--- title: "Navigation apps: Which brands are most popular in search?" description: "Compare the apps people navigate with. Share of Search among Google Maps, Waze, MapQuest, Apple Maps and TomTom, the navigation apps Brandwave compares worldwide, using the same methodology, market, and reporting period. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time." canonical: "https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/navigation-apps" publisher: "Brandwave" --- # Navigation apps: Which brands are most popular in search? Compare the apps people navigate with. Share of Search among Google Maps, Waze, MapQuest, Apple Maps and TomTom, the navigation apps Brandwave compares worldwide, using the same methodology, market, and reporting period. Branded searches tell you how often people look for a brand by name or related terms. Comparing these searches across competitors helps you see how popular each brand is over time. ## Key facts - **Competitive set**: Navigation apps - **Market**: Global - **Brands compared**: 5 - **Month measured**: Aug 2026 - **Highest Share of Search**: Google Maps, 97.7% ## Which brand is most popular in search among navigation apps worldwide? - In August 2026, Google Maps was the most searched among navigation apps worldwide, with an estimated 185M branded searches and 97.7% estimated Share of Search within this set. - Waze is in 2nd place, 96.5 percentage points behind at 1.2% Share of Search. - Across the 11 months ending August 2026, Google Maps, Waze, MapQuest, Apple Maps and TomTom held steady: their estimated Share of Search among navigation apps worldwide each moved less than 0.5 percentage points. ## How did search popularity change for navigation apps worldwide in August 2026? - In August 2026, Apple Maps rose from 5th to 4th among navigation apps worldwide. - In August 2026, TomTom fell from 4th to 5th among navigation apps worldwide. ## Share of Search ranking | Rank | Brand | Share of Search | Estimated monthly branded searches | Change vs prior month | Owned by | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | Google Maps | 97.7% | 185M | 0.0% | Google | | 2 | Waze | 1.2% | 2.2M | 0.0% | Waze | | 3 | MapQuest | 0.64% | 1.2M | +22.0% | MapQuest | | 4 | Apple Maps | 0.36% | 673K | +22.4% | Apple | | 5 | TomTom | 0.16% | 301K | -63.4% | TomTom | ## Historical estimated branded-search demand | Month | Brand | Estimated monthly branded searches | Share of Search | Rank | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Oct 2025 | Google Maps | 185M | 97.7% | 1 | | Oct 2025 | Waze | 2.2M | 1.2% | 2 | | Oct 2025 | MapQuest | 1.2M | 0.64% | 3 | | Oct 2025 | Apple Maps | 673K | 0.36% | 4 | | Oct 2025 | TomTom | 301K | 0.16% | 5 | | Nov 2025 | Google Maps | 185M | 97.8% | 1 | | Nov 2025 | Waze | 2.2M | 1.2% | 2 | | Nov 2025 | MapQuest | 1M | 0.53% | 3 | | Nov 2025 | Apple Maps | 673K | 0.36% | 4 | | Nov 2025 | TomTom | 246K | 0.13% | 5 | | Dec 2025 | Google Maps | 151M | 97.5% | 1 | | Dec 2025 | Waze | 2.2M | 1.4% | 2 | | Dec 2025 | MapQuest | 1M | 0.65% | 3 | | Dec 2025 | Apple Maps | 450K | 0.29% | 4 | | Dec 2025 | TomTom | 246K | 0.16% | 5 | | Jan 2026 | Google Maps | 185M | 97.8% | 1 | | Jan 2026 | Waze | 2.2M | 1.2% | 2 | | Jan 2026 | MapQuest | 1M | 0.53% | 3 | | Jan 2026 | Apple Maps | 673K | 0.36% | 4 | | Jan 2026 | TomTom | 246K | 0.13% | 5 | | Feb 2026 | Google Maps | 151M | 97.2% | 1 | | Feb 2026 | Waze | 2.2M | 1.4% | 2 | | Feb 2026 | MapQuest | 1M | 0.64% | 3 | | Feb 2026 | Apple Maps | 823K | 0.53% | 4 | | Feb 2026 | TomTom | 246K | 0.16% | 5 | | Mar 2026 | Google Maps | 185M | 97.6% | 1 | | Mar 2026 | Waze | 2.2M | 1.2% | 2 | | Mar 2026 | MapQuest | 1.2M | 0.64% | 3 | | Mar 2026 | Apple Maps | 823K | 0.43% | 4 | | Mar 2026 | TomTom | 246K | 0.13% | 5 | | Apr 2026 | Google Maps | 185M | 97.7% | 1 | | Apr 2026 | Waze | 2.2M | 1.2% | 2 | | Apr 2026 | MapQuest | 1.2M | 0.64% | 3 | | Apr 2026 | Apple Maps | 673K | 0.36% | 4 | | Apr 2026 | TomTom | 301K | 0.16% | 5 | | May 2026 | Google Maps | 185M | 97.8% | 1 | | May 2026 | Waze | 2.2M | 1.2% | 2 | | May 2026 | MapQuest | 1M | 0.53% | 3 | | May 2026 | Apple Maps | 673K | 0.36% | 4 | | May 2026 | TomTom | 301K | 0.16% | 5 | | Jun 2026 | Google Maps | 185M | 97.8% | 1 | | Jun 2026 | Waze | 2.2M | 1.2% | 2 | | Jun 2026 | MapQuest | 1M | 0.53% | 3 | | Jun 2026 | Apple Maps | 673K | 0.36% | 4 | | Jun 2026 | TomTom | 246K | 0.13% | 5 | | Jul 2026 | Google Maps | 185M | 97.6% | 1 | | Jul 2026 | Waze | 2.2M | 1.2% | 2 | | Jul 2026 | MapQuest | 1M | 0.53% | 3 | | Jul 2026 | TomTom | 823K | 0.43% | 4 | | Jul 2026 | Apple Maps | 550K | 0.29% | 5 | | Aug 2026 | Google Maps | 185M | 97.7% | 1 | | Aug 2026 | Waze | 2.2M | 1.2% | 2 | | Aug 2026 | MapQuest | 1.2M | 0.64% | 3 | | Aug 2026 | Apple Maps | 673K | 0.36% | 4 | | Aug 2026 | TomTom | 301K | 0.16% | 5 | | Sep 2026 | Apple Maps | — | — | — | | Sep 2026 | Google Maps | — | — | — | | Sep 2026 | MapQuest | — | — | — | | Sep 2026 | TomTom | — | — | — | | Sep 2026 | Waze | — | — | — | ## What is being compared - **Apple Maps**: Measured on the search term “apple maps”. - **Google Maps**: Measured on the search term “google maps”. - **MapQuest**: Measured on the search term “mapquest”. - **TomTom**: Measured on the search term “tomtom”. - **Waze**: Measured on the search term “waze”. - [Apple Maps](/demand/global-en/brands/apple-maps) - [Google Maps](/demand/global-en/brands/google-maps) - [MapQuest](/demand/global-en/brands/mapquest) - [TomTom](/demand/global-en/brands/tomtom) - [Waze](/demand/global-en/brands/waze) ## Methodology - [How is branded search demand measured?](/demand/methodology): Where the figures come from, what they compare, and how they may be reused. ## Frequently asked questions ### Which brand is most popular in search among navigation apps worldwide? In August 2026, Google Maps was the most searched among navigation apps worldwide, with an estimated 185M branded searches and 97.7% estimated Share of Search within this set. These are worldwide searches for English-language branded terms. ## Cite this page Brandwave. "Navigation apps: Which brands are most popular in search?". https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/navigation-apps This page is also available as HTML at https://gobrandwave.com/demand/global-en/categories/navigation-apps. Brandwave publishes an index of its Markdown pages at https://gobrandwave.com/llms.txt.