this post was submitted on 16 Oct 2023
163 points (98.2% liked)

Open Source

31061 readers
328 users here now

All about open source! Feel free to ask questions, and share news, and interesting stuff!

Useful Links

Rules

Related Communities

Community icon from opensource.org, but we are not affiliated with them.

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 

I ask because I have tried both and neither consistently find destinations I need, and when they do, they don't route me there in the fastest or most efficient way possible. My first experience with Organic Maps, for instance, tried to turn what was usually a 4 hour drive into a nearly 6 hour drive. I used Google Maps to get there instead.

Google Maps is still the best navigation I've used, followed closely by Magic Earth, which gets the job done but still isn't all that great. I find myself resorting to Google Maps 9 times out of 10 because even Magic Earth will add 15-30 minutes to any trip. Even when I do use Magic Earth, I have to double-check it against Google's navigation just to make sure I'm not wasting any extra time or gas money on the road.

Also, a little gripe with OSMAnd that probably isn't too big of a deal, but OSMAnd can't find anything unless I download my state map. It tells me "nothing found within 5 miles" and gives me the option to expand the radius. But at 10, 15, 20, all the way up to 50 miles, it won't find I'm looking for. Like I said, not too big a deal since downloading the map of my state solves this issue, but it's still inconvenient and kind of a waste of internal storage space given that other apps can navigate successfully using online maps.

I'm wondering how any of you get by using OSMAnd / Organic Maps as I've seen people post on Lemmy that they do. Am I just missing something? Or are these apps really as bad as I think they are?

Edit: I should specify that I use navigation mainly for driving and Olive in the US. Seems like people biking / hiking in the EU have a bit of an easier time with some of these apps

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

All those apps work fine for me, but I live in a heavily populated urban area, so I imagine the quality of data is probably pretty high here. Magic Earth is by far the best experience, IMO, but I like the extreme customizability of OSMAnd+ (no idea what the + is for though, is there another version that is not as extra?)

I wonder, if you're having issues with map quality, you might be able to help yourself and everyone else around your area by using the StreetComplete app and/or the OSM website to submit corrections. The changes you make should take effect almost immediately in any app you prefer.