I love Comaps. I have it installed on my Android phone. I contribute to OpenStreet maps when I can.
But, I don't think Comaps is a realistic replacement for Apple or Google maps.
One: OpenStreet maps is missing a toooon of locations, businesses and residential addresses. Two: having the enter the address in a non-standard way (for the US) City, Street, Building Number, makes finding things even harder. That's gonna instantly turn away 99% of people.
I still begrudgingly have Google maps installed on my phone... :(
I also have HERE Maps installed on my phone. It's way more usable than Comaps and it's not Google. But, it's not FOSS and still owned by a big corporation. But at least it's not (entirely) owned by the US (Magic Earth is). For me, I think HERE maps is a decent step away from Google.
I'll still keep contributing to OpenStreet maps, hoping one day I can switch to Comaps.
I think at this point in my life I've added enough to my home town that I'm comfortable using it as my main map program, I also admit to having here maps as a backup, but I haven't used it in a minute
Comaps, OSM And, and other apps use OpenStreet maps as their data source, sometimes as their only data source. So if the data isn't in OpenStreet maps, it's not gonna be in Comaps. Comaps is basically a frontend for OpenStreet map data.
Yeah from what I've seen OSM is really well filled out over there. I add what I can in my town in the US, but it's a lot to keep up with businesses changing hours and whatnot all the time (small town things)
Two: having the enter the address in a non-standard way (for the US) City, Street, Building Number, makes finding things even harder.
THAT'S why i always struggled to look up buildings on Comaps! Hell, I wondered why the sesrch was so hard!
My main issue is the lack of traffic data. I wish I didn't live in a car-centric society, but i do, so I need to know if the route I'm taking is going to be shit.
I read that the one of the differences between Organic Maps and CoMaps is that the server side code for CoMaps is FOSS, while some of the server side code for Organic Maps is not. I hope I understood that correctly. I have Organic Maps installed because it was in the GrapheneOS app store.
If CoMaps has open server-side code, could I create my own map tiles with the best bike routes in my area and self-host them for myself and my friends? I find that google, bing, OpenStreetMap, etc all suck at recognizing good bike routes in my area and hand-curated routes are much better. I'd prefer to hand-curate the best routes color coded based on perceived safety and whether they are daytime only routes or acceptable for nighttime travel. Is something like this doable with CoMaps?
I use OsmAnd which I think is also really good. I've heard nothing but good things about CoMaps too, like you said, which is a (seemingly well-justified) fork of Organic Maps.
If anyone's curious about contributing to OpenStreetMap too to make the maps in your area better, I know a bit, and I'd be happy to answer questions, even if they're just random curiosities. It's a lot of fun.
Depends heavily on the editor you're using. Editor-agnostic, however, is that under the hood, everything uses "tags", which are effectively key–value pairs that the broader editing community has agreed mean something.
In most editors, you'll draw the area in a sort of free-form connect-the-dots, and you'll have a created a blank area once you close the loop (under the hood, this is defined by the placeholder area=yes tag, but seriously don't worry about directly changing tags unless you're experienced; just let the editor give you a list of items to choose from).
Next, select the area, and your editor should present you with some way to search for what you want. Once you click that, the editor will apply the corresponding tags under the hood and will likely give you a list of properties you can change (for example, if you create a fast food restaurant, it might let you decide if it has a drive thru or not).
I'll be able to give something a lot more specific once I know the editor, since UIs vary heavily. (Note which I didn't know at first myself: if you went to OpenStreetMap's website, made an account, and clicked "Edit", then you're using the iD editor.)
I thought this was a joke ad for a dev convention. Come on over and build something great at Comap(p)s 2026! We have a friendly competition where the team who builds the most feature-rich app all get programmer socks!
Yup. The first thing i do when i get a new machine/reinstall MacOS/iOS is to change it from google. Fuck google so fucking hard. Anyone who uses Google deserves what they get knowing how much of a shitstain company they are. Apple isn't that much better, but they are slightly, SLIGHTLY better.
