31–40 of 77 posts
This really matters in map apps when you're on the road. Apple Maps is all very nice with transit planning but without a solid net connection it lies there mutely. Organic Maps (and others) that use downloaded OSM data work well with nothing more than GPS. You can get a transit plan (trains & trams & buses, and the transfers among them) without up-to-the-minute arrival info.
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Google and Apple maps have an offline mode. Just select the area you want downloaded and that's that.
Have you ever tried Organic Maps or CoMaps? Last time I tried with Google I could only download a relatively small area, and it would only be available temporarily. With CoMaps, I can download entire countries and keep them forever. That's pretty different.
This is true for me, but I wonder if it’s true for most. An alternative framing is not that apps moved to the cloud because they were faster or more convenient but that apps moved to the cloud because they became “free” by you paying with your attention or data. It’s worth reframing the hypothesis to “The future is (paid) local app” and see if you still think it holds.
This is true for me, but I wonder if it’s true for most. An alternative framing is not that apps moved to the cloud because they were faster or more convenient but that apps moved to the cloud because they became “free” by you paying with your attention or data. It’s worth reframing the hypothesis to “The future is (paid) local app” and see if you still think it holds.
The whole paying with your data thing should become a payment option, and governments should enforce the availability of multiple payment options with no unreasonable price differences across the board. (And there are ways to find out what your data is worth in dollars.)
I think some people who grew up with web apps didn't know local native apps preceded them.
I really loved the time when I could install shareware on my PC and I was sure that it would just keep working because nothing would update it behind my back; and that I didn't have to pay a monthly subscription fee to keep using it; and of course also that it would not send my data back to the software vendor. The internet is great for many things, but also has huge downsides.
It's probably what I hate most about Android- apps shouldn't need an update as often as they do.
This article looks a bit superficial to me. The cloud has definitely advantages, like having the same data on all devices and it provides some kind of backup. The mentioned downsides could be adressed by better software archticture or e2e encryption.
> This article looks a bit superficial to me. Yes it is, I totally agree. > The cloud has definitely advantages, like having the same data on all devices That's not an advantage for the user at all, is it? > and it provides some kind of backup. You can backup user data in an offline-first app. Better even: you can let the user backup their data themselves! > The mentioned downsides could be adressed by better softwar…
Of course it is an advantage. I tend to access most of my apps and services from both the PC and the smartphone, having data shared across the two is a deal breaker for the very vast majority of them.
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Have you ever tried Organic Maps or CoMaps? Last time I tried with Google I could only download a relatively small area, and it would only be available temporarily. With CoMaps, I can download entire countries and keep them forever. That's pretty different.
Yes, and Organic Maps and Maps.Me do the same - download entire countries or regions. It is SO tremendously useful when traveling. Have not tried CoMaps yet.
Maps.me used to be an open source project, when they took it closed source and tried to commercialize it, the last open source version was forked and is now known as Organic Maps.
Then the Organic Maps maintainer started acting sketchy, introduced a paid partnership with Kayak and generally not behaving in a very community minded way. Organic Maps was forked and the new version is now known as CoMaps.
We'll see how long this one lasts.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I really loved the time when I could install shareware on my PC and I was sure that it would just keep working because nothing would update it behind my back; and that I didn't have to pay a monthly subscription fee to keep using it; and of course also that it would not send my data back to the software vendor. The internet is great for many things, but also has huge downsides.
Well, thanks to evergreen and auto updating systems, there's no guarantee that X app will be the same today and tomorrow. It's probably what I hate most about Android- apps shouldn't need an update as often as they do.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Google and Apple maps have an offline mode. Just select the area you want downloaded and that's that.
Have you ever tried Organic Maps or CoMaps? Last time I tried with Google I could only download a relatively small area, and it would only be available temporarily. With CoMaps, I can download entire countries and keep them forever. That's pretty different.
The area you can download is still pretty large - whole cities, big chunks of countryside. I'd put money on the fact its good enough for most people's uses.