{"slug": "comaps", "name": "CoMaps", "category": "other", "category_name": "Other software", "description": "Community-driven, open-source offline maps app built on OpenStreetMap data, forked from Organic Maps.", "recommenders": 29, "commenters": 38, "warners": 1, "score": 28.33, "rising": 9.09, "first": "2025-11-20", "latest": "2026-10-31", "why": "Liked for offline maps on hikes, bike rides and city walks, and for a simpler, faster interface than OsmAnd.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 30, "neutral": 6, "compare": 2, "warn": 1}, "spark": [1, 0, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 1, 11, 12, 1, 1], "listed": true, "loved": ["Hiking and cycling", "Offline maps"], "caveat": "Search", "short_quote": "CoMaps is by far one of the best offline navigation map app available.", "icon": true, "domain": "comaps.app", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://www.comaps.app/", "pricing": "open source", "aliases": ["CoMaps"], "verdict": [{"text": "Liked for offline maps on hikes, bike rides and city walks,", "cites": [{"id": 791300000, "item_id": 49456250, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49456250", "by": "NoboruWataya", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The offline map support and being able to load and display GPX tracks are really helpful there.", "excerpt": "I use this regularly when I go on long walks out of the city (including the couple of times I've done stretches of the Camino de Santiago). The offline map support and being able to load and display GPX tracks are really helpful there. Not only because you can sometimes find yourself with spotty reception in remote areas, but also because if you are out all day and your phone battery is not the best, you can just sti", "context": "long-distance walker", "use_case": "offline hiking navigation", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}, {"id": 791283456, "item_id": 49455216, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49455216", "by": "BlackRabbit1", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love it for hiking, walking in cities and driving a bicycle.", "excerpt": "I love it for hiking, walking in cities and driving a bicycle.", "context": "", "use_case": "hiking, walking, cycling", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}, {"id": 791268016, "item_id": 49454251, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49454251", "by": "dariosalvi78", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it's a great app, I use it whenever I have bad Internet coverage or when I want to use open street map", "excerpt": "it's a great app, I use it whenever I have bad Internet coverage or when I want to use open street map, for example when hiking. It's really a competitor of commercial apps.", "context": "", "use_case": "offline maps, hiking", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}]}, {"text": " and for a simpler, faster interface than OsmAnd.", "cites": [{"id": 791394608, "item_id": 49462163, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49462163", "by": "Vinnl", "date": "2026-08-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "the simplicity of CoMaps makes it much more pleasant to use for the thing I mostly use it for: getting around cities.", "excerpt": "To illustrate this, look at OsmAnd's most recent blog post [1]. They've recently been looking at adding pretty extensive Astronomy features. Before that, they added a lot of nautical tooling [2]. This is all very cool if you use that, but if you don't, the laundry list of such features make it harder to find the features you do use. I used OsmAnd for a long time, and it's a great app that I learned how to use well. A", "context": "former long-time OsmAnd user", "use_case": "getting around cities", "switched_from": "OsmAnd", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}, {"id": 791287680, "item_id": 49455480, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49455480", "by": "jech", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm using CoMaps myself.", "excerpt": "> It has more features but is slower and clunkier Just to clarify: OsmAnd has more features, CoMaps and Organic Maps are much faster. (Aside: I'm using CoMaps myself. The main missing features are tracking (I use OpenTracks for that) and public transportation (I use a website for that). End of aside.)", "context": "", "use_case": "offline maps", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}, {"id": 780804049, "item_id": 48800253, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48800253", "by": "epihelix", "date": "2026-07-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "CoMaps is a much simpler and faster interface, that I use for driving navigation.", "excerpt": "OsmAnd~ is great for hiking, when you need topographic contour info, 3D relief shading, etc. CoMaps is a much simpler and faster interface, that I use for driving navigation. (I use a 7 year old S10e, though, so it's possible that on a modern phone you'd not notice the difference?) YMMV, but they're both free, so it's easy to try and see for yourself :)", "context": "", "use_case": "driving navigation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Organic Maps"}]}, {"text": " Common complaints are weak search for less well-known places,", "cites": [{"id": 781015136, "item_id": 48813446, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48813446", "by": "h4kunamata", "date": "2026-07-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use CoMaps, it works like a charm on GrapheneOS + Android Auto.", "excerpt": "I use CoMaps, it works like a charm on GrapheneOS + Android Auto. I have also contributed to the OpenStreetMap by adding POI and requesting logic to be changed. The only major issue which I got used to but sucks, is the search when it does not involved famous places or streets or both. Streets will be shown as minor or major and alike, I do need to use Google Maps Browser version to find the place, and the on CoMaps ", "context": "OpenStreetMap contributor", "use_case": "offline maps and navigation", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps \u2013 FOSS Offline Maps"}, {"id": 781035328, "item_id": 48814708, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48814708", "by": "vladms", "date": "2026-07-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For me CoMaps worked well in the ~6 months for my use-cases", "excerpt": "> it not only seems to be mostly written not by a regular users, but by people who contribute to CoMaps How did you evaluate that? I use CoMaps, I am not a contributor to it, but in