One of the most popular alternatives to Google Maps, HERE Maps, is getting a new name and a couple of new features.
According to a statement posted on its blog by its makers, HERE Maps will henceforth be known as HERE WeGo.
The change in name, according to the HERE team is inspired by the way its users have been using the app. HERE Maps users, apparently, turned to the app in to be routed somewhere, use its navigation features. The new name also factors the company’s vision for its app, being able to facilitate users’ mobility wherever they are. Go everywhere?
HERE Maps’ was a bit too generic, we think. Too similar to a bunch of other, lesser apps
Ouch! Did someone just say Google Maps was a “lesser app”?
Here’s the full explanation:
“HERE Maps’ was a bit too generic, we think. Too similar to a bunch of other, lesser apps. And the truth is that very few regular users open our app to look at a map – they want to get somewhere and find the fastest way to do that.
Putting its main use – getting to places – front and centre, and into the name, is intended to help people understand what the app is for, what to expect from it and how to use it.”
Feature wise, instead of the usual map that greets users when they open the app, HERE WeGo will now prompt users to key in a destination with the question “Where to?” prominently displayed in the search box on top. Route Comparison and new transport options that will soon include local cabs in various cities around the world are the other features that the app we used to know as HERE Maps is getting as it starts life with a new name.
HERE Maps apps on Android and iOS are being updated to reflect the name change and rebrand as well as introduce the new features. Back in March, HERE announced that it was stopping support for Microsoft’s Windows platform which was once its main domain when Nokia used to own the company.
