16 Best GPS Apps for Android

All of us go somewhere every day. We all have a purpose. Going for work or on business on the other end of the city, or traveling at all – we want to get to the right place with maximum efficiency and minimum time spent.

In this case, we come to the aid of navigators. Being in an unfamiliar place or city, we can ask a local how to get where we need to, or just use the navigator. With the use of navigation, any journey becomes easier.

So, you can easily turn your Android device, whether it is a smartphone or a tablet, in the navigator, it’s easy to do! Moreover, you can do it for free! In general, in the market of applications for Android, you can find a lot of interesting navigators, free, and paid.

We decided to make the top list of the best GPS apps for Android devices for you, so you can choose the most suitable one for your travel quickly and easily.

Google Maps

Google Maps app is an indispensable tool in the road. This application doesn’t only support GPS-navigation but also provides information about traffic jams, public transport, and hours of the greatest congestion on the road.  You also will find users’ reviews here.

You will spend a minimum of time on the road with Google Maps on your phone. You will quickly get to your destination, using the navigation and get up to date information on traffic and time of arrival. You will not be late for the bus and train with information about public transport routes, which is updated in real-time.

Do not worry about the traffic: Google Maps will automatically rebuild the route, taking into account the situation on the roads. The app will tell in advance what lane choose to turn or exit.
You will easily find gas stations and cafes along the way.

Take advantage of all Google Maps features! You can get directions and use navigation even without an Internet connection. Street views, panorama views of restaurants, shops, museums interiors are available. Indoor maps will help you to navigate the airports, shopping malls, and stadiums.

Here are complete and accurate maps of 220 countries and regions. You will see maps of more than 15 thousand cities with driving directions. Google Maps gives a detailed information of more than 100 million places.

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Waze

Nothing spoils the mood as a long time spent in a traffic jam, isn’t it? Waze is a way out for you! It is highly rated and the most used GPS app for Android users.

With this app, you will avoid the worst traffic as Waze will help you to find the quickest route. Live maps are constantly edited and updated by Waze editors. If there are changes on the road, your route will be automatically changed at once. Turn-by-turn voice-guided navigation is also available.

Here drivers share the information about traffic jams, road accidents, police traps, road closures, and so on in real-time. Also, you will get the information about the gas stations with the cheapest prices near your location, get other road alerts on your route, and more useful information. In turn, you can share real-time traffic & road info with the community’s members.

Plus, you can add friends and sync Contacts. So, you can share your ETA & recent location or see your friends’ ETA when you are going to meet.

Just by driving with Waze open, you’re already contributing tonnes of real-time traffic information to your local community.

Join the world’s largest community-based traffic and navigation app!

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HERE WeGo

With HERE WeGo application you will always find the right route in any city. Are you driving a bike or renting a car, going by taxi or public transport? HERE WeGo offers you the best routes to your destination. Compare the possible variants and select the best one.

On the trip, you will be able to follow detailed voice instructions, so you will not miss your stop and will not turn accidentally in another direction. If there are road conditions changes, you will be notified in time about the detour. So, you do not have to worry.

You can download the app for free and use the easy navigation around the city in your pocket:

– Choose a convenient way to get there: car, bike, taxi, public transport, etc.

– Compare routes by distance, speed, or cost and make the best choice.

– Go to your destination, following the detailed voice and visual instructions for the chosen trip mode.

– Learn all the information about traffic conditions in time. So, you will not suffer from traffic jams and disruptions to public transport.

– Downloading maps, you will be able to navigate, even where there is no Internet connection.

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Scout GPS

Scout GPS is a navigation app that helps you to avoid traffic, lets chat, share your ETA, and get turn-by-turn GPS voice directions. Now you are able to find the most suitable route with real-time traffic and get notifications if there are any changes on your route. You can manage your route just with a swipe of a finger!

Now you can communicate with friends right from the app. Here is a voice chat as well as text messaging. You can share your location/ETA easily with them to be in touch.

Right in the Scout app you can create Meets up and send them to friends and coordinate together. You will get live ETAs – Scout shows when Meet Up’s members are on the move with real-time ETAs on the map. Now you’ll always know when a friend is late and whether “five minutes away” really means “I haven’t left yet.”

Using Scout you can also set up home and work locations to get traffic alerts so you know when to leave. You will always be on time as you will receive notifications when traffic is slower than usual on your daily commute home or to work. You will get notifications one hour before your Meet Up is set to begin and as your guests arrive.