the comments I read I do not remember seeing many people specifying clearly if they are or not contributors (there might have been, but it did not feel like \"mostly\"). For me CoMaps worked well in the ~6 months for my use-cases (with some", "context": "", "use_case": "offline maps", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps \u2013 FOSS Offline Maps"}]}, {"text": " and some users miss traffic data, track recording and public transit.", "cites": [{"id": 780975440, "item_id": 48810965, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48810965", "by": "Magicrafter13", "date": "2026-07-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This is what I use in my main GrapheneOS profile.", "excerpt": "This is what I use in my main GrapheneOS profile. I still have a dedicated profile for Google Maps though as I still have not been able to give up their greater datasets (i.e. traffic) in all cases. Decent app though. I saw someone here mention proprietary code but I wouldn't worry about it, just install the F-Droid version. That's why I use F-Droid - to guarantee I don't get proprietary blobs.", "context": "GrapheneOS user", "use_case": "offline maps", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps \u2013 FOSS Offline Maps"}, {"id": 791287680, "item_id": 49455480, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49455480", "by": "jech", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm using CoMaps myself.", "excerpt": "> It has more features but is slower and clunkier Just to clarify: OsmAnd has more features, CoMaps and Organic Maps are much faster. (Aside: I'm using CoMaps myself. The main missing features are tracking (I use OpenTracks for that) and public transportation (I use a website for that). End of aside.)", "context": "", "use_case": "offline maps", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Hiking and cycling", "summary": "Commenters use it on hikes, long walks and bike rides, and some prefer it to Google and Apple Maps there.", "quotes": [{"id": 791283456, "item_id": 49455216, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49455216", "by": "BlackRabbit1", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love it for hiking, walking in cities and driving a bicycle.", "excerpt": "I love it for hiking, walking in cities and driving a bicycle.", "context": "", "use_case": "hiking, walking, cycling", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}, {"id": 772892720, "item_id": 48305795, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48305795", "by": "cocoto", "date": "2026-05-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It's simply miles ahead of Google Maps and Apple Maps for hike and biking.", "excerpt": "For hiking trails, I highly recommend https://www.comaps.app/. It's simply miles ahead of Google Maps and Apple Maps for hike and biking.", "context": "", "use_case": "hiking and biking maps", "switched_from": "", "story": "DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode"}, {"id": 781068144, "item_id": 48816759, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48816759", "by": "goobatrooba", "date": "2026-07-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Been using Comaps for a while, mainly for cycling, and it works very well.", "excerpt": "Been using Comaps for a while, mainly for cycling, and it works very well. Before that I used also organicmaps and it was fine as well but I think made a few more mistakes in routing. That said, obviously this is not a parallel test but rather successive. Of course the split happened with drama, but I just like the Comaps vibe and am happy with it.", "context": "cyclist", "use_case": "cycling navigation", "switched_from": "Organic Maps", "story": "CoMaps \u2013 FOSS Offline Maps"}]}, {"label": "Offline maps", "summary": "Downloaded maps work without a connection, which helps in remote areas or with poor coverage.", "quotes": [{"id": 791300000, "item_id": 49456250, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49456250", "by": "NoboruWataya", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The offline map support and being able to load and display GPX tracks are really helpful there.", "excerpt": "I use this regularly when I go on long walks out of the city (including the couple of times I've done stretches of the Camino de Santiago). The offline map support and being able to load and display GPX tracks are really helpful there. Not only because you can sometimes find yourself with spotty reception in remote areas, but also because if you are out all day and your phone battery is not the best, you can just sti", "context": "long-distance walker", "use_case": "offline hiking navigation", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}, {"id": 791268016, "item_id": 49454251, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49454251", "by": "dariosalvi78", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it's a great app, I use it whenever I have bad Internet coverage or when I want to use open street map", "excerpt": "it's a great app, I use it whenever I have bad Internet coverage or when I want to use open street map, for example when hiking. It's really a competitor of commercial apps.", "context": "", "use_case": "offline maps, hiking", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}, {"id": 791188736, "item_id": 49449296, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49449296", "by": "revolvingthrow", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use CoMaps myself. You download the map(s) you want and it just works, no forced updates or ads", "excerpt": "People are annoyed at apple\u2019s recent lack of polish in software, but the increasing monetization and push into services are a bigger issue imo. You pay the apple premium for hardware and the hardware is indeed great, but you\u2019re increasingly treated like a piggy bank. Line must go up. In regard to Maps: if all you want is a gps, there\u2019s many apps that use OpenStreetMap data. I use CoMaps myself. You download the map(s", "context": "", "use_case": "GPS navigation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple Maps Ads Are Here, and There's No Way to Turn Them Off"}]}, {"label": "Active development", "summary": "Users who switched from Organic Maps say development moves faster and map updates arrive often.", "quotes": [{"id": 780987040, "item_id": 48811690, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48811690", "by": "femto", "date": "2026-07-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "When coMaps forked, I changed to it.  