive was to come pre-installed In a car I was planning to buy and I could not disable it, I would hesitate at purchasing the vehicle. I know people say it is a good app elsewhere but here it is an embarrassing bad joke only outdone by Apple Maps.

 

[Sean Miller4]

Question do you update it regularly? And also the remember location is not a bug but done on purpose, and very easily you just hit the green dot and it immediately goes to your location theres no waiting?

 

[Dantekai14]

As a map Google Map is better, it has lots of information compare to Here Map but Offline Here Map rules.

 

[Dave Bhullar]

The preinstalled HERE Drive app is pretty good for voice turn by turn navigation. It has a lot of different languages, I was pretty impressed by how many different languages and accents were available. You need to try the 'Surfer Dude' voice though lol. Turn by turn navigation by voice is just as good if not better, what you will actually miss is street view but there are apps just for that.

 

[dnomadic]

I have found that Google maps has more information and I tend to like it more than Here Maps...That being said I am a new Windows user.

I also find Waze to be a nice alternative as travel times and traffic seem to be more accurate, not to mention the addition of police and accident warnings.

All that being said, Here Maps works fine for getting you from point "a" to Point "b"

 

[tonybessette]

Well map aesthetics are important yes, but I just need my Lumia 1520 to have "good" voice turn-by-turn navigation when I get it. Offline maps could def come in handy, but I can't see myself in a situation with no data in the DC metro area. Having both Android and Apple for a good length of time....I found both had/have equally awesome voice turn-by-turn navigation. Looking forward to trying out Nokia HERE Maps / Drive.

 

[5150 Joker]

I just drove from Arizona to northern California using Here navigation and it worked beautifully, much better than Google maps ever did. Google maps used to lose connection all the time. Offline maps is a god send.

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[Sean Miller4]

I use them all the time and find It better than stand alone GPS a lot of the time, people won't notice small things that make a huge difference but the timing of when the voice says turn to me is a huge thing and the timing on here is dang near perfect, what I mean is some apps or stand alones will constantly keep saying every 50 Ft that your closer to turning most annoying thing ever, and then some of them won't say anything and until your right on top the street you need to turn, of course if you pay close attention to the streets this isn't huge but its very nice to not even pay attention to every street sign and here will say turn in 100 yards or "TURN NOW" and its about 30 yards away so you have. Plenty of time to turn but its not to early so as to confuse you if streets are close together. Nokia does this better than anybody. As far as others saying google has more info this is obsurd or even apple even more obsurd. Basically Nokia has the biggest data collection when it comes to streets in the world. Now when it comes to POIs yes google will beat out HERE on those because Google's POI's are actually taken from their search engine so its like searching on google.Com for a business yes google has them all, HERE does not have this luxury so it will have less in this AREA. This is where bing comes in, google still beats bing in this area, but if you search for a business from your search button it will search bing.com for a business and then it provides the address you just click use DRIVE and it maps you to the address with HERE. Bing is not the best but VERY good and comes close to google in this area but not quite. But where google is not as good as the actual street data, basically I have to use google at my work a lot on my comp and I drive all day and google consistently doesn't have the street or has it wrong where some streets don't show or they are mapped wrong. This almost never happens with HERE they have some of the most accurate maps ever. So if you use bing in combination with HERE its pretty much the best map experience you will get. Where people say apple and google is better they just are using HERE quite right, the search in here is not great at all but you don't need to use it ever, if you already know the address you don't need to search it, if you don't use bing and its all connected one click no hassle straight into navigating and its all offline and free. Google is the next best thing, apple is not even in the running their data for actual streets is so bad and laughable I can't believe it would be in a conversation they are almost starting from scratch and competing with companies like navteq who have been doing it a VERY long time and have combined data from other older companies that they bought out. Google also been at it awhile, apple dropping google maps is retarded. Now apple has great UI but who cares if no streets are ever updated and aren't accurate. To me accuracy should be above everything. And here is the most accurate its not even a debate they have their data listed so does google and HERE is quite a bit bigger than Google's data and apple isn't even close. Google does win for street view type stuff but I don't really use street view when I'm just trying to travel somewhere. There was some also complaining about the routes HERE takes and I've tested this quite a bit and you can adjust the routes it takes so I don't think this is accurate either you can pick if you prefer highway and all that just like any other GPS if you want fastest route you need to select it not sure its on by default, people don't realize these settings are there. Same with traffic you need to turn it on and I have found they have great traffic data. (Nokia owns Traffic Reports | Traffic Alerts | Road Conditions | Traffic News & Delays | here.com) so they have some of the most complete traffic data and up to date I think Nokia is updated faster than any other GPS at this point for traffic. And it will route away from traffic also so if someone saying its taking a longer weird route could be do to traffic. I don't think anybody ever complains about using Nokia voice turn by turn or anything else.

