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Organic Maps Turns 4: The Privacy-Focused Alternative to Google Maps
(organicmaps.app)
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this post was submitted on 20 Dec 2024
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Everything #OpenStreetMap related is welcome: software releases, showing of your work, questions about how to tag something, as long as it has to do with OpenStreetMap or OpenStreetMap-related software.
OpenStreetMap is a map of the world, created by people like you and free to use under an open license.
Join OpenStreetMap and start mapping: https://www.openstreetmap.org.
There are many communication channels about OSM, many organized around a certain country or region. Discover them on https://openstreetmap.community
https://mapcomplete.org is an easy-to-use website to view, edit and add points (such as shops, restaurants and others)
https://learnosm.org/en/ has a lot of information for beginners too.
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I'm glad their app is getting traction. I wish all map apps that use OpenStreetMap data loaded this fast (cough cough OSMand)
And I wish that they had contributed all that energy to improving Osmand (a project which AFAICT has exactly the same goals) instead of reinventing the wheel. Then we might already have one amazing app instead of one very good app (Osmand) and a mediocre one which is marginally more responsive.
I don't know what OsmAnd looked like at the time of Organic Maps being started, but IMO based on how they look, OM is much more welcoming to the average user and OsmAnd is for power users. I still keep both on my phone, but I reach for OM first nearly everytime
They are very different tools even if the underlying data is the same. Osmand is powerful and highly customisable but with a much steeper learning curve. Organic maps is easy to use with emphasis on UX/UI. I think they appeal to very different need and users.
OsmAnd isn't exactly eager to accept community help.
Also it isn't being maintained by the community. It is a project done by a company.
Admittedly I had not looked into this very deeply. Seems to be an Ubuntu-type business model.
Maybe it explains this. Projects tend to be less relaxed about breaking things when they have staff to pay. But it has its advantages as well. For example I have always got replies on the OsmAnd issue tracker. Pure community projects tend to be more chaotic and disorganized.
In any case they don't explain their income very well, I agree that's not a good look.