Yes these ads suck, but they are not targeted ads based on your entire history of personal data which is google's entire business. these are ads shown based on your current location in the maps app. theoretically everyone in your vicinity is getting the same map ads.
also, fuck ads. people are trying to find destinations, not be sold trash from some shitty corporation like mcdonalds or whatever. don't care the purpose, or the reasoning.. if there's ads, it's bought and paid for by some jackoff corp that can rightfully fuck off to high hell.
yes I agree, fuck ads, but fuck targeted ads even harder. The point is if you're deliberating between apple and Google based on the ads, apple is still not as bad as google. it's not a binary ads vs no ads issue.
If you’re deliberating between Apple Maps and Google Maps, the only advantage Apple ever had was the lack of ads. Apple’s data is worse, routing is worse, navigation UI is worse (which of the lanes should you be in right now for your next turn), etc. It’s astounding that Apple would enshittify this right now when they’re not even close to being a decent replacement for the primary competition.
Yep it uses a selection of the most important data from OSM because the entire thing would be too huge to keep on your phone. You download the map in sections so region/city based but you can also just get an entire country which will be a few GB.
It can import/export bookmarks and record and import gpx tracks. Has TTS support and you can even edit things (like opening hours and stuff) if you have an OSM account.
I tried 4 of these damn things over the past few days 2 were ad filled nonsense. This looks like a reskin of something else I tried. It doesn’t have turn by turn.
Are you sure you are using the app that i linked to? Because you can clearly see in the screenshots on the app store that it has turn by turn instructions.
Comaps is a fork of organic maps but neither has ads and they are basically identical feature wise.
Turn by turn only works when you have location turned on of course.
Okay don’t turns out I had to download the maps first and then it kinda works. Voice selection isn’t working right but will likely be fixed eventually. I just need to get used to it. Thanks.
THE reason why i use apple is because I'm not subjected to ads. Is there any point using apple anymore if they're going to inject ads? Holy shit, Time to go back to android if we're gonna get ads and instead pay less for a phone.
You can trade your iPhone with an Android user who figured if Google is going to force developer certifications for installing apps then there is no point in using Android over iPhone and they might as well switch.
lol switching an entire phone ecosystem because there might be an ad coming to your area in the form of one single ad in a search query on one single app. bruh, LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Back to the basics: Start carrying a yellow pages book with you so that you can find addresses of various businesses. If you need restaurant descriptions, you need one of those tourist guide books too.
I throw a lot of shit at Google but Google Maps is the best piece of software they have ever created. I wish OSM was this upto date with their data but it has a long way to go. I think this that piece of software which needs a big dedicated team or at-least paid volunteers instead of community volunteers because there ain’t no way I am going out to volunteer for free to map out my neighbourhood accurately.
because you enjoy corporate oversight and ads? or because you don’t see the benefit to you personally?
Bruh. Everything doesn't have to be political. I simply don't have the time, energy and willingness to learn and contribute to a project which people in my community are not even going to use. The incentive simply isn't their for anyone when there is already a perfectly working solution—as much as I hate to say—from Google. I wish OSM and the maps & navigation apps using it were more popular and better but they aren't simply because they don't have dedicated teams.
Google Maps also get contributions from the community (which is much larger than OSM). So google benefits from volunteer contributions as well as their own teams mapping stuff around the world which OSM can never match. It isn't something like Search, Drive or Photos that can be replaced by a community driven FOSS alternative. It requires huge funding.
The incentive simply isn’t their for anyone when there is already a perfectly working solution—as much as I hate to say—from Google
So you enjoy corporate oversight and ads? or at least they don't bother you enough to seek alternatives?. It's not political, I am spelling out what you seem to be trying to avoid saying.
I wish OSM and the maps & navigation apps using it were more popular and better but they aren’t simply because they don’t have dedicated teams.
But you don't wish it enough to contribute in any way...
Google Maps also get contributions from the community (which is much larger than OSM). So google benefits from volunteer contributions as well as their own teams mapping stuff around the world which OSM can never match. It isn’t something like Search, Drive or Photos that can be replaced by a community driven FOSS alternative. It requires huge funding.
I think you are just doubling down on this to convince yourself that it is not that you are being selfish here, you are just being smart by not choosing a losing battle you made up in your head.
