When comparing HERE vs MAPS.ME, the Slant community recommends HERE for most people. In the question“What are the best GPS navigation apps for Android?” HERE is ranked 2nd while MAPS.ME is ranked 8th. The most important reason people chose HERE is:
HERE maps allows users to download maps from more than 200 countries.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Wider availability of downloading maps from various countries
HERE maps allows users to download maps from more than 200 countries.
Pro Interactive 3D maps
There are interactive 3D maps for shopping areas and airports for 70 different countries around the world.
Pro Find places near you
You can find places to shop, eat, and almost anything with HERE.
Pro SD card support
Pro Voice-guided navigation
HERE has voice-guided turn by turn direction built into the app and is even usable when offline.
Pro Save maps for offline use
HERE allows users to save maps to their devices storage in order to allow offline usage of the app anytime.
Pro Has multilevel floor layouts for many airports and large shopping centers
Many airports and large buildings have an icon on them which, when tapped, opens up a 3D view of the floor plan with labelled locations of services, shops & transport etc. Includes an index for selecting each level of the building.
Pro Great smartwatch companion app
Excellent companion app allows navigation from your paired Samsung Gear S3 smartwatch. Has clear turn-by-turn instructions, vibration alerts at intersections, and zoomable location map (using rotating bezel). (Smartwatch app works with phone app and is not standalone).
Pro Includes public transport routing & schedules
Has train, ferry, bus etc. routes and schedules for many cities. The routes are overlaid on actual maps (spatially correct, vs the typical simplified diagrams of public transport networks) which I find reassuring and useful when exploring new locations. Also shows the schedules for next few services for any given station/stop. I'm not sure how accurate the schedules are though - they were incomplete for the small town where I live, but seemed more complete for major cities.
Pro Offline transit and walking directions
HERE is probably the only offline navigation app which has transit directions and walking directions when offline.
Pro Very detailed selection of areas to download
That saves a lot of download, e.g. from ~500MB in other applications it is reduced to ~50MB for German surroundings.
Pro Includes offline routing and turn-by-turn navigation
Users without a data connection can still use the app for turn by turn directions, which is great for those that travel or use a device that does not have a cellular data connection.
Pro Obtains data from community-based OpenStreetMap
MAPS.ME uses data from OpenStreetMap, meaning the data retrieved from that service is a community-based map. Anyone can freely edit and contribute to the map, a map concept that is similar to Wikipedia.
Pro Fast rendering
By using compression of the map data, MAPS.ME is able to speed up the rendering of their maps to one's device. This allows for a quicker feeling app.
Pro Optionally can download traffic information
And showing it color-coded (Google-maps-like) on the streets.
Pro Discover nearby feature
Shows a nicely organize list of interesting places to visit close to your current location.
Pro Matching modern material-like interface
The design of the app uses a material-like interface making for a close to native looking experience on Android.
Pro Offline vector maps
Automatically downloads vector maps for offline use.
Pro No nagging advertisements
Pro Easy to install
Pro Easy adding/editing of bookmarks/favorite places
Click on the map and you will have the option to Bookmark, Route From, Route To. Having selected Bookmark simply offers to edit it, e.g. give it a different name.
Pro Allows to edit OpenStreetMap data
It is possible to add new and edit existing POIs in OpenStreetMap database using a nice interface.
Pro Night mode
There is a night mode option.
Pro Integration with booking.com
Displays information from booking.com about hotels and apartments.
Cons
Con GPS location is inaccurate
Con Map file size
Map downloads are huge in size, ranging from a few hundred megabytes, to a couple of gigabytes, depending on the size of the map being downloaded. Luckily, the app can be set to store them on external SD memory.
Con Does not provide lane guidance
Con Poor response time to recalculate the route
Con No option for satellite/aerial/topographic imagery
Not as useful for navigating while hiking/climbing/etc.
Con Very slow search and route calculation
Probably because MAPS.ME has more POIs in its database which ends up with all searches and route calculations being very slow.
Con No display of speed limit
Neither the next nor the current one.
Con No way to distinguish between fastest, efficient or shortest route
Con Very limited options
E.g. no way to hide certain buttons like the traffic button, or to configure the language used to display city names.
Con Sometimes very strange suggestions
E.g. when not using the suggested route, Maps&Me continues to request to turn even if you are more than 100m after the cross-road.
Con Favorites are a little bit too hidden
Because they are stored in groups.
Con Traffic information is not available in all countries and cities
Source of traffic info is a trade secret this feature is only available to some selected cities.
Con No lane assist
Con Being based on OpenStreetMap data can be lacking
The use of OSM also has the drawback of many places not getting the attention needed for updates. Depending on the geographic location OSM may have the most detailed maps or the most bare/outdated map.
Con Does not show images offline
Does not show images offline if supplied in standard kmz file. i.e. zipped kml plus image folder.