[risico]

I've been trying really hard to get off Google Maps and almost managed to do it, but one thing that Google Maps offers and the others are not even close (at least for me) is discoverability.

For example if I am out riding some trails and then I want to pop out of the wilderness to grab a bite only Google has been able to provide good information of whats nearby (reviews help a lot as well).

Other than that I've been switching between OsmAnd and Gaia GPS (and Garmin built in device maps).

[pferde]

I guess that's country-specific. Over here, Google Maps has woefully outdated business info, apart from big names like McDonald or Starbucks. And I'm not even talking about building shapes, sidewalks, paths, or even roads.

Meanwhile in OSM, everything is much more detailed and kept up to date. I know, because I'm a mapper myself, and help keep it that way.

Google Maps seem like just another ad platform, for companies to pay if they want to be shown in higher zoom levels.

[koyote]

Just so I know for future travels: where is this and what do you use instead?

So far I have seen Google Maps be pretty useless in parts of Asia with their own software infrastructure (e.g. Korea or Japan) but it's been very useful in most Western countries.

[pferde]

One of Europe's less developed countries.

An app to use that is closest to Google Maps experience is probably Mapy.com. It has decent navigation capability for cars, bikes and pedestrians, both in and out of cities, and slick UI.

Also worth trying is CoMaps, OsmAnd or Locus Maps.

[jraph]

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45090654#45122373

[risico]

> Google Maps seem like just another ad platform, for companies to pay if they want to be shown in higher zoom levels.

I know, mostly that's my pet peeve as well and I guess I got trained to see through the noise. It is the last Google product that I am struggling to get rid off.

> I guess that's country-specific. Over here,

Where is that?

I am slowly trying to get move to OSM backed apps and hoping to put in the effort as a mapper/contributor as well.

[pferde]

I'm in one of Europe's slightly less developed countries.

And I can only recommend getting into mapping as a hobby. It got me to discover parts of my own city and region I've completely overlooked despite living there for decades, and gave me reasons to get out more.

I just wish it was easier to edit the map on mobile, but alas, nothing beats big desktop screen with a good editor and a precise input method. Mobile screens are small, and my fingers are fat. :)

[31337Logic]

I use exactly this feature (and for the exact same reason!) and Organic Maps has been more than helpful for me. Search, Categories, Food, and then View on Map.

[jraph]

Yep. And, unfortunately this is a bit hidden, but if you search "Vegetarian" it finds places where you can eat vegetarian and "Vegan" for places where you can eat vegan. I wonder how many hidden magic search strings like this there are, I'll report an issue for CoMaps to make them discoverable.

[pbmonster]

> I wonder how many hidden magic search strings like this there are

This drives me insane. I often use OSM for things like "show me all sources of drinking water along this route". But you need the magic key word.

In this case, it's certainly not "drinking water (food) and not "drinking water (tourism)". It's also not "water tab (service)". "Fountain" works mostly OK (since fountain water must be labeled as non potable by law here if it is), but sometimes the fountain will be a tiny bird bath in someone's back yard.

It's so stupid, OSM has data on publicly accessible drinking water, I know because I add them. There's even meta data on whether there's an explicit sign "potable" or not. I just haven't found that magic key word to display them.

[jraph]

For water specifically, it works well on CoMaps / Organic Maps (search > categories > water).

It's too bad we don't have a convenient UI for desktop. OSM has to be the only thing that's more convenient to use on mobile for no good technical reasons. Just nobody has done it yet.

[pbmonster]

> Maps (search > categories > water)

For my home town, that displays historic wells (deep, dry, no bucket, barred and locked) but not the little tab in the sandbox of the playground and not the public restroom in the center.

So on first sight it's less useful than "fountain". But I'll play around with it on my next tour.

[jraph]

It'd be worth checking if these nodes are actually correctly mapped. For instance, historical wells that are dry, locked, etc should probably not be labeled with amenity=drinking_water. And the missing one should probably be updated to have it.

More on this at https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Tag:amenity%3Ddrinking_w...

In case you don't already know this and for others, you can use the editor at https://osm.org or the Every Door app on your mobile phone during your next tour for this (you'll need an OSM account to edit the map).

I'm not 100% sure the CoMaps "Water" category uses amenity:drinking_water, but I have relied on it for this many times during bike tours or hikes without much surprise :-)