The Best Alternatives to Google Maps
Google Maps is one of the most popular navigation apps. Gizmodo readers have voted it the greatest app of all time. That said, it never hurts to explore your options when it comes to figuring out which navigation app is right for you. We’ve found some of the best Google Maps alternatives on iOS and Android for driving, hiking, and commuting.
Waze
Founded in 2006, Waze is a navigation service that works on crowdsourced data. The idea is that Waze users provide data for other users of the app to use. This includes real-time updates on traffic jams or police traps. It also uses info from state agencies to inform users about things such as construction sites and other road closures.
Waze collaborates with Spotify, meaning you can play songs directly from the Waze app. In August 2018, Waze introduced Android Auto support, and in September 2018, it announced Apple CarPlay support.
A fun fact about this app is that it lets users pick their navigation voice from a list of celebrity voices, including Morgan Freeman, T-Pain, DJ Khaled, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Cookie Monster, Colonel Sanders, Kevin Hart, Shaq, and many more.
OsmAnd
OsmAnd is another great navigation app. What makes OsmAnd so good is that it works really well offline. The site’s landing page promises that it provides offline services in any region of the world, though it works best in big cities as maps of more rural areas aren’t as accurate.
OsmAnd also announces traffic warnings, such as stop signs or pedestrian crosswalks, and even notifies you when you’re going above the speed limit.
This app supports foot, hiking, and bike paths and shows public transport stops for buses, trams, and trains. Its topography feature allows for 3D views, contour lines, hillsides, and slopes. OsmAnd updates its maps at least once a month.
Organic Maps
Maintained by the same folks who founded MapsWithMe in 2011, Organic Maps is another free navigation app. It’s available on both Android and iOS. Like OsmAnd, Organic Maps also supports motorists, hikers, and bikers.
This is another navigation app that supports every function without an active Internet connection. It also promises it won’t track you, show you annoying ads, or collect your data since it doesn’t require any registration online.
Magic Earth
Magic Earth promises the “clearest turn-by-turn directions” that it has spent 22 years perfecting. Its Lane Guidance feature lets you know exactly which lane to take, so you don’t have to cross three lanes trying to make it out of an exit at the last minute.
It also displays road sign icons in a neat, little navigation bar at the top in the actual colors of the signs so that you can quickly interpret them. Its Speed Warnings feature will notify you whenever you’re going above the speed limit. Magic Earth is available to download for free on iOS and Android.
Apple Maps
This one is a no-brainer if you’re an Apple user, as it offers one of the best seamlessness across your Apple devices. It works really well for taking public transit, and I can attest to this as a New Yorker who takes the subway regularly.
Apple Maps has really improved over the years. You can better look places up, explore their 2D images, or use the Flyover feature to get a bird’s eye view of any place. The app also offers around 1000 Explore Guides to help you find interesting activities in a city.
Garmin Watch
If you’re an active runner or hiker, you can invest in a GPS device such as a Garmin watch. This is the Garmin Epix Sapphire edition, and while all of the Epix and Fenix watches can access multiple global navigation satellite systems (GPS, GLONASS, and Galileo satellite systems), the Sapphire editions are among the first watches to support multi-band GNSS.
What this means is that each of those satellites broadcast in multiple frequencies, and typically, your watch only picks up one of them. Multi-band means that your watch picks up multiple frequencies from each satellite, which, in theory, will give you the best possible accuracy.