 

[KoukiFC3S]

Been using Google Maps for years on Android and HERE Maps is just as good in California. It even has traffic now.

 

[Guzzler3]

In the Phoenix metros areaI have found Here Drive to be appallingly bad.

That's weird. I too am in the Phoenix metro, and haven't had much issues with it. I did change the default route optimization from Shorter to Faster, just because I prefer shorter travel times. Try that and see if things get better.

 

[dnomadic]

I've seen some interesting things in this thread concerning Google Maps. Statements that have been inconsistent with MY usage. I've seen it mentioned that Google maps will time out or will not have the proper street....Never have I seen this, and I have used Google Maps since the original Droid until my recent switch to WP8 and my 928. I have traveled in urban areas and have spent much time in obscure places and Google Maps on Android has NEVER misguided or offered up a wrong street name (some time never refers to recent memory)...and I travel a fair amount. Alternatively, HERE Maps has missed the mark a number of times, and has provided grossly inaccurate travel times, while providing an inferior interface (my preference).... I still use "HERE" as I love Windows phone, but I have not found it to be an "equal" to Google Maps Navigation. It is solid, I would even say a near great mapping service, but an equal to GMAPs, I would say not.

I hope I don't get bashed for saying this, I'm just noting my experience. I have actually found WAZE to be much more accurate, while offering a lot of great services.

 

[muvig]

It seems HERE maps prioritise your area, here we are crying for our offline maps to be the the same as those which you can access on internet/PC. Its now 1 year + without an update to correct this, we end up using Google maps because HERE maps are old/not being updated, i have been updating them using the Creator but they only update the maps on internet forgetting us the Lumia users.
Another challenge we are facing is that of navigation, HERE Drive +, it says our area is not yet covered, as if it uses the internet, On HERE maps it shows you the route correctly, if touch Drive To the the hell break loose, "no navigation, Blar Blar" the one would wonder why don't they let me use what is there, maybe just give a warning that it may not be accurate, but it can't be as HERE maps accurately shows you your correct position.
When you said "Nokia has the biggest data collection when it comes to streets in the world" i think the big chunk belongs to just a few countries at the expense of the rest of the world! Look at exclusives given to certain markets/countries on new phones again and again, are these markets the biggest consumers of their phones? i wonder!!!

 

[tk-093]

HERE Maps is fine, but it can vary from location to location. Google Maps never has let me down, HERE Maps has. HERE and Bing both can stuggle to location things in the countryside outside metro areas. Locations in cities? They are both pretty good.

 

[etad putta]

Here Drive + works great for me and both of the lumia's i have had get gps lock way faster than my android devices ever did. Can't comment on apple maps.

 

[AdamHunterATC]

HERE Maps/Drive work great for me. As others have mentioned, however, it is annoying that it doesn't tell you what side of the street your destination is on. I hope they add features that other GPS apps have, such as lane guidance. But for being free and having offline capability, it is fantastic.

I'm also a former Android and iOS user. One thing that Google Maps has on HERE is extra data about businesses. Google Maps has business hours and such for a lot of businesses out there. I may be missing it, but HERE Maps doesn't have that. Not a deal-breaker though as HERE usually has a phone number, so I can just call and ask.

Both HERE and Google Maps are better than Apple Maps, although Apple Maps has improved exponentially since its initial release. And, if you use an iPhone, Apple Maps' integration with Siri is top notch. I'm looking forward to Windows Phone 8.1 and asking "Cortana" to give me directions.

