There's room for you at Comaps! It's nice and it works on iOS, FOSS
I love Comaps. I have it installed on my Android phone. I contribute to OpenStreet maps when I can.
But, I don't think Comaps is a realistic replacement for Apple or Google maps.
One: OpenStreet maps is missing a toooon of locations, businesses and residential addresses. Two: having the enter the address in a non-standard way (for the US) City, Street, Building Number, makes finding things even harder. That's gonna instantly turn away 99% of people.
I still begrudgingly have Google maps installed on my phone... :(
I also have HERE Maps installed on my phone. It's way more usable than Comaps and it's not Google. But, it's not FOSS and still owned by a big corporation. But at least it's not (entirely) owned by the US (Magic Earth is). For me, I think HERE maps is a decent step away from Google.
I'll still keep contributing to OpenStreet maps, hoping one day I can switch to Comaps.
I think at this point in my life I've added enough to my home town that I'm comfortable using it as my main map program, I also admit to having here maps as a backup, but I haven't used it in a minute
I love Comaps. I have it installed on my Android phone. I contribute to OpenStreet maps when I can.
are the two related?
Open street maps is the back end for comaps and most open source mapping programs
Comaps, OSM And, and other apps use OpenStreet maps as their data source, sometimes as their only data source. So if the data isn't in OpenStreet maps, it's not gonna be in Comaps. Comaps is basically a frontend for OpenStreet map data.
thank you. why would I go for comaps instead of open street maps then?
OpenStreet maps is primarily a data source. I guess you could use the website: https://www.openstreetmap.org/
But they don't have mobile apps.
Guess its just better in Europe, everything is more dense including the number of OpenStreetMap contributors.
I read that the one of the differences between Organic Maps and CoMaps is that the server side code for CoMaps is FOSS, while some of the server side code for Organic Maps is not. I hope I understood that correctly. I have Organic Maps installed because it was in the GrapheneOS app store.
If CoMaps has open server-side code, could I create my own map tiles with the best bike routes in my area and self-host them for myself and my friends? I find that google, bing, OpenStreetMap, etc all suck at recognizing good bike routes in my area and hand-curated routes are much better. I'd prefer to hand-curate the best routes color coded based on perceived safety and whether they are daytime only routes or acceptable for nighttime travel. Is something like this doable with CoMaps?
Two: having the enter the address in a non-standard way (for the US) City, Street, Building Number, makes finding things even harder.
THAT'S why i always struggled to look up buildings on Comaps! Hell, I wondered why the sesrch was so hard!
My main issue is the lack of traffic data. I wish I didn't live in a car-centric society, but i do, so I need to know if the route I'm taking is going to be shit.
Holy wah... #2 is a deal breaker for sure. So sad.
I use OsmAnd which I think is also really good. I've heard nothing but good things about CoMaps too, like you said, which is a (seemingly well-justified) fork of Organic Maps.
If anyone's curious about contributing to OpenStreetMap too to make the maps in your area better, I know a bit, and I'd be happy to answer questions, even if they're just random curiosities. It's a lot of fun.
Wow they haven't even made it good enough for me to use yet and they are already enshittifying it?
That article slurps Apple’s nutsac for having such a great moneymaking idea! Fuck ads. Tired of everything being a vessel for marketing.
Comaps is available for iphones :3
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/comaps/id6747180809
also for others:
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/app.comaps.fdroid/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.comaps.google
A little confused, is this basically the same thing as Open Street Maps, just in app form?
They use OSM as source for maps, yes.
Not sure how much they add, aside from offline functionality.
Other apps add extra data sources.
Yep it uses a selection of the most important data from OSM because the entire thing would be too huge to keep on your phone. You download the map in sections so region/city based but you can also just get an entire country which will be a few GB.
It can import/export bookmarks and record and import gpx tracks. Has TTS support and you can even edit things (like opening hours and stuff) if you have an OSM account.
This is why Apple users pay more to not use Google stuff…
Fuck this.
Default search engine? Google. Apple Intelligence? Believe it or not, also Google.
THE reason why i use apple is because I'm not subjected to ads. Is there any point using apple anymore if they're going to inject ads? Holy shit, Time to go back to android if we're gonna get ads and instead pay less for a phone.
You can trade your iPhone with an Android user who figured if Google is going to force developer certifications for installing apps then there is no point in using Android over iPhone and they might as well switch.
Well... Here's hoping KDE Plasma Mobile takes off I guess...
I mean… maps has been kinda shitty for years!
It’s still better than Wayze trying to sell you burgers and fries at every stop sign… but you need to tap the search box like 3 fucking times to input shit, and why is that? So you have ample opportunity to see Crapple’s list of “suggestions….“
And have you noticed that you need to zoom down to AntMan scale to see the names of some businesses in a shopping center, and yet others are virtually visible from orbit? Could it be that businesses that pay Apple stick out like a sore thumb, and business that don’t virtually disappear? Nah… Fucking Apphole behavior.
It’s time to face facts, Apple stopped giving a shit about the customer years ago. Before their headquarters was literally a Bond villain’s donut you could drive through their parking lot and it was a sea of shitty rust buckets, executive parking lot underground.
I was giving serious consideration to going Android again rather then buying a 2K+ tablet… but then I need to buy a new watch and phone at the same time to have a slim chance of interoperability so it’s basically a wash.
Fuck Apple.
Unfortunately it’s the best option in Germany after Google threw a tantrum over privacy laws here. However OpenStreetMap is getting better.
Lol I used to think they scrapped the maps app entirely. Surprised it still exists. Who even uses it outside the US?
I'm not even an apple user but i use their maps as an alternative to gmaps on ddg.
I throw a lot of shit at Google but Google Maps is the best piece of software they have ever created. I wish OSM was this upto date with their data but it has a long way to go. I think this that piece of software which needs a big dedicated team or at-least paid volunteers instead of community volunteers because there ain’t no way I am going out to volunteer for free to map out my neighbourhood accurately.
Time to dust off my old folded paper maps.
I can sell some of the duplicates I have. I'm gonna be RICH!
"Apple cares about your privacy"
Not from THEMSELVES, never from themselves.
I prefer Apple Maps because it’s not ad laden but the coverage for businesses simply isn’t there, and it is pretty aggressive about populating businesses that don’t really exist (ie the business registration not the place of business, if they have one eg Plumber who doesn’t have a shop), don’t exist in the category (eg a factory isn’t a retail establishment), or just plain don’t exist. It also likes to ignore the actual road name for directions; instead of “take the exit towards A361 Burford Rd”, it says “take the exit to Diddly Squat Market” because some street view scanner picked up a sign and chose the wrong one.
If they start pushing ads, Google wins in “find me dinner nearby”.
My one deal breaker that keeps me on gmaps over Apple is the forced yelp integration. I refuse to install yelp and to get any meaningful information it tries to open the app.
Gmaps has a way better UX imo.
Like apple maps doesn't suck enough already?
I wish it was better because that's the map DDG pulls up in search. Wonder if those ads are going to show in DDG sesrches now.
Honestly, if I want to find a local bicycle shop, and apple maps can help me find one without being obnoxious, then im okay with it as long as they don't share any data about me with the bicycle shop. I want to shop locally and support my local businesses, rather than shop online.
"Stuffing ads into the Maps app" makes it sound evil, even if we have no idea how it's going to look.
Serves anyone using that garbage right.
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