- cross-posted to:
- openstreetmap@lemmy.ml
- technology@beehaw.org
- cross-posted to:
- openstreetmap@lemmy.ml
- technology@beehaw.org
You must log in or register to comment.
It’s only a matter of time until Google Maps will enshittify, too.
They already have. Have you noticed the number of ads shown on google maps?
And I’ve been increasing given directions like “turn right after paid promotion X, with tagline Y”
Just downloaded and installed Organic Maps from F-Droid. Looks really nice.
Google is such a great source of inspiration (^_^)
I didn’t know about Organic-Maps. I used Osmand, which has a subscription fee for downloading maps.
Thx!
I didn’t have to pay for it, installed from F-Droid, and I can download any map I’ve tried so far. When I’m traveling I like to pre-download the standard map for the whole state if it’s one I don’t already have installed. It’s nice to not have to worry about data / reception.
Overall OsmAnd is a pretty good GPS-map-navigation app, but has several annoyances and bugs. Still better than using Google’s app to me. I need to check out Organic maps too
Also nice to download all the Wikipedia data for the area, so you can read about places you visit…again, all without data.
Cool, I didn’t know you could do that
Osmand saved my ass multiple times hiking in very remote locations. Absolutely worth the subscription!
Anything that keeps maps in local storage so you can use GPS while offline is somewhere between very helpful and lifesaving. Sounds like Osmand is in there.
Organic Maps lets you download also. I got it specifically for backpacking because it enabled that. It certainly has been worth the $0. I should probably donate something each trip.
Definetly one of the subscriptions I don’t regret as much as others but still a steep cost for my frequency of usage. I need it approx 6 weeks per year and only as backup when traveling/hiking.
A free alternative (simply Osm) is much appreciated.
The pro version of OsmAnd is free on fdroid!
Google maps is the last vestige of Google that I use. I was never a Google search user and I only use Gmail for ‘official’ stuff.
So yeah, I want this to work.
I left GoogleMaps a while ago, it worked fine for me. The only part of Google I can’t leave is Play Store. Aurora might be the best alternative there.
Can you also import saved maps from Avenza Maps for Android? I have it as my other maps app
Openstreetmaps has 8.75% of the contributors Google Maps has.
Organic Maps has 1% the user base Google Maps has.
And its still better :)
Openstreetmap is better than Google where I live (Anatolian side of İstanbul).
The same can be said about Lemmy and Reddit, but look where we are.
We need to support open-source projects and stop being simps for bad companies like Google.
The difficulty is asking people to get started with this. People want to get to work/navigate as quickly as possible to where they need to be, they don’t want to be figuring it out. Social media can be janky and you’ll be patient, but if you’re late for something because you’re struggling to adjust to an app you’re more likely to go back to Google/Apple Maps
Agreed! I got one for that too:
Lemmy vs Reddit
Monthly Users (0.004%) 44k vs 1.2b
1 billion users on reddit is not realistic
With 700 million bots conducting marketing and psychological warfare ops it is!
I mean in visitors.
So we work harder
I just did 30 minutes of contributing to osm database
So? Every platform starts at 0%.
Its good to know how you measure up against the big corpos.
I think the point is 8× more contributions
This is very ironic coming from someone using Lemmy.
I’m confused. Say more? Whats ironic?
internet explorer, yahoo mail, myspace, icq… things change. unfortunately it’s mostly due to a huge company having the resources to promote their product to convince people to migrate but still. people can leave old giants.
Yeah, and Wikipedia, linux,… have become important as well, without big corpo
Proton is 5.5% the size of G-mail. 100m vs 1.8b.
i think proton is getting shittified as well but you should make a post listing all these alternatives for different services, rather than peppering them in the comments.
Proton isn’t getting worse arguably though the current services need more work like the calendar.
Take a definition of ACTIVE contributors, because both projects have a lot of inactive contributors that only registered and didn’t do anything but just one update and left, if any.
Google is known for dropping projects that they can’t monetize enough. Maps’ been around for a while, but it can always just disappear for public use. Or decide that you need a Google account too use it and that’s a privacy nightmare. We need alternatives, but in this case, we need free and open source alternatives. We can’t put all the eggs in the same basket.
These posts are motivating
Right?
People doing things like this is hella faith-in-humanity-restoring.
Can OM accept GM link?
This page lists all links that OM is supposed to open, including GM.
Aside from saving places what else can you do with google maps that can be exported?
Does the app have:
- Location sharing
- Live traffic updates
- Public transportation
Missing one of these is a deal breaker.
-
Yes, you can share location, the widgets aren’t as fancy as Google integration with everything.
-
Not feasible without the constant data harvesting in the background, which it doesn’t do. It doesn’t log your every move as Google does. Privacy vs surveillance, will always be at odds.
-
Depending on the area. In my country public transportation is way better on OSM than on Gmaps. Oftentimes Gmaps won’t even have large structures like train stations or bus terminals. It depends on users and contributors.
- It would be cool if there was an opt-in libre database to which we could submit pseudonymous traffic data. It would be hard to prevent sybil attacks though.
