this post was submitted on 25 Jan 2026
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DeGoogle Yourself

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How to move from Google Maps to OpenStreetMap (lemmy.ml)
submitted 17 hours ago* (last edited 10 hours ago) by frondo@lemmy.ml to c/degoogle@lemmy.ml
28 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

I've posted this in Open Source as well, please remove if you think it's redundant.

Some time ago I started replacing all services and apps that I use with FOSS altnernatives. Most of them were easy to replace but some corpo/big-tech apps had ecosystems too advanced to be conveniently replaced. For example, substituting Google Maps on Android (or I guess Apple Maps on iOS) was a bit of a struggle as the most popular FOSS alternative app was OsmAnd. First of all mad respect and huge kudos to OsmAnd team of contributors but for me the UX was overwhelming and too customizable which is probably a huge bonus to power users but IMO that makes it very unlikely to become a large scale alternative to Google maps. Probably other people realized that too and some 6-7 months ago CoMaps was released, a FOSS app that is also based on OpenStreetMap layer but this time with a simplistic and smooth UX/GUI.

In case somebody is not familiar with OpenStreetMap (OSM) - basically it is a non-profit org, but its heavily maintained by community members and anybody around the world is allowed to contribute and enrich map content. Even if org can theoretically get corrupt I think anybody can make a fork and continue with community contribution. Creating an account is easy, you could start contributing in like 3 minutes. A huge number of services and apps are basing their map layers on OpenStreetMap, such as CoMaps above.

The quality of OpenStreetMap/CoMaps/OsmAnd is as good as the contributions to it are - so the more people use it - the better and more content it will contain. I would like to invite everybody to give it a chance and use https://www.openstreetmap.org/ on desktop and CoMaps on mobile devices. You should have enough motivation to abandon Google or Apple products, but final piece of motivation is that eventually Google Maps will start censoring content (like Reddit or Instagram) or just share your location history to ICE or perform some other serious violation like that (like Microsoft did recently).

CoMaps has a really nice and simple interface where you can add missing places (business, community services, recreation areas etc) while OpenStreetMap on web browser allows to update anything you imagine (e.g. see a missing street? Add it. A new building was developed - just add it!). If everybody enriched only their local neighborhood with features on the map we could really build something beautiful. Existing layer probably already contains 90% of the stuff you'd ever search for as contributors really did a outstanding job throughout all these years. But that additional 10% makes a real difference for it turning into a much bigger scale tool, and this feels like the right time to kick that off.

It is important not to get demotivated that not many people maintain and contribute as your neighborhood might remain a lonely detailed places for years. OSM existed for a long time now and is very likely to keep existing for decades to come, everything that you update or create remains a legacy that stays forever saved in the map (unless somebody further updates it). Perhaps, in 20 years time people will be grateful. And to tidy up and make max out of your neighborhood you really need one weekend or so.

For example, in my local area I've started adding location marks of recycling bins, dumpsters, parking lots, playgrounds, pathways, building tunnels and monuments, but also I've added missing shops and updated working hours and websites for shops that existed.

Also #1, be responsible when making changes, don't overwrite other people's work unless it is an improvement. Double check everything that you add, and also if you don't have any experience with map editors or GIS software take a watch of some OSM editing tutorial.

Also #2, I most likely omitted some other useful FOSS tools, and it doesn't matter which one you decide to use as long as it is based on OpenStreetMap or any other community driven layer.

Also #3, tell all your friends and family to do the same.

Yeah, this might not be the most important thing to cure the world at this moment but developing community-driven mindset where everybody takes a small or big part in it is the way to go. Cheers!

EDIT: Amazing input in the comments, I'll try to summarize additional suggestions provided by other people. Thank you for pointing out URL errors in my post too.

Very useful suggestion by illusionist:

We need more wikipedia images and content, there is still a lot to improve on maps just by contributing to wikipedia. Osmand added custom buttons and now you can enable wikipedia connections with one click which is great

Related lemmy communities:

List of alternative and open-source maps:

List of tools for contribution & content management:

top 28 comments
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[–] Ironfist@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 hours ago

Now that Magic Earth closed almost every setting behind a paywall, Im now left without a navigation alternative that has traffic data. This is a feature we are sorely missing in the FOSS navigation apps.

