I’ve been testing Magic Earth recently as a replacement for Google Maps for navigation, and it’s generally pretty good. It uses OpenStreetMap as its map data source, so how up-to-date things are depends on how many OSM contributors there are in your area.
The benefit it provides over other OSM-based apps such as OsmAnd and Organic Maps is the traffic data. This is real-time-ish based on the movement of other Magic Earth users who consent to sharing their location information - so the accuracy of the traffic data will depend on how many other ME users there are in your area.
Overall I think it’s an acceptable replacement for Google Maps navigation. However, it’s not good for finding things like restaurants or stores, checking operating hours or reviews, or seeing what a place looks like - for this kind of thing I haven’t found a substitute for Google Maps. I generally find the place I want to go in GM then switch to ME for the actual navigation.
Why is Magic Earth free? What is the business model?
Magic Earth is free for all our end-users but we also have a paid Magic Earth SDK for business partners. For instance Selectric.de (a supplier for navigation solutions for ambulances and fire trucks), Smarter AI (developing ADAS systems) or Absolute Cycling (using the platform on bicycles). For more info on the SDK, you can check magiclane.com.
Will Magic Earth be Open Source?
No; since it is also used commercially (we have a paid Magic Earth SDK for business partners), we cannot make the code public.
Back in like 2010 that would have been 100% acceptable and welcome for me, but these days I’m very wary of a commercial entity going down the enshittification route, and having no source makes it so that if they go down that way you have no easy way out, you’re locked. I guess not being in the stock market is a positive, but nothing stops them from being acquired by somebody else who starts mining every byte of data…
I’ve been testing Magic Earth recently as a replacement for Google Maps for navigation, and it’s generally pretty good. It uses OpenStreetMap as its map data source, so how up-to-date things are depends on how many OSM contributors there are in your area.
The benefit it provides over other OSM-based apps such as OsmAnd and Organic Maps is the traffic data. This is real-time-ish based on the movement of other Magic Earth users who consent to sharing their location information - so the accuracy of the traffic data will depend on how many other ME users there are in your area.
Overall I think it’s an acceptable replacement for Google Maps navigation. However, it’s not good for finding things like restaurants or stores, checking operating hours or reviews, or seeing what a place looks like - for this kind of thing I haven’t found a substitute for Google Maps. I generally find the place I want to go in GM then switch to ME for the actual navigation.
From the FAQ:
Back in like 2010 that would have been 100% acceptable and welcome for me, but these days I’m very wary of a commercial entity going down the enshittification route, and having no source makes it so that if they go down that way you have no easy way out, you’re locked. I guess not being in the stock market is a positive, but nothing stops them from being acquired by somebody else who starts mining every byte of data…
There is also Organic Maps