Magic Earth is an alternative to Waze and Google Maps with crowdsourced traffic and road hazard information
As part of a #BigTechDiet, I’ve been hoping to find an alternative to #Waze and #Google Maps - a navigation app that can tell me about slowdowns, hazards, and speed traps based on reports from other users. Today, I learned about Magic Earth.
It’s proprietary, but not from FAANG or a company subject to the government of China, Russia, or Five Eyes countries. It collects minimal user data and has a good privacy policy. There are versions for both Android and iOS, and the Android version works without Google services.
#navigation #maps #Android #IOS #AndroidApp #IOSApp @technology
I tried it for one 15 min drive, and for me it did not work well. I mean if you strickly do not want to use gmaos, Waze, or Here, magic earth could be an option. But if you are quality first - magic map is unlikely a good choice.
But, everything depends on personal needs, of course.
@gelberhut I have yet to give it a rigorous test. Every navigation tool I’ve used heavily has had a few bad drives so I wouldn’t dismiss it based on such a small sample.
For me this was enough: from graphic to speed with which it followed my drive (delayed) it was not a good tool for me. Most probably, usable, but way less usable than Google maps and Waze.
It seems to be way more feature-rich for bike navigation than Google Maps. I can set what kind of bike I’m riding, how much I hate hills, and when it sets a route you can see how much is on particular types of road surface, how much of the route is at different gradients, etc. Google is really lacking when it comes to bike features, so I may try this one on my next ride (if I can get the gpx upload feature to work)
Good point! Thanks for adding it.