I prefer Apple Maps because it’s not ad laden but the coverage for businesses simply isn’t there, and it is pretty aggressive about populating businesses that don’t really exist (ie the business registration not the place of business, if they have one eg Plumber who doesn’t have a shop), don’t exist in the category (eg a factory isn’t a retail establishment), or just plain don’t exist. It also likes to ignore the actual road name for directions; instead of “take the exit towards A361 Burford Rd”, it says “take the exit to Diddly Squat Market” because some street view scanner picked up a sign and chose the wrong one.
If they start pushing ads, Google wins in “find me dinner nearby”.
My one deal breaker that keeps me on gmaps over Apple is the forced yelp integration. I refuse to install yelp and to get any meaningful information it tries to open the app.
It’s still better than Wayze trying to sell you burgers and fries at every stop sign… but you need to tap the search box like 3 fucking times to input shit, and why is that? So you have ample opportunity to see Crapple’s list of “suggestions….“
And have you noticed that you need to zoom down to AntMan scale to see the names of some businesses in a shopping center, and yet others are virtually visible from orbit? Could it be that businesses that pay Apple stick out like a sore thumb, and business that don’t virtually disappear? Nah… Fucking Apphole behavior.
It’s time to face facts, Apple stopped giving a shit about the customer years ago. Before their headquarters was literally a Bond villain’s donut you could drive through their parking lot and it was a sea of shitty rust buckets, executive parking lot underground.
I was giving serious consideration to going Android again rather then buying a 2K+ tablet… but then I need to buy a new watch and phone at the same time to have a slim chance of interoperability so it’s basically a wash.
OSMAnd+ is a good app. Using openmaps. You often Ned the address of where you are going since place searches of businesses may no come up. But the navigation has been good.
I have observed no issues. Every once in a while, when choosing large targets like an airport, it's hard to chose the right "destination" from the many available as the labels don't always have all details.
Other than that, no issues whatsoever.
PS: to put it in context, I am a casual user who basically never remembers street names or directions so I use it often but it's not like I am an Uber driver
Ive got a work iPad. There are ads in the calculator (plus a paid upgrade for like the smart pencil scribble math upgrade. Imagine paying $700 AUD for the cheapest iPad here in AUS, for a subscription fee for the calculator)
No one is talking about the real sin that Apple makes and that sin is having a crappy buggy operating system that has parental controls break and also blast Bluetooth speaker volume to max volume the moment you pause it and start it again. It is a subpar operating system and it's a piece of garbage.
Honestly, if I want to find a local bicycle shop, and apple maps can help me find one without being obnoxious, then im okay with it as long as they don't share any data about me with the bicycle shop. I want to shop locally and support my local businesses, rather than shop online.
"Stuffing ads into the Maps app" makes it sound evil, even if we have no idea how it's going to look.
120 Comments
Mynameisallen@lemmy.zip · 148 pts · 135d
There's room for you at Comaps! It's nice and it works on iOS, FOSS
uuj8za@piefed.social · 71 pts · 135d
I love Comaps. I have it installed on my Android phone. I contribute to OpenStreet maps when I can.
But, I don't think Comaps is a realistic replacement for Apple or Google maps.
One: OpenStreet maps is missing a toooon of locations, businesses and residential addresses. Two: having the enter the address in a non-standard way (for the US) City, Street, Building Number, makes finding things even harder. That's gonna instantly turn away 99% of people.
I still begrudgingly have Google maps installed on my phone... :(
I also have HERE Maps installed on my phone. It's way more usable than Comaps and it's not Google. But, it's not FOSS and still owned by a big corporation. But at least it's not (entirely) owned by the US (Magic Earth is). For me, I think HERE maps is a decent step away from Google.
I'll still keep contributing to OpenStreet maps, hoping one day I can switch to Comaps.
Mynameisallen@lemmy.zip · 24 pts · 135d
I think at this point in my life I've added enough to my home town that I'm comfortable using it as my main map program, I also admit to having here maps as a backup, but I haven't used it in a minute
Skullgrid@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 135d
are the two related?
Mynameisallen@lemmy.zip · 25 pts · 135d
Open street maps is the back end for comaps and most open source mapping programs
uuj8za@piefed.social · 22 pts · 135d
Comaps, OSM And, and other apps use OpenStreet maps as their data source, sometimes as their only data source. So if the data isn't in OpenStreet maps, it's not gonna be in Comaps. Comaps is basically a frontend for OpenStreet map data.
