Here’s why CoMaps and Organic Maps are so similar: Why CoMaps?
Thanks to @rik for sharing this information. I only re-post it to make it more visible.
I am wondering what Edition of OsmAnd Map we would get, because the free “Start” does only allow 7 map downloads and “Map+” costs money to have unlimited map downloads: OsmAnd Map pricing
One more thing: Neither OsmAnd Map nor CoMaps has good enough public transport navigation. Maybe I using them wrong but both apps don’t show any information about bus connections in my town which is a no go for me because subway and tram are not enough for me.
This seems like a bit of a nightmare really. Not sure whose going to pay for magic earth when Waze and Google Maps are available. Didn’t /e/ os fork it?
I’ve never used the other two options but I wouldn’t include OsmAnd as a default maps app. Its very very heavy and not straightforward to get going with.
If nothing fits maybe don’t bundle a maps app, for now.
Its a shame magic earth have gone this way. Only app other than Waze that allows reporting of hazards, police traps, etc
Well at $1 / year for Magic Earth, if CoMaps wouldn’t meet my needs I would happily pay that to use a more privacy respecting option over Google Maps or Waze.
Often the open source approach of bundling the most accessible option (but erring on the side of being too simple) is preferred because more advanced users will know how to add their own option (and can decide if they want to pay $1 or instead use and trust Waze, Google, etc). Yes it may not meet the needs of all, but bundling more proprietary apps than necessary is more of an issue.
As I say often, even if a company seems ethical, if the source is closed you simply can’t know for sure what it is doing under the hood. Exposing all iodé users to that is the bigger risk.
Reliable navigation combined with real and current live traffic data: Google Maps and Waze are the only alternatives
You can’t even try to sugarcoat it
Unfortunately, you can’t control everything, but it’s clear that if you don’t pay, you pay with your data.
MagicEarth did not collect any data from me or my smartphone, was free of charge and delivered an excellent program. Anyone who asked was given a link to download the program directly from MagicEarth to avoid Google. Now I have to pay a small fee, which I think is fair.
That’s why I prefer to pay a small amount to get a program, an app. That’s why I also use Threema.
I think I also pay for iodé, just leave navigation out of the pre-installed apps.
The version from F-Droid does not have those limitations, and has all the fearures from Maps+ and Pro plans :
OsmAnd~ | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository
Extra Features:
Maps+
• Unlimited map downloads;
• Topo data (Contour lines and Terrain);
• Nautical depths;
• Offline Wikipedia;
• Offline Wikivoyage - Travel guides.OsmAnd Pro
• Cross-platform;
• Hourly map updates;
• Weather plugin;
• Elevation widget;
• Customise route line;
• Online Elevation profile.
You may be able to update to Maps+ and OsmAnd Pro within the app, but I don’t think it’s free.
The reference to the unwanted features is also worth reading…
Might the solution be for one of the free mapping apps to be preinstalled with iodéOS and for Magic Earth to be provided to iodé Premium users ?
It certainly is free. The OsmAnd~ app from F-Droid is OsmAnd+, but free. I have it insatlled on all my devices, and all the mentioned features seem to work fine.
Indeed. It makes clear that the F-Droid version is built from source, with the ‘UpstreamNonFree’ features (including Google & Amazon Pay and in-app purchase) removed.
The only one of yhose that could be concerning is:
This app tracks and reports your activity
Which is explained by the text
Tracking - An unique installation ID is sent alongside map download requests, No setting to disable: download sends unique user tracking UUID & number of days since install · Issue #15058 · osmandapp/OsmAnd · GitHub
As stated in the app issue #2115
UUID is anonymized randomly generated key per installation, cause this key is not associated with any advertisement id or not transferred to any other 3rd party or even used, this key doesn’t require consent. As you mentioned the IP could provide more information cause it’s location specific.
This approach helps to the server monitor fair usage of resources.
Further explained in this comment
First of all, connecting to the server is only something that
happens during download. OSMAnd is an offline map and downloads
happen rarely. For heavy users less than once a month, for many much
less than that. Additionally, all such downloads are user-initiated,
they have to explicitly press a download button. Nothing that would
be useful to build a profile of any specific user.Allegations of travel data and such being leaked are thus really not
in evidence.The data that is being shared is not possible to connect to any
personally identifying information. Notice that google explains that
since some 5 years the getUserAndroidId is unique per installed
application. So any other application the user uses (on the same
phone, or not) will not share the UUID. So on top of the fact that
not much of a profile can be made at all, there is no way to connect
such to any actual personal info.
So, IMHO this is not a big issue, and not sufficient reason not to use OsmAnd. Though in the poll I voted for CoMaps not OsmAnd. I am just challenging some inaccurate statements about OsmAnd, such as
All the features of OsmAnd+ are available for free in OsmAnd~ from F-Droid
Thank you all for clearing up my misconception about the features of OsmAnd Map.
I also have some news about my routing problem via public transportation.
The problem is not about missing information for bus lines but the apps can’t mixing different forms of transport. I played around some more with starting and destination points and in all cases the apps let me walk a lot instead of offering directions to the next stop for public transport to get me to a point with a good connection for another form of transport.
That means the navigation for public transport is only able to calculate one type of public transport vehicle at a time without switching between them.
(And I didn’t even expect something as advanced as keeping track of timetables to choose which types of transport are available at the given time.)
The directions for car, bike or walking is fine by the way but that’s not my preferred kind of traveling.
Maybe I use the apps as a backup for offline navigation while walking through cities but there I usually have connection to the internet and don’t need offline maps.
Or maybe I substitute the missing feature with Öffi - King of public transit planning! but on the other hand it’s annoying not having the directions for walking to the next stop mixed with directions for the public transport in one seamless navigation routing.
Please don’t get me wrong. I don’t want to blame the apps for the missing features. I don’t need to pay money for them and therefore I don’t expect to get what I want. I just want to offer my opinion about usecases that are not well supported. If they are not of major interest then the apps are fine by all means.
In my opinion future IodeOS should not provide a default (naviagtion) app, as no app suits the needs of all the users.
There is no app that has low battery usage, accurate traffic information and maps, hazard warnings, speech in / out, fast and situation aware routing with mixing of transportation channels, without trackers, without unwanted features, without ant-features, without adds, open source, for free, activly maintained …
Also any app you choose has to be judged by the same rules like the paid iode blocker.*
*When i joined iode the blocker was not open source and it still can not be deinstalled like magic earth. So arguments like “open source”, “paid” and “trust” are not valid here as people use paid closed source apps that promise privacy or otherwise fulfill thair needs that free apps don’t. Most probably no one has checked the source code of the os and the default apps. We trust the developers and use IodeOS/Magic Earth/Threema …
Agree. Of many of the apps listed here, I have found that Magic Earth is much more reliable in my area. The FOSS ones are all listing POIs that are 5 years out of date… institutions that just dont even exist anymore.
For a buck a year… and no Google, I’m fine with that.