Huawei stormed into the navigation arena last year with its Petal Maps application as an alternative to Google Maps. Now, Petal Maps version 1.0 has arrived bringing with it a bunch of improvements for its users, as well as to any prospective Google Maps flag-wavers, who might be considering defecting to Huawei's navigation platform.
While Google Maps is clearly still the best map app currently available with its extensive rolling updates, Huawei has been tinkering away in the background to make Petal Maps the best possible version of itself. This, of course, comes after last year's US ban, stopping Huawei from using any software and hardware from American companies, and meaning it had to develop alternative solutions without the ability to pre-load Google apps onto its devices.
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Huawei is now on version 1.0 of Petal Maps, with the latest update delivering vast improvements to the app’s overall user-friendliness when planning a trip. Courtesy of the update, the new in-app capabilities offer an instant overview of traffic conditions before you begin your journey, while also providing up-to-date info around traffic jams to help you avoid any congestion issues en-route.
Auto Evolution, which spotted the update, notes Petal Maps now also comes with a commute card to “easily display journey times and traffic conditions,” which should benefit regular users of the app who’ll have useful route information easily to hand. All of these Petal Maps updates echo Google Maps' own run of recent in-app improvements to the user experience, including the addition of journey toll costs and new tools to track your travel in Maps' interface.
Google Maps has a serious rival
There's no doubt that Petal Maps has its work cut out to keep up with the navigation behemoth that is Google Maps, but it does seem to be doing a pretty stellar job at the moment of keeping pace with any updates that Google drops. Most of the innovative new features that Google has recently pushed out to Google Maps appear to have an identical twin or similar mode of functionality already available in Huawei's latest Petal Maps version 1.0. This is good news for Petal Maps' users and an achievement unto itself for a brand that has been shunned by the US, alongside being shut off from Android and Google services alike.
What's more: if you rely on Petal Maps to get from A to B, there are likely further benefits yet to arrive from this update. Auto Evolution says that "Huawei has added support for multiple stops, so you can configure a multi-stop route." Again, akin to Google Maps, it means Petal Maps users don't have to set up a new destination every time they start driving, which can become a real nuisance over time.
