Discussion summary
Organic Maps emphasizes an offline-first approach, making it suitable for global users without reliable connectivity. Users appreciate its offline capabilities and privacy focus, though some critique its routing accuracy.
What the discussion says
- Supports offline use without account or tracking.
- Valued for privacy and offline navigation.
- Criticized for occasional routing issues.
“Organic Maps treating offline as a priority is the right call.”
“Downloaded a whole region before a trip and it just worked.”
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- Hacker News
- Organic Maps and its fork Comaps still lack a Web client.
We're this on https://cartes.app, trying to push the Web further (even on mobile devices) so that you don't even need an app for most use cases.
by maelito - StreetComplete is one of my favorite apps. It's like Pokemon Go mixed with Wikipedia because it gamifies contributing to OpenStreetMap, which powers (all?) mainstream opensource maps.
Looking forward to iOS support so more people can use it.
by Cider9986 - Organic mentions Open Source, but I just saw that FDroid mentions the following: "This app contains non open source components - compiled binary data files (including but not limited to .mwm map files) under a non FLOSS license"
Anyone has context on the following not hidden over Git-* issues (I was left thoroughly confused trying to understand it)?
by lexlambda - To the best of my knowledge, Organic Maps is a dying project.
CoMaps was forked from Organic Maps because of shift in how things were being done and ignored. I mean, those in IT know very well how that is ending.
CoMaps is highly active and receiving new features release by release.
If you wanna use a 5 stars app based on OpenStreet Maps: https://www.comaps.app/download/
The fact that OP just posted Organic Maps URL here with no context, and not mentioning that it is a dying project with its user base massively shifting to CoMaps, that is a red flag on its own.
by h4kunamata - The quality of the maps is getting better, much more useful and detailed than Google Maps. I find it much easier to locate myself on Organic Maps than Google Maps. For example parks are only a green blob on Google Maps, while benches, walking paths, drinking water points, toilets and other landmarks and buildings are visible on Organic Maps. I find that adding transit lines or cycling routes as an overlay is also a great feature. Even the search feature is getting broken on Google Maps, when making a search, it would show up advertised results (in red squares instead of red circles) and when browsing the map there are more advertised useless places surrounded by an almost empty map. The only advantage of Google Map is to find the best way from point A to point B and places reviews.by y04nn
- I would recommend people use comaps instead which is the actual FOSS fork. OM has a long history of malicious behaviour like quietly adding ads, turning a part of its previously open sourced code proprietary and misappropriating donations. OM has lost most of its community a year ago to comaps and are now rushing vibe coded features to compensate.by lone-cloud
- There is also CoMaps (https://www.comaps.app/) which is a fork of Organic Maps, after concern over the governance of Organic Maps https://itsfoss.com/news/organic-maps-fork-comaps/by Yacoby
- Organic Maps was my go to app for a navigation app where you can fix errors yourself immediately! So much better than having to work for free on the proprietary apps, and hope they accept your edits
There’s a fork from one year ago, CoMaps, that is gaining different features
E.g., I am adding CarPlay Dashboard support that you can test by joining the TestFlight
We are in great need of both more testers and some proper iOS devs (I am not). We’re racing to get scene lifecycle support by September, perfect opportunity if you like modernising old codebases!
by eisa01