[–] pineapplelover@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 6 hours ago

I like osmand but I only use it for hiking. I use google maps for real time traffic navigating

[–] mycatsays@aussie.zone 2 points 8 hours ago (2 children)

My struggle has been lack of address data in my part of the world. I primarily use maps to help me navigate to a destination address, and it seems that here they can only take me as far as the street, they don't have the street numbers.

I could probably figure out how to add that data for my own neighbourhood, but I can't do it for the town I'll be visiting 5 hours away from home.

And so every time I have tried FOSS map apps, I've had to go back to Google's for at least a portion of the journey.

Suggestions welcome, because I would really like to be able to drop Google completely, one of these days.

[–] Birdchan@techhub.social 2 points 6 hours ago

@mycatsays @frondo
Any website that can convert address to gps, then use the gps coordinants in OSMAPS.
The app Adresilo (F-droid) will do that for you.

[–] Ironfist@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 hours ago

This happens to me often, but after my trip I look at the places I visited and then add them in osm when I have nothing else to do, its a nice hobby.

[–] webkitten@piefed.social 20 points 16 hours ago (2 children)

If you're on Android (not sure if iOS has an equivalent app), one of the easiest things you can do is download Street Complete and take 15 minutes a day to use it in order to fill in information about your neighborhood.

[–] finalaccountforreal@piefed.social 9 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

Thanks, will check it out. Here's the link for anyone interested https://streetcomplete.app/

[–] RodgeGrabTheCat@sh.itjust.works 4 points 16 hours ago

Street Complete is kinda fun to use. I tend to drive everywhere so I seldom get a chance to use it.

[–] iamthetot@piefed.ca 10 points 14 hours ago (4 children)

Do any of these Google Maps alternatives have any traffic functionality? That's been my sticking point so far. Most people who are switching off Google are doing it for privacy reasons, which is great, but that generally means they're not giving up location data for traffic purposes.

[–] frondo@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 hours ago

No such app has that feature unfortunately, at least not that I am aware of. Traffic functionality but also busy hours histogram are both pretty great features that depend on location data, I really hope somebody figures out a non-sketchy way to have that in other apps.

[–] DieserTypMatthias@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

AFAIK Mapy.com have traffic info and same with OSMand.

[–] Zweiblum@feddit.org 1 points 27 minutes ago

Thank you for mentioning mapy.com .Yes its not FOSS but it is the only non big tech map that I know of that has traffic and even location ratings. The later beging the thing I miss the most when using other FOSS apps.

[–] burble@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 10 hours ago

Yeah, this is a huge sticking point for me. I use nav for routes I've driven a hundred times because someone will always manage to roll their semi or something in the middle of my drive home.

[–] Imaginary_Stand4909@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 13 hours ago

The only one I knew of was Magic Earth, but the newer version makes it paid, so you'll have to use a version from before October or so. This is what mine says:

version 7.1.25.34.36A60BB6.67629954

com.generalmagic.magicearth versionCode 2025122009

I think HereWeGo also is an alternative, although I haven't used it, and reviews on Google Play are mixed (3.3).

[–] RodgeGrabTheCat@sh.itjust.works 6 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

As someone who doesn't leave locations services turned on all the time, I find both Co-map and Organic annoying. Each time I open the app they ask multiple times for me to turn on location services. If I'm searching in the for a store, I don't need to know where I am. The only time I need to show my location is when setting a route.

For this reason, I continue to use OSMAnd. I do like the simple UI of Co-map and Organic but detest apps throwing unnecessary popups at me.

[–] non_burglar@lemmy.world 9 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

The reason for that is you don't want to search the entire world for your store, it's reasonable to request location to make searching easier.

[–] RodgeGrabTheCat@sh.itjust.works 3 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

If I'm zoomed in on my region the app should be searching that area first.

[–] merde@sh.itjust.works 2 points 7 hours ago

that's what CoMaps does. You can even choose "show on map" to see the search results around you

[–] cerebralhawks@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 15 hours ago

Link to OpenStreetMap: https://www.openstreetmap.org/ (The link OP posted is slightly different and Firefox says it's a security risk. I'm assuming typo.

