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I've used OrganicMaps in the past, but for searching POIs and ahead route planning its just unusable.
Meanwhile i've found GraphHopper, an open source search, route and (experimental) navigation app from Germany. Great thing: its blazing fast! Check it out on F-Droid.
For the lazy: GraphHopper Maps (Online route planner and experimental GPS navigation) https://f-droid.org/packages/com.graphhopper.maps/
Awesome!
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.
That's a shame. I just want to say that this issue is definitely not universal as I use it for navigation while driving and it works very well for me, and I've heard the same from others too. I'm not sure why it isn't working as well for you.
i hope the author makes it available on whatever store harmony os has
is it true that harmonyOS's upcoming release won't be compatible with android apps?
God I hope not. OpenHarmony is a neat project.
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.
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.
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).
If you like to further improve your neighbourhood, check out https://streetcomplete.app/ Works well and is fun!
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"
It's only a matter of time before Google doesn't give you directions for the shortest and most efficient route, but rather plans your route to send you past the stores that pay the most in advertising.
"You could get to your destination by going down smith street fastest, but Glover Street has McDonald's so we will send you down that road"
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?
It shows little popup logos on the screen where the places are located, like a McDonald's logo a few street over as you are driving by in your commute. I had it show me a Toyota logo for a Toyota dealership yesterday. Like, why do I need to know there's a Toyota dealership there unless I'm specifically searching for it? Toyota probably paid them to show up a certain amount of times.
To illistrate this, I just typed "restaurants" in Google Maps in downtown Prague and the first result was an ad for KFC (it looked like a real result but it said "sponsored" on top). But I do have a US phone.
The play store itself is doing the same thing. Sponsorrd crappy apps above the one I actually entered
Its there any "android auto" alternative? so i can use it in my car's screen without google
The app mentioned on the post, Organic Maps, has Android Auto. OsmAnd is another app that I know has it as well.
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.
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.
@controlphreak @snrkl
Now that StreetComplete has overlay layers for places and things you can add most of the thing you'd want to add in person.
I didn't know about map complete, thanks!
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
Just downloaded and installed Organic Maps from F-Droid. Looks really nice.
How many non tech people would use this, especially if not in play store. 95% of people don't know fdroid exists
It wasn't gone from the play store for long.
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.
All of you are invited on !openstreetmap@lemmy.ml
Also checkout the many editing tools, such as https://mapcomplete.org, htpps://streetcomplete.app,...
