OsmAnd~

I am an active contributor to OpenStreetMap project since 2013 and this app means a lot to me because this was the only alternative map application back then & for long-time for Android & iOS devices.

Merely contributing to OSM was not fruitful until such a consumer side app exists which makes contributing to OSM meaningful because we can de-google (i.e live without google) ourselves for privacy & sovereign reasons.

1. The app supports offline first usage (we have to download map data of our area of interest) and no need to worry about lack of Internet connectivity when traveling abroad or remote regions.
2. Offline navigation & voice instructions on language of your choice through TTS. Additionally it can also integrate with online routing services like OSRM, etc.
3. The app also has a collection plugins which enhances the features like close integration with Wikipedia, street level images through Mapilary & wikimedia commons.
4. The app screens are customizable with various widgets.
5. Supports multiple usage profiles (car, bike, public transport, cycling, etc).
6. Display the map in language of your choice (the names in OSM should be localized to that language)
7. Bookmark or save favorite places
8. Record GPS tracks, plan a route and share it with friends & family members. Tracks can be uploaded to OSM for helping armchair mappers too.

Feature wise it is extensible. The app renders vector tiles and since it does it all in our phone, the rendering will not be as smooth as Google maps or CoMaps or OrganicMaps.

Map data also takes up a small portion of storage (this data can be moved to external storage, if available) and the app also supports receiving live updates of data (if you are an OSM contributor).

Overall, a fantastic app that will never fail you (map data quality varies from region to region based on how actively people contribute to OSM in that region).

This is a great app. It might not be as polished and have as much of that just-works-ness as something like Google Maps, but consider that the map is stored locally on your phone. You’re not telling Google or some other giant tech company where you’re going. It’s also very flexible. You can add “favorite places” like bookmarks, tell it to remember your parking space, and even add Wikipedia annotations to landmarks.

Along with privacy comes the fact that there is bound to be room for improvement - and you have control over that. If something is missing or incorrect on the map, don’t throw up your hands and switch back to Waze or whatever you were using before. Remember that OpenStreetMap is edited by volunteers, kind of like Wikipedia. All you have to do is go to openstreetmap.org and start improving the map. Any changes you submit to OSM will soon be available as an update to the maps installed locally on your phone. If you see a mistake in Google maps, all you can do is submit a request for someone else to consider fixing it.

Pros: Privacy, flexibility, ability to edit maps, offline navigation

cons: maps take up a lot of storage. My maps take up a total of 1.24GB. UI might be confusing to some because of all the options and some general rough edges. Calculating a route might take a moment longer since the calculation is done by your phone’s CPU and not a remote server.