In recent years, OpenStreetMap has gained popularity as a crowd-sourced alternative to commercial mapping solutions. With a rapidly growing user base, it has become a reliable source of valuable geographic data. As a result, developers have created numerous Android apps to work with OpenStreetMap data. This article aims to review some of the best Android apps for OpenStreetMap, analyzing their features, usability, and overall effectiveness. By the end of this analysis, readers will have a good understanding of the available options for OpenStreetMap on Android and be better equipped to select the best app for their needs.
We have compiled a list of 5 Best Android App For Openstreetmap for your consideration, which have undergone rigorous testing and evaluation by our team of experts.
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5 Best Android App For Openstreetmap
MAPS.ME is an offline map application that provides fast, detailed and entirely offline maps with turn-by-turn navigation. The application is trusted by over 140 million travelers worldwide. The maps are saved offline, making it possible to use the application without internet connection, which is great for saving mobile data. Navigation features are available for driving, walking and cycling, anywhere in the world.
The application also provides ready-made travel guides to save time planning trips and ensure travelers don’t miss interesting places. These guides have been created in partnership with the best travel content creators and are available for hundreds of destinations worldwide. Guides are available for city travel, car trips and outdoor activities, providing a great choice for every traveler.
MAPS.ME provides incredibly detailed maps, including directions to points of interest (POI), hiking trails and places that are often missing from other maps. Maps are updated daily by millions of OpenStreetMap contributors, making it an open-source alternative to popular map services. The application is fast and reliable, with offline search, GPS navigation and optimized maps that effectively save memory space.
Travelers can save locations they love as bookmarks and share them with friends. The application is available worldwide, including popular destinations like Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelona, New York, Chicago, Florida, Las Vegas, Seattle, San Francisco, Rome and London. Traffic data is also available for 36 countries, making it easy to check updates on traffic info and fastest driving routes.
2. OsmAnd — Maps & GPS Offline
OsmAnd is an offline world map application that uses OpenStreetMap (OSM) as its base. The app allows users to navigate using preferred roads and vehicle dimensions without an internet connection. Additionally, OsmAnd is an open-source application that does not collect user data. Users have full control over what data the app can access.
The app offers various features, including a map view that displays different places under categories such as attractions, food, and health. Users can search for places using different parameters and choose from various map styles depending on their activity. Other features include shading relief, contour lines, and the ability to overlay different sources of maps.
OsmAnd also provides GPS navigation, allowing users to plot a route to a place without an internet connection. Customizable navigation profiles are available for various vehicles, and users can change the constructed route, taking into account the exclusion of certain roads or surfaces. Information widgets about the route are also available, displaying details such as distance, speed, and remaining travel time.
The app offers route planning and recording features, allowing users to plot a route point by point using one or multiple navigation profiles. Users can also record routes using GPX tracks and manage them by displaying their own or imported tracks on the map. Visual data about the route, such as descents/ascents and distances, are available, and users can share GPX tracks in OpenStreetMap.
3. AFTrack – GPS Tracking
AFTrack is a GPS display and tracking program that can be used for a variety of outdoor activities such as hiking, biking, sailing, and geocaching. It offers both smart and fixed logging features and can send reports online or via SMS. It can also receive SMS position messages and display them as waypoints.
One of AFTrack’s key features is its ability to handle different GPS sources, including internal GPS, internal with NMEA, Bluetooth GPS, USB GPS, online GPS over Wi-Fi/4G, and NMEA files. It can read NMEA, GpsD json, and Signal K json and work as a GPS daemon. It offers altitude correction, pressure usability, and automatic correction over weather servers.
AFTrack offers a wide range of tracking features, including the collection of track data in a local database, the ability to show routes or tracks in up/downhill colors, and the export of tracks to GPX, KML, OVL, and IGC formats. It also allows users to import route data, export waypoints, use KML areas, design and edit routes, and merge routes. Additionally, AFTrack offers routing in a corridor and off-road routing along the line.
AFTrack offers a variety of map options, including online maps pool editable, tile, or WMS-based maps, and offline maps in OSM mapsforge vector format, BSB3 format for marine navigation, and NV digital for marine navigation.
4. OsmAnd+ — Maps & GPS Offline
OsmAnd+ is an offline world map application that operates on OpenStreetMap (OSM). It enables users to navigate taking into account preferred roads and vehicle dimensions. The app allows for route planning based on inclines and GPX track recording without internet connection. OsmAnd+ is an open source application that does not collect user data, leaving the user to decide what data the app accesses.
The app’s main features include unlimited map downloads, topo data (contour lines and terrain), nautical depths, offline Wikipedia, and offline Wikivoyage – travel guides. It also offers choices of places to be displayed on the map, with the ability to search for places by address, name, coordinates, or category. Users can choose from different map styles for various activities such as touring view, nautical map, winter and ski, topographic, desert, off-road, and more. Shading relief and plug-in contour lines are available, and users can overlay different sources of maps on top of each other.
GPS navigation features include plotting a route to a place without internet connection, customizable navigation profiles for different vehicles, and the ability to change constructed routes taking into account the exclusion of certain roads or road surfaces. Customizable information widgets about routes are also available.
For route planning and recording, users can plot a route point by point using one or multiple navigation profiles, and record routes using GPX tracks.
5. StreetComplete
OpenStreetMap enthusiasts can use the StreetComplete app to enhance the platform’s data. The app identifies incomplete or expandable data in the user’s vicinity and displays this information on a map as markers. Users can answer straightforward questions to complete the data on site, and the input is immediately incorporated into OpenStreetMap. The need for an external editor is eliminated, and the data is credited to the user who provided it.