Organic Maps and OpenStreetMaps \ stacker news ~tech

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2016 sats \ 52 comments \ @siggy47 23 Sep tech

Since switching to Graphene OS, I have been using Organic Maps for navigation. Honestly, I haven't used it too often, since whenever I travel long distances it's usually with my family, and my wife and daughter will navigate with their iphones while I do the driving.

I did use it the other day, and once again I was overwhelmed by how well it works. The android version doesn't have voice directions yet, so I probably took my life in my hands driving my old manual transmission Toyota, shifting while staring at my phone's screen. I survived, though, and continue to be impressed with the accuracy and ease of use.

I want to give back in addition to donating. Does anyone on SN contribute to mapping on OpenStreetMaps? At the end of the trip I was prompted to identify and provide information regarding a stop I made.

I would like to get involved and do more.

https://organicmaps.app/

https://www.openstreetmap.org/about

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343 sats \ 5 replies \ @Bee_Aye 23 Sep

you cam get voice nav if you download a voice kit. i downloaded RHVoice

63 sats \ 1 reply \ @hueso 23 Sep

try sherpa-onnx for better voices

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bee_Aye 23 Sep

ill check this out, although i do enjoy the scottish robot that takes me to my destination 😂

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @nerd2ninja 23 Sep

^This

When I looked into it, its because the app is trying to find your system's text to speech application (it doesn't expect to need to have its own) and grapheneOS doesn't ship with one by default. The RHVoice program license prohibits it from coming preinstalled on anything.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @siggy47 OP 23 Sep

Thanks. How does it work for you?

43 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bee_Aye 23 Sep

works well for me, i live in US

94 sats \ 1 reply \ @Golu 23 Sep

It just doesn't have the link roads and traffic feature like Google's, else it seems better. I'm in my car right now and testing it for Indian conditions.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 OP 23 Sep

Yes, it won't have all of Google's bells and whistles.

86 sats \ 0 replies \ @kpa 23 Sep freebie

Organics maps is great! That's what I'm using

84 sats \ 12 replies \ @Coinsreporter 23 Sep

Thank you! I'm gonna contribute on it for my region. It looks bit shaddy for my place. May because nobody has ever used it in the Himalayas.

20 sats \ 11 replies \ @siggy47 OP 23 Sep

I bet you will be surprised. It is very popular among hikers. Please let me know what you find out.

84 sats \ 10 replies \ @Coinsreporter 23 Sep

Sure. I've just downloaded it for Android. It should be same on Graphene or on Android, I guess?

20 sats \ 9 replies \ @siggy47 OP 23 Sep

Yes

84 sats \ 8 replies \ @Coinsreporter 23 Sep

I'm impressed. You'll only have to download the data for places you actually roam around.

20 sats \ 7 replies \ @siggy47 OP 23 Sep

Yes. At first I only downloaded local region. Then I got curious😀

84 sats \ 6 replies \ @Coinsreporter 23 Sep

It surely needs a lot of contribution. It even doesn't show the street to my house. While we have a 2 way bypass road running accross the blue line and there are many connected streets as well. I'm showing you two pics here 1 from openstreet and one from Google maps

20 sats \ 4 replies \ @siggy47 OP 23 Sep

Wow! Much work needs to be done. The US is much more complete.

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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @dollarparity 23 Sep freebie

I’ll stop by and visit next time I’m in town. I’ll have a sign that says @Coinsreporter

45 sats \ 0 replies \ @wingalt 23 Sep

The best part of organics maps is that it keeps working while the google maps users lose data coverage and get lost, best lesson for only trusting your own device over using someone else's computer (i.e., cloud)

43 sats \ 10 replies \ @Satosora 23 Sep

Do you remember how bad google maps was in the beginning?

20 sats \ 9 replies \ @siggy47 OP 23 Sep

I don't. I always tried to use GPS maps sparingly. I thought it would make me dumber. I also hate google. This crowd sourced project, though? I'm all in.

43 sats \ 8 replies \ @Satosora 24 Sep

I dont use it much either. I have always liked printing mapquest out. Makes me sound old lol

20 sats \ 7 replies \ @siggy47 OP 24 Sep

Yes. I did enjoy printing those mapquests. My wife and I got into a very embarrassing to talk about argument while driving a few weeks back. It was all about her insisting that we use the iphone gps, and me insisting that I knew where I was going.

43 sats \ 6 replies \ @Satosora 24 Sep

DId you get lost? When I go out with my friends, sometimes my mapquest papers are on the seat. They always ask me what they are and give me the wtf face.

20 sats \ 5 replies \ @siggy47 OP 24 Sep

I am impressed. Even I gave up mapquest probably 8 years ago. I do know one other person who still does it.

