OrganicMaps is Android and iOS offline maps for travel without trackers or ads
organicmaps.app
organicmaps.app
I note that they site privacy as their #1 advantage:
* Respects your privacy
* Saves your battery
* No unexpected mobile data charges
I suspect that the world is ready for paid services that provide a better Ux. I am thinking about how Netflix supposedly put a dent in piracy. People were willing to pay for content with a better Ux.
Aside from saving battery and no surprised mobile data charges, the list many other benefits:
* No ads
* No annoying registration
* No mandatory tutorials
* No noisy email spam
* No push notifications
* No crapware
If I may run with this in an irrelevant tangent for a moment, I actually feel like Netflix's UX (on their PC client) is worse (in some ways) than pirate streaming sites I've seen. The main pain point for me is that Netflix tries to optimize for engagement and in so doing, conceals a massive back catalogue of things I'll never see they have unless I try to go looking for them.
By contrast, some easily found pirate streaming sites simply have a running list of whatever new content they've acquired regardless of popularity/advertising budget/etc. When I just want to watch _something_, seeing new stuff pretty much constantly is actually a bonus even if it's not always as polished as the top stuff that sticks to the top of Netflix's recommendations for months at a time. Also, pirate sites benefit from not observing the publisher-enforced balkanization of content across Netflix/Amazon/HBO/etc.
Of course, piracy's still illegal, but my point is I think at least for a certain segment of their potential market, Netflix's UX still has room for improvement.
OrganicMaps looks like it might have a better UI though.
For me that's the killer argument and absolutely worth the price.
I think it really speaks for the developers to make it available for free to F-Droid users and personally I think it's a low price for a - for me - great app.
Edit: Ah found it, unlimited maps are 12.99 eur once, OsmAnd Live (Wikipedia offline integration and Altitude lines and shades) are 7.99 euros a year. This is all free on F-Droid.
Really, F-Droid is so small it's understandable that they don't do anything about it.
But with regard to planning long car journeys, there is always the option of generating the route using one of the several OSM-based routing engines on the web, then downloading a GPX file, opening it in OSMAnd, and telling OSMAnd that is the route you want to follow.
But this no-ad is hugely under-rated. The web overall is not worse place simply because of overflow of ads. And Google or big players can't do anything about it they that's their main income source.
We need a LetsEncrypt styled disruption here. The field is ripe. Waiting for some player.
Such as Apple products?
Good to see the source data mentioned right at the top, where it should be.
> […] and curated with love by MAPS.ME founders.
What does that mean? Not the nonsensical 'with love' part (that sounds unpleasantly sticky), but the curation; what is being curated? Is the source map data being hand-picked or modified, or is this just an opaque term for 'we built an app that gives you OSM in a handy offline format with custom rendering'?
I think that "curated" refers to maintenance/development of the open-source project.
By "curated ... by MAPS.ME fouders" they mean that the Organic Maps maintainers include founders of the original MAPS.ME project (e.e.g, biodrankik is Alexander Borsuk, a former co-foudner, CEO, CTO of MAPS.ME [1,2]), which suggests that they have the experience to continue updating the app.
Should railways be feint and almost invisible (like Google Maps) or dark (like the OpenStreetMap default theme)? In many countries, they're very useful even for pedestrian navigation, "turn right after the railway bridge" etc, but I assume in the USA they're considered clutter.
What points of interest should be shown first, major tourist attractions or landmarks, or large shops?
Should gardens be green (almost everyone), or do we just ignore them and leave them grey (Google Maps)?
There are a lot of decisions that go into designing a map, even using Open Street Map data.
...but "curated with love by MAPS.ME founders", with "OpenStreetMap data" right before it, definitely sounds like some kind of manual process is involved - because that's what a https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curator does, and that's usually a real person, not an algorithm. So, if it's an algorithm, the text is misleading.
For instance, https://cycle.travel uses different rules to interpret data in different countries, because between differences in mapping practices, differences in infrastructure and differences in laws, you need to do that to have a good experience.
