[GIS] Alternatives to Google Maps on an Android phone

androidgoogleopenstreetmap

An Android phone has Google Maps as its stock/default maps, POI and navigation app. What are other options that I have which can be used instead of Google Maps?

One obvious answer is OsmAnd. OsmAnd has some cool features and also offline POI search and navigation.

Similarly from the talks in 2013 SOTM I discovered Hikar which has some cool integration of routing and augmented reality.

What other such apps are out there?

I know that there is a similar post for Android, but the list there is mainly for data collection apps. I am curious about the application side. Apps that have simple map viewing POI search and query, routing and navigation.

Best Answer

Well, most people say OsmAnd is the best for Android. Lacking further details, I can't judge on your particular case. You need to know what features you want:

an app for end users or for mappers?
support for smartphone or tablet?
online or (fully) offline?
routing with different profiles?
POI search, address lookup?
open source / free / commercial app?

With these requirements, you can filter this list: https://wiki.openstreetmap.org/wiki/Android
So I can only post what seems to be popular in the community:

Hope this will help! If not, feel free to post more details on your use case :)

Related Solutions

[GIS] WMS-C Google Maps v2 Android

Make sure your projection is correct and the tile request is 256px by 256px

private static final String GEOSERVER_FORMAT =
            "http://yourApp.org/geoserver/wms" +
            "?service=WMS" +
            "&version=1.1.1" +              
            "&request=GetMap" +
            "&layers=yourLayer" +
            "&bbox=%f,%f,%f,%f" +
            "&width=256" +
            "&height=256" +
            "&srs=EPSG:900913" +
            "&format=image/png" +               
            "&transparent=true";

source: http://www.azavea.com/blogs/labs/2013/01/wms-on-android/

[GIS] n opensource way of making ‘streetview’ panoramas

Well AFAIK there is currently no single Open Source solution for both of the steps to create an free Google Streetview replacement. But IMHO there are a few approaches that try to create some building blocks for crowdsourced/VGI approach on that topic:

Recording
This includes the camera hardware, camera control and panorama stitching:
- Frankencamera
- Panono 360° cam (closed source) or Bublcam (closed source)
- Canon Magic Latern Firmware
- Hugin stitcher
  You might also checkout (near field) photogrammetry, that tries to create 3D representations of single objects or VideoMapping for collecting seemless informations.
Sharing
If a crowd wants to share the results, you need a central platform that supports single steps (requesting, sharing single fotos, importing fotos, stitching panoramas, ...).
- OpenStreetView very simple and seems to be outdated
- OpenTrailView a new 2.0 version is WIP
- Commons allows you to share/tag photos with geotags and semantics

Best Answer

Related Solutions

[GIS] WMS-C Google Maps v2 Android

[GIS] n opensource way of making ‘streetview’ panoramas

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