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smallcircles (Humanity Now 🕊)

Yes, you can ditch #GoogleMaps now..

organicmaps.app

#OrganicMaps is here. Use it while offline and feel good about a #privacy-respecting app that doesn't suck you dry of your personal information. Based on #OpenStreetMap this app is gonna blow #Google #Maps out of the water (hopefully ;)

234 comments
Morten Juhl-Johansen

@smallcircles I love Organic Maps.
it is a curious name, but the tool is so great

AxWax

@smallcircles

It is my currently favourite app when I'm out hiking.

tootbrute

@smallcircles been using it for a bit. it's not bad. i bet it's better in English speaking countries though.

Etua

@smallcircles
Sorry, not going to happen before we have a single OSM app that has worldwide traffic data and (live) public transport support.

VegOS
@etua_en Why worldwide? You can download separate maps and layers for the countries you are visiting. There are OSM communities in a lot of countries providing them. Why carrying the data of the whole word with you? For live public transport, there are some good apps which often use OSM. Why should OSM do that? You ever used OSM?
@smallcircles
серафими многоꙮчитїи

@smallcircles I downloaded a GPX route last weekend and went on a short hike using #OrganicMaps . Great app, exactly what using software should be like. I've also used the offline maps in a country where I didn't have Internet and it got me to where I was going safely.

Mark Burton

@smallcircles
FDroid "file not found" so had to resort to Google play store.

VegOS
@markhburton Which APK, Fdroid or OrganicMaps? I installed both last week on a tablet. Alas, despite the advertisement the tab had no GPS so I returned it. Will install the same on a Lenovo tab on Monday.
till

@smallcircles@social.coop What is this goggleMaps you are talking about? The relevant question is, is it better than OsmAnd (and why/how)?

HistoPol (#HP)

@smallcircles

Friendly reminder:

People, stop using #Meta, #Google, and other #BigTech Apps that make YOU the product!

There are already so many right-wing governments.

You compromise your current or at least future security (e.g. profiling using LLMs.)

Use #Threema or #Signal instead.

#DeleteWhatsApp
#DeleteThreads
#DeleteFacebook
#DeleteInstagram
#DeleteTwitter
#DeleteTikTok
#DeGoogle your Android phone

Data collection comparison of messenger services (found on the web):

@smallcircles

Friendly reminder:

People, stop using #Meta, #Google, and other #BigTech Apps that make YOU the product!

There are already so many right-wing governments.

You compromise your current or at least future security (e.g. profiling using LLMs.)

Use #Threema or #Signal instead.

#DeleteWhatsApp
#DeleteThreads
#DeleteFacebook
#DeleteInstagram
#DeleteTwitter
#DeleteTikTok
#DeGoogle your Android phone

DELETED

@HistoPol

These applications are executed by electronic components. Do electronic components from Intel, ARM and Nvidia provide complete telemetry of our activities?

Yes, these corporations are legally obliged to spy on us.

What else can I say?

@smallcircles

eddynamite

@HistoPol @smallcircles @session je dirais @briar mais y a pas grand monde qui l'application. Sinon il y a un site de libriste qui est pas mal wikilibriste.fr/debutant/logic

Derek Salmon [Pikselkraft]

@eddynamite1969 @HistoPol @smallcircles @session @briar pour Briar, l'application a vraiment un usage spécifique (journalisme, manif, hors-ligne) pour une communication de tous les jours, il faut mieux chercher une alternative, car Briar consomme beaucoup de batterie malheureusement :-(
Sur wikilibriste, il y a pas mal d'autres applications à tester, mais il y a toujours pas beaucoup de monde dessus.

eddynamite

@pikselkraft @HistoPol @smallcircles @session @briar le problème c'est que la plupart des gens non pas envie de s'embêter. Ils achètent des téléphones tout près installés. L'alternative comme @murena est une bonne solution. Pas de bidouillage a faire.

Derek Salmon [Pikselkraft]

@eddynamite1969 @HistoPol @smallcircles @session @briar @murena je suis d'accord, les solutions techniques existent et sont de plus en plus accessible. C'est plus un travail d'éducation populaire qui est nécessaire.
@murena est vraiment une bonne solution. Je l'utilise depuis un moment sans soucis.

till

@HistoPol@mastodon.social @smallcircles@social.coop I've heard, that Wire is supposed to be a better alternative, than Signal. Unfortunately, it seems not well known enough, to pop up in most comparisons...

ian

@HistoPol @smallcircles
With Telegram you don't have to share your phone number or contacts. And you have no user name/ID unless you choose to create one. As that is useful to share 'instead' of your phone number.