Make a pit stop on your route and find the cheapest gas, restaurants and other local amenities all while avoiding police speed traps, accidents, and traffic jams along the way. New! Click on different routes to see turn-by-turn direction before you start navigating to your destination.

Do it your way! Now you can save your customized route preferences, favorite map views and schedule personalized commute departure alerts for home and work.

You will never get lost— Scout, powered by OpenStreetMap (OSM), provides the most up-to-date map information with updates from a community of more than 1.6 million editors.

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MapQuest

MapQuest is one of the easiest voice-guided, turn-by-turn GPS navigation apps as its users say. The information about traffic is updated in real-time and according to traffic conditions, your route will be automatically changed in time.

The information about traffic is updated in real-time and according to traffic conditions, your route will be automatically changed in time. Road closures are taken into account and you will get an alternative route as well.

You will also get the ability to compare cost and ETA from a variety of transportation options.

Using MapQuest you can find nearest places of interest: cafes, gas stations, hotels, compare prices of fuel, browse menus, and order food through OpenTable and GrubHub. You can also book hotels that are nearby right in the MapQuest app. Here you will have direct access on-demand roadside assistance for help.

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MAPS.ME

Get instant access to detailed maps of all countries and cities from all over the world with MAPS.ME navigator! It is a top GPS app in the “Travel” category in more than 100 countries. It has already been downloaded over 40 million times worldwide!

You even do not need an internet connection. Maps work even where there is no mobile connection. You can find everything you need on the map in offline mode. You can search through different categories, e.g. restaurants, cafes, tourist attractions, hotels, ATMs, and public transport (metro, bus, etc). Also, it is possible to book a hotel via Booking.com directly from the app.

Do you prefer to travel on foot? Here is pedestrian navigation for you to use. Find the shortest routes along the paths, alleys, bridges, overhead and underground passages. The map shows the most optimal and the right way to your destination.

You can also mark places of interest on the map and share it with friends via email or SMS. Maps are daily updated with hundreds of thousands of users.

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CoPilot GPS

Sit back and enjoy the ride with features of the CoPilot navigation app. CoPilot is a high-performance application for GPS-navigation which will bring you to your destination safely, reliably, and what’s more important without the mess.

You have a chance to join over 14 million drivers and professional transportation services all over the world who rely on the high quality of CoPilot standalone maps. With the help of these maps, you will get the necessary information quickly and accurately, even in the absence of a mobile network, or when traveling abroad.

Here are complex instruments of planning trips with multiple stops for the detailed route before starting your trip.
Also a huge database of preloaded objects that make it easy to find local restaurants, gas stations, parking lots, and other useful places are available.

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TomTom GPS

TomTom GPS is a mobile app that will help you to find the best route available based on accurate, real-time traffic information that gets you to your destination faster, every day. Moreover, you will be able to get world-class traffic information.

TomTom navigator has lots of benefits: You can rely on offline navigation. To plan your route you don’t need an internet connection even.

You will get highly accurate traffic information, in real-time. Also, drivers share the information about safety cameras locations and you will get alerts when they are on your route.

You will get quick access to your favorites: Start driving to your favorite places with a single tap on the map. You can see buildings and landmarks in stunning 3D. So, you will know exactly where you are so you never miss a turn.

 

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Sygic

Sygic GPS Navigation is the world’s most popular stand-alone application of GPS-navigation based on TomTom maps.

With the app Sygic GPS Navigation, you can always make free use of the TomTom offline maps, information on attractions, routes, and the function of free map updating. High-quality maps from TomTom and other providers are stored on your phone, so they can be used without an Internet connection.

Navigator always offers three alternative routes to choose from. The route can be easily edited by dragging its elements on the screen. During the route, you will get detailed voice instructions. Scoring street names will allow you to concentrate on the road. You will also get warnings about speeding, police, and stationary safety cameras.

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OsmAnd Maps and Navigation

OsmAnd (Open Street Maps Android) is a navigation app for travel with open-source e-map users, which allows you to navigate in unfamiliar areas, find the objects on the map and get to them, and also get various tourist information about these objects using data from the Open Street Maps (OSM) without access to the Internet.

Some of the main features of the application:

Display more information on the map, such as GPX or navigation routes, objects (POI), favorite locations, public transport; the imposition of additional maps with customizable transparency; search for addresses and objects (POI) without access to the Internet; getting directions to any distance using Internet services.

