A Google spokesperson explains:
Promoted pins in navigation are not new – they let people see relevant ads for businesses like gas stations, restaurants, and stores along their route. To avoid driver distraction, these ads do not pop up, expand only if they’re tapped on, and disappear quickly after a short time.
Organic Maps and OsmAnd are not adding ads during navigation either. Nor “promoted pins”. Nor ads when browsing the map. Nor tracking your every move.
Seriously, give them a try. And remember that, if the maps are lacking information, you are free (and encouraged) to improve them on OpenStreetMap.
My question here is directed to other readers: I find the traffic layer in Gmaps to be my most used feature for local navigation. It’s the one feature I really do use every day before I drive home from work to decide which way I’m going to take to get home.
I see there are tutorials to define a map overlay in OsmAnd for traffic using Google’s API that are dated from a few years ago. Has anyone here successfully done this, and do these tutorials still work in 2024?
This. I live in a busy city. I know several routes through and around it. I need the traffic data. I need it to tell me there is a wreck.
I don’t need to know (usually) how to get there.
This is the only question that really matters when it comes to these alternatives
There’s even apps for making updating OSM easy on mobile and even gamifying it.
https://apt.izzysoft.de/fdroid/index/apk/fr.dogeo.osmgo
https://f-droid.org/packages/de.westnordost.streetcomplete/
Every time I’ve used OSM I’ve seen the maps vandalized. I don’t trust anything running on OSM.
Interesting! Do they support Android Auto?
They both do. I have never used that function, so I cannot say how good the Android Auto integration is.
Organicmaps does. idk about the other.