HistoPol (#HP)

@ianp5a

Thanks for sharing your experiences.
I tried installing #Telegram a longer time ago.

I did not finish.
I see no way to avoid providing a phone number.

See screenshot.

@smallcircles

ian

@HistoPol @smallcircles
Right. What the privacy minded people do is enter a scrap number, just to get the code. Some install the app called Text Free and receive the code there. Once in, they create an optional user name to share just with those they want to.
Also, go to settings and switch off "Share Contacts" if you don't want that.

HistoPol (#HP)

@ianp5a

Registering for #Telegram (and maybe #Signal?)

ah, yes, good point!

Now I remember. On that day, I wasted about 2 hours trying to find a page which would provide a scrap phone number. All where either already know and blocked or did not work out. So I stopped trying.

@smallcircles

Skolliagh
@HistoPol @smallcircles There's the French equivalent of Threema called Olvid that could be a good suggestion.

But I'm looking into Databag that seem a step further because Threema and Olvid still rely and third party servers while Databag, I can host it myself.
ilyess

@HistoPol How is profiling done using LLMs? I’m assuming you’re referring to Large Language Models here.

@smallcircles

HistoPol (#HP)

@ilyess

Yes.
It' been awhile since I read about it. E.g. screenscraping from social-media sites as one source.

@smallcircles

Distopico

@HistoPol
@smallcircles
No sure about #Threema but #Signal is a centralized service that use Google Api and doesn't allow redistribute/publish is free service such as #FDroid, what about #XMPP or #Matrix ?

tyil

@smallcircles@social.coop That looks interesting. Do you know how it compares to OsmAnd~? I have been using that for longer than I can remember as alternative to Google Maps.

Passenger

@smallcircles

This looks great!

When I opened it for the first time (on an Android device) it presented me with two options: no GPS data, or use GPS via Google, with small print that says that it allows Google to harvest my location data and do what they like with it.

Is there a way to deal with this? It feels like the main purpose of a privacy-respecting app is lost if they can still mug me for that data via the GPS.

caos
@smallcircles Yes, #OrganicMaps @organicmaps is really great as a map app. And by the way, it's also an easy way to add data to #OpenStreetMap yourself: anonsys.net/display/bf69967c-3…
Louis Ingenthron

@frozencat As Google has grown more entrenched and bureaucratic, its products are getting demonstrably worse. With Google being a powerhouse, there are entire industries built around gaming their systems, and those industries finally seem to be winning. The data in search and maps is growing less useful by the day.

And on top of that, Google isn't afraid to monetize every drop of data it can extract from you, and some people find that distasteful.

🍃 Nick 🍁

@smallcircles I use it, along with OsmAnd, and OruxMaps, sometimes Locus Map. Four map apps! (the last two not open source either, but still OSM data).

I don't have Google Maps installed at all any more.

Sometimes though I do need to open something in the Google Maps web app, the address geolocating is often very patchy in the OSM-based apps sadly.

Also, I often find very out of date business information (opening hours, etc) in OSM (partly my fault in my local area 🫣).

smallcircles (Humanity Now 🕊)

@nick nice! I should be using OSM navigation. Now not using any navigation at all.. the old-fashioned way. And that is sometimes getting me really lost 😅

But that only matters if you need to be at an appointment at specific time, and some prep and leaving early enough will do the trick.

Rihards Olups

@nick @smallcircles Among some other apps, EveryDoor is quite convenient for POI updates - have you tried it?

🍃 Nick 🍁

@richlv @smallcircles I'll try it it! I have Vespucci which is a bit overwhelming although powerful.

Most motivating thing for me would be a local community of open street map do-gooders.... No time/energy to try and do that right now though..

🍃 Nick 🍁

@richlv @smallcircles really liking every door app, thanks for the tip!

Available on fdroid too, which is big bonus points to me. Simple yet powerful interface. Let's see if I actually use it now....

I did have an issue with the map tiles when zooming in, it was blank. But switching to another option resolved that. Didn't investigate further.

Oh the dream to get whole teams of civic minded people to make the data amazing. So much potential, all the tools are here already!

🍃 Nick 🍁

@richlv @smallcircles local stickers would be cool too, like "find us on open street map" ... when I did my local shops a while back I went in to speak to them about open street map and what it was all about, but would be better to do it as part of a wider thing in the city... So get more trust or something than a random person.

Shaun Chamberlin

@smallcircles Wow, just installed, and on first impressions I love it!

I was put off at first by immediately searching my home address and nothing coming up, so it would be useful to tell people that they need to zoom into the region to download the relevant map first.

