HERE Maps: The best free map/navigation app

I've long been an advocate of phone apps that work with no internet connection. When it comes to map/navigation apps, there are several important reasons for offline use:

1. Like myself, there are people who—gasp—don't have a data plan on their phone
2. Others have limited data plans, and map apps can use a lot of data
3. Even for those with unlimited data plans, there are still many places where cellular coverage is bad or even nonexistent
4. Lastly, it's really nice to have if you travel outside of your country and have no cellular service

Unfortunately, the most popular maps app—Google Maps—is terrible when it comes to offline use:

1. You can download portions of maps for offline use, but the size of the area you can download is limited (you can't download an entire US state, for instance)
2. Navigation doesn't work offline at all
3. When offline you won't see any place names like businesses, parks, etc.

There are some free map apps out there that can be used offline, but they have limited capabilities and often ads. So that means if you want offline use, your best option is to pay for an expensive premium maps app.

But as of this week, there's a premium maps app that works offline, and it's free! I give you: HERE Maps.

HERE Maps has actually been around for a long time under other names (NAVTEQ/Ovi Maps/Nokia Maps). They're actually one of only four big map sources (the others being Google, OpenStreetMap, and TomTom), and they license their maps to many others, like Garmin and Yahoo.

Here are some of the features that HERE Maps offers:

• Download countries and regions ahead of time for offline use
• Maps in nearly 200 countries, and turn-by-turn navigation in nearly 100 countries
• Full street addresses
• Alternate routes
• Points of interest
• Traffic
• Public transit
• Speed limits

Ready to try it? Go here to read how to get it and install it:
HERE for Android unleashed on more smartphones!

Once you've got it installed, here are some great tips for getting started:
Getting started with HERE for Android: the basics

If you have an iPhone, HERE Maps should be available for you before the end of 2014.

The best task/to-do app for Android

I blogged a while back about there not being a viable replacement for the amazing Astrid Tasks task/to-do list app. Fortunately, that is no longer the case. I present to you: Tasks. Simple name, serious app.

Tasks essentially is the next version of Astrid. Since the Android version of Astrid was open-source, someone has picked up where Astrid left off after it was acquired by Yahoo, which means we still have a decent task/to-do list app for those of us who need more than the watered-down alternatives out there.

You can read my afore-mentioned post to see which specific apps I tried, but suffice it to say none of them had the features that Astrid did. In particular, I couldn't find these two features in any other app:

• The ability to hide tasks until a certain date
• The ability to repeat tasks based on when they were completed (instead of just when they were originally due)

What makes Astrid (and now Tasks) incredible is it hides all of those powerful features under a nice, clean interface, which makes it actually enjoyable to use.

So what are you waiting for? You can get Tasks for Android now from the Google Play Store.

Unfortunately, while Astrid was available for Android and iOS, the iOS version of Astrid wasn't open-source. So for those of you with an iPhone/iPad, you'll have to look elsewhere for a great task/to-do list app.

La meilleure appli de liste des tâches pour Android

J'ai blogué il y a longtemps qu'il n'y avait aucun remplacement viable pour l'appli Astrid liste de tâches. Heureusement, ce n'est plus le cas. Je vous présente: Tasks. Nom simple, une appli sérieuse.

Tasks est essentiellement la prochaine version d'Astrid. Depuis la version Android de Astrid était open-source, quelqu'un a repris où Astrid a lâché après son acquisition par Yahoo, ce qui signifie que nous avons encore une appli décente de liste de tâches pour ceux d'entre nous qui ont besoin de plus que les alternatives édulcorés qui sont nombreuses.

Vous pouvez lire mon post mentionné ci-dessus pour voir quelles applis spécifiques j'ai essayé, mais il suffit de dire qu'aucun d'eux n'avait les fonctionnalité que Astrid a eu. En particulier, je ne pouvais pas trouver ces deux fonctions dans toute autre application:

• La capacité de masquer les tâches jusqu'à une certaine date 
• La capacité de répéter des tâches basée sur quand ils ont été complétés (au lieu de simplement quand ils étaient à l'échéance) 

Ce qui rend Astrid (et maintenant Tasks) incroyable, c'est qu'il cache l'ensemble de ces fonctionnalités puissantes sous un interface beau et propre, ce qui le rend réellement agréable à utiliser.

Alors qu'attendez-vous ? Vous pouvez obtenir Tasks pour Android maintenant du Google Play Store.

Malheureusement, alors que Astrid était disponible pour Android et iOS, la version iOS de Astrid n'était pas open-source. Donc, pour ceux d'entre vous avec un iPhone / iPad, vous aurez à chercher ailleurs une tellement super appli des tâches.