I would love to learn how the routing algorithm works. This is probably one of a few opensource-but-in-production implementation of such kind of algorithms. here seems no doc in the repo unfortunately.
Still, it's very exciting to see they started from a "Helicoptor Router" [1] five years ago! The author clearly knew what they were doing.
Valhalla is fantastic, especially since it can run completely offline. I had a project where I had to calculate isochrones of different radii around 10s of thousands of points. Using an online API would have taken several hours to run and cost a non-trivial amount of money.
By downloading the OSM data and running Valhalla locally I could process the data in minutes completely for free
OsmAnd has a separate routing algorithm to my knowledge (was one of the first). It is definitely not GraphHopper as I created it later and prefer the routes it creates ;) but you can study our documentation to get a rough understanding how it all works: https://github.com/graphhopper/graphhopper/blob/master/docs/... and reach out in our forum for more details.
The algorithm from maps.me / Organicmaps is ported from OSRM to Android and iOS. The CTO of maps.me that did this port left maps.me in 2017 but now seems to work on Organicmaps again: https://github.com/biodranik
I have used maps.me until a few years ago but was never really happy with the performance of the bike routing algorithm.
I've switched to Osmand [1] and BRouter [2] (both available on F-Droid) and nerver looked back. BRouter on Android is a bit tricky to set up (you need to download routing tiles in addition to the map files through a really ugly UI), but once you're done it's the best bike navigator I can think of (and it's really fast).
The BRouter profiles are highly customizable, check out Poutnik's repositories [3] for examples.
Some of his profiles and many others con be tested on https://brouter.m11n.de/ (german).
I used osmand for navigation while biking around Europe. My trick was using Google maps to plan the route and then exported to a gpx file and loaded that into osmand. Worked pretty well
OsmAnd routing works OK for biking, but I specifically meant BRouter.
The first thing I noticed was that it's a lot faster - I get the routing results almost immediately, even on a low spec phone (with the drawback that you need additional space for the routing segments).
The generated routes are a lot better, too. They make more "sense" from a bikers perspective, because BRouter is elevation-aware. It also gives tracks that are on official cycle routes a higher priority (can be disabled).
I tested it with trips I usually cycle and it calculated routes that were very similar if not identical to the ones I chose myself. That's what I expect from a good routing algorithm.
For anyone wondering, this is a fork of the rather popular app maps.me, which also uses Openstreetmap but started monetizing via increasingly intrusive ads in the past.
Just a glance at maps.me makes it clear why a fork is needed. They've launched a cryptocurrency which seems like a pretty massive red flag: https://maps.me/token/
I'm unfamiliar with maps.me or organicmaps -- what's the value prop versus just downloading a region from the Google Maps app? Is it opting out of big tech? Or is there some other capability that doesn't exist in Google/Apple's apps?
There are three main value propositions in my mind. While these could loosely be summed up as opting out of big tech, I think there is much more here than that.
1. Freedom. When using Organic Maps, you have the right to use the app in any way you choose; this includes the right to modify and redistribute the app should the developers ever start violating your principles. In fact this is exactly what Organic Maps is. Before Organic Maps, there was Maps.me; this app was also open source but became increasingly user hostile over time. Organic Maps is what happens when the users have this freedom.
2. Privacy. Even when used offline, Google Maps tracks and reports your location to Google. Organic Maps does not track and report your location to anybody.
3. Giving Back. While it is possible to suggest edits to Google Maps, these edits become part of Google's proprietary map database and can only be used in accordance with Google's ToS. This means that ultimately, Google's profits are what you are contributing to. Organic Maps, on the other hand, uses OpenStreetMap [0] and allows the user to contribute to it. Data contributed to OpenStreetMap can be freely used by anybody, for any purpose, thus benefiting all humankind rather than just one massive, US based, corporate entity that may not have humankind's interests at heart.
Opting out of Big Tech is one. Opting out of tracking is the benefit of organicmaps over Maps.me (as per organicmaps' site).
But then there's OpenStreetMap. Are you familiar with that? It's open data, which is sort of related to opting out of big tech. It's "free" like Wikipedia, nobody can forbid access to the data itself.
Practical benefits: Among OSM applications, Maps.me and organicmaps are more snappy. OsmAnd is a leading OSM application, and it just has a ton of options which is perhaps good for a power user but it's not streamlined.
And then the practical benefit of OSM itself is that while you often don't get as much info as Google Maps, sometimes you get stuff that Google misses. I think a big one is foot trails and stuff. Local enthusiasts like to walk them and fill them in on the map. I added a water reservoir in Berkeley once that was somehow not on Google Maps.
I can't speak to the two you ask about, but, eg. OpenStreetMap has far more useful data than Google/Apple maps (at least in my region). It's a functionality choice rather than privacy/ethical.