It also has a car, bicycle and pedestrian modes with the additional possibilities (automatically switch to day/night mode); change the scale of the map depending on speed; compass or direction map rotation; use voice commands (reproduced by generated or recorded voices) while driving on the route; warning about exceeding the permissible speed.

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MapFactor

MapFactor GPS Navigator is a free application for the detailed GPS-navigation using OpenStreetMap data. The app works on Android smartphones and tablets.

Maps are installed on the device’s internal memory or SD memory card in advance so that there is no need to connect to the Internet while traveling. Maps and the app are updated for free every month.

Using the app you will get voice support. Here is intuitive voice navigation in different languages. Your route will be planned from door to door in detail. Cross-border routing without the need to switch between countries or to a less detailed map is also available.

Satellite GPS navigation: 2D/3D mode creates a realistic visual map display; day/night switch mode changes the color scheme for day or night driving. So, this app will become a fantastic helper for your overseas trip and in your daily driving!

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Maps Measure

If you want a simple maps app without all those fancy features you should check out the Maps Measure – this is one of those apps which prove that simplicity os the key. Clear navigation instructions, no lags, no dead-ends – functionality, and reliability is the key here.

If you want to measure some distance – no problem. Maps Measure will do that in the most precise way (well, there can be some fluctuations, but compared to some apps they are minimal).

The only thing you need to consider here is that it has no route planning function. It is a lightweight app that won’t occupy too much of your phone’s memory space.

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Navitel Navigator

Navitel Navigator is the precise offline GPS navigation, geosocial services, and detailed maps of 64 countries in the world. Using the Navitel app you will get the information about traffic jams on the roads in real-time throughout the maps mode.

Also, the information about the weather anywhere in the world for three days in advance, fuel prices, movie showtimes, and other useful information is available with Navitel Navigator. You can chat with friends here, watch their locations, and install the route to meet with them.

Road accidents, road works, speed cameras, and other incidents are marked on the map by Navitel’s users. Navitel Navigator will help in quick installation of the route: instant route calculation and construction of any length and complexity.

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GPS Route Finder

GPS Route Finder uses GPS and network advantages to getting your position on the Earth, and receives information through maps near your location using Google Map and GPS locator, and finds the location of your friends.

Using this navigation app you can view any location: favorite places, airports, banks, post offices, hotels, police stations, and more.

The interface of the app is clear and convenient to use. You will get detailed information on the driving directions wherever you want to go.

GPS location tracker having different types of travel modes. You can get a very accurate speed by using a GPS router.  You can save the target locations you set so that you can set it again.

Also, you may try route planners for the bus, bikes, and walk to any place.

Hope that this app will make your life better and more convenient!

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Polaris GPS

If you are looking for a powerful and professional navigation system look no further than this app. Polaris GPS is famous for its mega detailed maps, with precise measurements and 100 percent reliability.

The app will be especially useful for those who like going hiking with no path – they always need a navigation system that will work even without an Internet connection or by receiving the signal from the satellite.

With Polaris GPS you can choose any way you want – whether it is a big city, a desert, a forest or the sea – you will always find the right way. Don’t be afraid to get lost and go forward to the adventures!

Another useful feature of this app is that it can record your track – so you will never get lost. Moreover, the significant detail is the interface design which is made in the style of a compass. This fact is worth mentioning because GPS apps are rarely stand out for being well-designed from the aesthetical point of view.

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BackCountry Navigator

This is the app that has been becoming more and more popular lately. Its main advantage is that it is quite similar to Google Maps, but it is much more user-friendly. The developers of BackCountry Navigator were likely understanding the fact, that most of the people using GPS either driving or walking trying to find something.

That’s why they made this app perfect for hiking – it will be showing you the reliable and existing routes so you could hike safely without a risk to bump into a dead end like it often happens with all the standard GPS apps. Just one essential note that should be done here – the app is suitable only for the US territory.

It includes thousands of routes across this country, and most of those are placed in National Parks (since it is the app for hiking). And you see the location not just like a flat 2D model, you can zoom in and see the state of the soil and the overall state of the road.

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So, that was the top list of the best GPS applications in the market. We dare to believe that you have identified the best navigator for your device. Of course, the choice of applications is subjective. But taking into account the advantages of GPS navigators which we have presented,  it easier will be easier to make the right choice.

*There comes that moment when it’s time to sell your vehicle. We have listed 10 Best Android Apps to Sell Your Car that offers similar principles to sell your vehicle, with different standards.

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Author
Daria Tolmacheva
I've been reviewing apps for different platforms for a long time already. I love being helpful and finding only the best among such a mess!