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Organic Maps is a free Android and iOS offline maps app for travelers

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Re: Organic Maps is a free Android and iOS offline maps app for travelers

#11

Post by Lammy »

Offline maps were a game-changer for me when exploring off the beaten path and I will keep this app in mind if I ever get a newer old phone. I realize even projects-targeting-older-phones want to move on eventually, but I am mildly sad to see this require Android 5 as someone whose dedicated offline car device runs Android KitKat (4.4) :)

Granted the newest OsmAnd requires Android 6 so I'm still using the older 4.0.9 release of that application and side-loading map updates since the built-in map update UI broke:

https://f-droid.org/archive/net.osmand.plus_409.apk

  wget -mkEpnp --accept-regex 'Us_' --content-disposition -e robots=off "http://download.osmand.net/list.php"
I haven't used it but an app called Navit supports all the way back to Android Gingerbread (2.3): https://f-droid.org/packages/org.navitproject.navit/

Re: Organic Maps is a free Android and iOS offline maps app for travelers

#13

Post by c2lsZW50 »

sebtron wrote: post #10

How does it compare to OsmAnd? https://osmand.net

It's much snappier and has (in my opinion) a good, modern and intuitive UI, but lacks lots of features compared to OsmAnd, for which reason it's not ready for my use cases (for example, it doesn't even support official trail hightlights/styles.

Re: Organic Maps is a free Android and iOS offline maps app for travelers

#14

Post by lxgr »

yardstick wrote: post #9
emrehan wrote: post #5

Organic Maps gives me peace of mind that in case cellular networks are down, I can find my way around.

Google Maps have supported offline maps for many years.

Downloading larger regions on Google Maps is somewhat frustrating compared to this, though.

Re: Organic Maps is a free Android and iOS offline maps app for travelers

#15

Post by oktoberpaard »

yardstick wrote: post #9
emrehan wrote: post #5

Organic Maps gives me peace of mind that in case cellular networks are down, I can find my way around.

Google Maps have supported offline maps for many years.

“Transit, bicycling, or walking directions are unavailable offline.”

Source: https://support.google.com/maps/answer/6291838

That might not be a problem in many cases, but at least Organic Maps doesn’t seem to have this limitation.

Re: Organic Maps is a free Android and iOS offline maps app for travelers

#16

Post by RetroTechie »

sebtron wrote: post #10

How does it compare to OsmAnd? https://osmand.net

It's more lightweight than OsmAnd - install size & startup / rendering is quicker.

For storage that won't matter much as the maps take up way more space than the app (eg. NL map ~1 GB).

OsmAnd has many more features & settings. Some useful, but (imho) more often getting in the way. For example I've had many times where I accidentally placed a marker on a map, and there were 1001 things to do with that marker, except... simply delete.

Or (on OsmAnd) you change a setting, to find it only applies to a specific map. Again: may have its uses, but too fiddly for my taste / usage.

Otoh: OsmAnd has eg. points of interest, which can show nearest grocery stores, gas stations & so on. Veeerry useful. Organic Maps doesn't have that (yet?) afaict.

OsmAnd appears to be updated more often. Not sure I'd call that a feature, tbh.

It would be nice if apps like these could share map data. Anyone know if that's possible / easy, and if so, how?

Re: Organic Maps is a free Android and iOS offline maps app for travelers

#17

Post by ianburrell »

c2lsZW50 wrote: post #13
sebtron wrote: post #10

How does it compare to OsmAnd? https://osmand.net

It's much snappier and has (in my opinion) a good, modern and intuitive UI, but lacks lots of features compared to OsmAnd, for which reason it's not ready for my use cases (for example, it doesn't even support official trail hightlights/styles.

I use Organic Maps on my iPad where it is great for viewing maps. My phone has OsmAnd+ cause the extra features are useful for adventures.

Re: Organic Maps is a free Android and iOS offline maps app for travelers

#18

Post by lxgr »

carlosjobim wrote: post #4

This app is essential if you're travelling in places with poor reception. Especially since Apple Maps do not work offline. Before you write your response telling me I'm wrong, put your telephone in airplane mode and try searching for a place in Apple Maps. You can't, it shows you a fake search field.

Just tried this and it works for me.

That said I still love Organic Maps!

Re: Organic Maps is a free Android and iOS offline maps app for travelers

#19

Post by dang »

Reposts are fine after a year or so but this project had a lot of discussion in the last year, so the current thread counts as a dupe by HN's standard. See https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html.

In 2023 Organic Maps got its first million users - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38746187 - Dec 2023 (88 comments)

I took a took week trip with Organic Maps - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37975725 - Oct 2023 (1 comment)

Organic Maps: An open-source maps app that doesn't suck - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37592712 - Sept 2023 (128 comments)

Organic Maps - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37347447 - Sept 2023 (485 comments)

OrganicMaps is Android and iOS offline maps for travel without trackers or ads - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27576882 - June 2021 (116 comments)

Organicmaps: Android and iOS offline maps app for travelers, tourists, hikers - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27543012 - June 2021 (113 comments)

Re: Organic Maps is a free Android and iOS offline maps app for travelers

#20

Post by carlosjobim »

nortlov wrote: post #6
carlosjobim wrote: post #4

This app is essential if you're travelling in places with poor reception. Especially since Apple Maps do not work offline. Before you write your response telling me I'm wrong, put your telephone in airplane mode and try searching for a place in Apple Maps. You can't, it shows you a fake search field.

Offline maps introduced in iOS17: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT213829

You cannot search in the offline maps, only pan and zoom or show businesses nearby in pre selected categories.
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