For apps, I found these links:

iOS on their Wiki. Tells you what iOS is (useless), then lists some iOS apps. https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/IOS

Comparison of iOS apps. This tells you which ones are free and shows some more information on them. Linked from above page. https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Comparison_of_iOS_applications

Another iOS app that isn't listed on either of the above links (not sure why): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/mapply-for-open-street-map/id1591409886

Another iOS app that maybe isn't listed on either of the above links: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/openstreets-4-open-street-map/id1241524252

I don't see anything that says you can edit the maps on iOS.

Also worth noting, OpenStreetMaps says you can just open the site (top link) in Safari. From there you could send a shortcut to the desktop/Home Screen and then it's a web app (loads in a Safari container). This should be good enough for most users.

[–] Citrus_Cartographer@lemmy.world 3 points 15 hours ago* (last edited 14 hours ago) (1 children)

I've used OsmAnd+, Organic Maps, CoMaps, MapComplete, etc.
My favorite app that I'm looking forward to is CartesApp. Unfortunately it doesn't have an English translation yet. It's only geared towards French users for now.

It has an interface that's very familiar to Google Map users, and clicking on locations brings up the kind of information you're used to when using Google Maps.

https://cartes.app/

https://codeberg.org/cartes/web

Edit: That being said, the web app works fine for me when "installing" with a browser that has a built-in translation service.

[–] merde@sh.itjust.works 2 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

looks like it's browser only?

[–] Citrus_Cartographer@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

It's a web app, so it can technically be installed, like Voyager:

https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/Progressive_web_apps/Guides/Installing

It's kind of like a middle ground between a full app and a browser bookmark. This has the advantage of making it compatible with both Android and iOS, or you can just use it through a normal browser.

[–] merde@sh.itjust.works 2 points 4 hours ago

this is from cartes' developer's blog

L'homme à coque

La voiture est la carapace de l'automobiliste. Il fait corps avec elle.

Se sentant profondément protégé par sa coque, qui n'est autre qu'une extension de lui-même dès qu'il se déplace, souvent dès le premier kilomètre, il est incapable d'apprécier sa vitesse. Il peut même oublier qu'il se déplace.

Le principe même du pare-brise, c'est de parer la brise, d'extraire l'automobiliste de cette expérience qui réveille les sens et nous permet de savoir que nous sommes dehors et que nous avançons.

Mais ce terme est complètement désuet : une brise, c'est un vent doux et léger. Il est réservé aux vents allant de 1 (très légère) à 39 km/h (bonne brise), soit la vitesse atteignable par un cycliste déjà costaud.

Non, à 50km/h, c'est un grand vent, le marin est à l'alerte depuis déjà longtemps, et si l'automobiliste n'a pas les larmes qui lui brouillent la vue, c'est parce que le plastique, l'acier et le verre l'ont extrait de son environnement.

Ainsi il n'y a rien d'étonnant à la situation si fréquente et dépénalisée consistant à se faire frôler son vélo à moins d'un mètre par un automobiliste ne voulant pour rien au monde admettre son erreur, celle qui vous a mis en danger, incontestablement.

Rien d'étonnant non plus au fait que l'automobiliste veuille systématiquement dépasser le cycliste. Lui voler la priorité. Exiger du piéton qu'il lui dise merci, à lui, le roi ou la reine de la route qui a daigné donner au badaud l'autorisation exceptionnelle de traverser le passage... piéton.

[–] over_clox@lemmy.world 5 points 17 hours ago (1 children)

It's FOSS, not FFOS

[–] frondo@lemmy.ml 3 points 17 hours ago

Thanks, I will make an edit!

[–] xorollo@leminal.space 3 points 16 hours ago

You're timing is great, because I came here to post a question about this exactly.

I have a few work trips coming up this year. I used to make a travel dashboard on my phone with Google maps shortcuts to specific locations like my hotel, and conference/work venue, rental car return location. That way when I hop in the car, I have gps nav without any fiddling.

Side note, travel dashboard can include other things, like link to agenda (email or phone notes), packing list, local and home clocks, weather, hotel key, etc.

I've had Google maps deleted for a while, and been using organic maps instead, but I don't need it often. Now that I have a few trips set up I'm realizing it's missing some of these features. No widgets for one, and honestly I didn't look any further.

You guys have suggestions on how I can do this or something similar?