Google maps alternative and a faster aurora store? šŸ˜„

Im just wondering if there is a good private and fast alternative to google maps, yes i know about openstreetmaps but i cant find a download.

also my internet is horible and i mean horrible so aurora store isnt really a good option for play store. Is there a faster option? Just asking.

Depending on your threat model, it may be worth it to just use Bing Maps or Apple Maps. At least your searches and travels aren’t being tied to your Google account if you use that. Of course you also have to be aware of whether you have accounts related to those other offerings.

There is also MapQuest, but I don’t think it’s trying to be privacy respecting. Here’s an alternative. ĀÆ_(惄)_/ĀÆ

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@InternetGhost thanks dude, have a good night

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I believe this is an in between if needed, but I’d stick with a web browser version if not.

GMaps WV (Google Maps WebView Wrapper)

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I don’t think there’s any better Aurora Store alternatives but there are these map apps, the first one is on f-droid.
Organic Maps is really good and uses OpenStreetMaps
Fdroid link to organic maps
And there’s Magic Earth which I haven’t used but heard it’s pretty good. (Only on aurora store)
Magic earth Google play link

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I only use OSM now. It have pretty good functionality, although some things are a little counter-intuitive if you are used to google maps.

Just so grateful to be de-googled!

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F-droid has OSM I believe… and I find F-droid to be faster than Aurora.

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I hate to break it to you but I don’t think any alternative app store is going to make your internet faster :slight_smile:

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Ive been 100% happy with ā€œHERE WeGoā€. Its literally a perfect replacement. You can even download the maps and use it offline. Just make sure to disable telemetry stuff when prompted at the first time opening the app

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  • For iOS or Android use OSMAnd (FOSS, Free and Paid, no tracking, no crap).
  • Browser: Qwant Maps works fine and to my taste one of the best OpenStreetMap based services
  • Car Navigation: TomTomGo (paid, not FOSS, excellent navigation and fairly ok privacy policy)
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Yeah, I use OrganicMaps, works great!

Only issue is that it doesn’t display traffic info so if you want to use it in the car, you may get stuck in traffic unfortunately. Most privacy-respecting maps don’t have traffic info either :slightly_frowning_face:

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Not what i meant. Lol :laughing:

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Fdroid is faster.

Divest team has built an Webview wrapper with strong CSPs (protecting your privacy and security) for Google Maps. Check that out.

Sandboxed Play Store.

Organic and Maps & GPS Navigation OsmAnd+ (Global Mobile Map Viewing & Navigation for Offline and Online OSM Maps)
OsmAnd~ | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository both are missing one thing which MagicEarth seems to handle better, street number address search.

Most of the time I want to enter an address exactly not just the road.

I have yet to find a FOSS maps app that works the way I expect it to. All I want is to type an address and get directions on how to get there. For some reason each app I use does not have a clear way to input an address, and then if I can input an address the app can’t find the address.

For now, I just use Google Maps. If you turn off different settings on your Google account like not tracking your location history and not letting the data be used to show you ads, as well as only letting Maps use location services when in use, then I think you’re most of the way there. My goal is to make the Maps app as much like a dumb GPS as possible.

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MagicEarth has no trackers, free, not GSF dependent, no adds, you can search an address.

I can recommend Organic Maps as an alternative for Google Maps for both iOS and Android.
There is also no really faster version of Aurora Store, but you are able to login with an own Google account instead of a public one, so you can skip the sometimes pretty long waiting when starting Aurora Store and maybe also have a better experience in general with Aurora Store because the public accounts are sometimes pretty weird and buggy.