43 sats \ 4 replies \ @Satosora 24 Sep

Mapquest usually gives accurate results. Plus if you zoom in enough on the map, you can see alternate routes just in case. Its never let me down. I also remember when gps was too expensive to have on your phone, so people bought garmins for their car.

20 sats \ 3 replies \ @siggy47 OP 24 Sep

Oh, I forgot to answer your question. No, I didn't get lost. My wife insisted on using the GPS, then entered the wrong address. It's still a sore subject 😀

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43 sats \ 10 replies \ @john_doe 23 Sep

I contribute to Openstreetmap after using OSMAnd. The nice thing is as a contributor I have free downloads after updates so I get the latest version of maps. There is a fun aspect to mapping, you can modify or create roads, buildings, etc. Sometimes it can be hard to add something so you can refer to their wiki where names are clearly defined. Sometimes things like police checkpoints on the road may not be defined but really you can add many details like speed cameras, etc. Compared to Google map in my opinion, when it goes into off-road, Openstreetmap wins Google map wins in most of the cases but this is because of the network effect. And you may find many details on Openstreetmap in parks not found in Google map. For instance in Seoul it may still win but there are many things wrong so for someone hesitating to use Openstreetmap it may make more sense there to switch and start contributing.

When I don't find something on Openstreetmap I bookmark it and then map it later at home, it is a good way to remember also. You could try the same.

21 sats \ 9 replies \ @siggy47 OP 23 Sep

Thanks for this detailed reply. Do you use voice?

43 sats \ 8 replies \ @john_doe 24 Sep

No I don't, because on a motorbike I can't hear it distinctly. However it is setup and it uses the language defined in Settings > System > Languages > Text-to-speech output. It think I tried using RHVoice, Espeak and Google Text-to-speech with Network access disabled but not 100% sure. On my side on OSMAnd I have it on the side menu under Navigation > Settings > Sound > Language. There you can select the language and turn it on.

By the way on very long distances you may have problems like the navigation never loading. In this case you can try to add a subsequent destination in the middle and it generally works for me. If it doesn't in the past I have used the other implementation of the rendering engine (opengl for 3d rendering disabled).

21 sats \ 7 replies \ @siggy47 OP 24 Sep

Thanks for the tips. I use the Organic android APK and it says voice is disabled.

43 sats \ 0 replies \ @john_doe 24 Sep

Oops no sorry in my other message I said the FDroid version worked for me but it was actually the web version. Try this one. Since I use OSMAnd and I didn't search thoroughly for Organic Map I am not sure what they mean by web version but maybe they use react native for this one and Java for the other.

43 sats \ 5 replies \ @john_doe 24 Sep

I just tried Organic Map, I tried the FDroid version. So it said also voice disabled to me too, I didn't understand why. So I restarted the phone, now it works. I tried with English only though.

Try to restart your phone if you didn't and you already installed a tts software.

21 sats \ 4 replies \ @siggy47 OP 24 Sep

Thanks for the suggestion. I have had it loaded for over a year on my phone, though, and have installed updates. I'm not optimistic.

43 sats \ 3 replies \ @john_doe 24 Sep

Sorry if it doesn't work for you. Try to go in a Bitcoin meetup they may be able to help you directly. Also where I have been there were meetups for Openstreetmap you could try there too to ask.

21 sats \ 2 replies \ @siggy47 OP 24 Sep

I tried an updated version through @franzap's Zapstore. That one also says unavailable. I'll keep trying.

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43 sats \ 1 reply \ @Rock 23 Sep

There is a gamified version of OSM contributions that I like called "SCEE". There's an achievements system and leaderboard, where you just identify things around you like road surface types and crosswalks, etc. Apparently it's a modified version of an app called Street Complete.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 OP 23 Sep

I'll check it out

43 sats \ 0 replies \ @TresDMan 23 Sep

Well, this is pretty cool. I'll have to take it one step back and check out Graphene first.

43 sats \ 0 replies \ @DesertDave 23 Sep

I use organic maps on lineage os. I really like it. It tends to be way off on time to arrival but that doesn't matter to me. Generally I don't do driving directions. I just look at a map to navigate myself.

43 sats \ 0 replies \ @StillStackinAfterAllTheseYears 23 Sep

My area's so well-mapped that I've yet to find an opportunity to contribute to the mapping (even in the forest trails), but I keep hoping I'll find one!

43 sats \ 0 replies \ @TheMorningStar 24 Sep

Thanks for sharing. I'm going to try this map. Hope it works fine in India.

43 sats \ 0 replies \ @Radioed1t 30 Sep

Yes I like it for navigating areas with spotty cell service. Has good maps for the dirt roads I travel on!