It depends on what you use Google Maps for. For straight-up navigation, CoMaps is good. And I mean it’s good at the navigation itself for the most part. Although sometimes when you enter in an address it thinks you’re referring to the entire street. But most of my favorite restaurants and a lot of locations that have been open for a while aren’t on it, which I’ve been happy to add. Locations that have been closed for a while are still on it, which I’ve been happy to delete.
But if you use Google Maps for discovering places or looking at pictures or seeing reviews of businesses, or if you do a lot of multi-stop trips, comaps doesn’t have those features even in the littlest, tiniest bit, and in that sense there is legitimately no (Foss) competitor. For instance, if you’re out and about on a vacation and you’re trying to find a restaurant, nope, comaps is useless for that. If you’re trying to plan a trip by seeing what’s around somewhere, nope, useless for that too.
It really just focuses on navigation itself, and it does a pretty good job of that. I use it to get around when I drive.
I really want CoMaps to be a valid choice. Its maps look are absolutely great, like Ordnance Survey Maps. But I don’t normally use it for the reason I experienced again just today. I use Android Auto in the car with my GrapheneOS phone, but my phone SIM reader failed the other day, so this phone has no internet. Google Maps refused to work without internet. So I just used CoMaps again today. This is in the UK, and lack of traffic info matters. It does routes down the little country roads that are technically 60mph, but you literally can not drive that fast down them. Even with a death wish. But it plans them in assuming that speed. This results in bad routes and inaccurate times. (Though I do enjoy country roads, when used well.)
So you’re saying that you can’t drive this speed limit on those roads because of the amount of traffic, right? not because of some sort of geographic feature or shape of the roads?
Yeah…hard to imagine much of a way to get traffic updates in comaps, or any OSM project honestly. It seems like it would have to be a separately maintained service. And either way, I’m guessing the number of users that would buy into something like that just wouldn’t be enough to get meaningful data most of the time. Especially since it pretty much relies on tracking people’s locations, which I feel like is counter to the purpose of most people’s reason for getting into those services.
I think they do mean that the layout of the road means you can’t drive at the speed limit. In the UK we have quite a lot of rural roads that are technicallylegally 60mph limit roads, but they are in reality very narrow, windy roads that you couldn’t safely drive on at 60mph. I guess CoMaps goes by speed limit for estimates so it measures these roads as if they are 60mph but in reality you may only be able to go 20mph without dying
Is there a good alternative for maps?
It depends on what you use Google Maps for. For straight-up navigation, CoMaps is good. And I mean it’s good at the navigation itself for the most part. Although sometimes when you enter in an address it thinks you’re referring to the entire street. But most of my favorite restaurants and a lot of locations that have been open for a while aren’t on it, which I’ve been happy to add. Locations that have been closed for a while are still on it, which I’ve been happy to delete.
But if you use Google Maps for discovering places or looking at pictures or seeing reviews of businesses, or if you do a lot of multi-stop trips, comaps doesn’t have those features even in the littlest, tiniest bit, and in that sense there is legitimately no (Foss) competitor. For instance, if you’re out and about on a vacation and you’re trying to find a restaurant, nope, comaps is useless for that. If you’re trying to plan a trip by seeing what’s around somewhere, nope, useless for that too.
It really just focuses on navigation itself, and it does a pretty good job of that. I use it to get around when I drive.
I really want CoMaps to be a valid choice. Its maps look are absolutely great, like Ordnance Survey Maps. But I don’t normally use it for the reason I experienced again just today. I use Android Auto in the car with my GrapheneOS phone, but my phone SIM reader failed the other day, so this phone has no internet. Google Maps refused to work without internet. So I just used CoMaps again today. This is in the UK, and lack of traffic info matters. It does routes down the little country roads that are technically 60mph, but you literally can not drive that fast down them. Even with a death wish. But it plans them in assuming that speed. This results in bad routes and inaccurate times. (Though I do enjoy country roads, when used well.)
On the plus side, it worked without internet!
So you’re saying that you can’t drive this speed limit on those roads because of the amount of traffic, right? not because of some sort of geographic feature or shape of the roads?
Yeah…hard to imagine much of a way to get traffic updates in comaps, or any OSM project honestly. It seems like it would have to be a separately maintained service. And either way, I’m guessing the number of users that would buy into something like that just wouldn’t be enough to get meaningful data most of the time. Especially since it pretty much relies on tracking people’s locations, which I feel like is counter to the purpose of most people’s reason for getting into those services.
I think they do mean that the layout of the road means you can’t drive at the speed limit. In the UK we have quite a lot of rural roads that are technically legally 60mph limit roads, but they are in reality very narrow, windy roads that you couldn’t safely drive on at 60mph. I guess CoMaps goes by speed limit for estimates so it measures these roads as if they are 60mph but in reality you may only be able to go 20mph without dying
CoMaps fulfills most of my needs
HERE WeGo (aka HERE Maps) is not FOSS, but has traffic, satellite view, offline mode, etc. Some POI might be outdated (due to it being not Google)
No, everything I have tried is worse in significant ways. Let me know if you find a genuine alternative.
Comaps is actually not bad. It’s limited in info to what’s on OSM, but good news is you can help by updating the spots you frequent!
Doesn’t have satellite view or bus/tram navigation
It also plans routes longer than Google maps, and 90% of the places you want to go don’t come up in search.