Map style can be described as an algorithm, but it is a human made one so curation definitely is present.
Huge thanks to the authors of this.
Most likely it is a direct translation from Russian by a non-native English speaker. I guess "curated" should have been "developed" or some other similar word.
(Source: native speaker.)
I’m somewhat surprised by the reaction here. Does “curating” a map really sound so wrong? One can curate libraries, museums, exhibitions, bibliographies, or other sorts of collections, so is sifting OSM data in order to get something presentable so different? I’d have said “lovingly curated” rather than “curated with love”, but that’s another matter.
So what does "curate" mean in that sentence?
I was only surprised at the claim that the sentence doesn’t make sense in English, I never intended to imply that the sense wasn’t bullshit. (After the sellout stunt the MAPS.ME creators pulled I generally don’t view their participation as an advantage.)
How good their curation is remains to be seen of course.
The colour pallette is an odd choice I'll say, but that's an opinionated thing.
It does have biking directions, which Apple Maps is missing in most cities (even in cities where there's more bikes than inhabitants like Amsterdam). So I'll definitely be keeping it around!
I may request the authors add the ability to use more OSM layers, such as a cycling overlay and maybe speed limit overlay (I've been told by Google that a street was safe to cycle on-road when that street had a 45mph speed limit too many times for comfort).
It requires a lot of sorting out and the results have to be taken with a grain of salt.
i am under the impression that he avoids going to a restaurant if the reviews are bad.
But a lot of people really do appreciate that kind of help, so much so I don't think any competitor will get anywhere without that kind of data.
There is even a plugin for OSMAnd but I have not tried it yet.
It wanted to route me via the normal roads (admittedly low-traffic ones, but still...)...
There seems to be no option for a "scenic route" or even a different one from the single, proposed one?
For those kind of routes I still rely on random blogs or known good directories.
Great app, great maps (topographic maps more detailed in the forrest then Google), good route planning..
There are two things for which I still use Google Maps - finding businesses and getting car directions.
Take this area for example, it's full of what looks like hiking and biking trails, is it not? If there are trails missing, are they tagged correctly in OSM?
https://en.mapy.cz/turisticka?x=20.4205418&y=48.9352520&z=14...
Organic Maps looks great, I'm going to give it a try and see if it solves any of these issues.
repository: https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete
Benefits: (1) battery life for 15-25 hours with the screen on (for popular models such as the gpsmap or eTrex); (2) If the battery dies, I can just replace them (2 AA NiMH rechargeable batteries); (3) they are robust, dropped mine various times without any issues; (4) the models with a quad-helix antenna are usually more accurate, especially if you are not near a lot of WiFi AP or cell towers for triangulation; (5) since they have buttons, you can easily operate them with gloves on in the winter.
Of course, as with camera's, the best GPS is the one with you, which is typically a smartphone.
I recently de-Googled, so I've been using Apple Mps. Apple is logging my location whether or not I use their first party map app, so I still end up using their first party map app because it provides traffic information and weighs that in the routing algorithm. Practically speaking, that's a big deal to me.
As amazing as OrganicMaps is, the lack of gaining much extra privacy on iOS and the lack of traffic information means I probably won't be using OrganicMaps too often.
Although, they're still downloading the maps from mapswithme.com. It'd be nice to have an alternative ecosystem.
I have location turned off on all Google apps (and really, except for the Google app that feeds me interesting stories/news to read, I only use paid for services like GCP).
Both my wife and I have switched to Apple Maps. I wish that Apple provided privacy cellphone service. Right now, Apple, ProtonMail, and a few other options are my best bet for maintaining a little bit of privacy. I don’t so much care about the government having my data, but I hate large corporations having it.
I'm still on an old maps.me version due to this.
The forks, like Maps and now OrganicMaps, still use the map packages hosted by Mapswithme though.
Asking for localization and then criticizing another region’s vernacular is… kind of hilariously ironic. Gas is short for Gasoline, which, along with Petrol, came form old names of propriety oil products. Neither is a misnomer.