For me on Android:
In-car navigation - Waze + AmiGo;
Town centre navigation - Here/OsmAnd;
Searching - Google Maps;
Off-road, tracking, poi info, terrain, overview etc - OsmAnd (OpenStreetMap).
OsmAnd search UX sucks or I'd use it for that as well; the data is there.
Here and OsmAnd are both offline after initial setup, which you will do when you install them, no need to remember to manually prepare local tiles as with Google maps offline.
1. Maps.me and Organic Maps were initially designed for an offline experience, so they don't even try use data when I have a spotty connection. Unless you explicitly disable data, Google Maps will always try to load new tiles. This can be annoying when your reception is weak and Google renders fuzzy tiles instead of falling back on the already downloaded tiles.
2. You can't download offline maps for South Korea in Google Maps. There may be other areas in the world like this.
3. OSM data is better for hiking trails in my experience.
Also Google being an internet connection assumed on in general company makes me worry a bit about being in a situation where I need to use my offline maps and finding they were wiped in an update or something.
This. I've been rediscovering trails in my local area and recording them with my GPS watch. A quick upload and edit into OSM and hopefully others can make use of it. None of this level of detail is available elsewhere.
Yup, it's great, I used it as well. Just used the routing for jeep touring (using the mountain bike profile) and specifically routing through some places. It works great with offline maps. Also one could just download parts of a jurisdiction if it's bigger, like Northern Greece. The maps are bigger but also contain more information than Here which seems dated, lacks some newly built highway segments in Eastern Europe and will route you on national roads instead.
I read a story about some people who used Google Maps for routing in the far Eastern part of Russia, got routed through a disused road and froze to death. My in-laws were also using Google Maps when they were routed to a different place than the hotel we were supposed to stay in in Serbia, but the locals were kind enough to guide them.
Ah, this is fantastic! OsmAnd is a staple in the open source OpenStreetMap client ecosystem, but its UI is so dated and slow. MAPS.ME was a much better client, with faster and prettier UI until they started monetizing the app in the last year or so (?). Glad to see this new fork of MAPS.ME in the same privacy-first and open-source spirit of earlier clients.
Another OSM client that I've recently fallen in love with is StreetComplete. Its UI is fantastic, though it is geared towards gamification of map metadata enrichment. I wish they would do a full OSM client using whatever technology its uses in the future. It's so slick and fast even on my old phone!
I'm glad you mentioned StreetComplete, I'm a great fan of it. For those that don't know it's an Open Source Android app that shows OpenStreetmap with pins in showing where information is needed. For example tapping a pin with a bench icon will ask you, 'is this bench still here?' and you just tap yes or no. Then there are more complicated ones like the opening hours of a shop. It's a fantastic way to contribute to OpenStreetmap, and it's a bit of a 'gateway drug' to more advanced editors such as the one on the OpenStreetmap website. For example, I might be entering house numbers on a local street and find that the buildings on the map don't match what's really there, and then I'll go into the editor the OpenStreetmap website to correct the map. The only shortcoming of StreetComplete is that the map isn't refreshed very often, but despite that I highly recommend it.
I traveled Asia and Europe for 20 months with my off-road camper and Maps.me (OSM data) was one of my two tools for routing and (geographical) trip planning. And I missed only a hill shading feature, nothing else. For the hill shading (orientation in the mountains) I used another app.
It is amazing how well it works. Driving tracks in the Gobi (steppe in Mongolia) or in the Lut (desert in Iran)? Well, OSM data is well enough that is just works.
Thank you, all the mappers out there, who contribute to the collective knowledge of humankind!
Thanks for this! The offline maps I was using were still transmitting "usage data" (aka your location) off to third parties. This is great.
Note to everyone else that you must still turn off mobile data when using this app, BEFORE turning systemwide Location Services on, otherwise LS will leak your location to Apple in realtime, as LS is not just passive GPS reception, but an Apple network service.
For privacy, the only safe way to enable LS is with all network disabled. Otherwise, for your location to remain private, LS needs to be off at a system level.
Note that if you have mobile data service on, even with LS off your mobile provider gets approximate location data. This is why I stopped putting SIM cards in my smartphones.
Other F-Droid users here might know that the previously existing fork of Maps.me (called "Maps") apparently stopped providing data files. Perhaps they're unable to continue hosting. (In any case, I appreciate their work.)
So, it's exciting that there's another option available again.
Fantastic news. The OSM data is unrivalled for bushwalking tracks. While I am prepared to navigate without technology, I rarely have to because a phone with GPS and offline data gets me back so on track so efficiently.
