Nokia HERE Maps arrives on Google Play Store; will hit iOS early next year

Nokia’s HERE Maps is now available to Android users around the world via the Google Play Store. The company originally released HERE for Android back in October, but users had to sideload the app from here.com. Now, they can download it from the Play Store like any other app.

HERE Maps hit the Play Store with an update that Nokia says will improve stability as well as bug fixes. However, the app has yet to shed its beta tag, so don’t be surprised if there are still some issues that have yet to be resolved. This week’s update also brings support for voice-guided navigation in 18 new countries. This takes the total number of supported countries to 118.

HERE Maps made its Android debut on Galaxy devices a couple of months ago and is also available on Samsung’s Tizen-based Gear S smartwatch. Nokia has also confirmed that the app will eventually make its way to iOS but it won’t be until next year. Speaking in a blog post published on Wednesday morning, Nokia’s Jere Suikkila wrote:

“Following the positive reviews of HERE for Android, a lot of people have expressed their interest in an iOS version of our app. We really appreciate this interest and demand. Our iOS app development team is working hard on this and we plan to officially launch HERE for iOS in early 2015.”

HERE is one part of the Finnish company that wasn’t sold to Microsoft as part of the $7.2 billion acquisition of Nokia’s Devices and Services business earlier this year. HERE Maps competes directly with Google Maps and Apple Maps and offers complete maps for offline viewing and navigation.

[source]Nokia[/source]