6 ms·

Does anyone use OpenStreetMap on Android with any success? I'd be grateful to hear of any maps/directions apps that I can use as a replacement in this category.

by jaryd 13y ago

milliams 13y ago
http://mapswith.me http://mapswith.me has become very popular recently. I haven't used it much myself so I can give you a proper comparison. Otherwise, OsmAnd is open source and can be found in the F-Droid repository.
- jaryd 13y ago
  I'm giving mapswithme a try right now. I love that I can download all of the maps that are relevant to me, and then use it without an internet connection.
  - yummysoup 13y ago
    Because its maps are offline, I've used it on a plane to track flight progress
karl42 13y ago
I'm using http://osmand.net/ http://osmand.net/ The UI is not perfect, but it has lots of useful features, like bike navigation and offline usage.
- justincormack 13y ago
  The UI is horrendous! I would use OSM but it is so terrible I can't. I use it when I dont want to go online, but it is truly awful.
  - okasaki 13y ago
    "Horrendous!" "truly awful"? Can you elaborate on what exactly is wrong with OsmAnd's UI to elicit such a strong reaction? I use it myself and don't have any problems with it. It seems about the same as any mobile app with comparable complexity.
    - justincormack 13y ago
      To search you press the menu, select search, select search by name (not the top item), get a box called "filter" with an almost invisible search button and where enter does not do a search. If it doesn't find any matches it just leaves a blank screen as if nothing has happened. Oh and if you pressed return first it wont find anything as the carriage return is part of the query so it doesn't match. When I finally get the results of my query for "Hammersmith" it tells me that 309km away (some mistake, more like 3.9km) there is "Subway Station District Line;Hammersmith & City Line", and then the same result repeated around 150 times some with slightly different naming, and at varying distances from 309-328km away before it gets to other results in Hammersmith. And you are trying to use this on a phone in the rain, you just give up and go back to google maps even though the data is worse. EDIT: And if you select one of these it appears to be in Barking, as it found every station on the Hammersmith and City Line, although that is not 300km long.
      - okasaki 13y ago
        Granted, I've never used it in a hurry. Also, my previous experience with maps was Garmin's City Navigator, which I thought was okay, but it was much worse than OsmAnd. I actually still use have it as a backup because it can run continuously for two days on two AA batteries.
    - the_french 13y ago
      The problem is expectations. When I pull up my map application, I want to find a position on it, usually navigate to it, and do so quickly. Having to navigate menus containing way too many unnecessary options slows me down and discourages most people from using it when gMaps has a simpler interface. Additionally, the maps seem very cluttered with useless information (for immediate navigation). Perhaps the best option would be to get rid of some of the features, since more features != better application. In the end though complexity isn't an excuse for a difficult interface.
  - rlpb 13y ago
    > The UI is horrendous! I'm not sure how it could remain as featureful as it is and improve the UI. So I'm quite happy with it.
- dochtman 13y ago
  I tried to install it (from the Play Store), but for some inexplicable reason the install hangs on my N4.
deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
stakent 13y ago
I've downvoted you by mistake. Sorry. I do use Navit [1] offline navigation which I belive uses offline maps based on OpenStreetMap. GUI is a bit quirky, but it works. Offline maps are downloaded from the application. I use simply snapshots apks from Navit's download page [2]. I've encoutered some bugs in the maps for new build roads. New means few weeks, but it otherwise works very good. It can be used as car navigation because energy consumption is rather fast so connecting to a car charger is a must. [1] http://www.navit-project.org/ http://www.navit-project.org/ [2] http://download.navit-project.org/navit/android/svn/ http://download.navit-project.org/navit/android/svn/
eli 13y ago
I use MapDroyd when I travel internationally because it downloads whole countries for offline use. The interface leaves a bit to be desired though.
Piskvorrr 13y ago
Locus Pro + vector maps as offline maps. Not using anything at all for navigation, so I can't help you there :(
rakoo 13y ago
I personnaly use OSMAnd, but the UI can be... demanding. Another app that has been praised by a lot of people is CityMaps2go [0], both on Android and iOs. While the application is not open-source (which is why I don't use it), the underlying data comes from OSM, so by using this application you're fighting for OSM. [0] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ulmon.android.citymaps2go https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ulmon.andr...
- mverwijs 13y ago
  +1 on OSMAnd. Indeed, the navigation works great IF you can remember how to work the UI. Never the less, I'm still in awe as how well accurate OSM is (in the Netherlands + Belgium).
dagw 13y ago
I use osmand and it works, but the UI is far behind Google maps. Truth be told Osmand is a fall back for when gmap fails rather than a first stop. The number one huge win for Osmand is offline searching for points of interest. Being able to to pull up a list of all playgrounds close to where I am right now is invaluable when traveling with a hyperactive 3 year old.
ZeroGravitas 13y ago
It's not a generic "Google Maps" replacement but CycleStreets is a UK-based, cycle-routing/maps app that draws from OpenStreetMap for their map data. I'm guessing there's a bunch of other niche apps, that do the same kind of thing (e.g. I'm vaguely aware of Wheelmap for wheelchair users).
Trufa 13y ago
I work at BikeCityGuide, we make a Navigation System specialized for bikes. We are based on OSM, and while not perfect, we are pretty satisfied with it. If you want to give it a try to see how it looks, you can see it here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.bikecityguide https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.bikecitygu... (you can test it for free and if anyone is interested in coupons let me know) One of the main advantages for us is that we made an in-house routing algorithm so routing is done on your phone, that means that you don't need an internet connection while routing, but for that we need to download the maps, of course this is not possible with proprietary maps like Google Maps. At the moment we're only in Europe and the map quality has been pretty good. We're are having some problems with some cities, like Madrid with the direction of the streets, but you know what's awesome, that when we get a mail from a customer telling us that this and that is wrong, we can reply them in a couple of hours telling them that the issue was fixed and it will be deployed in update.
fnordfnordfnord 13y ago
No, though I would very much like to. Fairly often I drive in areas where good cellular coverage and good map coverage are spotty or even completely absent. I would love an easy to use app that I could run that would allow me to upload data. I also like OSM for the freely-downloadable-ness. Driving in dark (no data) areas I want to download in advance whatever map data is available; and Google makes that much more painful than it need be.
FlyingSnake 13y ago
komoot (http://en.komoot.de/ http://en.komoot.de/) is quite popular in Germany.
rwmj 13y ago
Yes, I use OSMAnd+ (the paid for version of the free OSMAnd app). Search sucks, but I routinely use it as a replacement for Google Maps and the quality of OpenStreetMap itself is just brilliant. Also being able to download whole countries and use it completely offline.
asciimo 13y ago
Are there any Android or iOS apps that allow the user to submit corrections to the OSM database?
- chrismorgan 13y ago
  OSMAnd does. (I'm not sure precisely how it works or whether it works when you're offline, but it allows you to "report a bug".)
  - helicoidal 13y ago
    Edits are stored localy on your phone/tablet, and sent to osm (along with GPS traces you could have recorded) when you manually hit "send data" while a connection is available
  - asciimo 13y ago
    Thank you. Contributing to OSM will be much more gratifying than contributing to Google via Ingress was.
bad_user 13y ago
I've been using the app created by Skobbler, mentioned in the article: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.skobbler.forevermapng&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.skobbler.f...