I see it's another fork of maps.me, I hope it will gain traction. Are there any relation between maps.me and mapy.cz (they look too similar other than using OSM)? I use the latter for quite some time since the maps.me fork that was on F-Droid stopped updating. I love mapy.cz and I would like to give them money so they would not share the same fate. I also like that mapy.cz is from my southern neighbors.
Maps in all of the above are pleasing for the eye and very informative, being offline-capable is an icing on the top, but it is a requirement when hiking. I love to explore areas with them. I start to have an itch to map a few paths in my neighborhood in OSM.
It says in the description that it's 'Windy Maps by Seznam.cz' (which appears to be some kind of news site?), but the developer is listed as 'Windyty SE', and the developer website is listed as https://www.windy.com/, which appears to be a weather map. Doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
Sorry, I guess I must have gotten redirected when logged in or something like that. It is indeed the app you are linking to and the developer of both mapy.cz and windy maps is indeed Seznam.cz, which is the "Czech Google" as much as Yandex is for Russians for example. They are the #1 Czech news/email/search/maps/... provider and have been since the nineties. Windy.com is an interactive weather map company, but also founded and owned by the same owner as Senznam.cz, and I guess they tried to combine the English rebrand of the maps with the ability to show interactive weather, which is indeed a bit odd.
I'm okay with it, because as an American I'm inherently distrustful of eastern European TLDs like cz ru etc but Windy is a truly amazing weather website so it inspires confidence (and having a mobile version has been needed for awhile imo)
Nice to see that the original intent of maps.me could be restored. For those who knew what Mail.Ru Group is (the company who bought maps.me at 2014), it was obvious that the app is going to become a junk very-very fast.
It was at some point last year replaced by something horrible with no shared ancestry, and after a month or two seemed to be back to a maps.me based version (Which it still is, I think, with a few other additions have to do with ads and some kind of wallet).
I'm using it since their beta release in Google Play (in March?).
It works very well for me, I like it much more than OSMAnd (which is slow and too complicated).
I used MAPS.ME for a while but sponsored POIs, banking ads, tracking etc. was too much for me. Fortunately it's all gone in Organic Maps fork :)
maps.me was sold and the app went downhill pushing some crypto wallet stuff and a ton of tracking/affiliate/ads stuff.
I briefly looked over the github commits earlier when this fork started and there seemed to be dozens if not hundreds of commits just to remove all those nasty integrations.
I have a question about hiking maps.
Suppose I want to climb a hill, down a valley and back up, I "do not" want a straight line routing as I suppose osmand does it last I tried.
Well osmand does show elevation data but "distance" for up a slope is more than "down a slope"
The app basically provides the same maps as they do in paper form, which shows extreme levels of detail for our countryside including pretty much every trail and all elevation data. I believe it even does snap-to-path routing inside national parks, which is pretty cool.
Ordnance Survey maps have been the standard for hiking in the UK for decades, and it’s a bit of a shame there doesn’t seem to be an equivalent elsewhere.
Try Mapy.cz it have nice travel route functionality, offline maps and I really like "Trips nearby". It generate trip on the fly based on what distance you want to go that end at the same point you are starting from.
While you can do it that way, for hiking I tend to create routes based off of a map and add useful waypoints. For instance track intersections, River crossings, summits, etc. This is how you would do it with map + compass old school. I load those routes on my Garmin instinct watch, record the actual track, and use downloaded maps on my phone ( Google maps / government issued topographic maps and Open Street map).
For hiking nothing really beats paper maps. It's so much faster to navigate by when you're used to it, since you don't end up in this constant loop of checking your phone, quickly losing awareness. I guess most people have experienced this when using their car GPS. Another thing I've seen happen quite frequently is that people under-/overestimate how far away something is because they're changing the map resolution back and forth.
I also suggest people look up local alternatives. A good example of excellent digital offline maps for Norway is ut.no or norgeskart.no, with their respective apps.
This is a great attitude, but there's a lot of people out there who don't find orienteering fun, they just want to get into and back out of nature safely: the natural surroundings are what's fun to them and they don't want to spend the time double checking the map and compass.
It’s boggling that I cannot tell my phone to keep an offline copy of a 20km radius for 10 Gb for example. That way, I would be sure to always have a local map, and I could download maps of foreign locations to visit.
With OrganicMaps you can (and are asked) to download an offline copy of the map data, based on OpenStreetMap.
I use it whenever I'm out of country (and also a lot when not roaming).
It's good but in the UK open Street maps is insufficient for hiking.
The best map app for Android is back country navigator Pro. Why? Because it allows local caching of the Bing tiles for ordnance survey maps.
I'm off to the lake District next week and have compared windy maps, organic maps, osmand, back country navigator Pro, Google maps, and several others. Only the os tiles on back country navigator will suffice (level of detail) for the peaks in the lake District.