Skullgrid@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 135d
thank you. why would I go for comaps instead of open street maps then?
uuj8za@piefed.social · 24 pts · 135d
OpenStreet maps is primarily a data source. I guess you could use the website: https://www.openstreetmap.org/
But they don't have mobile apps.
SaharaMaleikuhm@feddit.org · 7 pts · 134d
Guess its just better in Europe, everything is more dense including the number of OpenStreetMap contributors.
MangoPenguin@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 1 pts · 133d
Yeah from what I've seen OSM is really well filled out over there. I add what I can in my town in the US, but it's a lot to keep up with businesses changing hours and whatnot all the time (small town things)
Imaginary_Stand4909@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 5 pts · 134d
THAT'S why i always struggled to look up buildings on Comaps! Hell, I wondered why the sesrch was so hard!
My main issue is the lack of traffic data. I wish I didn't live in a car-centric society, but i do, so I need to know if the route I'm taking is going to be shit.
njordomir@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 134d
I read that the one of the differences between Organic Maps and CoMaps is that the server side code for CoMaps is FOSS, while some of the server side code for Organic Maps is not. I hope I understood that correctly. I have Organic Maps installed because it was in the GrapheneOS app store.
If CoMaps has open server-side code, could I create my own map tiles with the best bike routes in my area and self-host them for myself and my friends? I find that google, bing, OpenStreetMap, etc all suck at recognizing good bike routes in my area and hand-curated routes are much better. I'd prefer to hand-curate the best routes color coded based on perceived safety and whether they are daytime only routes or acceptable for nighttime travel. Is something like this doable with CoMaps?
FudgyMcTubbs@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 135d
Holy wah... #2 is a deal breaker for sure. So sad.
TheTechnician27@lemmy.world · 21 pts · 135d
I use OsmAnd which I think is also really good. I've heard nothing but good things about CoMaps too, like you said, which is a (seemingly well-justified) fork of Organic Maps.
If anyone's curious about contributing to OpenStreetMap too to make the maps in your area better, I know a bit, and I'd be happy to answer questions, even if they're just random curiosities. It's a lot of fun.
StillAlive@piefed.world · 2 pts · 134d
How does one define and name an area?
TheTechnician27@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 134d
Depends heavily on the editor you're using. Editor-agnostic, however, is that under the hood, everything uses "tags", which are effectively key–value pairs that the broader editing community has agreed mean something.
In most editors, you'll draw the area in a sort of free-form connect-the-dots, and you'll have a created a blank area once you close the loop (under the hood, this is defined by the placeholder
area=yestag, but seriously don't worry about directly changing tags unless you're experienced; just let the editor give you a list of items to choose from).Next, select the area, and your editor should present you with some way to search for what you want. Once you click that, the editor will apply the corresponding tags under the hood and will likely give you a list of properties you can change (for example, if you create a fast food restaurant, it might let you decide if it has a drive thru or not).
I'll be able to give something a lot more specific once I know the editor, since UIs vary heavily. (Note which I didn't know at first myself: if you went to OpenStreetMap's website, made an account, and clicked "Edit", then you're using the iD editor.)
HootinNHollerin@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 16 pts · 135d
!CoMaps@sopuli.xyz
W98BSoD@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 4 pts · 133d
Just stay away from Magic Earth; they did a rug pull by going from 99¢/year to $20/year without notifying people.
wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 135d
I thought this was a joke ad for a dev convention. Come on over and build something great at Comap(p)s 2026! We have a friendly competition where the team who builds the most feature-rich app all get programmer socks!
PalmTreeIsBestTree@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 134d
It’s my back up for when I have no cell service
SlimePirate@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 135d
Are the paths reversed ?
panda_abyss@lemmy.ca · 76 pts · 135d
This is why Apple users pay more to not use Google stuff…
Fuck this.
wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world · 41 pts · 135d
Default search engine? Google. Apple Intelligence? Believe it or not, also Google.
panda_abyss@lemmy.ca · 25 pts · 135d
I don’t use any of those
osanna@lemmy.vg · 3 pts · 134d
Yup. The first thing i do when i get a new machine/reinstall MacOS/iOS is to change it from google. Fuck google so fucking hard. Anyone who uses Google deserves what they get knowing how much of a shitstain company they are. Apple isn't that much better, but they are slightly, SLIGHTLY better.
