cross-posted from: https://psychedelia.ink/post/526072
My impression of Organic Maps immediately improved when I started driving. It talks! It knows exit numbers! It can tell you which lanes to use! Sure, it isn’t as polished as Google Maps, but all of the functionality is present. The UI is high-contrast and easy to read, although I wish the text showing exit numbers/street names was a little bigger. When you’re simply on the road and following directions, Organic Maps feels every bit as intuitive as Google Maps.
As my fiancee and I prepared to set off into the boonies, I plugged in the address of our hotel. About 45 seconds later, Organic Maps returned the 300-mile route to our destination. It can take a lot longer to calculate longer routes using your phone’s processor instead of a huge cloud server. It didn’t really bother me though; 45 seconds is nothing compared to the 6-hour trip ahead. If that’s the cost of using a maps app that doesn’t spray your personal data all over the internet, I’ll pay it.
I want to like OSM, but like you say, its weakness is search. I have to get the search just right, and make sure I enter the postcode as XXN NXX. And maybe then it might give me the right result.
However, in GM, I can mash the postcode together as XXNXX and it understands. Or if a mall has changed its name and I didn’t know, GM gives me what I want, not what I said.