Does anyone use OpenStreetMap on Android with any success? I'd be grateful to hear of any maps/directions apps that I can use as a replacement in this category.

by jaryd 13y ago

Does anyone use OpenStreetMap on Android with any success? I'd be grateful to hear of any maps/directions apps that I can use as a replacement in this category.

milliams 13y ago

http://mapswith.me http://mapswith.me has become very popular recently. I haven't used it much myself so I can give you a proper comparison. Otherwise, OsmAnd is open source and can be found in the F-Droid repository.

jaryd 13y ago
I'm giving mapswithme a try right now. I love that I can download all of the maps that are relevant to me, and then use it without an internet connection.
- yummysoup 13y ago
  Because its maps are offline, I've used it on a plane to track flight progress

karl42 13y ago

I'm using http://osmand.net/ http://osmand.net/ The UI is not perfect, but it has lots of useful features, like bike navigation and offline usage.

justincormack 13y ago
The UI is horrendous! I would use OSM but it is so terrible I can't. I use it when I dont want to go online, but it is truly awful.
- okasaki 13y ago
  "Horrendous!" "truly awful"? Can you elaborate on what exactly is wrong with OsmAnd's UI to elicit such a strong reaction? I use it myself and don't have any problems with it. It seems about the same as any mobile app with comparable complexity.
  - justincormack 13y ago
    To search you press the menu, select search, select search by name (not the top item), get a box called "filter" with an almost invisible search button and where enter does not do a search. If it doesn't find any matches it just leaves a blank screen as if nothing has happened. Oh and if you pressed return first it wont find anything as the carriage return is part of the query so it doesn't match. When I finally get the results of my query for "Hammersmith" it tells me that 309km away (some mistake, more like 3.9km) there is "Subway Station District Line;Hammersmith & City Line", and then the same result repeated around 150 times some with slightly different naming, and at varying distances from 309-328km away before it gets to other results in Hammersmith. And you are trying to use this on a phone in the rain, you just give up and go back to google maps even though the data is worse. EDIT: And if you select one of these it appears to be in Barking, as it found every station on the Hammersmith and City Line, although that is not 300km long.
    - okasaki 13y ago
      Granted, I've never used it in a hurry. Also, my previous experience with maps was Garmin's City Navigator, which I thought was okay, but it was much worse than OsmAnd. I actually still use have it as a backup because it can run continuously for two days on two AA batteries.
  - the_french 13y ago
    The problem is expectations. When I pull up my map application, I want to find a position on it, usually navigate to it, and do so quickly. Having to navigate menus containing way too many unnecessary options slows me down and discourages most people from using it when gMaps has a simpler interface. Additionally, the maps seem very cluttered with useless information (for immediate navigation). Perhaps the best option would be to get rid of some of the features, since more features != better application. In the end though complexity isn't an excuse for a difficult interface.
- rlpb 13y ago
  > The UI is horrendous! I'm not sure how it could remain as featureful as it is and improve the UI. So I'm quite happy with it.
dochtman 13y ago
I tried to install it (from the Play Store), but for some inexplicable reason the install hangs on my N4.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