WolfmanEightySix@piefed.social · 1 pts · 133d
But no adverts.
acosmichippo@lemmy.world · -14 pts · 135d
Yes these ads suck, but they are not targeted ads based on your entire history of personal data which is google's entire business. these are ads shown based on your current location in the maps app. theoretically everyone in your vicinity is getting the same map ads.
Bluegrass_Addict@lemmy.ca · 21 pts · 134d
doubt
also, fuck ads. people are trying to find destinations, not be sold trash from some shitty corporation like mcdonalds or whatever. don't care the purpose, or the reasoning.. if there's ads, it's bought and paid for by some jackoff corp that can rightfully fuck off to high hell.
acosmichippo@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 134d
yes I agree, fuck ads, but fuck targeted ads even harder. The point is if you're deliberating between apple and Google based on the ads, apple is still not as bad as google. it's not a binary ads vs no ads issue.
Bluegrass_Addict@lemmy.ca · 10 pts · 134d
it's always binary fuck all ads issue for me
acosmichippo@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 134d
as i said, "if you’re deliberating between apple and Google" which is how this conversation started.
trailee@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 134d
If you’re deliberating between Apple Maps and Google Maps, the only advantage Apple ever had was the lack of ads. Apple’s data is worse, routing is worse, navigation UI is worse (which of the lanes should you be in right now for your next turn), etc. It’s astounding that Apple would enshittify this right now when they’re not even close to being a decent replacement for the primary competition.
NotSteve_@piefed.ca · 12 pts · 134d
Maybe but you give them an inch and in a few years the ads will be targeted
Xatolos@reddthat.com · 3 pts · 134d
So.... never read Apples privacy policy huh?
unabart@sh.itjust.works · 71 pts · 135d
That article slurps Apple’s nutsac for having such a great moneymaking idea! Fuck ads. Tired of everything being a vessel for marketing.
realitista@lemmus.org · 47 pts · 134d
Wow they haven't even made it good enough for me to use yet and they are already enshittifying it?
unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de · 37 pts · 134d
Comaps is available for iphones :3
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/comaps/id6747180809
also for others:
https://f-droid.org/en/packages/app.comaps.fdroid/
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=app.comaps.google
T156@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 134d
A little confused, is this basically the same thing as Open Street Maps, just in app form?
unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de · 6 pts · 134d
Yep it uses a selection of the most important data from OSM because the entire thing would be too huge to keep on your phone. You download the map in sections so region/city based but you can also just get an entire country which will be a few GB.
It can import/export bookmarks and record and import gpx tracks. Has TTS support and you can even edit things (like opening hours and stuff) if you have an OSM account.
Railcar8095@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 134d
They use OSM as source for maps, yes.
Not sure how much they add, aside from offline functionality.
Other apps add extra data sources.
muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works · -1 pts · 133d
I’ve looked at apps like these and weirdly it’s just map you can search through. There’s no turn by turn directions.
unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de · 3 pts · 133d
It very much has routing, route saving, turn by turn instructions, voice instructions and more. Idk what you mean.
muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works · 0 pts · 133d
I couldn’t get it to work. Is it only in Europe that works?
unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de · 1 pts · 133d
I dont use apple devices so i cant test it, but i thought it would be identical to the android experience.
muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 133d
I tried 4 of these damn things over the past few days 2 were ad filled nonsense. This looks like a reskin of something else I tried. It doesn’t have turn by turn.
unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de · 1 pts · 133d
Are you sure you are using the app that i linked to? Because you can clearly see in the screenshots on the app store that it has turn by turn instructions.
Comaps is a fork of organic maps but neither has ads and they are basically identical feature wise.
Turn by turn only works when you have location turned on of course.
muusemuuse@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 133d
Okay don’t turns out I had to download the maps first and then it kinda works. Voice selection isn’t working right but will likely be fixed eventually. I just need to get used to it. Thanks.
osanna@lemmy.vg · 33 pts · 134d
THE reason why i use apple is because I'm not subjected to ads. Is there any point using apple anymore if they're going to inject ads? Holy shit, Time to go back to android if we're gonna get ads and instead pay less for a phone.