 

[hopmedic]

I use them all the time and find It better than stand alone GPS a lot of the time, people won't notice small things that make a huge difference but the timing of when the voice says turn to me is a .......

TL;DR... But paragraphs are your friend. They make reading much easier.

 

[tgp]

I've seen some interesting things in this thread concerning Google Maps. Statements that have been inconsistent with MY usage. I've seen it mentioned that Google maps will time out or will not have the proper street....Never have I seen this, and I have used Google Maps since the original Droid until my recent switch to WP8 and my 928. I have traveled in urban areas and have spent much time in obscure places and Google Maps on Android has NEVER misguided or offered up a wrong street name (some time never refers to recent memory)...and I travel a fair amount. Alternatively, HERE Maps has missed the mark a number of times, and has provided grossly inaccurate travel times, while providing an inferior interface (my preference).... I still use "HERE" as I love Windows phone, but I have not found it to be an "equal" to Google Maps Navigation. It is solid, I would even say a near great mapping service, but an equal to GMAPs, I would say not.

I hope I don't get bashed for saying this, I'm just noting my experience. I have actually found WAZE to be much more accurate, while offering a lot of great services.

Google Maps does not work well for users that don't like Android or Google. :shocked:

 

[hopmedic]

It seems HERE maps prioritise your area, here we are crying for our offline maps to be the the same as those which you can access on internet/PC. Its now 1 year + without an update to correct this, we end up using Google maps because HERE maps are old/not being updated, i have been updating them using the Creator but they only update the maps on internet forgetting us the Lumia users.
Another challenge we are facing is that of navigation, HERE Drive +, it says our area is not yet covered, as if it uses the internet, On HERE maps it shows you the route correctly, if touch Drive To the the hell break loose, "no navigation, Blar Blar" the one would wonder why don't they let me use what is there, maybe just give a warning that it may not be accurate, but it can't be as HERE maps accurately shows you your correct position.
When you said "Nokia has the biggest data collection when it comes to streets in the world" i think the big chunk belongs to just a few countries at the expense of the rest of the world! Look at exclusives given to certain markets/countries on new phones again and again, are these markets the biggest consumers of their phones? i wonder!!!

Not true. Windows Phone 8 has been out for 13 months now, almost 14, and I can recall at least three updates to Here Maps that I have downloaded, and possibly more than that.

Given your statement that your area is not yet covered, I have to wonder if perhaps you think you have maps downloaded and do not? Regardless of whether this is correct or not, we have to keep in mind that no matter how good any mapping solution is for one person, for another person it may not be so good. This will be dependent upon location as well as what kind of driving a person does. Right here in this thread we have two people who live in the Phoenix area, one who has had no problems and one who has had a poor experience (generalizing, here). If one person finds everything he needs, but the other person searches for something and it isn't there, there will be a definite difference in the opinions of those two people. It no only depends on the mapping coverage of an area, but also on the specific POIs and other things that a specific person needs.

It all boils down to experience. If the experience is good for you, you're going to report a good experience and have a high level of satisfaction. If every third thing you search for isn't there, you're not going to report such a good experience. This is one reason that no single solution will ever be the one that fits everyone's needs. This goes not only for maps, but for phones, computers, and even milk shakes.

:grin:

 

[AdamHunterATC]

I still use "HERE" as I love Windows phone, but I have not found it to be an "equal" to Google Maps Navigation. It is solid, I would even say a near great mapping service, but an equal to GMAPs, I would say not.

I hope I don't get bashed for saying this, I'm just noting my experience. I have actually found WAZE to be much more accurate, while offering a lot of great services.

Nope, I won't bash you. I'd agree. At least here in the United States, Google provides a superior overall experience.

 

[5150 Joker]

Google botched their maps interface in recent updates. Before they integrated navigation with maps, I could click the navigation icon, speak my destination and be on my way. Now its an extra 2-3 steps with an uglier interface. Here+ is straightforward and simple to use which I really like. As for accuracy, so far both have worked good. There has been several times Google maps took me to destinations that no longer existed so they are far from perfect.



And like I said before, I've lost satellite connection with google maps more than a few times with the Note.



The biggest feature Here+ needs is voice commands, I miss that from Google maps when driving.


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