Live data from Hacker News

CoMaps – FOSS Offline Maps

comaps.app

71–80 of 221 posts

Re: CoMaps – FOSS Offline Maps

#71
How does this compare with the F-Droid version of OsmAnd?

[Edit: To answer my own question a little bit, I found a post from September 2025 that compares OsmAnd and Organic Maps (which this project forked from): https://blog.firedrake.org/archive/2025/09/OSMAnd_vs_Organic... .

I can't find anything more recent or for CoMaps specifically, other than auto-created "alternatives" pages. I would absolutely love to hear from anybody who has tried both!]

Re: CoMaps – FOSS Offline Maps

#72
post #5

Relevant thread from yesterday's thread on the original project this was forked from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48794575 https://itsfoss.com/news/organic-maps-fork-comaps/ > Despite being advertised as a community-driven project, key decisions, including financial management, partnerships (with Kayak, for instance), and the inclusion of proprietary components in the code were made by a small group of shareh…

Nitpick: Organic Map is not original project. It's a fork of Maps.me.

Another nitpick: at least OM is made by people who made MapsMe. CoMaps is not - developed by a community, whatever it means.

Re: CoMaps – FOSS Offline Maps

#73
CoMaps starts maximally zoomed out (showing the whole world). Organic Map starts showing my neighbourhood.

That‘s the simple reason I‘m using Organic Maps and not taking a fifth look at CoMaps (and I downloaded CoMaps yesterday after the HN thread).

Re: CoMaps – FOSS Offline Maps

#74
I use CoMaps, it works like a charm on GrapheneOS + Android Auto.

I have also contributed to the OpenStreetMap by adding POI and requesting logic to be changed.

The only major issue which I got used to but sucks, is the search when it does not involved famous places or streets or both.

Streets will be shown as minor or major and alike, I do need to use Google Maps Browser version to find the place, and the on CoMaps manually navigate to said place.

But the fact that I get a map update a week, sometimes two maps update a week which other apps will take months and subscription, that alone is worth hustle.

Re: CoMaps – FOSS Offline Maps

#75
I've read both Organic Maps thread https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48794446 (as it's my favorite map app I use for years around the world, and I'm an active OSM contributor as well) which quickly became overrun with CoMaps followers trash-talking about OM, now this thread appears.

What I find interesting to see, and I think it's not just me who can see this - that basically every mention of CoMaps and why it is good and Organic is bad is it not only seems to be mostly written not by a regular users, but by people who contribute to CoMaps (!) - they all fail to show why exactly anybody should migrate from established app with authors who have years of experience of making Maps.Me and OM - to a basically a no-name (based on downloads) clone who is made by... "community"? We don't even know who that is, original developers and people with experience are not involved.

All the talk is not about functionality of the app or anything which is actually important to users - it's all basically complaints about some kind of _internal drama_, add some misleading stuff about "dying project" or "lost community" from some commenters. So many cries about "ads" which are not actually ads but affiliate links in hotels POI which nobody clicks anyway, it's so mild it's just weird to lament about, at least I as a long time user see no issue at all.

I can advise CoMaps community to focus on developing the app which can actually make real users migrate and use because of functionality, speed or other things that matter, instead of making your community look toxic because of this trash-talk. Show real improvements in comparison with OM - make live maps updates like OSMAnd, make bookmark folders with specific colors tied to it, make app barely eat any battery, make convenient and powerful interface to add data to the map - then people will move. But for now Organic Maps is totally fine and many people like me see no reason to move from it anywhere.

Re: CoMaps – FOSS Offline Maps

#76
post #73

CoMaps starts maximally zoomed out (showing the whole world). Organic Map starts showing my neighbourhood. That‘s the simple reason I‘m using Organic Maps and not taking a fifth look at CoMaps (and I downloaded CoMaps yesterday after the HN thread).

CoMaps remembers the zoom and position of your last session and returns there on launch

Re: CoMaps – FOSS Offline Maps

#77
post #75

I've read both Organic Maps thread https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48794446 (as it's my favorite map app I use for years around the world, and I'm an active OSM contributor as well) which quickly became overrun with CoMaps followers trash-talking about OM, now this thread appears. What I find interesting to see, and I think it's not just me who can see this - that basically every mention of CoMaps and why it is…

I dont know anything about this app besides your framing of "out-of-nowhere community builds an app" but am sometimes suspicious of nation states building these types of open source project forks. It's so easy now, and the cost seems incredibly low, to get into very intimate workflows (of very specific types of people).

We've already seen attackers simulate whole communities for attacks on individuals, and I'm just wondering when we're going to see someone simulate a whole open source community in a longer play, as an kickstart on a longer term strategy of compromise

Re: CoMaps – FOSS Offline Maps

#79
Just used it the other day while I was back-country hiking. Set some markers for some landmarks and calculated hiking distance/duration between them. CoMaps is awesome! It's also the reason I contributed to OpenStreetMaps for the first time a while ago, contributing the name of a landmark/structure up in a local mountain.

Re: CoMaps – FOSS Offline Maps

#80
post #75

I've read both Organic Maps thread https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48794446 (as it's my favorite map app I use for years around the world, and I'm an active OSM contributor as well) which quickly became overrun with CoMaps followers trash-talking about OM, now this thread appears. What I find interesting to see, and I think it's not just me who can see this - that basically every mention of CoMaps and why it is…

> What I find interesting to see, and I think it's not just me who can see this - that basically every mention of CoMaps and why it is good and Organic is bad is it not only seems to be mostly written not by a regular users, but by people who contribute to CoMaps (!) - they all fail to show why exactly anybody should migrate from established app with authors who have years of experience of making Maps.Me and OM - to a basically a no-name (based on downloads) clone who is made by... "community"? We don't even know who that is, original developers and people with experience are not involved.

I don't think you read enough, I saw plenty of real problems with Organic maps described.

Post reply on HN