Is there a good Android app for using offline OpenStreetMap maps? My primary goal is to have maps that work when I have no connectivity. I’d like to download the entire US (or perhaps another country if I am traveling) and be able to navigate hiking trails where no cell service exists.
mapy.cz is built by a company which loves tracking and advertisements. OsmAnd doesn’t limit you if you use the OsmAnd+ version, which is paid on the Play $tore but free on F-Droid. There are also Organic Maps, which are completely free.
The droid page says that OsmAnd tracks and reports your activity. Magic Earth downloaded from playstore or Organic Maps are better privacy respecting choices.
The tracking by osmand app doesn’t seem to be anything malicious or revealing. Developers, contributors, and users discuss the meaning of the tracking here, which is also referenced in the F-Droid page. After reading some back and forth, the level of privacy or lack of you get from the tracking seems subjective. I personally don’t agree with it but its not as nosy as gmaps.
How are magic earth and organic maps any better in respect to privacy or tracking/reporting?
Magic Earth and Organic do not track your location or usage of the app. Both use offline maps so that activity stays local to your device.
Magic Earth uses online maps and is closed source, so it could have code to track users and we wouldn’t know.
OsmAnd needs Internet to download maps, other than that it works offline.
You can download maps from Magic Earth and use the app offline. It could have trackers. On the other hand, Osmand is open source and definitely has code to track users.