After the news that Google maps will rename the gulf of Mexico to the gulf of America I finally decided to change maps app(not confirmed).
What recommendations do you have? What to look out for?
Organic maps
OSMand
This, although you should probably mention that the full version is gratis on F-droid.
Mainly Organic Maps
Occasionally OsmAnd~, though I mostly avoid it because I found building it from source to be more annoying than it should have been, and didn’t care for a marketing campaign they ran a while back.
Would you please give a quick tl;dr of the marketing campaign you speak of?
Open street map with organic map
Organic Maps. Living in a somewhat walkable area, it gives me good walking directions. I might be a bit out of touch though since I just commit routes to memory if I’m driving.
For the occasional satellite map, Google Maps unfortunately. If anyone knows of a privacy-respecting map with satellite views, I’d be interested.
Google has many faults, but the one responsible for this one is someone else :)
The FOSS google maps alternatives I hear recommended most often are OsmAnd+ and, especially, Organic Maps.
Personally I don’t use maps very often (I know my way around my area pretty well, so I usually just lookup the location of wherever I want to go before leaving home), but I’d say Organic Maps is simpler and more user friendly than OsmAnd+.
Both can work offline if you download the maps for your area.
The maps are pretty good (at least in my area), but compared to Google Maps you’ll have to rely more on street addresses as there aren’t as many points of interest.
Google in 2008:
By saying “common”, we mean to include names which are in widespread daily use, rather than giving immediate recognition to any arbitrary governmental re-naming. In other words, if a ruler announced that henceforth the Pacific Ocean would be named after her mother, we would not add that placemark unless and until the name came into common usage.
The maps are pretty good (at least in my area)
For the unfamiliar that’s another cool thing about using OSM data. If some of your favorite places are missing from the map you can just add it!
There’s several ways to do it but if you have a laptop the easiest way is to use the editor on openstreetmap.org. They have a quick and easy interactive tutorial to show you the ropes and then you are free to add what you feel is important!
Google has many faults, but the one responsible for this one is someone else :)
No, the executive order only applies to the federal government. Google chooses to follow it.
Organic Maps and FacilMap
Actually people from OpenStreetMap are currently discussing about the renamming of the Gulf of Mexico here: https://lemmy.ml/post/25024889
What the pizza?
Hola Facilmaps works! I’ll be trying it out some more soon
Magic Earth. Organic Maps as a backup. I’ve found that Magic Earth is the happy middle ground of map apps.
Closed source client, but uses OSM for its map data. European company, so better on the data front.
I tried using Organic Maps as my main navigation app, but there were slightly too many times where it couldn’t find the address, or the navigation got stuck, etc.
My IT job requires me to get to places quickly if they need on-site support. I have to be able to depend on my map app to get me there reliably. Magic Earth does that, Organic Maps is very good, and I keep it around to use in case I have issues with Magic Earth, but at least in my region of the country, it just isn’t quite up to snuff.
You can use GMAPS VW, an app that uses the Google Maps web version. It cannot provide navigation, but it allows you to find any address just like on Google Maps, while maintaining your privacy.
Then, you click on “Share”, copy the link, and paste it into another app called GeoShare. This app converts a Google Maps link into GPS coordinates.
Finally, you copy and paste the GPS coordinates into Organic Maps, which will locate the place for you.
All of these apps are open source.
I tried to like Magic Earth, but I haven’t gotten used to it yet.
Organic Maps is great. Although addresses can sometimes be a bit iffy to search for, unless you type them exactly as they are written. Probably also depends on where in the world you are searching.
If you are trying to minimize google maps use Organic Maps is the way to go imo. Fast loading, simple slick interface with minimal fuss. It’s a beautiful thing!
OSMand is not nearly as slick and polished and is kind of clunky by comparison. That is because it isn’t trying to be like Google maps at all. It runs fine straight from the app store but the real beauty of it is the tinkering it allows. You can make multiple map presets fine tuned the way you like it. It’s the midpoint between Organic Maps and ATAK
Osmand
For car navigation: The in the eOS implemented Version of Magic Maps. Im using it on a daily basis in a professional Context and in my Area (Hamburg, Northern Germany) it works as reliable as googlemaps. (My colleagues are using gm) Traffic-Data is mostly not that accurate. And if you need information about special Adresses like opening hours, ill just look it up otherwise, like on their websites.
For Navigation by bike or for hiking I use the paid German App “komoot”. As a bike Commuter - its the (in my opinion) by far best app for Biking But to be honest, I dont know their privacy rules. And i cant tell if they have a translated version for their app
eOS implemented Version of Magic Maps
link?
Also note that the order only designates the northern part of the gulf as the Gulf of America. The executive order stated “extending to the seaward boundary with Mexico and Cuba.”
Organic Maps with Sherpa-Onnx text to speech directions. It sounds just as realistic as Google maps
- For directions, I use OrganicMaps.
- For location bookmarks/pins, I’m currently building an app, so I use that.
- For checking business information, sometimes i’ll still use google maps
Organic maps takes next to forever to plan a route for me, if it manages at all
Huh really? I haven’t had that issue. But we might be totally different use-cases; If I’m routing, I’m usually in major cities mapping a route via public transit. I quite like OrganicMaps for this, because it’s still quite stable in underground subways when internet is sus.
edit: To be clear, I haven’t noticed issues when I map for driving either, but I’m admittedly not driving a crazy amount.
Organic maps doesn’t appear to know public transport exists where I live. We have been trying out different apps for bicycle trips
Hmmm I’m not as familiar with how routing works with OSM, but I wonder if those transits routes show up in other OSM apps, or if Organic Maps is flitering/sorting that in a way where it isn’t used? Like is the data missing, or is the app doing something poorly?
it comes up with very different routes compared to google, that much I know
I used 1.5 year ago organic maps on Samsung galaxy S5, what do you mean? It’s usable even on ancient devices, and is definitely the best FOSS maps out there
I think it might be to do with the layout of the roads here. It’s not simply long highways and simple grids