Sam Adeleine

@DarkOptimism @smallcircles Can you search by street number? The best I can manage is to find entire streets. Or is this an OSM thing?

Shaun Chamberlin

@samadeleine @smallcircles

Searching by street number works fine for me. In fact the street numbers are much clearer than I'm used to in Google Maps.

Someone else may be able to advise as to why if it's not working for you - I'm a complete newbie!

krimss

@smallcircles Only map app I use, sadly due to microG my gps is not very accurate

Julian Foad
@krimsonbun @smallcircles Organic Maps is great, the only map I use, too. (I have OsmAnd installed for rare niche interests such as nautical maps.) deGoogled phone. GPS accuracy is fine. Love it.
Morten Grøftehauge

@smallcircles Offline Organic Maps Hike Bike.
Wow, that's a terrible app name.

kiwa

@smallcircles cool, looks great, I'm curious can't really test right now but does it work on android auto?

gobborg

@smallcircles quick review is that you need to know the vernacular in order for it to replace Google Maps.

Joe

@smallcircles I want to use it, but it doesn’t have mass transportation options like local bus, train, and light rail.

Julaun

@smallcircles I’m admittedly less concerned about privacy, but for me knowing the current traffic situation is a big part of why I use Google maps so often. I just downloaded this app and it doesn’t seem to show this, my interpretation is it maybe can’t do this due to not tracking people? If I’m missing something, please LMK. Also, would be great to see alternate routes.

Bernard Marx

@julaun @smallcircles
If you need to see traffic conditions, you could try Magic Earth which also uses osm.org. Because I mostly bike and use public transit, traffic is irrelevant to me, and Organic Maps is good.

Charlotte Walker

@TheBreadmonkey @smallcircles But does it try to get you to get a compass out every time you try to join the highlighted route?

Piousunyn

@smallcircles Amusing, says to use Google Play to download?

Angelino Desmet.

@smallcircles If only it wasn't for their ridiculous donations page full of pyramid schemes.

smallcircles (Humanity Now 🕊)

@stardust yeah, never seen such long list before. Supposedly the money gets to them. There's also Liberapay in that list, for instance.

Angelino Desmet.

@smallcircles Yeah, but since I've been corrupted by these crypto pyramid schemes in the past myself, I know full well how it can hijack the brain into greed, which makes me distrust the money's destination. That ridiculously long list is a telltale sign.

Bodhipaksa

@smallcircles

When I searched for my son's school — nothing. My address — nothing.

I had to search for my town and download the map before it could search for anything.

It still can't locate an actual house, although it can find a street. This wouldn't be at all useful for navigating.

Am I missing something?

smallcircles (Humanity Now 🕊)

@bodhipaksa not sure how that works.. new as well for me. I heard that zooming in on an area downloads the maps and then you have them locally.

Bodhipaksa

@smallcircles I assume I must be missing something since a navigation app that can't take you to a specific address isn't much use.

smallcircles (Humanity Now 🕊)

@bodhipaksa I advise asking some of the experienced folks in other forks of this huge thread.

pkprotoplasm

@smallcircles Maybe one day… but it is not this day. This app has a number of problems that it needs to overcome. Search is a big one.

Navigating to the nearest IKEA, for instance. Type “IKEA” into the search and get a bunch of results for airports in the Middle East. Until it has practical navigation use (among other flashy features) it won’t supplant the heavy hitters.

smallcircles (Humanity Now 🕊)

@pkprotoplasm heard something of first getting the maps for you area on your device. But for me this was a new find too, so not sure.

Louis Ingenthron

@smallcircles Definitely not gonna happen without a web version.

smallcircles (Humanity Now 🕊)

@LouisIngenthron good point. But OpenStreetMaps has a big range of apps. Here you'll probably best select another app.

Louis Ingenthron

@smallcircles Right, but people don't want to switch programs when they switch devices. If I have a choice between a great app with no web interface and a decent app with one, I'll choose the latter every time.

And that's before you get to the interoperability. I love being able to set a destination on my PC and then navigate with my phone seamlessly.

DELETED

@smallcircles while I love OSM and what they're doing, it's not ready for professional use yet (I'm a courier).

Chris Renfrow

@smallcircles OsmAnd has much better routing at the moment, but that's because Organic Maps routing is incomplete. It currently doesn't penalize turns or account for traffic signals (github.com/orgs/organicmaps/di). Until that changes OsmAnd will continue to be my go-to Google Maps alternative.

Dr. Jan C. Rode

@smallcircles Already in love with Organic Maps.

