this post was submitted on 11 Jun 2021
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Privacy

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https://organicmaps.app/

https://github.com/organicmaps/organicmaps

It's open source, doesn't track you, and looks nice and runs great/better than OsmAnd. It's still a bit early in development however but it's worth trying out for sure. It gets the maps from OpenStreetMap (more info below).

Other alternatives (that use OSM):

OsmAnd, github - The bigger Android OSM client, it's way more powerful but also more complex and runs worse. (Totally free as in beer on f-droid)
Quant Maps, github - Decent replacement for the Google Maps website, works fine on your phones browser. It can run like crap if you use the anti-fingerprinting stuff in Firefox though..

The map data is based on OpenStreetmap which means it's often better than google maps but still inevitably will be missing some stuff depending on where you live, however you can add/edit stuff directly in the app which will help all the projects that uses OSM.

Another way to fix data is to visit https://www.openstreetmap.org/ and make friendly notes on the map by right clicking it where stuff is missing or out of date without an account, then mappers can use the info you give them and fix it. You can also register and change stuff yourself in your browser, it's very easy to just add a pizza place for example, just remember to not copy stuff from google maps.

Another fantastic Android app for helping OSM is StreetComplete. It lets you add more info to OSM by completing quests that involves collecting info. It requires an account to actually submit the answers but you can try it without registering.

https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete

It's a great app if you take a lot of walks/trips and get bored and want to do something productive while doing it. It's also a really solid app.

Warning, editing OSM can get fun and addicting, there is a support group here: /r/openstreetmap .

Post from : https://teddit.net/r/privacytoolsIO/comments/nxfxx1/organic_maps_new_promising_alternative_to_google/

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 years ago

Looking at the comments on the teddit thread I cant say Ive had issues with speed on OsmAnd but like the look of this all the same (and find the search option easier too). Thanks for sharing it!

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) (2 children)

15 days ago I posted about this app being in F-Droid : https://lemmy.ml/post/67644 and now people are asking or debating whether this app is actually on F-Droid ??? ;)

Hint : One way to check for brand new apps in F-Droid is https://fossdroid.com

... which now shows that Mull browser has arrived in F-Droid !

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 years ago
[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 years ago

... which now shows that Mull browser has arrived in F-Droid!

this deserves its own post! oh wait why is its icon like that?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) (1 children)

this is great but remember to backup bookmarks and such. I used to use a tracking removed clone of maps.me until it broke down, deleted the map data and corrupted the bookmarks and then was abandoned. lost a year worth of bookmarks.

the app was on f-droid too.

https://gitlab.com/axet/omim/-/issues/78

not blaming the dev, just sharing my experience.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 years ago

Looks promising!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 3 years ago (1 children)

Is it available in F-Droid?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 years ago (1 children)

It is. Says it at the top of the site page.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 years ago (2 children)

But it's not actually. They just have their own repo

[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 years ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 years ago (2 children)

Strange when you click the button to download on fdroid on their site it prompts you to add their custom repo.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 years ago

Which website are you looking at? On https://organicmaps.app/ the "get it on F-Droid" button links directly to https://f-droid.org/packages/app.organicmaps. I can't see any mention of, or link to, a custom repo.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

A lot of projects do that, same with NewPipe. I think updates to F-Droid are usually delayed and slow. Adding their own repo allows you to get updates faster.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 years ago

I don't understand. I just installed it from F-Droid.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

Oh didn't notice. Thought I had it set to new. Sorry.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 years ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 7 points 3 years ago

First impression: Slick and faaaast! Way less possibilities compared to osmand but looks great and blazing fast.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 years ago* (last edited 3 years ago) (1 children)

Is this the continuation of Maps.me or a completely new codebase?

[–] [email protected] 6 points 3 years ago (1 children)

🍃 Organic Maps is a better fork of MAPS.ME, an Android & iOS offline maps app for travelers, tourists, hikers, and cyclists based on top of crowd-sourced OpenStreetMap data and curated with love by MAPS.ME founders. No ads, no tracking, no data collection, no crapware.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 years ago

Ah, must have overread that one, thanks!

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago (1 children)

It looks great! Ufortunately for me, without traffic and construction information (road closures) it becomes almost unusable.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago

Looks promising! Thanks for the recommendation, even though I didn't notice the original post eat very old.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 years ago

Nice, gonna install it.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 3 years ago

This is great!!

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 years ago

Looks good. Much faster than OsmAnd

[–] TheAgeOfSuperboredom 1 points 3 years ago (1 children)

This is one of the apps I'm trying out. I tired searching for a couple addresses, and the matches seem rather poor. Sometimes it just puts me in the general neighbourhood if it finds anything at all.

I'm assuming it's just an incomplete dataset, but does anyone know a way to improve address searches? Maybe it's just a matter of having more people add data?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 years ago (2 children)

It uses OpenStreet maps. It’s a fork of maps.me

[–] TheAgeOfSuperboredom 1 points 3 years ago

Thanks! Sorry, I know it's OSM, but I don't have a lot of experience with it and found that address searching doesn't work too well.

I did a bit of looking around today and it seems to be a rather complex issue. There's https://openaddresses.io/ which looks like an open database of addresses. It's not affiliated with OpenStreetMap but it sounds like many contributors to OpenAddresses are also OSM contributors.

There's a wiki page here that explains the situation a bit: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/OpenAddresses.io

I also found OpenSuperMaps which looks like it integrates both datasets, but I don't know anything about that project.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 3 years ago

I always add a new spot on the map whenever I am physically at a place that’s not yet there. The cool thing is, this app allows you to do that directly, so it’s rather easy to contribute - and feel that community spirit of OSM.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

I just downloaded Organic Maps and I love it. My daily navigation app used to be wego.here.com (Here Maps on Android). Now it's Organic Maps.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

Does it work with Android auto?