Hi everyone im new to the OSM community but eager to contribute. Im curious how many of you use OSM on android phones and how you interact with it. I’m interested both in terms of contributing but also using it for its map functionality e.g. navigation. Based in my early research so far the most popular apps seem to be:
- OsmAnd
- Vespucci
- Maps.me
- StreetComplete
- Organic maps
- Magic Earth
Im really looking for your opinions on what apps are worth using and for what purpose. Do you just use one app or multiple apps for different purposes. Which app would you recommend to your tech savvy friend and which to your mum? There’s probably a bunch more i haven’t mentioned so please also highlight them and any strengths or weaknesses they have. Thanks 😊
Organic Maps is the maintained fork of Maps.me. See the wikipedia article for details.
Fully degoogled myself over a year ago, tested every OSM-based map software I could find, here’s my short conclusion:
For non-techy users who wanna get rid of Google maps but want an easy no muss no fuss, Magic Earth. IMO, it’s the closest you can get to Google maps without using Google.
Has basic traffic routing, pretty good with addresses and locations, clean UI, overall very solid app.
I also use OSMand, it’s both better and worse than Magic Earth. It’s NOT for beginners IMO, the defaults are pretty horrible. Messy UI, confusing interface, slow and cluttered. But OSMand is a tinkerer’s app, if you have the time and interest, you can make it work very well and look pretty good too.
I have all of them installed except maps. me… kind of looking for the best one myself
Editors:
Streetcomplete is for quickly contributing small details - very easy and user friendly.
Vespucci is for advanced editing - advanced. It has its uses on the go but i personally prefer using the web editor for bigger contributions
Maps:
Osmand. Feature packed but can be slow.
Organic - lighter weight. Updates the map monthly (or longer)
Magic earth - not open source, but that gives it the ability to pull traffic data from closed sources therefore apparently very good for driving navigation
