Nokia Here Maps returns to iPhone

Nokia has returned its Here iPhone mapping app to the iOS App Store.

Here was withdrawn from the iOS App Store more than year ago, when it found itself in a rather buggy and neglected state.

Now, as predicted, it’s back to take on Google Maps and Apple’s own troubled (but improving) Maps app.

The big thing with Here Maps has always been its offline capabilities. Unlike those aforementioned rivals (the Google Maps offline implementation remains limited at best), Here doesn’t required a network connection to operate.

You can download maps for whole countries (there are more than 100 available), allowing you to continue navigating even when in signal black spots, or when you’re abroad and trying to cut down on roaming charges.

Here provides voice-guided turn-by-turn navigation that works around the world, and real time traffic information in 40 countries. Here also provides public transport guidance for more than 900 cities, which is something that Google Maps provides, but not Apple Maps.

There’s also restaurant and shop guidance provided by TripAdvisor and Lonely Planet.

All of this has been presented with a new, iPhone-optimised UI. It’s a much slicker app than the one that was withdrawn all that time ago.

Here returned to Android back in December, following a brief period of Samsung exclusivity. It never left Windows Phone, of course, thanks to Nokia’s former partnership with Microsoft.

When Microsoft bought Nokia’s hardware arm last year, it left Here behind – hence this renewed cross-platform effort from the Finnish company.