NAVER Map, Navigation Reviews

by Jyoungyoung

Ive been using the phone in the us and brought to Korea, and the phone is still set in English and NAVERMapNavigation store being us version. NAVERMapNavigation worked just fine before the update and now it is horrible.
First of all, it takes forever to do anything, starting from locating myself and searching for places, and NAVERMapNavigation stalls occasionally. I also think it’s quite uncomfortable to translate every locations even when I search it in Korean(I have to double check because some places have different English name). I might give some credit to developers if they intended to make it comfortable for foreigners, but I think there should be an option to choose the preferred language.
Optimization needs to be done asap and some improvements too.

by Fgyuikn

Very annoying navigation app. It tells you 3 times about turn, speed limit etc. approximately 800 meters before, 400 and 100. While it tells you about turn or something else you cover the distance and it’s time to tell you again and then third time. So, it continuously talking about everything and distracting a driver. There should be an option to limit number of times that app tells you about everything. Ones more then enough.

by Kimcheater

When you try to sign in via Facebook and provide your credentials, it makes you create a new account with a new user name and password anyway. What’s the point of signing in via Facebook, then? Tried to delete the account and it was unresponsive. Didn’t bother finding out what the rest of NAVERMapNavigation is like. What’s the point if they can’t even get the first step right?

by The_exp89

I am a frequent user of Naver Map. I have been using it for 7 years now, and I really like it because of its accuracy. However, the new version that supports English does not seem to have good accuracy in finding direction (길찾기), and it offers less alternatives in the public transit compared with the earlier version in Korean. I really I can switch back the version 😫😫😫

by Mbn Reviewer

The old interface was simple and efficient. This is not even an update; it’s like having to use a new map application. Korean transit station names are no longer listed in Korean and we are forced to use the English version. The layout is overly complex and it is very difficult to switch between different sections of NAVERMapNavigation quickly. I have used Naver maps for over five years but this recent update has forced me to look for other options.

by Erica807

NAVERMapNavigation was a lifesaver back when I was visiting relatives last year. Sure, it lagged sometimes, but that was a negligible con compared to the pros. It was a reliable & informative app with great bus/transportation info. I barely used Google Maps at all during my time in Seoul — NAVERMapNavigation was my go-to.

Then there was this update. The layout is may look a bit prettier, faux modern sleek-ish, but the functionality is basically trash.
Plus, there was the added “bonus” of all my saved locations being deleted. All of my saved routes and transportation methods have disappeared. All of the places I noted down to visit or revisit at a later date are just gone, which is obviously upsetting.

They shouldn’t have updated this. It was fine, better than fine, before.

by Cartuna

Ever since the long awaited English update, NAVERMapNavigation always failed to find my location. Even worse, when it does in a few cases it cannot even track the road I’m driving on. What an embarrassment! You update an app with language support but then decide to fiddle with perfectly working GPS location trackers. Well done Naver! Never change! You’re a disgrace to Korean tech builders.

by Straight Furrow

If you're a foreigner living in Korea, you are probably using Naver because Kakao does not have an English version, and Waze and Google Maps don't work well here due to Korea's data restrictions.

The problem is that Naver is a terrible app. It's AI is awful. The worst feature (by far) is that it constantly tries to re-route you in directions that make absolutely no sense. It simply refuses to stick with an initial route. It will give you a different route every single time.

I've given up on NAVERMapNavigation. You're better off just using trial and error.

by Fashion Ave

The new app is seriously testing my patience every time I use it. I hate that you can’t use NAVERMapNavigation in Korean if your iPhone’s language is set to English. I see how it can be a plus for some ppl, but I have used it in Korean for many years and English transliteration just seems so confusing now! Another thing - if NAVERMapNavigation is running in the background and I bring it forward to do a new search, NAVERMapNavigation just stalls! Most of the time I have to kill NAVERMapNavigation and open it again. Super annoying , especially when you are in a hurry.