AeonFelis@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 134d
You can trade your iPhone with an Android user who figured if Google is going to force developer certifications for installing apps then there is no point in using Android over iPhone and they might as well switch.
Meatwagon@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 6 pts · 134d
I was going to say the same thing.. there's no point to Google android anymore either. I guess we're all going to LineageOS.
ZombieMantis@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 133d
Well... Here's hoping KDE Plasma Mobile takes off I guess...
myrrh@ttrpg.network · 3 pts · 133d
thethunderwolf@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 133d
Year of the Linux phone!
kuerbiskernoel@feddit.org · 4 pts · 133d
Im just enjoying my ad free life with degoogled android
Scotty_Trees@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 133d
lol switching an entire phone ecosystem because there might be an ad coming to your area in the form of one single ad in a search query on one single app. bruh, LMFAOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
SeeMarkFly@lemmy.ml · 25 pts · 135d
Time to dust off my old folded paper maps.
I can sell some of the duplicates I have. I'm gonna be RICH!
panda_abyss@lemmy.ca · 8 pts · 135d
You can buy up to date ones at the gas station still
wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world · -1 pts · 135d
What a piece of crap, this thing didn't warn me about the bridge being closed and jammed up because of a car fire. Stupid paper...
Bluegrass_Addict@lemmy.ca · 9 pts · 134d
how ever did people live and get around before the mobile spy tracking hardware was in everyone's pockets.
shocker, your time isn't really as valuable as you think it is..
SeeMarkFly@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 134d
I left on a trip to San Francisco and forgot my STREET maps but I did have an aviation map so I used that.
It did NOT have the freeway numbers marked. I got there looking for water towers and radio towers and bodies of water. I managed OK.
TimeSquirrel@kbin.melroy.org · 2 pts · 134d
I am willing to bet there is still a radio in your vehicle, and very likely a local news station with traffic and weather reports.
ayyy@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 134d
If the goal is to avoid ads, a radio station is the absolutely worst option.
TimeSquirrel@kbin.melroy.org · 2 pts · 134d
At least they are only one-way. They won't be getting any private info or tracking data out of you.
PalmTreeIsBestTree@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 134d
Nah fuck that shit. If I have to, I’ll whip out the ole Garmin and upload the latest maps to that bitch and go.
Skankhunt420@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 134d
Dude someone mentioned this the other day and I pretty mu h went all in on Garmin GPS since then.
I want to use comaps and organic maps and magic earth and all that but they just don't work well for me but the Garmin is on point.
Plus they say they don't sell your data. But even if that's a lie I bought it used off Craigslist so its "Johns" data now.
chaosCruiser@futurology.today · 2 pts · 135d
Back to the basics: Start carrying a yellow pages book with you so that you can find addresses of various businesses. If you need restaurant descriptions, you need one of those tourist guide books too.
chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 134d
In my town restaurants come and go so fast the yellow pages are basically always obsolete.
sonofearth@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 133d
Lol I used to think they scrapped the maps app entirely. Surprised it still exists. Who even uses it outside the US?
Fizz@lemmy.nz · 10 pts · 133d
I'm not even an apple user but i use their maps as an alternative to gmaps on ddg.
sonofearth@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 133d
I throw a lot of shit at Google but Google Maps is the best piece of software they have ever created. I wish OSM was this upto date with their data but it has a long way to go. I think this that piece of software which needs a big dedicated team or at-least paid volunteers instead of community volunteers because there ain’t no way I am going out to volunteer for free to map out my neighbourhood accurately.
slamphear@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 133d
Mapping your neighborhood is actually a lot of fun if you use StreetComplete! Nice way to get outside and explore.
Jhex@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 133d
Agreed but that is not really saying much considering Google's resources and how often the fuck everything up
because you enjoy corporate oversight and ads? or because you don't see the benefit to you personally?
sonofearth@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 133d
Bruh. Everything doesn't have to be political. I simply don't have the time, energy and willingness to learn and contribute to a project which people in my community are not even going to use. The incentive simply isn't their for anyone when there is already a perfectly working solution—as much as I hate to say—from Google. I wish OSM and the maps & navigation apps using it were more popular and better but they aren't simply because they don't have dedicated teams.
