The mobile navigation software HERE Maps, which is available for both iOS and Android, has undergone a surprise name change, the new moniker being the amusing and memorable HERE WeGo.
On HERE’s official blog, HERE 360, blogger Ian Delaney explained the company’s opinion that the former name was “a bit too generic” and overly similar to other apps. He added that “very few regular users open our app to look at a map – they want to get somewhere and find the fastest way to do that.”
Therefore, the new name appears intended to reflect the broad versatility of HERE WeGo. Delaney says that the software aims to reduce “app duplication and overload” by providing users with “as many choices as possible, as quickly as possible, under a single banner.”
These choices include new transport options; users can, in a number of major cities, see options from car-sharing company Car2Go and, in select cities including New York, London and Berlin, get taxi details, among them the approximate fare and wait time, for their route.
HERE WeGo is free to download for iOS, but faces tough competition from the preinstalled Apple Maps app, which not only is feature-rich, but also – unlike HERE WeGo – includes an iPad-optimized version.
