Nokia Maps just got a huge upgrade: it's now an HTML5-based web app, available on iOS and Android devices, and in addition to a fresh coat of paint it added some seriously useful functionality. The best of its new features is offline capability — you can download a section of a map (there's a clever cropping feature to help you download only what you need), and have it available to you offline. You can download over a cellular connection, but Nokia recommends using Wi-Fi and so do we; a very small segment of New York City was a 31MB download. The app also now supports transit directions, and has a nice new interface and POI search. It will work on any HTML5-compliant mobile browser, but to varying degrees; we couldn't pinch to zoom on an Android phone, but could on an iPod touch. It's odd for Nokia to be re-tooling its own app immediately before launching its Windows Phone devices, but part of Nokia's partnership with Microsoft involved integrating Nokia Maps into the Bing-powered mapping services, perhaps this just a preview of what's to come for Windows Phone handsets.
Nokia Maps update brings offline functionality, iOS and Android support
is editor-at-large and Vergecast co-host with over a decade of experience covering consumer tech. Previously, at Protocol, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired.
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