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I'm currently trying to switch from Google Maps for my smartphone, not because maps are more detailed in geek-dense areas (although they are), but because Googl
by fab13n 13y ago
I'm currently trying to switch from Google Maps for my smartphone, not because maps are more detailed in geek-dense areas (although they are), but because Google seems to have hired a bunch of drunken lemurs as its usability team.
I mean, I value simplicity, especially on the go, and the OSM-based softwares I've tried are by no mean perfect. But with recent versions of Google Map, I have difficulties:
* bookmarking my current location, especially when offline
* getting a scale displayed on my map (a scaleless map was a mandatory Fail in geography classes)
* giving itinerary boundaries through clicks
* sharing a marker as a public URL
* getting rid of research results once I've seen them
And whenever I find a contrived way to do one of those things, more often than not, a couple of weeks later it's taken out by a new "simplification". I'll grant you that maps looks nicer and nicer, but it becomes less and less usable at an alarming speed.
- georgemcbay 13y agoI agree 100%. As Google Maps/Nav moved from 6.x to 7.x it got prettier but terrible to use. I'm still kind of shocked that they fucked up the usability of Nav so bad and still haven't fixed it a year later.
- sixothree 13y agoAre there any nicer OSM clients for Android? Because the one I seem to have tried was abysmal at searching for addresses.
- chrismorgan 13y agoIt's possible that the problem is that OSM lacks the data. For example, in Melbourne, Australia, only a handful of suburbs have any form of street number data, and the street/suburb mapping is overall moderately poor. (If you struggle hard enough you can probably get around it, e.g. in OSMAnd you can search for a street name and then "search in nearby towns/suburbs" and it'll tend to show the right one.)
- helicoidal 13y agoOsmand (https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=net.osmand.plus https://f-droid.org/repository/browse/?fdid=net.osmand.plus) is pretty good at this
- molind 13y agoThere is a lot of OSM-based maps, free and paid. I'm developer of one of those apps: http://galileo-app.com http://galileo-app.com It works offline. Sharing based on url-scheme and our service. Search result destroyed as soon as you clear search field. :) And many more features. Check it and tell here or directly via email info@galileo-app.com your opinion or ideas about improvement. :) p.s. It's iOS only.
- kingnight 13y agoThe app looks great (according to the website — I will be checking it out shortly). I looked it up on my iPhone and for some reason the search results showed a different (old?) icon. Tapping into the detail view shows the latest icon — a tremendous improvement there! :-)
- molind 13y agoGlad, you like it. :) We use old icon for iOS6 devices. For those who don't like flat design we keep old good 3D icon. And there is also a confusing bug in the App Store. It shows old icon for iOS7 devices, and new one for iOS6. But when app is installed it displays correct icon.
- ajtaylor 13y agoI was super excited until I saw the iOS only. Any chance of an Android version?
- molind 13y agoMay be later this year. Now we focused on best possible iOS app. Engine is written in C++, and relatively easy to port to Android, but app itself also requires lots of work.
- lifeisstillgood 13y agoLooks good - will go for an in app GPS tracking to say thank you for writing it - and if the NSA and Apple know where I am at least I should keep a copy too
- deleted 13y ago[deleted]
- lnanek2 13y agoAgree. I really suffered moving over to the new Google Maps UI with far less functionality. I hadn't thought about switching, but maybe I should.
- bashinator 13y agoHere's a 2.5-year-old thread on Google Product Forums begging them to add a scale indicator to the Maps app. https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/maps/mJEwSTNRKsk https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/maps/mJEwSTNR...
- mcherm 13y agoThey used to have one (it was an optional add-on from Googke Labs). They got rid of it. It's not the bad UI thasr bothers me most about Google Maps, it's the fact that they are clearly trending toward WORSE UI not better.
- wink 13y agoWow, I am shocked. I just tried OsmAnd again when visiting FOSDEM and trying to save on my roaming plan, but Google Maps on Android was so much superior for me. It's hard to search for a street. It's harder to search for a Hotel The overlays (maybe I could tweak them) showed me useless things and not even the central station. I really tried to like it, but so far... not gonna happen.
- Raphael 13y agoI just checked the current version of Google Maps for Android. Looks the same as it has for many months. * long press point on map, bottom bar, Save * scale at the bottom right appears when zooming (unfortunately it disappears after a few seconds) * no idea * long press point on map, bottom bar, Share * press map closes the bottom bar. or press the back button.
- fab13n 13y agoIn all fairness, I've mixed Android issues with browser issues in my rant.
- beedogs 13y ago> I'll grant you that maps looks nicer and nicer, but it becomes less and less usable at an alarming speed. I've found this to be the trend with every Google product. Take a look at what they did to Deja News -- pretty soon Maps won't even exist, either.
- tripzilch 13y ago> And whenever I find a contrived way to do one of those things, more often than not, a couple of weeks later it's taken out by a new "simplification". This seems to be a running gag for all of Google's services, the past few years. Like moving around and changing the "log out" button (did I say button, it's a link now), then for a while inconveniencing people circumventing that via Private Tab. It's awful. It's like they're trying to numb you into compliance to go with whatever flow the UI-of-the-week directs you into.