Photo: Organic Maps
While Google Maps is currently the world’s number one navigation app, some people just don’t want to use it for a very simple reason: it’s made by Google, and they believe the search giant gets access to way too much information about them.
While this is something totally debatable and Google itself has tried to release privacy-focused capabilities in Google Maps too, including the incognito mode, there’s clearly a niche for products that don’t collect any data and promise to fully respect users’ privacy.
One of the newest additions to this list is called Organic Maps, and it offers navigation features with support for cars, cycling, and walking. Needless to say, it’s not as advanced as Google Maps, but the essential feature package is still there, so you’re getting not only offline map support but also voice guidance, which is something that comes in particularly handy when driving.
A dark mode is also offered, and so is elevation information, cycling route support, and hiking trail data.
But without a doubt, the piece de resistance is the privacy-oriented focus. Organic Maps developers explain their app not only doesn’t serve any ads, but it also doesn’t run any trackers and doesn’t even force push notifications to bother you when you’re not using it.
Based on OpenStreetMap, Organic Maps works on both iPhone and Android, but on the other hand, it’s not yet offering Android Auto and CarPlay support.
Feature requests in this regard have already been submitted to the dev team, but for the time being, there’s no confirmation that support for the car-optimized experiences is currently in the works.
At this point, however, Organic Maps just hopes it has what it takes to grow its userbase and attract more users with this privacy-oriented promise. It remains to be seen if this approach is enough to become a top navigation app, but the current feature lineup is worth a try nonetheless, so you can take it for a spin by downloading it using the links in this article.
One of the newest additions to this list is called Organic Maps, and it offers navigation features with support for cars, cycling, and walking. Needless to say, it’s not as advanced as Google Maps, but the essential feature package is still there, so you’re getting not only offline map support but also voice guidance, which is something that comes in particularly handy when driving.
A dark mode is also offered, and so is elevation information, cycling route support, and hiking trail data.
But without a doubt, the piece de resistance is the privacy-oriented focus. Organic Maps developers explain their app not only doesn’t serve any ads, but it also doesn’t run any trackers and doesn’t even force push notifications to bother you when you’re not using it.
Based on OpenStreetMap, Organic Maps works on both iPhone and Android, but on the other hand, it’s not yet offering Android Auto and CarPlay support.
Feature requests in this regard have already been submitted to the dev team, but for the time being, there’s no confirmation that support for the car-optimized experiences is currently in the works.
At this point, however, Organic Maps just hopes it has what it takes to grow its userbase and attract more users with this privacy-oriented promise. It remains to be seen if this approach is enough to become a top navigation app, but the current feature lineup is worth a try nonetheless, so you can take it for a spin by downloading it using the links in this article.
Google News