Google Maps is the most popular mapping app on Android. It not only gets you from one point to another but also tells you which businesses are available along the way, where the speed traps are, offers street views, and much more. Unfortunately, Google Maps, like other Google products, works best when you grant it access to your personal data.
What if you don’t want to share all this personal information but still need a mapping solution? Though it’s not perfect, OsmAnd, checks a lot of the boxes and is worth your time to consider as another Google Maps alternative. The app is available for Android and iOS.
What is OsmAnd?
And where it shines
Short for OpenStreetMap Automated Navigation Directions, OsmAnd launched in 2010. It’s an open-source mapping solution that provides offline maps and turn-by-turn navigation using free and open OpenStreetMap data. The app is available in both free and paid versions.
OsmAnd’s most crucial attribute is that it doesn’t collect user data. In doing so, it offers significantly better privacy control than Google Maps. Beyond this, it has several features that have made mapping apps so helpful for drivers.
This starts with offline maps. The first time you download the app, it will prompt you to download a map of your location. Maps are downloadable both by browsing through the regions list from the app’s main menu or by choosing your territory on a map. Google Maps also offers downloadable map features.
Like Google Maps, OsmAnd also offers detailed map data and overlays. This means you can view maps in several styles, including touring, topographic, and more. Paid OsmAnd users also get hiking trails and pedestrian routes. Google’s product offers similar options. However, they are much more urban-focused than OsmAnd’s.
OsmAnd also lets you import GPX and KML files for custom routes. This feature is most beneficial for hiking and non-standard navigation. Google Maps doesn’t offer this solution natively, though there are third-party options.
Although I wasn’t able to confirm this during my testing, several OsmAnd users online have mentioned that the app does a much better job than Google Maps at showing map details in rural and off-the-grid areas. Obviously, if you’re in a city, this perk doesn’t mean much, but for others, it could be helpful.
It’s one of the biggest perks
I would also note that OsmAnd offers significantly more customization tools than Google Maps. Among these is the ability to configure the map interface by adding, arranging, and resizing the various widgets. You can also use quick action buttons to easily access frequently used functions directly on the map interface.
OsmAnd also offers custom profiles, so more than one person can use the same account. Having a personalized profile means that you can have individual settings, quick actions, menu layouts, and even custom offline maps for each user. And because you can sync your settings through the cloud, you can access the app on different devices by different users. For my testing, I actually purchased a paid OsmAnd Pro subscription on my iPhone through the App Store; all the pro features carried over to my Pixel 9 Pro XL and to my daughter’s iPhone.
The open-source mapping solution also includes a plug-in feature that lets you activate additional features that aren’t added by default. Among these, you can turn on the parking position of your car and also add weather to your map. Location-based Wikipedia articles can also be viewed in the app. Other plug-ins include ski and nautical map views, trip recording, and more.
Where is Google Maps better?
OsmAnd does have some drawbacks
When you’re a company the size of Google, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that its mapping app offers several features that OsmAnd is lacking. It’s up to you to decide whether these are deal-breakers or not. Keep in mind that many, if not most, of these features are only active when you give Google significant access to your personal data.
Google Maps, for example, provides real-time traffic updates, congestion alerts, and incident reports, including accidents, road closures, and construction. This information comes from crowd-sourced contributions by other Google Maps users. Knowing this information makes it much easier to change your route on the fly based on current traffic information.
It’s also notable that Google Maps offers comprehensive points of interest and business listings, perhaps more than any other mapping solution currently available. Having this information makes it much easier to find information on businesses, restaurants, hotels, gas stations, and other points of interest during your travels.
Google Maps also offers better address search capabilities. It’s not that OsmAnd can’t find locations; instead, Google Maps tends to be more intuitive at finding them. As such, it does a much better job at locating places even with incomplete or ambiguous queries.
Finally, there’s no way around it: Google Maps is entirely free, while some of OsmAnd’s most beneficial features require a paid subscription. I see this as the price you must pay for a more secure mapping solution.
Another choice
OsmAnd provides a solid alternative to Google Maps through its focus on privacy protection, offline mapping, and extensive customization options, which benefit those who need to navigate rural areas, like to hike, or generally want to manage their personal data better. By contrast, Google Maps still has many advantages, including its real-time traffic information, easier-to-use search functions, and more.
The bottom line: if you want to protect your privacy better and don’t mind paying for it, OsmAnd could be your solution.