Google Maps also get contributions from the community (which is much larger than OSM). So google benefits from volunteer contributions as well as their own teams mapping stuff around the world which OSM can never match. It isn't something like Search, Drive or Photos that can be replaced by a community driven FOSS alternative. It requires huge funding.
Jhex@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 133d
So you enjoy corporate oversight and ads? or at least they don't bother you enough to seek alternatives?. It's not political, I am spelling out what you seem to be trying to avoid saying.
But you don't wish it enough to contribute in any way...
I think you are just doubling down on this to convince yourself that it is not that you are being selfish here, you are just being smart by not choosing a losing battle you made up in your head.
sonofearth@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 132d
Whatever helps you sleep at night :)
Jhex@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 133d
and a shitty one at that... DDG was good, now it's just Bing + Apple maps which is bad on both fronts
Fizz@lemmy.nz · 1 pts · 133d
I like ddg. I think its getting better and better. I almost never need to fall back on google search Compared to 8 years ago where i often had to.
Ibuthyr@lemmy.wtf · 2 pts · 133d
Pretty much everyone?
Edit: D'oh, I thought this was about Google maps. My bad.
CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de · 16 pts · 135d
I prefer Apple Maps because it’s not ad laden but the coverage for businesses simply isn’t there, and it is pretty aggressive about populating businesses that don’t really exist (ie the business registration not the place of business, if they have one eg Plumber who doesn’t have a shop), don’t exist in the category (eg a factory isn’t a retail establishment), or just plain don’t exist. It also likes to ignore the actual road name for directions; instead of “take the exit towards A361 Burford Rd”, it says “take the exit to Diddly Squat Market” because some street view scanner picked up a sign and chose the wrong one.
If they start pushing ads, Google wins in “find me dinner nearby”.
zewm@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 135d
My one deal breaker that keeps me on gmaps over Apple is the forced yelp integration. I refuse to install yelp and to get any meaningful information it tries to open the app.
Gmaps has a way better UX imo.
CompactFlax@discuss.tchncs.de · 3 pts · 135d
Yeah that also is awful. Can’t learn anything about the place without getting accidentally redirected to the App Store.
acosmichippo@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 135d
the difference with google is they're collecting and montetizing all that data on you whereas apple is doing non-targeted ads.
0_o7@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 134d
Copium.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geotargeting
ayyy@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 134d
Do you work for apple? You’re all over this thread shilling.
DataCrime@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 15 pts · 134d
I mean… maps has been kinda shitty for years!
It’s still better than Wayze trying to sell you burgers and fries at every stop sign… but you need to tap the search box like 3 fucking times to input shit, and why is that? So you have ample opportunity to see Crapple’s list of “suggestions….“
And have you noticed that you need to zoom down to AntMan scale to see the names of some businesses in a shopping center, and yet others are virtually visible from orbit? Could it be that businesses that pay Apple stick out like a sore thumb, and business that don’t virtually disappear? Nah… Fucking Apphole behavior.
It’s time to face facts, Apple stopped giving a shit about the customer years ago. Before their headquarters was literally a Bond villain’s donut you could drive through their parking lot and it was a sea of shitty rust buckets, executive parking lot underground.
I was giving serious consideration to going Android again rather then buying a 2K+ tablet… but then I need to buy a new watch and phone at the same time to have a slim chance of interoperability so it’s basically a wash.
Fuck Apple.
nightlily@leminal.space · 13 pts · 134d
Unfortunately it’s the best option in Germany after Google threw a tantrum over privacy laws here. However OpenStreetMap is getting better.
Jhex@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 133d
www.openstreetmap.org
Stop using Apple
titanicx@lemmy.zip · 6 pts · 133d
Your address is incorrect. You need to drop the s off of it
www.openstreetmap.org
Jhex@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 133d
Ooops, thanks for pointing it out. I have corrected the post
lepinkainen@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 133d
How’s their route algorithms? Never used it for navigation
BCsven@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 133d
OSMAnd+ is a good app. Using openmaps. You often Ned the address of where you are going since place searches of businesses may no come up. But the navigation has been good.
