What3words Could Be A More Reliable Option For Navigation In India Than Google Maps
“What3Words” has emerged as a hidden solution for those facing the unreliability of Google Maps in India, where it is the most widely used navigation app. As India’s road network expands and urban areas become more densely populated, Google Maps can often prove to be unreliable. So, when faced with a failure of Google Maps, individuals can turn to the alternative solution of “What3Words”, which has been available for quite some time.
Yes, the name “What3Words” might sound a little unusual for a navigation platform, but it’s true to what it actually does. You can find the exact location and navigate to the location by searching with “three words”. How? The What3words platform has labeled the entire world map into 3m x 3m squares and has labeled all possible Earth GPS coordinates with three unique words. For example, if you type “straddled.sprayer.sponsors” into the search box on the What3Words website or app, it will direct you to the exact entrance of the Taj Mahal. And if you want your friend to meet the Taj Mahal entrance, all you have to do is share these 3 words with them – “straddled.sprayer.sponsors”.
Now the next big question is how do you remember these 3 words from each location? Well, technically you don’t have to. At most, you need to remember three words from your home or office to share with your Uber driver, friends and others.
Although Google Maps looks like a complete navigation app, in reality it only offers a bird’s eye view. Now going back to the same Taj Mahal example, the entrance to the Taj Mahal has GPS coordinates: 27.174528, 78.047806. In order for your friends to meet at this exact place, you need to share this GPS coordinate. It goes without saying that daily use of GPS coordinates is not possible. Here is What3Words. It replaces these GPS coordinates with three unique words.
What3Words CEO Chris Sheldrick clarified that his company is in no way competing with Google Maps or any other mapping company. What3Words is simply an additional layer on top of existing map services to make the user experience better and more accurate for end users.
What3Words has already partnered with courier companies like BlueDart, DTDC and car brands like Tata Motors and Mahindra. It is completely free for consumers and all you have to do is download the app or open the What3Words website.
“In India, addresses are placed under pin codes that are associated with delivery mail. They cover very large areas and it is possible that street names are repeated or incorrect. This makes it difficult for customers to determine exactly where a delivery needs to be made, and difficult for drivers to find exactly where they need to go. These are the things that 3words is designed to solve,” says BlueDart.
What3Words is also available offline in 54 languages, including 12 South Asian languages: Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Bengali, Kannada, Nepali, Urdu, Gujarati, Malayalam, Punjabi and Odia.
