For others who haven't tried it yet, here.com seems like a very interesting alternative -this was the first time I tried https://www.here.com/ (Nokia Maps it seems?). I always assumed Nokia Maps were only available on Nokia devices.

I have a feeling that they have got something right compared to Google Maps. Based on a few seconds reading-HN-in-lunch evaluation I'm not sure what though.

Yeah.. interesting for the sake of not being Google.

Except it outright blocks my country: "The Amazon CloudFront distribution is configured to block access from your country"

Yep, HERE is the brand that replaced Nokia Maps, and before that it was Navteq. They're part of the remnants of Nokia - the parts that MS didn't buy.

I think they have apps on pretty much all devices now, and now that they are no longer part of a company that's making Windows Phones, I imagine they're probably putting more effort into Android and iOS than they were before.

I've been waiting for Nokia or Bing maps to come out on iOS ever since the new Google Maps app update rendered it almost completely useless compared to the old version, but the only options are Apple Maps or Google Maps. They may be on Android, I don't know, but Bing and HERE are not on iOS.

Bing Maps is in the main Bing app on iOS, rather than a separate app.

Nokia's HERE is awesome. I use it for my Android phone. The best thing that it totally works offline (no more tracking of every step by Google) and is more accurate than Google Maps (at least in my area). Also note, that Microsoft didn't buy this division, so it still belongs to old, good Nokia.

It's certainly faster and more responsive on my laptop than the current version of Google Maps.

OT: I love how the satellite view switch button shows the actual satellite view at its location[0].

[0]: http://i.imgur.com/ycJmczX.png

The old version of google maps did that as well.

Well, satellite view also shows that there is nothing there. I think OP wanted to know how it got there, though.