-
oh this is amazing
All of you are invited on !openstreetmap@lemmy.ml
Also checkout the many editing tools, such as https://mapcomplete.org, htpps://streetcomplete.app,…
I successfully used Every Door during my holidays to contribute
There’s a small learning curve I wish some bothered to understand first. Does this app help? The part of this I don’t like is vacationers leaving useless names like ‘Mango lady’, ‘many street vendors’ for a block, or ‘local restaurant’ since they can’t read the sign as opposed marking up the cuisine type, maybe adding an English description, & leaving the name blank. Nobody expects uploads to be perfect but Bangkok is littered with this noise that makes it hard to follow or find things.
It takes effort and knowledge to make good contributions, this app is just a tool to do that.
I can only say I myself try to make valuable contributions, some other people might care less.
I think EveryDoor requires some relatively deep understanding of OSM before actually being a useful tool. So edits like this should be rare with that tool. Many of the edits like this are from when MapsMe was very popular and suddenly introduced editing, without enough nuance in the process. Bad edits do happen everywhere, you need a good balance between people who data curation and newbies making beginner mistakes. In some places, there’s a lack of experienced people maintaining the data.
Every Door
thank you for sharing, definitely the easiest for Android from my research :-)
Note: there is a comparison of editor apps here: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Comparison_of_editors
Thank you for sharing the links!
the biggest problem I have with switching is that Google Maps is a business directory. open street maps is empty where i live. it works okay for navigation, but not so much for finding a coffee.
As many have already told you, you can contribute to OSM, I have put in it almost all the establishments in my area (Not at Big area but…). Although soon I have to update them
im on board with the idea in general, but im not going to do this. it would be an endless effort to the benefit of almost nobody. places go up and down so fast here that google maps is often out of date too. it’s filled with stale information and im flagging missing places constantly. every digital community in this country is a garbage pile.
the ride share apps here do use open street maps though, and im making corrections to building addresses when i find something isn’t right. it’s great.
Umm…it benefits loads of people.
On OSM you don’t have to just flag something. You can edit it directly, so it leads to more accurate information.
But you can also just flag it if editing is not your cup of tea. Here’s a convenient, non-techy tool to add notes for others to use when editing: https://www.onosm.org/
Great point
You can contribute them!
There’s a pretty barebones editor in Organic Maps, but you can also check out Street Complete and Every door (more advanced and less user friendly, though insanely efficient)
I use Vespucci, it’s advanced but still pretty easy if you just want to do basic editing. https://vespucci.io/
P.s. how do you link to an app on fdroid?
I keep businesses in my area up-to-date, doesn’t take much time at all.
Yeah trying to find anything on any of the competing apps is basically impossible. I mean ffs OSMand literally couldn’t do address lookup!
I just recently learned this.
For OsmAnd, go to search, then the categories tab, and then hit “Online Search”.
Voila, address lookup.
I have found Organic Map’s search to be far better than OSMand. OSMand has far more features though.
Be the change your want to see in the world https://droidify.eu.org/app/?id=de.westnordost.streetcomplete&repo_address=https://f-droid.org/archive
It says “page not found”, maybe because I’m not in EU.
I’m in the US, also says page not found for me.
Yea looks like they were linking to this: Street Complete
Same in EU
Very strange. It doesn’t work. I shared directly from the f-droid client droid-ify
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.westnordost.streetcomplete/index.html
Link to fdroid next time
Oh weird. That’s shared from droid-ify which is an f-droid client.
Here’s the proper link https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.westnordost.streetcomplete/index.html
there are ways to make it easier; it’s been gamified:
https://github.com/streetcomplete/StreetComplete
Available on FDROID.
When my partner stops to play pokemon go, I complete some Open Street Map info quests…
I’ve just installed this now, thanks for the tip!
So many quests right on my street!
Same issue here. I really like their maps in general, but my local area in OSM is about a decade out of date
Yeah, it’s interesting to look through the edit history over the years. With StreetComplete I recently fixed ~8 stores that were many years out of date, during an hour walk.
It’s fun to find a real hole-in-the-wall that even google maps doesn’t have.
That kind of contribution seems like a lower level of effort than making changes to source code.
And there are apps that make it very very easy and fun. Check out street complete.
i think openstreetmaps only works in big countries honestly
What does the size of the country have to do with it? Which good big and bad small countries are you talking about?
Most people don’t use openstreetmaps on these small countries like with low/medium population it feels like apple maps on there
Can you give an example? Because I’ve just looked at Luxembourg, Nepal, and Aruba, and they’re all littered with named buildings and landmarks. Pyongyang even has a fair bit filled in.
didnt rlly try it but might try tbh but idk since i see people here where i live use google maps
edit: tried it and it really is quite outdated my house does not show up and idk if waze is even privacy respecting
Waze is google these days. They bought it some time ago.
All it takes is you to fix this. Its even easier in a small country
oh okay
I felt the same however Organic Maps did have many businesses. And with Street Complete I can correct any errors when I visit.
It may simply be my area, but I so recommend organic maps over Osmand for business and POI lookups
Organic Maps was put back onto the Play Store the next day day: https://organicmaps.app/news/2024-08-18/good-news-organic-maps-appeared-again-in-the-google-play-store/
Yeah but it demonstrates googles unwillingness to cooperate and give fair warnings.
