Organic Maps: An Open-Source Maps App That Doesn't Suck - eviltoast

cross-posted from: https://psychedelia.ink/post/526072

My impression of Organic Maps immediately improved when I started driving. It talks! It knows exit numbers! It can tell you which lanes to use! Sure, it isn’t as polished as Google Maps, but all of the functionality is present. The UI is high-contrast and easy to read, although I wish the text showing exit numbers/street names was a little bigger. When you’re simply on the road and following directions, Organic Maps feels every bit as intuitive as Google Maps.

As my fiancee and I prepared to set off into the boonies, I plugged in the address of our hotel. About 45 seconds later, Organic Maps returned the 300-mile route to our destination. It can take a lot longer to calculate longer routes using your phone’s processor instead of a huge cloud server. It didn’t really bother me though; 45 seconds is nothing compared to the 6-hour trip ahead. If that’s the cost of using a maps app that doesn’t spray your personal data all over the internet, I’ll pay it.

  • Hasuris@sopuli.xyz
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    1 year ago

    Wait what happened to maps.me? I still have it installed but barely use it but fondly remember the days hiking with it or exploring new towns.

    • klangcola@reddthat.com
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      1 year ago

      From Wikipedia

      … until the application was sold to the payment processor Daegu Limited, part of Parity.com, which changed the application user interface and content,[7][8] which led the free software community to develop an ad- and tracker-free fork called ‘Organic Maps’ in response.[

      • WhatAmLemmy@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        ·
        1 year ago

        Ah. I tried it recently while overseas, noticed it had been completely enshitified, then came across organic maps. It’s better than maps.me ever was, so good riddance.

    • N4CHEM@lemmy.ml
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      It was sold and got worse into he last years. The goof news is that some of the original developers of maps.me made a fork of that application… Organic Maps.