The rupture of relations that occurred between Huawei and Google, albeit forcedly, led to the fact that the Chinese company radically changed its development strategy. If earlier she was mainly focused on iron, now – in the absence of Google services – she had no choice but to start creating an alternative to them herself. As a result, in just a year Huawei it released several proprietary services at once, and recently the Here WeGo map service was added to them.
Here WeGo – Google Maps replacement for smartphones Huawei
In fact, Here WeGo was not always called that, and initially it was developed by Nokia. These maps were called Nokia Maps, Ovi Maps, and Here Maps, but over time they became an independent company, once again changing their name. Yes, Here WeGo does not belong Huawei as one might think. It's just that the Chinese agreed with the company that owns these cards to license them for use in the firmware of branded smartphones: Huawei Mate 30 / Mate 30 Pro, Honor 30/30 Pro, Huawei P40 / P40 Pro.
Google Maps analogues
Here WeGo – the best maps for orientation in the city
Choosing an already established and successful map service instead of building it from scratch was the right decision. Just remember how much time and effort it took Apple to make something digestible out of Apple Maps. But at first, the cards of the Cupertino company led people to the wrong place, and made mistakes in positioning, and even corny could not show the way where it was. As a result, Apple simply took and relaunched the project from scratch, spending billions of dollars and almost 8 years on it. Huawei didn't have that much time, and Here WeGo turned out to be a really cool option.
Here WeGo is very much focused on intra-city navigation and public transport users. There is a huge database of bus and trolleybus stops with a timetable for transport with a countdown of the remaining time until arrival, as well as the direction of their movement. Thanks to Here WeGo, you can know exactly how long it will take for the bus you want to arrive and find out which one you can take to your destination. This is very handy if you are trying to find your way in an unfamiliar city.
Best maps for the city
Looking for how to get from point A to point B? Here WeGo will prompt
All destinations in Here WeGo are deeply integrated with stops and public transport data. That is, if I plan a route from my house to the store I need, the maps will not only show the direction of travel, but also tell me what is more convenient to get there. In small towns, these are buses, trolleybuses and fixed-route taxis. And in larger cities there are also regular taxi services, car sharing, bicycle and scooter rental. You just need to choose the mode of transport you need, and Here WeGo will show you how far from you the nearest car-sharing car is located or what you need there.
Here WeGo has a very convenient offline mode. It divides the maps into several regions, allowing you to load data for each of them separately. This allows you not to clog up free space in the smartphone's memory, which is especially important when traveling, since maps can weigh both 1 GB and 10 GB. The maps themselves determine where you are and offer to download information about this area. If I am in Cyprus, they allow you to download a map of the entire island as a whole, and if I am in Russia, then I will be asked to download a package of maps of the entire federal district.
Going where there is no internet? Just download offline maps
I have always only used Google Maps, however after I got to know Here WeGo I was very pleased with their implementation. Yes, they weren't created Huawei, but it doesn't matter to me. After all, what do I care about who created a great product? If I like it, I will use it regardless of brand and authorship. And the Here WeGo developers really managed to design super-cool maps that work equally well in Moscow and Saransk. Therefore, I will not delete Here WeGo, but I will continue to use them.