by TheBraveLeo

Why did you change the whole thing? I mean, before it changed like now, it was useful to find a way to places I wanted to go. It had its own fashion and creativity. And it was easy to use too. But now, as I mentioned earlier, I DO NOT understand why you guys transformed NAVERMapNavigation into a weird thing. It looks like Google map, but it is not useful just like Google. Furthermore, It becomes too complicated to use as a navigation tool. I can’t even find the information I want! It just becomes chaos.
Please change the whole thing back to the original.

by TheBeAsT528

Used NAVERMapNavigation for almost 4 years and it worked just fine until now. They updated and it has become completely unreliable. It loses my track right before turns, reroutes me in directions that don’t make sense, and completely shuts down while in the middle of driving. Can be a safety hazard. I used to love it because it was easy to find places, gave good warnings about speed cameras and rest stops. Unfortunately, I can’t rely on it any longer. Hope they update it to fix the issues.

by Farreach84

Navigation alerts doesn’t decrease volume of music playing in the background. Tried other navigation app in Korea and they worked fine

Edit:Voice recognition caused the problem, as soon a s I turned off the “네이버 클로바” NAVERMapNavigation was able to adjust bg music volume for its navigation alerts

by Chillywillypepper

My naver maps application was working okay until today, now it crashes within 2 seconds of opening it. I’ve tried redownloading and restarting my phone, but there’s nothing I can do to get it to work

by Jfktggdvggbhgdgd

Naver maps has frequently taken me down back roads with terrible conditions or narrow single lanes. Many speed zones are incorrect and speed cameras are not listed. Not a big deal unless the road changes speed and you can’t tell and then there is a camera. Boom ticket. Thanks Naver.

by Busanbabe96

Its an okay up some improvements would definitely make it better.
The bus stops are not exact, but close enough for you to know what stop is what. But ive been living in busan for a month and its helped me get by.
The best advice i can give for using NAVERMapNavigation is just to pay attention to the stops and where your going. Also look at your surroundings, building may be wrong because they come and go so quick in korea.

by Choon1217

Siri Shortcut support could make NAVERMapNavigation bigger. Users should be able to instantly start navigation to the most frequently destination by simply saying like “Drive home” or “Drive to work”. This was already possible with Apple Map.

by Spaceholic

The old GUI was devided to direction, navigation, location, etc. so complicate to use. New one comes better. The structure is getting simplified and close to google map. But still feels little bit complicate. I like the graphic and color. Map is one of the wonderful function of smart phone and most frequently used app. Thank for your work.

by Grabmg

This map is great. Visiting family right now and I can't read korean well so they told me to get kakao map but I didn't like it. I tried naver and it's perfect and it is completely translated to English which is amazing!

by RealN!!

Hey honestly In the comments are just a bunch of ungrateful Americans… NAVERMapNavigation helped me navigate everywhere! Yeah it could be better but honestly this works for what it is. NAVERMapNavigation gave bus and train routes, walking distances, everything that I could of needed it had it. The only negative thing i can say is that it could be more precise with your location on the map but you can work without it. Overall great app it helped me out A LOT!!!

by Fifa_dude24

I don’t know why so many people are complaining. This is my first time in Korea and my Airbnb host recommended I use NAVERMapNavigation for transportation. I’ve had no problem with it, yeah some of the places are in Korean but if you can direct yourself by watching for the right stops I see no problem. Thank you Naver

by Mitttsh

Naver may have the best geo dataset in Korea (I’m assuming); but the UX of NAVERMapNavigation is simply dreadful.

You need to turn on a switch to know where you are on the map: whhaaat? Who thought about that? :-) that’s crazy. Come on, it’s a map app, I wanna know where I am. Plus this geoloc switch is a 3 states switch (none, GPS, GPS+orientation), which is even more awful.

No icons are used, all buttons look the same and only use text. That’s not easy for the brain to remember text, icons make this easy.

Also, the map is still a bitmap image. You guys badly need to switch to vector rendering.

by TovarischDroog

It’s a decent app for getting around in Korea, but there are a lot of problems. It freezes or crashes quite often. It’s very annoying to save places, it often shows me error messages. Also the English version is clunky and confusing to navigate. Still has a long way to go before it can reach the level of Google Maps