• mlg@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Gmaps has been actual hot trash for way the hell too long now.

    GraphHopper, OSRM, and Valhalla all blow Google’s shitty routing algorithm out of the water.

    OSMAnd really the only mobile app competitor worthy of putting gmaps out of its misery. The only problem is it still uses a renderer from the stone age and has lackluster address data despite the fact that said data is available for free online from several open source mapping projects (there’s some nice github scripts that can import ir for you).

    Garmin forgot to invest in mobile technology. Sygic went to crap. Waze is just Gmaps+. Maps.me died even harder than Sygic.

    It’s 2024 and yet some of the best navigation tech I’ve seen is from 15+ year old devices.

    Edit: Also Android Auto can go to hell.

      • mlg@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        +1 for Organic Maps though I feel it’s lacking in some basic features.

        Still renders much better and smoother than OSMAnd.

        • manmachine@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Yeah. OsmAnd (at least for me) suffers from the rather typical opensource thing that it can do lots of things and can be configured in a myriad of specific ways, and to use it you have to dive into it to configure them; Organic Maps, on the other hand, does less, but much slicker and simpler.

    • hogmomma@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      I’ve been using Gmaps since forever and can say I’ve never had any problem with it. I mean, it took me to the business office instead of the main entrance to a theme park once, but I can hardly fault it for that. Calling it actual hot trash just seems so out of nowhere to me. It’s a fine product that I’ve had great experience with.

        • hogmomma@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          It’s great on road trips! About a decade ago, my wife and I loaded up the car and just sorta started heading south. We were on the road for about four weeks using nothing but Yelp and Gmaps. It was great!

      • mlg@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        Practically speaking, a dedicated head unit that runs its own software or a head unit that simply mirrors the output from a phone.

        Both exist but the former has become rare in terms of quality UI and Navigation

    • Aux@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      Nothing beats Google Maps because Google Maps is the only app that can reliably navigate you using public transport, walking and cycling all over the world.

        • Aux@lemmy.world
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          2 months ago

          Show me an app which will allow me to travel between Riga and Sigulda as well as Google Maps does.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            2 months ago

            Since I have no idea what routes there are available, I can’t possibly do that. I have no idea why you would even expect me to be able to regardless of the existence of Google Maps.

            • Aux@lemmy.world
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              2 months ago

              Since I have no idea what routes there are available, I can’t possibly do that

              But that’s the point of Google Maps! You don’t have to know any routes. You just pick a start point and the end point and it will guide anywhere in the world (well, except for North Korea). And it even works across borders! I can ask it to guide me from my home in London to Louvre in Paris and it will tell me how to get there, how to buy tickets for all transport modes, etc.

              I have no idea why you would even expect me to be able to

              I understand that you live in the US and the only time you left your country was in your wildest dreams. But guess what - people living outside of the US usually travel abroad. And it is extremely helpful to find a way to get from the outskirts of Barcelona to Mont Serrat while having your breakfast at your hotel.

              As you can see, there’s no replacement for Google Maps. Some apps can do car navigation, some apps have limited transport navigation inside specific cities, but none do everything at once and as good as Google Maps.

              P.S. Oh, and Google Maps have live GPS tracking of public transport for some transport networks in specific cities.

              • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                2 months ago

                I’m a dual citizen with the UK, I have another option for German citizenship, and have left the U.S. many, many times. What a silly thing to assume.

                Let me guess- next you’re going to say “Canada doesn’t count” without asking me which countries I’ve been to.

                That doesn’t mean I know the most efficient route between two cities in some country I haven’t been to any more than you do. I’m guessing you can’t tell me the most efficient route between Bloomington and Martinsville without any sort of map.

                You are trusting that Google Maps will always give you the most efficient route. That doesn’t necessarily mean that they are.

                • Aux@lemmy.world
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                  2 months ago

                  Look, mate, cool story and all, but once again - tell me which app can give me a route between Riga and Sigulda using public transport?

                  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                    2 months ago

                    And again, I don’t know. That doesn’t mean you can assume Google Maps has the best route, especially now that they’re intentionally diverting people.

                    I notice you haven’t said anything else about your lie that I never leave my country, by the way. Anything you wanted to add there?