I'd love to see something that uses the country equivalents to ordnance survey in a single global app... For hiking at least
As an OSM mapper I've been "dogfooding" OSM for years now. I've successfully used it for walks all over Great Britain including the Peak District and Lake District. It hasn't really let me down. If I want to use a right of way that isn't on there, I'll add it myself. I've also been able to find things that aren't on OS maps, like public toilets and car parks.
What specifically have you found lacking in OSM compared to OS?
> What specifically have you found lacking in OSM compared to OS?
The ability to pick two peaks in the lakes in the more rugged area, and to see enough detail of the land (rather than paths) such that I can see whether it is possible to navigate between them.
I.e. how granular does the waterways go? Are crags and cragginess fully shown? Are ancient stone walls shown? Do the contours show sufficient detail to indicate a stream that in a different season may be following but isn't considered a waterway all year round?
Open Street maps allow me to read the paths, roads, main waterways.
I think the main thing we lack for walking is field boundaries. Certainly here in the Cotswolds the actual path network is not far off parity with Ordnance Survey, plus OSM has more metadata (surface quality, stiles/gates, etc.) and is routable. In less popular areas of the country we still have a way to go with the paths themselves.
This might vary from area to area, but I don't generally find field boundaries are necessary. There have occasionally been times where it would have been useful to know which side of the hedgerow the path is on, but I find most of the time my instincts are good enough.
Fantastic, maps.me as it used to be in the past! This requires iOS 12 though. Does anyone know a similar app allowing offline maps that would still work on older version (like iOS 10)? (EDIT: I still have the old maps.me client on a old iPad, but it's impossible to update the maps or download new ones, as they are not any more available on maps.me server, and I couldn't find the source data for that exact version to "inject" it via a web proxy forcing the download from the "right" location)
Does anyone know if there is a map app that allows the user to change route weighting options?
For example, as a cyclist who enjoys riding both gravel roads and low traffic sealed roads, I'd like to be able to weight these types of roads above bike paths and main roads.
I've been looking for something like this for a while but I'd also be willing to build something out if say mapbox or another mapping platform has the options to allow route weighting. Does anyone know if this is the case?
You can do this with OSMAnd, last I knew with both the internal routing engine and also with BRouter.
You can create a custom routing profile, and also compile maps using your own data transforms (so if the maps that they produce don't include some information from OSM that you value, the software is flexible enough to make different maps just with configuration).
> compile maps using your own data transforms (so if the maps that they produce don't include some information from OSM that you value, the software is flexible enough to make different maps just with configuration)
Could you please elaborate a bit on that sorcery? I've never heard of this possibility, so don't even know where I would read up on it or what keywords to search for. (Though in retrospect of course it makes sense that someone would figure out how to make maps for open-source software.)
Generally the trade-off for customisable routing is speed. If weightings are fully adjustable, you can't easily calculate routing shortcuts, so you have to explore the full graph each time (within the constraints of the broad area you're routing through).
I run https://cycle.travel/ which isn't customisable but is pretty fast, because the routing algorithm it uses (Contraction Hierarchies, via the OSRM routing engine) precalculates shortcuts. It likes low-traffic roads and traffic-free trails - you might find it to your tastes.
This is great!
I bought Garmin North America from App Store many years ago for $60, and they secretly removed support for it last year and it no longer runs on iOS 14.
This looks great. Ever since maps -the Android app quit working.
Meanwhile has anyone tried:
Mapy.cz
It's a great free app too. I'm pretty sure based on the same open source maps.
Works great offline too.
Any free open source marine chart mapping programs?
> Any free open source marine chart mapping programs?
Dunno how far into the seas OSM data goes, but OsmAnd has an entire mode for boat navigation—I gawked at it for an hour upon the discovery, looking at lighthouse locations and boat routes on the river and nearby seawater of my city.
The app also has some kind of functionality for horse riders, though either the data is slim in these parts, or I don't know what to look for.
Great to see the original project being continued. But... Where do I donate/pay?
This is one of my all-time favorite apps, and while the governance/contribution policy already look promising, I'd hate for it to get derailed by monetization issues again.
This is an awesome app. Solid, easy interface, can't yet vouch for the accuracy of the maps, but suppose any errors in the data are not their fault anyway.
As much I prefer to you such offline solutions, does anyone know any non-invasive way to overlay live traffic conditions to calculate best route to destination?
Pretty sure the question is, where you would get detailed data on traffic conditions. This is a case where surveillance capitalism of Google/Yandex/etc. wins, as they just have millions of data points from the same people that are using the maps, in addition to whatever data they may buy from cities.
Still, it's very exciting to see they started from a "Helicoptor Router" [1] five years ago! The author clearly knew what they were doing.
[1] https://github.com/organicmaps/organicmaps/commit/7123f71eec...