As Huawei slowly transitions away from relying on Google services, there is no surprise that they currently have a navigation solution called Petal Maps. It seems the Chinese company is building its branding around the Petal brand.
Due to the sanctions in the United States, Huawei is no longer allowed to use Google services, so its phones can’t run the licensed version of Android or come bundled with applications developed by the search giant. These include YouTube, Gmail, Google Maps, and others. While some are easy to replace, Huawei still has a long way to fill in the gaps that Google left behind.
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Earlier this month, Huawei officially announced a new app suite that’s supposed not only to serve as an alternative to Google services but to actually compete against them.
And as far as Google Maps is concerned, Huawei’s big bet is Petal Maps, a new app whose purpose is to offer pretty much the same capabilities as its more popular rival.
Petal Maps comes with some of the things you’d expect to find in a map app, including navigation that’s supposed to make it easier for drivers to find a specific destination faster when a Huawei device is being used. But is Petal Maps really worth giving up on Google Maps? Well, the maps for Uganda are still basic with several features still missing. A case in point is the comparison below.
Both Google and Petal Maps have similar layouts but the former has more detailed information.
One of the features that set Petal Maps apart from Google Maps and the rest of the alternatives out there is gesture support, which allows users to jump from one mode to another by simply waving their hand in front of the screen.
There is no doubt that Huawei has managed to do a lot in terms of building a worthy product in the names of Petal Maps.
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It’s pretty clear that Google Maps is still the more polished app, and unsurprisingly, Petal Maps still needs a bunch of improvements, especially as far as the searching experience is concerned. Things like terrain data, transit, bicycling, 3D mapping, and Street view are still missing at least for Uganda. We shall assume Huawei is giving higher priority to more developed countries in terms of rolling out new features. Traffic (jam) data is still not as accurate as Google Maps but there is still room for improvement.
The beta version of Petal Maps is available in the Huawei AppGallery.
