AMAP

The app needs some improvement for user outside China. I can't register the account using my phone since the app can only recognize China's moble phone number. Also, when setting the street address for navigation, thr app doesn't really recognize the street name and city. I tried several times and find it better to use shop, company, or tourist attraction nearby for finding my destination. But the navigation is pretty good after correctly setting everything.

I used the app in Spain. Comped with other navigation apps, gaode's advantage is: it provided oral guidance which lane I should use or not use, before approaching the crossings. Google and Waze does bad at this point. The disadvantage is it doesn't support offline map and the communication speed with the server is slow. Hope the team could improve this soon.

This app changed overnight with the update adding English support. This is now by far the single best map application for visiting China as a foreigner. You still can't create an account without a Chinese phone number, but that's also reasonably straightforward to get now with online linking of a SIM card to your visa before you even arrive. I can't wait for the next time I visit, it will be so much easier to go places not needing to translate everything in the app.