stakent 13y ago

I've downvoted you by mistake. Sorry. I do use Navit [1] offline navigation which I belive uses offline maps based on OpenStreetMap. GUI is a bit quirky, but it works. Offline maps are downloaded from the application. I use simply snapshots apks from Navit's download page [2]. I've encoutered some bugs in the maps for new build roads. New means few weeks, but it otherwise works very good. It can be used as car navigation because energy consumption is rather fast so connecting to a car charger is a must. [1] http://www.navit-project.org/ http://www.navit-project.org/ [2] http://download.navit-project.org/navit/android/svn/ http://download.navit-project.org/navit/android/svn/

eli 13y ago

I use MapDroyd when I travel internationally because it downloads whole countries for offline use. The interface leaves a bit to be desired though.

Piskvorrr 13y ago

Locus Pro + vector maps as offline maps. Not using anything at all for navigation, so I can't help you there :(

rakoo 13y ago

I personnaly use OSMAnd, but the UI can be... demanding. Another app that has been praised by a lot of people is CityMaps2go [0], both on Android and iOs. While the application is not open-source (which is why I don't use it), the underlying data comes from OSM, so by using this application you're fighting for OSM. [0] https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ulmon.android.citymaps2go https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ulmon.andr...

mverwijs 13y ago
+1 on OSMAnd. Indeed, the navigation works great IF you can remember how to work the UI. Never the less, I'm still in awe as how well accurate OSM is (in the Netherlands + Belgium).

dagw 13y ago

I use osmand and it works, but the UI is far behind Google maps. Truth be told Osmand is a fall back for when gmap fails rather than a first stop. The number one huge win for Osmand is offline searching for points of interest. Being able to to pull up a list of all playgrounds close to where I am right now is invaluable when traveling with a hyperactive 3 year old.

ZeroGravitas 13y ago

It's not a generic "Google Maps" replacement but CycleStreets is a UK-based, cycle-routing/maps app that draws from OpenStreetMap for their map data. I'm guessing there's a bunch of other niche apps, that do the same kind of thing (e.g. I'm vaguely aware of Wheelmap for wheelchair users).

Trufa 13y ago

I work at BikeCityGuide, we make a Navigation System specialized for bikes. We are based on OSM, and while not perfect, we are pretty satisfied with it. If you want to give it a try to see how it looks, you can see it here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.bikecityguide https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.bikecitygu... (you can test it for free and if anyone is interested in coupons let me know) One of the main advantages for us is that we made an in-house routing algorithm so routing is done on your phone, that means that you don't need an internet connection while routing, but for that we need to download the maps, of course this is not possible with proprietary maps like Google Maps. At the moment we're only in Europe and the map quality has been pretty good. We're are having some problems with some cities, like Madrid with the direction of the streets, but you know what's awesome, that when we get a mail from a customer telling us that this and that is wrong, we can reply them in a couple of hours telling them that the issue was fixed and it will be deployed in update.

fnordfnordfnord 13y ago

No, though I would very much like to. Fairly often I drive in areas where good cellular coverage and good map coverage are spotty or even completely absent. I would love an easy to use app that I could run that would allow me to upload data. I also like OSM for the freely-downloadable-ness. Driving in dark (no data) areas I want to download in advance whatever map data is available; and Google makes that much more painful than it need be.

FlyingSnake 13y ago

komoot (http://en.komoot.de/ http://en.komoot.de/) is quite popular in Germany.

rwmj 13y ago

Yes, I use OSMAnd+ (the paid for version of the free OSMAnd app). Search sucks, but I routinely use it as a replacement for Google Maps and the quality of OpenStreetMap itself is just brilliant. Also being able to download whole countries and use it completely offline.

asciimo 13y ago

Are there any Android or iOS apps that allow the user to submit corrections to the OSM database?

chrismorgan 13y ago
OSMAnd does. (I'm not sure precisely how it works or whether it works when you're offline, but it allows you to "report a bug".)
- helicoidal 13y ago
  Edits are stored localy on your phone/tablet, and sent to osm (along with GPS traces you could have recorded) when you manually hit "send data" while a connection is available
- asciimo 13y ago
  Thank you. Contributing to OSM will be much more gratifying than contributing to Google via Ingress was.

bad_user 13y ago

I've been using the app created by Skobbler, mentioned in the article: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.skobbler.forevermapng&hl=en https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.skobbler.f...