The best Android navigation without the Internet

UPDATED: see the updated article at this link: The best Android navigation without the Internet in Serbian

There is a lot of Android navigation, but more and more people are asked to work without the Internet, ie. in the so-called offline mode. Why? Because every phone has GPS (and some Glonass) that is always available to us, but not the Internet. For example, if you are abroad and do not have internet, the only solution is GPS. Do you need internet for maps, how do solve it? Easy - offline navigation.

Navigation without the Internet has almost every slightly better Android navigation app. The solution comes in simply downloading country maps to your phone so the app can download them without the internet. So which Android navigation is best?

Tastes are different, this is my opinion based on many years of experience. You can certainly choose for yourself to your liking.

1. Android navigation without the Internet - Google Maps

Google Maps is much more than just ordinary maps, it offers so much. If you use Google services then you will also like Google Maps. They have recently introduced the ability to create multi-point routes (e.g. star, pause, pause, finish…) which is a big advantage over some other apps.

Next, there are satellite (raster) and vector maps, so you can choose. It has turn-by-turn navigation. So, when navigation starts, the application switches to "Drive" mode and you can easily follow the path.

Not to mention syncing between devices running the same Google Account. And also integration with other Google services.

Offline mode works easily, just download the maps for the current region on the screen and you can use the application without the Internet normally as with the Internet. And the position is determined via GPS.

To download offline maps, drag the left edge of the screen to the right to display options, select the "Offline" option, then "Plus" to add a new one. You will be asked to position a view of the area you want to save. Do so and press the download button.

2. Android navigation without the Internet - maps.me

Maps.me is an open-source application available for Android, iOS, and BlackBerry, and uses OpenStreetMap (OSM). The advantage of these maps is that they are open and anyone can edit them. This creates a larger base of places and a more detailed map.

And these maps have an offline mode that is a little better done in terms of being more clearly defined and better presented to the user. Also very precise maps, the application is fast, it has all the cities and countries, it is detailed… maybe a little scarcer than Google maps but this is because Google maps have integration with other Google services.

3. Android navigation without internet - HERE maps

HERE maps, which I wrote about here and here, also have a nicely done offline mode and detailed maps. There is not much to write about HERE maps, except that there are useful options and a nice interface. They got a lot of attention and many put it in the first place, but I still didn't because I personally didn't have any better experiences, Google Maps showed me better and helped me more.

4. Android Navigation without Internet - Waze

Google bought the Waze service, which is designed to be navigation with friends, ie. a kind of "social network" in real-time for navigation. Very good idea, that's why Google bought it, but I didn't like it too much, and it didn't benefit me the most. More precisely, I did not manage to reach the full potential of this application in Serbia. Probably because of dissatisfaction.

However, Google is planning, as I have heard, to somehow equate Google Maps and Waze, that is, to merge them into one service. If they do it well, I'll switch to Waze, or whatever the new third app will be called.

5. Android Navigation Without Internet - iGo

iGo is not free navigation, however, there are pirated versions (.apk files) and maps that are inserted into the phone - see how. This app has served me well until Google improved its maps so much that they now have everything I need, plus it's free. So I switched from iGo to Google Maps but I put it on the list because they deserve their place.

These are the 5 apps I tested. If you have a suggestion for some, write in the comments.