Jhex@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 133d
I have observed no issues. Every once in a while, when choosing large targets like an airport, it's hard to chose the right "destination" from the many available as the labels don't always have all details.
Other than that, no issues whatsoever.
PS: to put it in context, I am a casual user who basically never remembers street names or directions so I use it often but it's not like I am an Uber driver
Skv@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 133d
Serves anyone using that garbage right.
IratePirate@feddit.org · 10 pts · 133d
Good. Enshittify to your heart's content, until people realise that just sucking a different big tech corp's tit is not the solution.
rustyfemboy@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 10 pts · 133d
"Apple cares about your privacy"
Tilgare@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 133d
Not from THEMSELVES, never from themselves.
Alwaysnownevernotme@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 134d
Surely this time their famous design standards will be applied to their UX.
Surely.
stringere@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 133d
Like apple maps doesn't suck enough already?
I wish it was better because that's the map DDG pulls up in search. Wonder if those ads are going to show in DDG sesrches now.
Beth@piefed.social · 6 pts · 134d
It’s already been working like garbage lately. Wonder if this is related.
Digit@lemmy.wtf · 5 pts · 133d
Nothing like free software
W3dd1e@lemmy.zip · 5 pts · 133d
This was the only reason I used it.
On to the next!
MidsizedSedan@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 133d
Ive got a work iPad. There are ads in the calculator (plus a paid upgrade for like the smart pencil scribble math upgrade. Imagine paying $700 AUD for the cheapest iPad here in AUS, for a subscription fee for the calculator)
Mwa@thelemmy.club · 1 pts · 134d
why,espeically iphones are expensive as hell.
kepix@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 134d
the cow has more milk
Underwaterbob@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 134d
I use Naver maps because I'm in Korea and they've kept out the competition until now. They already introduced ads some time back. It's infuriating.
ChaoticNeutralCzech@feddit.org · 3 pts · 134d
Mapy.com too :( They locked previously-free features behind a paywall. The 1.5 years old Android app version 9.55.2 still works though
Broiled_Tofu@lemmy.zip · 0 pts · 134d
I hope your blue bubbles become water marked with adds!!! 😈
Broiled_Tofu@lemmy.zip · -1 pts · 134d
No one is talking about the real sin that Apple makes and that sin is having a crappy buggy operating system that has parental controls break and also blast Bluetooth speaker volume to max volume the moment you pause it and start it again. It is a subpar operating system and it's a piece of garbage.
9tr6gyp3@lemmy.world · -1 pts · 135d
Honestly, if I want to find a local bicycle shop, and apple maps can help me find one without being obnoxious, then im okay with it as long as they don't share any data about me with the bicycle shop. I want to shop locally and support my local businesses, rather than shop online.
"Stuffing ads into the Maps app" makes it sound evil, even if we have no idea how it's going to look.
SatansMaggotyCumFart@piefed.world · -17 pts · 135d
I think this is great news.
Apple has been providing an amazing service for free for too long and they deserve to finally make some money.
XLE@piefed.social · 14 pts · 135d
On top of the literal $100 billion a year they already make? The poor souls.
wreckedcarzz@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 135d
those poor scrappy startups, they need to finally turn a profit
Imgonnatrythis@sh.itjust.works · 12 pts · 135d
Finally somebody here standing up for the little guys.
moakley@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 135d
That's a good point, but is it free? Can I use it without giving Apple any money, or do I need to have an Apple product to run it on?
9tr6gyp3@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 135d
https://maps.apple.com/
SatansMaggotyCumFart@piefed.world · 0 pts · 135d
I'm pretty sure you can run maps on a hackintosh so I think you can run it without giving Apple any money.
frongt@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 134d
Can I run it on my Apple IIe?
ayyy@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 134d
Sure! Step one: tape an iPad to the screen.
FlowerFan@piefed.blahaj.zone · 6 pts · 134d
Is that you, Tim?
Can you please bring back the mini, at least every few years like the old SE? I missed my chance to buy one.
SreudianFlip@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 134d
Best I can do is the SE/30, in peach, tangerine, and cerulean.