It gives you hydrants, park benches and #stolpersteine

Emme Ci 🍉

@smallcircles Organic map goes very well with StreetComplete, an easy to use map editor. It asks simple questions about your neighbourhood, and your answer will help make the best map on earth. It's like contributing to Wikipedia.

play.google.com/store/apps/det

Quirijn Groot Bluemink

@muzzle @smallcircles oooh love this! Tried some other ones but this one is way more friendly

Rose

@smallcircles Last time I drove through LA, Google maps repeatedly threw up ads that obscured my freeway route (dangerous!) and at one point the app itself became so confused that it routed me through Riverside on my way from Santa Monica to Laguna Niguel. The acid test is the agricultural grid roads of my rural community. Get me from A to B here, and it's the death knell for Google maps.

Elias Mårtenson

@Originallyrose @smallcircles I'm definitely not a google apologist, and I too am looking for an ideal replacement for google maps.

But I have never seen ads in google maps. I have used the application on Android, as well as Android Auto.

Speaking of Android auto, does any of these alternative map applications work with it?

Liminal witch 🧙‍♀️ Sarah

@smallcircles after the headaches that I've been through in the past couple of days with Magic Earth, this looks great

Michael Kohne

@smallcircles Doesn't seem to have street address data in the US. (edit: badly stated. It doesn't seem to be able to search for street addresses)

smallcircles (Humanity Now 🕊)

@mhkohne look on other forks of the thread.. apparently zooming in causes maps to download locally on your phone.

Michael Kohne

@smallcircles Oh yea, I did that, but it doesn't return any results when trying to search by street address.

William Gunn

@smallcircles I would love to leave Google Maps behind, but it's not quite there. Organic Maps is great for exploring and hiking, as it shows things people are likely to care about that Google Maps doesn't, like locked gates and bathrooms.

For any kind of public infrastructure, it's great, but Google Maps still wins when it comes to looking up a business and finding info about the business.

DELETED

@smallcircles I love Organic Maps. I started biking more recently and Organic has been the only app I've used for directions, it's great !

PetterOfCats

@smallcircles was looking for something like this for so long.

Kevin Karhan :verified:

@smallcircles I've been unsing #OsmAnd.for iver a decade now since it's by far superior...

ch0ccyra1n :she_her::neocat_floof_cute:

@smallcircles
I've been using it for over a year now. The only gripe I have is that OpenStreetMap's transit line data for my city is inaccurate, with the largest station being ignored entirely.

Nate Gaylinn

@smallcircles I see they're working on Android Auto support! Can't wait for that.

purple

@smallcircles it is great but somehow my GPS isnt working properly with it, while its fine with osmand. Does anyone know the issue?

Sam Thurston :verified:

@smallcircles but can I zoom down to street level and see what my neighbor was doing when the panopticon-mobile drove thru last Tuesday?

Oliver Kurth

@smallcircles I really like the app for #hiking and #trailrunning. The only problem I have is that when I zoom out the hiking trails disappear, which makes it hard to scope out a long route.

But I really like that I don't need to remember (mostly) to download the map before leaving for a hike - except sometimes, when I discover that I have crossed a map boundary.

#organicmaps

Jaime Herazo

@smallcircles

I need to try more OSM-based apps, but so far *nothing* i've tried has been able to replace Google Maps for me for the use case of a pedestrian using exclusively public transit. The closest has been OSMAnd, which once recommended me a route that included buses that only run from midnight onward, in the middle of the afternoon, not to mention how damn long it can take to suggest a route, not very useful. Might have improved since then though, should check.

DELETED

@smallcircles Wrong! I actually ditched google maps over 5 years ago.

Unfortunately, I am running waze alongside organic maps from time to time, because waze keeps me safe from council scams here and there.

Bobby

@smallcircles Doesn't really change anything, since I can't deinstall Google apps on Android, but bike lanes! :owi:

Andy McKay

@smallcircles Are you able to upload your own base map layers? #OpenStreetMaps is fine for urban navigation but not particularly useful in the wilderness.

Malkbethwendy

@smallcircles having used it or at least tried to for about the past year or 2, I have to say it really isn't up to replacing google maps, especially for finding locations, as it lacks far too many street addresses, so minimally you need to use another program to find the gps coordinates (latitude & longitude)of most locations before using that to find places & then get directions from there.

I often use Google for finding the location on my web browser then use organic maps for the actual turn by turn directions.

Also note that organic maps doesn't have audio directions, which likewise makes more difficult than the garbage that is google maps.

If Delorme & street atlas USA would only get back to widespread use and go on calyx OS phones... I'd consider it real progress!

