2GIS

2GIS is something special for the average user and aspiring cartographer alike. It's made by a Russian developer and is available in at least three languages, including English and Arabic. The gentle tan and blue color scheme is incredibly pleasing to the eye and reminiscent of the old hand-held maps of yesteryear. On the website, 2gis.com, users are redirected to a preview map of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. The map shows a pleasant illustration of the downtown and surrounding areas and features small icons on the map that represent various businesses, public transit stops and other geopolitical landmarks. Clicking on them brings up an information panel that includes reviews, route information and other useful bits. In the top right corner, there's a button that looks like the number one. Clicking on it shows current traffic conditions. There are also buttons to measure distance, zoom in and out, add favorite spots, share the current map, and quite a few more. If multiple buttons and/or hot spots are clicked, the pop-up windows are neatly arranged on the left side under the search bar. All of the graphics are beautiful and easy to understand. Finally, a button at the top left near the search bar allows the user to plan a route with inputs for departure location and destination.