If you don’t already drive a vehicle with navigation and live traffic data, then one of these apps can help you find the best routes around town, plus they offer fun interactive features that’ll connect you to your friends and community. Google Maps and a few others are missing here, but we’re assuming most of you know the obvious ones already.

OFFLINE GPS APP RECOMMENDATIONS AT BOTTOM

If you’re looking for the best directions apps, here are a few that might be new to you and (bonus) they’re free to download. They may not replace your Google Maps, but they’re additional tools that provide some unique functions.

Glympse
You can send Glympse requests to your friends or kids to see where they’re at and their estimated time of arrival to a particular location. Featured on the Today Show, the free app enables users to set a limit on how long their location is shared, plus if you specify a destination it can project your estimated time of arrival based on vehicle speed. When you receive a Glympse request, you can choose to ignore or accept it. Accept and the app will let your friends know where you’re at, but only for the amount of time you select. Glympse is said to be faster and more convenient than sending a text and easy-to-use. Want to know if your friend or child is telling the truth when they say their only 5 minutes away, when maybe their actually 20 minutes behind? Try Glympse. Available on Android and iOS devices.

Find My Friends, for Apple devices only, is similar to Glympse in that you can choose who and when to allow people to view your location and for how long. It’s not just for driving, however. Find My Friends can be a handy tool when getting picked up at an airport and for vacations or short group trips in which people might find it useful to know participant locations.

Waze
There’s a reason why Google purchased Waze. It’s one of the most popular and interactive real-time navigation apps available today. The GPS app creates an arena in which real people work together to help each other avoid bad traffic jams, road hazards, accidents and other events known to make drivers run late. It can reroute your course midway if something comes up and give you the ability to see the live status of friends and colleagues who are on their way to a shared event, among other functionalities. For Waze in particular, many sources say that if you already use Google Maps (or Latitude), Waze is still a great navigation tool to have in your back pocket. Android and iOS users can download the app here.

Scout GPS
Free navigation and Meet Up app, Scout GPS, allows users to chat, plan Meet Ups with friends and get voice directions, which are based on real-time traffic data. The app also gives one the ability to share their locations and (accurate) live ETAs, as well as to create Meet Ups for friends, from which the ETA of attendees can be checked. Additionally, Scout GPS users can send one-touch voice chats or text messages to a group and find facilities on their route, including restaurants, the cheapest gas stations and other businesses. Scout GPS is available for Apple and Android users.

Offline GPS Apps
You can also try out apps that work even when you’re not online. In this case, not all options are free, but if you’re curious, research some of these options:

• CoPilot Premium
• Navigon
• Navmii
• Sygic GPS Navigation

If you’re interested in another great free app, try Camelback Ford’s mobile download, which is available on both Google Play and iTunes.