i hope the author makes it available on whatever store harmony os has
I tried this for my hiking trip and it is really good for that. But when i tried to use it as a navigation tool with my motorcycle it lagged pretty much all the time and couldn't keep up with my position and speed. I tried to change permissions for the app, but so far nothing worked.
It's... okay?
In fact no, it's by-far the best Google Maps alternative I've used so far, this clears OsmAnd+ easily. However, it still has quite a way to go. I can see why it's awesome for hiking, but this has some interesting side effects.
For example, I noticed right away that it cannot search for specific places in non-downloaded maps. This might seem like a "duh", but the maps around here seem extremely fine-grained, so I need to first search for the town, then download the map, then search for the street and address, then I can navigate. Oh no wait I cannot, I need to also download maps for all places in-between.
This makes complete sense for hiking, where I'm confined to a - comparatively - small area and want to pre-download this, at all times, always. And also don't really "search" for a specific address to route to beforehand, rather for a general area and then just get the map.
And of course, the quality of navigation is... adventurous. But I expected that, that's just something GMaps has a huge starting advantage at, and this clears what OsmAnd+ does and honestly feels better than Apple Maps, too. Though that's maybe not high praise, as in this area of the world Apple Maps is like getting lost only you use a smartphoen to do it.
Still, it's the second best I've seen. And for an open source app, that's an insane feat.
Hugely impressed, TY OP. Never heard of this before.
Its there any "android auto" alternative? so i can use it in my car's screen without google
Reminder: As long as you don't get rid of "Google Play Services" running as "root" 24/7, removing/not using Google Maps doesn't mean so much to Google.
I disagree. It's a step in the right direction, even if there is still a long distance to go.
How many non tech people would use this, especially if not in play store. 95% of people don't know fdroid exists
What impetus would most people have to mentally even start considering replacing Google Maps?
Much like with making people switch to Firefox as a browser, the first step to a tech user is understanding that to most non-tech users, the concept of thinking about a browser choice makes no sense, as their goal is to open a web page, and the specifics between now and the web page being opened are irrelevant. It's equivalent to making non-DIY people care about the specifics of the brand of the hammer at home, it's not like they couldn't, but the very idea of doing that would usually leave them looking at you bewildered, as it feels arcane to invest brain time into a tool this simplistic and invisible.
My dad uses it. He's as non-tech as non-tech gets. But I had to install it for him.
Just installed and signed into my OSM account! Been meaning to update more of my area.
I am looking to try moving away from Waze too. Are there any good open projects that have support for reporting cops and the other stuff like Waze? When I was looking last year, I came across Navmii since it does have some level of reporting stuff. However the app itself is very glitchy and I don't think it is really actively being worked on. Or is popular enough to even know if literally anyone around me is reporting things. When I have tried to report a cop being parked waiting for speeders, it doesn't show anything even on my map.
They use OSM data which I think is also not being actively scraped, as I personally added my entire street's addresses and doesn't show on Navmii (but does show up on the main OSM site and on Organic Maps).
It's only a matter of time until Google Maps will enshittify, too.
They already have. Have you noticed the number of ads shown on google maps?
And I've been increasing given directions like "turn right after paid promotion X, with tagline Y"
They already have. Have you noticed the number of ads shown on google maps?
No? I've never seen any ads on Google Maps, though this might be a local thing. I suspect this is different in the US where "consumer rights" gets you a fine for speaking such communist propaganda?
Enshittification truly is a shame, because my old school GPS actually does this already (Turn left past the McDonald's) and while I have no idea whether it's paid promotion or not on my device, I like that feature. If that feature is equally applied to any known business as a landmark (heck, even other services like police stations, fire stations, etc.) it would be appreciated by users.
Instead, and here we are beating this drum again, capitalism gets its grubby fingers in this pie too and uses it for further advertising, turning a good feature into a bad one.
That's a good point actually, if it's not paid-for, then assuming it's accurate it's actually a better way of describing to a driver what to do.
I remember a fair few years ago, when Google Maps was already a thing but smart phones were not, we were bewildered at how helpful this thing for printed Google Maps instructions was where it prints a little photograph of each turn you need to do, how it will look to you when you get there. This was the best feature ever, as it made it so easy for your second person checking the route to know when to actually take a turn or not.
Oh hell, I have not had that one yet. I am already leaning away from it with just the random pins showing up on my nav that were not searched for.
Just downloaded and installed Organic Maps from F-Droid. Looks really nice.
Google is such a great source of inspiration (^_^)
the biggest problem I have with switching is that Google Maps is a business directory. open street maps is empty where i live. it works okay for navigation, but not so much for finding a coffee.
You can add the POIs and fill the gaps!
And then in the web app, you need to do this complicated hold-LMB-then-select-from-list to select something, making just browsing really difficult.
Or is there a better way of doing that? I lack a good way to just browse Openstreetmap.
there are ways to make it easier; it's been gamified:
https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete
Available on FDROID.
When my partner stops to play pokemon go, I complete some Open Street Map info quests...
Street Complete is a great app for quests regarding existing features, but also consider the feature might not exist at all yet in OSM.
Map Complete is great for adding new features. It also asks a bunch of optional simple questions about the feature which gets converted into the relevant OSM tags. It's browser based but you can just add a shortcut to your home screen to have it quickly accessible.
I've just installed this now, thanks for the tip!
So many quests right on my street!
As many have already told you, you can contribute to OSM, I have put in it almost all the establishments in my area (Not at Big area but...). Although soon I have to update them
im on board with the idea in general, but im not going to do this. it would be an endless effort to the benefit of almost nobody. places go up and down so fast here that google maps is often out of date too. it's filled with stale information and im flagging missing places constantly. every digital community in this country is a garbage pile.
the ride share apps here do use open street maps though, and im making corrections to building addresses when i find something isn't right. it's great.
Umm...it benefits loads of people.
On OSM you don't have to just flag something. You can edit it directly, so it leads to more accurate information.
But you can also just flag it if editing is not your cup of tea. Here's a convenient, non-techy tool to add notes for others to use when editing: https://www.onosm.org/
I felt the same however Organic Maps did have many businesses. And with Street Complete I can correct any errors when I visit.
It may simply be my area, but I so recommend organic maps over Osmand for business and POI lookups
You can contribute them!
There's a pretty barebones editor in Organic Maps, but you can also check out Street Complete and Every door (more advanced and less user friendly, though insanely efficient)
Be the change your want to see in the world https://droidify.eu.org/app/?id=de.westnordost.streetcomplete&repo_address=https://f-droid.org/archive
You seem pretty active with OSM, so I'll propose this here since I don't have time to make it.
OSM is very, very popular with hikers and cyclists, and I'd argue rhey drive a lot of it's use, especially via third-party systems. However, it's one failing is "gravel" roads. While they support many different gravel road types, they admit on their Wiki that use of the proper terms is low.
Given the heavy use of Garmin devices, especially among gravel cyclists, mountain bikers, and bikepackers, where terrain definition is important, it would be outstanding to have an app in the Garmin store for Edge devices that could report the exact terrain type (compacted, dirt, etc) with a button mash as you ride it.
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