My impression of Organic Maps immediately improved when I started driving. It talks! It knows exit numbers! It can tell you which lanes to use! Sure, it isn’t as polished as Google Maps, but all of the functionality is present. The UI is high-contrast and easy to read, although I wish the text showing exit numbers/street names was a little bigger. When you’re simply on the road and following directions, Organic Maps feels every bit as intuitive as Google Maps.

As my fiancee and I prepared to set off into the boonies, I plugged in the address of our hotel. About 45 seconds later, Organic Maps returned the 300-mile route to our destination. It can take a lot longer to calculate longer routes using your phone’s processor instead of a huge cloud server. It didn’t really bother me though; 45 seconds is nothing compared to the 6-hour trip ahead. If that’s the cost of using a maps app that doesn’t spray your personal data all over the internet, I’ll pay it.

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[–] ExLisper@linux.community 15 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (11 children)

I know it's a personal preference but I hate talking maps. Google Maps is unbearable.

"In 100 m at the roundabout take the third exit and follow A-345 direction Fukington"

5 second later...

"At the roundabout take the third exit and follow A-345 direction Fukington"

Just shut up...

My favourite is Magic Earth. I don't now how they did it but I can use it without voice directions. I think it goes down to couple of things:

super smooth animations: I always places me at the right spot, even at the roundabouts I can see where I am in relation to the exit. OSMAnd+ completely sucks here, it cannot put me correctly even on the road. Google Maps often hangs up right at the roundabout when you most need it. Super irritating.
great zoom: it just does it right. Zooms out when driving faster, zooms in at turns and when I slow down. Even Google Maps doesn't have such a nice zoom, don't know why
lane indications: when showing the path it only marks the correct lane. So if there are 3 lanes that go to 3 different exists it will show you which lane to follow, not just which exit to take. It's always clear where I have to be. With Google Maps I always need extra clues like I have to check the name of the exit on the map and compare with the signs.

So yeah, I know it a matter of getting used to one solution or the other but for me Magic Earth is the most natural way to use navigation.

[–] Voyager@psychedelia.ink 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

To be quite honest the routing issue you're referring to is most likely related to invalid/outdated mapping data, as opposed to the routing algorithm the mapping engine uses to navigate.
The benefit of using OpenStreetMap data for routing is that if you spot a mistake or a route that is incorrectly mapped you can fix it yourself, or leave a note for mapping contributors to examine and resolve. You can also browse the mapping data history and see exactly who and when mapped this region and even contact them if you wish.
OSM supports much more mapping data via tagging, which translates to more accurate driving directions. To err is human, and OSM mappers make mistakes as well, but these can be easily fixed.

[–] ExLisper@linux.community 3 points 1 year ago

Magi Earth uses OSM. I know you can update it, I do.

The issue I have with OSMAnd+ is that the GPS is inaccurate to the point of making it unusable. I know probably something with how it works on my phone and not a widespread issue but still, Magi Earth just works better for me. And even when OSMAnd+ worked on my previous phone Magic Earth was still way better due to all the things I wrote about.

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