I imagine certain features like Google Maps’ different busyness indicators might be missing because otherwise that would require telemetry?
Try OrganicMaps (https://organicmaps.app) on Android. It’s awesome!
it’s nice, but its navigation/route finding can be pretty atrocious
This is my favorite front end for openstreetmaps. The only problem is I live in NJ and most addresses are missing. I usually just get coordinates from Google maps and add them manually.
2nded! I really like it as a google alternative for maps and nav.
Can you use this with Android Auto?
Oh wow, this is great! Thanks.
Only thing I consistently don’t see well done are parks and other green spaces, where the boundaries are ill defined or missing. Other than that, also my mainstay
Try adjusting them on openstreetmap.org/edit, takes a few minutes at most
Will try, thanks
Almost all alternatives use OpenStreetMaps. I prefer Magic Earth but all of them are similar enough
The main issue is OSM. They lack many addresses (varies A LOT among different countries, some are fine) and POIs. Please consider contributing yourself, because it depends only on volunteers!
It is SUPER easy. Just download StreetComplete on Android to add multiple different info in a very easy way (or just house numbers which are the most important info) and EveryDoor for POI editing/deletion/addition in just a few clicks. And don’t worry if you don’t input something because you aren’t sure as long as what you enter is correct
interestingly in my region in germany osm is more reliable in regards of house numbers then google is
in some areas osm is insanely detailed, with trash cans, flower pots, and all kind of stuff. Nerds fucking rock.
Some basic information, including building numbers, can also be edited from within Organic Maps.
I gave OpenStreetMaps a try a few years ago and tbh it was shocking just how outdated it was. It listed businesses as existing that hadn’t been around since before I was born and there were several streets that just didn’t exist at all.
I did my best to update it, but there was just so much that was outdated in my area that I eventually gave up. It honestly would’ve been easier to just redo the entire thing from the ground up, that’s how bad it was for my area. To be fair, even Google maps isn’t idea, there are parts of the city where I live that haven’t had a street view update in 10 years, but at least the actual map info is accurate.
I’ve heard from people in Europe that their experience was that OpenStreetMaps was actually better than Google maps, so yeah there is some significant variance in quality depending upon region.
I just installed streets complete, and my street shows no houses at all. My area was built out in 2013.
https://www.openstreetmap.org/
It’s the only one I know, I’ve also done mapping for them and updating several places around my home town.
I like Organic Maps. It uses the openstreetmap data.
Never heard of it but a great tip! Looks very nice, thank you.
Open Street Map is legitimate. In bicycling communities, Strava is the gold standard app for tracking rides, and it uses Open Street Maps on the backend. It’s always super accurate for me, even for fairly obscure bike trails off the beaten path.
I noticed allot of the trails in my area are mapped better than on Google.
Wow, that’s so cool. 👍
My house doesn’t even exist on OpenStreetMap, so I don’t have much faith in it
Then you can map it and add it to the map with a free account and some “proof”, unlike Google Maps where the main road to my colleague and his four neighbours houses still isn’t on Google Maps after almost a year of reporting. The road is almost a year old but my colleague still can’t get deliveries to his house.
Try it out! The mapping community on OpenStreetMap is often very helpful and open to new people.
Fix it or STFU
Chill man
Osmand with some of these custom maps that add address data to the normal maps. It works amazingly and is also entirely offline.
I’ve been using Osmand for years, it works fine here in Denmark. I just use the standard maps.
Offline functionality used to be very important to me, but not so much anymore. Still I’d hate my map to stop working, just because I don’t have good enough signal.
I find offline still very important. Great for travelling, mobile data, and reliability
But I also have a SD card full of music on my phone. And no cloud storage
Oh my thank you so much, this and no trafic data are my main 2 pain points with this app, now it’s one less!
Also on F-Droid!
Why isn’t that address data included in OpenStreetMaps and/or OSMAnd by default?
good question :( why not upstream the data?
The FOSS ones suck in comparison honestly. There’s really just osmAnd that has a really ancient UI. As for other OSM(OpenStreetMaps), I find MAPS.ME to be the best, but it’s closed source with some crypto scam crap built in that you can’t disable.
I don’t really like OSM based maps because they miss tons of places where I’m at, when I specifically need building numbers and locations. Also the search on both apps is god awful and straight broken.
Google Maps is definitely miles ahead of the competition here. The other features like seeing how busy businesses are, reviews/images, menu and phone number/website. These are also icing on top of the cake that make it essential to have which none of the competition have, let alone any FOSS ones.
It really depends on where in the world. I’m in the Caribbean and Google maps is terrible here.
Even on the main road network there is places where a bridge is seen as an intersection on Google maps.
Open street maps is much better here.
The app I’m using for open street map is called Organic Maps.
Yeah when traveling I’m always supplementing my Google maps with OsmAnd just because gmaps is missing so much data.
Honestly, OsmAnd doesn’t have that bad of an ui these days. I’m perfectly happy with it, most of the time. Definitely prefer it to Google Maps while cycling.
Address based search works, but the data is largely lacking.
You can help by adding building numbers from within Organ Maps (tap a building and, then “edit place”).
The underlying OSM dataset supports building number interpolation, so even a few accurate entries could be very helpful.
Organic Maps is a great open source replacement for MAPS.ME and osmAND, but also with the same disadvantage of not having good public transport options and needing to download offline maps beforehand. Magic Earth, while not FOSS, at least does show public transport times (in my country at least).
@AlmightySnoo with Traffic Data you can use #MagicEarth. It use #OpenStreetMap Data.
FOSS turn-by-turn is unfortunately not great. I like the proprietary app HERE, because it works well for turn-by-turn, is based in Europe and has a privacy policy that fits on one page
Which is the old and excellent nokia maps built in navteq GPS tech they bought like 15 years ago. I used it on and off for a while but started using openstreetmap based services eventually.
Magic Earth (not FOSS), such an underrated app
OpenStreetMap. Google Maps is probably the best product in the field tho, even among paid solutions.
OrganicMaps, love it
Currently on vacation and switched to organic maps for the trip. Some stuff is awesome and some is kinda counter intuitive. Try to stick with it for now and see if I get used to it.
openstreetmaps.org ecosystem
for navigation I use Organic Maps: https://f-droid.org/en/packages/app.organicmaps/
I like OsmAnd too, but it’s too much for most of my use cases. I still use it for recording trips.
None. Tried a few, none of them come close to what Google Maps offer.
Open maps will improve greatly in the near future. The Overture Maps Foundation is working on an open mapping dataset to rival Google.
Unfortunately, that’s the only truth. Especially if you live outside the US.
Huh? OpenStreetMap is pretty bad in the US compared to Europe, where it’s far more detailed than Google Maps will ever be
All the alternatives have poor search functions e.g. fuzzy search. After trying them all I use magic earth but will often find I have to get addresses out of google maps then put them into ME
My job requires a lot of pulling up maps. I’m sad to say I haven’t found a good Google replacement. Do I like all the ones listed? Yes. Can they get the job done the way I need it? No.
For hiking and walking around the city open street map is great. I personally use mapy.cz - they work great and at least in central Europe - more accurate than google.
For hiking and walking around the city open street map is great. I personally use mapy.cz - they work great and at least in central Europe - more accurate than google.
