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Organic Maps

organicmaps.app

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Re: Organic Maps

#311

Post by Humbly8967 »

chickenWing wrote: post #239
vintagedave wrote: post #55

This was the first time I’d heard of the app, but due to comments in this thread I downloaded it. * Website, ethos: straightforward. “Old internet” vibes, love it. They seem very active, have a presence on every platform, very impressive * The app seems very nice. Simple clear UI. Lots of features. I need to experiment for more than a few minutes but I get the impression it could replace Google Maps for me, especiall…

Seeing all the praise in this thread, I downloaded the app, and I must admit I'm disappointed and confused at the effusion, but maybe I'm doing something wrong. I tried a very basic task of getting driving directions to a specific address and that doesn't seem to be supported. For some streets, it will give me directions to the street as a whole, but that's not useful for long streets. Other streets don't seem to exi…

If you are interested in contributing to OSM to make the data better in your region, you can even make basic edits from within Organic maps, including adding addresses.

Re: Organic Maps

#312

Post by bsimpson »

ericfr11 wrote: post #261
rob74 wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sounds a bit American to me honestly - I would think that in Europe (and especially in Amsterdam) there would be enough cyclists to make the data usable. OTOH, they may not have the necessary privacy settings enabled (I think that's a minority among car users too). Of course it's also a vicious circle: if Google Maps is bad for cyclists, few cyclists will be using it, so you won't get the data you need to make i…

The ex-Googler is most likely talking about the product as a whole, across the globe. It would be hard to justify features dedicated to a small group of users overall (with different goals/expectations), especially while keeping privacy (and data sharing). That being said, Google maps works great for cyclists in the US ...

It's maddening that tens of millions of users is "give up and do something else" territory for Google.

Re: Organic Maps

#313

Post by mdaniel »

blendergeek wrote: post #279
sanderjd wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like a great system! US "zip codes" are pretty useless by comparison.

The US ZIP+4 code (five digit zip code with four digit extension) does this. But nobody uses the ZIP+4 it seems.

That's a bit chicken and egg; I have my ZIP+4 in 1Password (mostly so I don't forget what it is) but that also means it autocompletes the full ZIP+4 into form fields. I'd wager it's easily 90% of the forms that flag the field as "invalid," forcing me to delete the dash and 4 numbers. And I'm not talking about the setups where there is a separate textbox for the +4, I mean the inputs are always "but a zipcode is 5 digits hurr"

So, with users being actively taught not to provide it, of course no (reasonable? :-D) person is going to know it and thus provide it to make it available for use

Re: Organic Maps

#314

Post by okok3857 »

nani8ot wrote: post #177
vintagedave wrote: post #55

This was the first time I’d heard of the app, but due to comments in this thread I downloaded it. * Website, ethos: straightforward. “Old internet” vibes, love it. They seem very active, have a presence on every platform, very impressive * The app seems very nice. Simple clear UI. Lots of features. I need to experiment for more than a few minutes but I get the impression it could replace Google Maps for me, especiall…

What I especially like about Organic Maps and OSM in general is how searching for "water" shows nearby water fountains. Depending on the country and region it helps if your running out of water while hiking. It's not necessarily the best water but at least where I live drinking it is usually not a problem (especially if your drinking a small amount). Water is also listed in the categories tab next to WiFi, Pharmacies…

This was an incredible aspect of the app to have when in Rome this summer! So many public water sources, and it was so, so hot....

Re: Organic Maps

#315

Post by orblivion »

2143 wrote: post #299
orblivion wrote: post #294

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Alternate thought just came to mind - is your map data on OrganicMaps up-to-date?

I hope so. I first heard about it (from this very post on HN), downloaded, and installed the app all within the past 1 hour. And when I zoomed into my city, it downloaded the map information.

In that case it's as up-to-date as OrganicMaps has to offer, which should be within a couple weeks of OSM's main database.

Re: Organic Maps

#316

Post by ex-googlemaps »

johannes1234321 wrote: post #229
rob74 wrote: post #196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sounds a bit American to me honestly - I would think that in Europe (and especially in Amsterdam) there would be enough cyclists to make the data usable. OTOH, they may not have the necessary privacy settings enabled (I think that's a minority among car users too). Of course it's also a vicious circle: if Google Maps is bad for cyclists, few cyclists will be using it, so you won't get the data you need to make i…

How many cyclists use Google Maps to navigate? I guess (with no true facts) most cyclists know their primary routes and when going somewhere new have a rough idea and just check for the last part. Whereas car drivers often use navigation all the time to see traffic and alternatives, which are non-issues for cyclists. Thus even with many cyclists the information they collect is less.

Exactly.

Add that there’s no Android or Google Auto for bikes, you usually don’t charge while biking, etc. The people who do need to look up their cycling route typically do it beforehand, so in the end even in cycling-heavy regions there are very few using active navigation.

Delivery workers will in regions where that’s common, but they likely use company-provided or other local solutions.

Re: Organic Maps

#317

Post by twic »

coolgoose wrote: post #110
mcv wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had it for a while, but I don't use it nearly enough. I still rely on Google Maps for most things, until Google Maps lets me down. Which it does mostly when I'm on vacation. Although now that I think about it, Google Maps lets me down on vacation because I'm in unfamiliar territory and I have no idea how to correct for the mistakes it makes. When I'm at home (in Amsterdam) it makes plenty of mistakes too, but I'…

The amount of mistakes Google makes in the Netherlands when it comes to bikes is mind-blowing. If you don't know the area or manually check the maps it takes you trough a lot more car places that it should do.

I've had some horrendous experiences using Google Maps for cycling in the UK too. Mostly it's very good, and it's impressive how good it is, really, but it's the times it gets it wrong that you remember.

Routing me through a park in the middle of the night, when it was closed, was one. Taking me on a detour to avoid a busy road, which turned to be on a farm track where the road surface was completely destroyed, was another.

Re: Organic Maps

#319

Post by ex-googlemaps »

xigoi wrote: post #302
johannes1234321 wrote: post #229

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many cyclists use Google Maps to navigate? I guess (with no true facts) most cyclists know their primary routes and when going somewhere new have a rough idea and just check for the last part. Whereas car drivers often use navigation all the time to see traffic and alternatives, which are non-issues for cyclists. Thus even with many cyclists the information they collect is less.

You think Google is watching your location only when you're using Google Maps?

The widespread assumption that Google collects all data all the time and uses it for everything is ridiculous.

There’s a labyrinth of explicit user agreements, all of which are strictly enforced, and then there are further layers of voluntary restrictions on top of that.

Yes, Google might collect location data even when you’re not using Maps (there are a lot of passionate, dedicated Timeline users), but you have to have that enabled, and even then the data can only be used in certain ways.

Re: Organic Maps

#320

Post by tuukkah »

bsimpson wrote: post #312
ericfr11 wrote: post #261

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ex-Googler is most likely talking about the product as a whole, across the globe. It would be hard to justify features dedicated to a small group of users overall (with different goals/expectations), especially while keeping privacy (and data sharing). That being said, Google maps works great for cyclists in the US ...

It's maddening that tens of millions of users is "give up and do something else" territory for Google.

Supporting sustainability, also a job for someone else. We are so lucky OSM exist, helping to perhaps save the cities and the planet.
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