When you are going on a trip, you try to prepare for it as best you can. And today, in the era of high technology, your smartphone takes one of the first places in this preparation. You use apps to pack your bags, find sights, book a hotel room, and even rent a car.
Yes, modern services make it easy to book a car rental in Florida, California, or anywhere in the US and worldwide. All you need to do is choose a suitable car rental location. However, what other very important thing can smartphones do on your trip? That’s right, they can show you the right way, and this is especially convenient if you are traveling by car.
So, we’ve prepared a quick but informative review of the best GPS Navigation Apps for your smartphone. In addition, each of them can work offline…
Table of Contents
MapFactor
Until recently, this application couldn’t boast of anything special and it clearly didn’t have anything outstanding. However, the developers have tried their best and have made many adjustments to improve the basic features. After you install MapFactor on your phone, you can use it offline. But once a month it will be necessary to install updates in order to have access to up-to-date information on maps.
App’s major features:
- 2D and 3D map display modes;
- route pre-planning;
- ability to choose a simplified or detailed map of the area.
We recommend using the simplified mode when traveling on interstate highways and the detailed mode in the city. The second one makes it possible to see where to go around you, including cafes and restaurants, public places, and other important objects.
Maps.Me
If you want to enjoy a simple and fast-running offline navigation program, then Maps.Me is an excellent choice. It works completely autonomously and has received great acclaim. Just imagine, more than 140 million people from all over the world are already using it.
Recently, Maps.Me has been expanding its functionality and adding new services, usually relevant to road travelers. Now, for example, you can book a hotel room, see a map of the city’s attractions and make a walking or cycling route right from the application.
App’s major features:
- high-accuracy maps;
- ability to add routes to favorites;
- big facility database;
- regular updates made by users.
Sygic
This application helps many people from around the world to find the right way. Unfortunately, even with such popularity, Sygic is not ideal because may display some regions incorrectly. However, despite the presence of these small flaws, the program is still one of the leaders in its category. It has a very user-friendly interface that doesn’t tire the eyes and makes it easy to use the program even while driving. By the way, the application features a voice assistant that won’t distract the driver.
The program can work without an Internet connection, via GPS only. Recently, the developers have carried out a major update, so now Sygic has information about road speed cameras. This will help you avoid potential speeding tickets.
App’s major features:
- fast work;
- planning an alternative route in case of traffic jams;
- easy parking search.
OsmAnd
This app is not very popular yet, but it may well compete with the top programs in the category of navigation systems. It works great both online and offline.
Several years ago, there was a debate about OsmAnd’s performance. The fact is that it was a little slower than its counterparts, but it had a very user-friendly interface. Since the loading speed of maps is not very different, some slowness of the application won’t be a problem for you at all. OsmAnd has all the features that a great mobile navigator needs. It works well and gives everything you expect from a high-quality navigation software.
App’s major features:
- Voice guidance;
- Night and day travel modes;
- Suitable for any type of transportation, including walking, driving, and cycling.
Navmii
The app works in more than a hundred countries around the world. First of all, it can create routes well, and second, it gives useful tips and tricks, and report on events that are worth paying attention to.
This mobile offline navigator uses the free OpenStreetMap database installed on a smartphone or tablet. Thus, you don’t need the Internet for navigation. Navmii has a very beautiful and user-friendly interface that perfectly complements a wide range of basic features.
The app offers users voice navigation, high-accuracy maps, built-in Google and Foursquare searches, and much more. This makes it a great solution for OSM-based 3D road navigation.
App’s major features:
- traffic information available;
- integrated Foursquare search;
- night mode support;
- huge POI database.
Google Maps
Google has definitely penetrated almost every area of our life. So for ten years now, Google Maps has been working great and delighting its customers. Its maps are not only reliable and up-to-date but also have a wide range of additional features. In addition, the Google Maps application comes by default on Android-powered smartphones. This means that it will be available even at the very first start of the phone.
App’s major features:
- ability to use offline maps;
- complete information about the surrounding points of interest;
- regular updates from developers;
- traffic jams information;
- high performance.
In order to use the maps offline, you can download them to your device or an external SD drive. You can also configure the service to only work via Wi-Fi.
