Nokia will make Android SDK available to developers who wish to use its new Here maps in their apps

Nokia has announced that it will make a full software SDK available to Android developers who wish to integrate its new Here mapping system into their apps. Here is a rebranding of Nokia Maps that includes 3D imagery and street-view data gathered by recently acquired company Earthmine.

Google currently offers an SDK to developers on both Android and iOS that allows developers to integrate its mapping solution into their apps. The SDK is wildly popular on Android and used to be the standard in every iOS app, until Apple replaced Google Maps with its own solution. When they did that, they also took over the hooks that were previously dedicated to Google Maps. That meant that every iOS app that was using Google Maps through Apple’s system, rather than Google’s SDK, automatically began displaying Apple Maps.

Now, they’ll have a third major option in addition to the independent SDKs like the ones that Mapbox and OpenStreetMaps offer. There was no ETA given for the SDK.

Image Credit: Spencer Platt/Getty Images