OSMAnd vs. Organic Maps

I have used osmand for a long time, but one thing that really broke it for me is when Android removed the ability for apps to read other apps data, thus making it impossible to backup track records with folder sync

I think it can be fixed by configuring where to save these. But I find it interesting that one os change in the api can have a somewhat remote impact on feature use.

Recent HN thread on the fork of CoMaps from Organic Maps:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44994927

An important thing to mention is that OSMAnd has multiple (somewhat confusing) paid tiers.

Since its FOSS you can presumably just compile it yourself if you wanted to bypass the paywall (the ethics of this are left as an exercise for the reader). However, Android Auto support is behind the paywall and Android Auto only works with apps downloaded from the play store.

OSMAnd definitely has more features (especially with the paid tiers) but, personally, I just wanted to get from A to B and I actually struggled to work out how to do that in OSMAnd which didn't give me a great impression of it.

I have both installed since I can imagine OSMAnd being better if I was planning a hike or something, but for day to day navigation CoMaps (Organic Maps fork with better governance)

One of the best map apps I saw is Mapy.com -- same OSM database, but works way smoother and looks better than OsmAnd. Less features, of course, but 99% of time I just need to see the map.

And now we have CoMaps [1], an Organic Maps fork.

I have both OSMAnd and CoMaps installed and started with OSMand, but I see myself reaching for CoMaps exclusively now.

Both apps are very good.

[1] https://www.comaps.app/

It calls Organic Maps new (and the article is recent) but Organic Maps has been around for a while now?

FWIW I prefer Organic Maps for casual usage - I think OSMAnd is very featureful but the UI is less intuitive IMO.