@smallcircles having used it or at least tried to for about the past year or 2, I have to say it really isn't up to replacing google maps, especially for finding locations, as it lacks far too many street addresses, so minimally you need to use another program to find the gps coordinates (latitude & longitude)of most locations before using that to find places & then get directions from there.

noiseburner

so, @smallcircles told us straight up in the post "...feel good about a #privacy-respecting app that doesn't suck you dry of your personal information." "feel good about" is lawyereze for "we didn't say 'you are' ;-)" and "a" pairs well in court with "not this particular app." So, listen to what they are saying and move along. Reading comprehension has been successfully degraded, yeah?

Simon Hobeck

@smallcircles I've been using it for about 6 months for my running routes. I've found so many interesting routes and destinations, plus it doesn't drain my battery whilst running.

frost

@smallcircles this is really cool! I can unfortunately not use it for public transport in Stockholm, however, since some parts of the public transport system doesn’t seem to be available despite it already being mapped by OSM. Hopefully that’ll get there eventually. :)

Kat

@smallcircles @ColesStreetPothole hmm. not fit for use yet (no transit maps for my area) and the inability to do anything whatsoever without downloading maps for offline use is confusing. keeping an eye on this for the future tho!

Tomsprints2

@smallcircles @Peternimmo Simple question, if I am to ditch Google Maps: how do I search for a UK location in OrganicMaps using a UK postcode? Thanks.

Vika

@smallcircles IT HAS ELEVATION CHANGES? In my backwater town? Google maps doesn't offer this in my country's capital....... OSM data is amazing, now I just wish this app had a GPS logger to replace Google's location history

:tzcat08: KaKetelmug :tzcat26:

testing it in the mountains in croatia, will test it in bosnia (mountains) and serbia too. Till now it works out great!

Osma A

@smallcircles @organicmaps
Neat. The map of my neighborhood is better than Google Maps, even after this week's GMaps update.

Three notes:
1. A persistent on screen icon just for the about menu item is disrespectful waste of screen space.
2. I'd like to export and import GPX on mobile, in order to both use routing in my Garmin, and to correct road marking. Current tools for that are not convenient enough for either to happen.
3. Alternative routes, when the first pick isn't satisfactory.

Dizzy

@smallcircles The problem is websites linking all their location to Google maps.

I have been Google free for my whole life, but avoiding these map links is impossible sadly.

Davy Landman

@smallcircles on hiking trips this app has saved the day a few times already.

yth

@smallcircles I’ve been using maps.me for ages. On first glance this fork looks the same. Is the main difference the privacy thing or can I expect other benefits over maps.me?

DELETED

@smallcircles I really wanted to like organic maps but their lack of transit info for my city is the deal breaker for me. Until then, I'll stick to magic earth 🤷🏽‍♂️

FKA ZOG

@smallcircles Organic Maps is great and I use it A LOT - but right now it cannot replace my TOMTOM - or I occasionally have to "cheat" and look at google maps on someone elses phone - because it does not have street numbers in Australia (or Thailand?).

I understand the street number thing is a limitation of the underlying OSM data set apparently.

Richard✝️​​

@smallcircles had a looksee. I like the low power usage, but will stick with Komoot for it's cycling navigation (the route navigation can be set to bike touring, mountain biking, road cycling, gravel riding or enduro)

iameru

@smallcircles tried this. Rendering is pleasant and the lack of settings and menus in comparison to Osmand. Navigation was absolutely unusable though and the search aswell if I remember correctly so I threw it out again and stay with mapy.cz and Osmand for now. I also agree about the waste of screenspace with their logo for feedback

Diane Hallinen

@smallcircles I like that you can download a map and it won’t expire.

Paul Ralph

@smallcircles No one wants off Google's predatory ecosystem more than me but let's not kid ourselves. Nothing is going to displace google maps unless it has similar features: live traffic and public transport info, retail listings, etc.

Lumi

@smallcircles
It looks really good but doesn't give the best routes. Then again, I wouldn't say Google did, either.

movodehe

@smallcircles Yes, you CAN ditch Google Maps, but @organicmaps is not (yet) a full replacement. Mostly because of:
1. worse search
2. no public transport
3. slower routing for long trips
4. no online mode
4.1. no live traffic

It has advantages:
1. better map
2. privacy
3. better offline map management

But I have to use Google Maps from time to time, because of one of the disadvantages. However no Google Maps user ever has to switch to @organicmaps for any of its disadvantages.
Big fan anyway!

@smallcircles Yes, you CAN ditch Google Maps, but @organicmaps is not (yet) a full replacement. Mostly because of:
1. worse search
2. no public transport
3. slower routing for long trips
4. no online mode
4.1. no live traffic

It has advantages:
1. better map
2. privacy
3. better offline map management

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