But what OSM lacks is real-time integration with public transport. If my bus is slow or redirected Google will tell me. I don't think this can be improved by the users. It really needs a data feed from the transport operators :'(
Missing real-time service updates, but otherwise good.
Now, of course, Google probably still has more real time data in this regard, especially since it's possible for them to aggregate it due to a large amount of users and so on.
It would be nice to have more FOSS projects pop up that would deal with providing company listings and reviews on the map like Google does, as well as would provide more real time transport information as well. But hey, at least OSM gives us a really good starting point, the rest is a matter of building it and getting the data!
(The app store ratings for HERE WeGo are a bit low because they recently rewrote the app and the first few versions were unstable. The rewrite added lane guidance, which is a useful feature to have for driving directions.)
- HERE WeGo (web): https://wego.here.com
- HERE WeGo (Android): https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.here.app.m...
- HERE WeGo (iOS): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/here-wego-maps-navigation/id95...
If the quality of the OSM data in your area is good, the best OSM-based apps are:
- Organic Maps (FOSS, simple interface): https://organicmaps.app
- OsmAnd (FOSS, loaded with features): https://osmand.net
- Magic Earth (proprietary, uses a non-OSM data source for address locations): https://www.magicearth.com
All 3 of these apps support both Android and iOS.
Exodus says that HERE WeGo has 1 tracker (Facebook Login):
- Exodus report for HERE WeGo: https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/reports/com.here.ap...
Organic Maps, OsmAnd, and Magic Earth have no trackers:
- Exodus report for Organic Maps: https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/reports/app.omaps/l...
- Exodus report for OsmAnd: https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/reports/net.osmand/...
- Exodus report for Magic Earth: https://reports.exodus-privacy.eu.org/en/reports/com.general...
It may have changed since then and if so that's great!
The Facebook Android[2] and iOS[3] SDKs are source-available.
From a privacy perspective, when someone compares Google Maps to HERE WeGo, the question is whether using Google or HERE (plus the Facebook SDK) would be more of a privacy violation. I don't have a good answer to this question.
But from a market share perspective, HERE WeGo is a minor player compared to Google and using it instead of Google Maps would help curb Google's market dominance in mapping.
Of course, if a free and open source OSM-based app is viable for your area, I would go for that instead.
[1] https://f-droid.org/it/packages/com.celzero.bravedns/
Well unless you absolutely never use Google (which is hard), you're better off using Maps (as they track you anyway from occasional usage), where as it's easier to never use Facebook (in fact all Facebook IPs are outright blocked on my networks) so it's better to not provide any data to them at all.
So for me if I had to choose I'd prefer Google (who probably track me anyways during occasional usage of their services) over Facebook which aren't supposed to track me at all since I never use their services (and since I avoid all apps with FB malware in them, I don't think they can track me).
In my case I use Apple Maps which works well enough for me. I wish OSM-based alternatives were as good when it comes to POI searching but in London I found that OSM is even worse than Apple.
* https://joemorrison.medium.com/openstreetmap-is-having-a-mom...
I had this app for at least a year before Google Maps released similar functionality. I still use it occasionally as the UX is better if you already know what bus stop you want to use.