Photo: Bogdan Popa/autoevolution
Navigation apps are sometimes incredibly accurate when you precisely pinpoint the place where you want to go, but locations without addresses continue to be their Achilles heel.
Sat-nav companies have been trying to tackle this shortcoming for decades. Google Maps has Plus Codes, a system that’s specifically designed to help users find a location in a place where no addresses are available.
what3words, on the other hand, is using a different approach. The company divided the entire world into three-meter squares, and each square is given a unique address made of three random words.
This means that you can accurately pinpoint a navigation app to a location on the map with a three-meter accuracy, as soon as you use the words generated by this platform.
The benefits of using what3words are more than obvious, and this is the reason several emergency services have already adopted it. Firefighters can precisely find the building where their help is required and an ambulance can go straight to a house entrance using the three random words.
Now a navigation app is bringing what3words to its users as well.
NAVITIME is currently the number one alternative to Google Maps in Japan. Starting this month, NAVITIME also features what3words integration, therefore allowing users to navigate precisely to a specific location with a three-meter accuracy.
If you’ve used NAVITIME, you probably already know the app has an impressive collection of POIs. This is exactly where what3words can come in handy, as using the random address, NAVITIME can get users precisely where they need to be.
Case in point, a bench in a park. Once someone sends you the location generated on what3word, you can now enter the three random words in NAVITIME and let the application provide route guidance to the right bench.
The integration in NAVITIME supports multiple languages, and users in Japan can also type in hiragana.
It’s certainly a shame NAVITIME is only available in Japan, as its feature lineup would easily convince some Google Maps and Apple Maps to jump ship. The application includes everything from walking navigation, maps, and POIs with support for over 700 million businesses to hotel integration and route sharing.
A premium tier is also available for extra capabilities, including advanced route guidance, public transportation, traffic information, and voice navigation. In addition to support for the iPhone, the application also works on the Apple Watch.
The what3words integration is currently available only on Apple smartphones, but the parent company says it’s coming to Android devices as well. No ETA has been provided on this front, but the update is scheduled to go live sooner rather than later. Of course, users who want to get the three-word address can also install what3words on their devices as a stand-alone app is available in the stores.
what3words, on the other hand, is using a different approach. The company divided the entire world into three-meter squares, and each square is given a unique address made of three random words.
This means that you can accurately pinpoint a navigation app to a location on the map with a three-meter accuracy, as soon as you use the words generated by this platform.
The benefits of using what3words are more than obvious, and this is the reason several emergency services have already adopted it. Firefighters can precisely find the building where their help is required and an ambulance can go straight to a house entrance using the three random words.
Now a navigation app is bringing what3words to its users as well.
NAVITIME is currently the number one alternative to Google Maps in Japan. Starting this month, NAVITIME also features what3words integration, therefore allowing users to navigate precisely to a specific location with a three-meter accuracy.
If you’ve used NAVITIME, you probably already know the app has an impressive collection of POIs. This is exactly where what3words can come in handy, as using the random address, NAVITIME can get users precisely where they need to be.
Case in point, a bench in a park. Once someone sends you the location generated on what3word, you can now enter the three random words in NAVITIME and let the application provide route guidance to the right bench.
The integration in NAVITIME supports multiple languages, and users in Japan can also type in hiragana.
It’s certainly a shame NAVITIME is only available in Japan, as its feature lineup would easily convince some Google Maps and Apple Maps to jump ship. The application includes everything from walking navigation, maps, and POIs with support for over 700 million businesses to hotel integration and route sharing.
A premium tier is also available for extra capabilities, including advanced route guidance, public transportation, traffic information, and voice navigation. In addition to support for the iPhone, the application also works on the Apple Watch.
The what3words integration is currently available only on Apple smartphones, but the parent company says it’s coming to Android devices as well. No ETA has been provided on this front, but the update is scheduled to go live sooner rather than later. Of course, users who want to get the three-word address can also install what3words on their devices as a stand-alone app is available in the stores.
Google News