From my perspective there were no negatives.", "excerpt": "I used to use OrganicMaps. When coMaps forked, I changed to it. From my perspective there were no negatives. If anything, coMaps looked to be under more active development.", "context": "", "use_case": "offline maps", "switched_from": "Organic Maps", "story": "CoMaps \u2013 FOSS Offline Maps"}, {"id": 752638224, "item_id": 47039889, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47039889", "by": "celsoazevedo", "date": "2026-02-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For offline maps, I switched to CoMaps when they forked Organic Maps. Development seemed to be moving faster there.", "excerpt": "For offline maps, I switched to CoMaps when they forked Organic Maps. Development seemed to be moving faster there. I still have Google Maps and Here Maps installed, both with offline maps of the areas I'm usually at or to where I'm travelling. Too much redundancy perhaps, but no service/data source is good everywhere and I have a lot of free space on my phone, so it's not a problem for me. For communications, I've b", "context": "", "use_case": "offline maps", "switched_from": "Organic Maps", "story": "We Need Apocalypse-Proof Software"}, {"id": 781015136, "item_id": 48813446, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48813446", "by": "h4kunamata", "date": "2026-07-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use CoMaps, it works like a charm on GrapheneOS + Android Auto.", "excerpt": "I use CoMaps, it works like a charm on GrapheneOS + Android Auto. I have also contributed to the OpenStreetMap by adding POI and requesting logic to be changed. The only major issue which I got used to but sucks, is the search when it does not involved famous places or streets or both. Streets will be shown as minor or major and alike, I do need to use Google Maps Browser version to find the place, and the on CoMaps ", "context": "OpenStreetMap contributor", "use_case": "offline maps and navigation", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps \u2013 FOSS Offline Maps"}]}, {"label": "Simple to use", "summary": "Seen as easier and less cluttered than OsmAnd, including for older or less technical family members.", "quotes": [{"id": 791394608, "item_id": 49462163, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49462163", "by": "Vinnl", "date": "2026-08-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "the simplicity of CoMaps makes it much more pleasant to use for the thing I mostly use it for: getting around cities.", "excerpt": "To illustrate this, look at OsmAnd's most recent blog post [1]. They've recently been looking at adding pretty extensive Astronomy features. Before that, they added a lot of nautical tooling [2]. This is all very cool if you use that, but if you don't, the laundry list of such features make it harder to find the features you do use. I used OsmAnd for a long time, and it's a great app that I learned how to use well. A", "context": "former long-time OsmAnd user", "use_case": "getting around cities", "switched_from": "OsmAnd", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}, {"id": 791288577, "item_id": 49455536, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49455536", "by": "nkjvhb", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "My family members, especially the older ones, all use CoMaps because it is much more friendly to them.", "excerpt": "OsmAnd is a great powerusers app. I use it daily. However, I would not recommend OsmAnd to a normie. My family members, especially the older ones, all use CoMaps because it is much more friendly to them.", "context": "", "use_case": "easy maps for family", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}, {"id": 791287808, "item_id": 49455488, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49455488", "by": "gedankenstuecke", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "CoMaps is my main map app that I use basically every day and works perfectly for all of my common/normal use cases", "excerpt": "100% agree - I think even some of the CoMaps contributors use OsmAnd for the rare specialist use cases. I know I do: CoMaps is my main map app that I use basically every day and works perfectly for all of my common/normal use cases. but once in a while I have a map/nav need beyond that and then OsmAnd's customizability is great!", "context": "", "use_case": "daily maps and navigation", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}]}, {"label": "Speed and battery", "summary": "Described as faster than OsmAnd and light on battery during hikes.", "quotes": [{"id": 791287680, "item_id": 49455480, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49455480", "by": "jech", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm using CoMaps myself.", "excerpt": "> It has more features but is slower and clunkier Just to clarify: OsmAnd has more features, CoMaps and Organic Maps are much faster. (Aside: I'm using CoMaps myself. The main missing features are tracking (I use OpenTracks for that) and public transportation (I use a website for that). End of aside.)", "context": "", "use_case": "offline maps", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}, {"id": 780804049, "item_id": 48800253, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48800253", "by": "epihelix", "date": "2026-07-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "CoMaps is a much simpler and faster interface, that I use for driving navigation.", "excerpt": "OsmAnd~ is great for hiking, when you need topographic contour info, 3D relief shading, etc. CoMaps is a much simpler and faster interface, that I use for driving navigation. (I use a 7 year old S10e, though, so it's possible that on a modern phone you'd not notice the difference?) YMMV, but they're both free, so it's easy to try and see for yourself :)", "context": "", "use_case": "driving navigation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Organic Maps"}, {"id": 780714592, "item_id": 48794662, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48794662", "by": "efrecon", "date": "2026-07-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used comaps on a hike. It really is good at not draining your battery.", "excerpt": "I used comaps on a hike. It really is good at not draining your battery. I've wanted to run it on my wear OS watch, but while you can sideload the APK, wearOS does not have a file browser, so it's not possible to import a planned route or similar. Has anyone here any idea for how to solve this?", "context": "", "use_case": "hiking navigation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Organic Maps"}]}, {"label": "No ads", "summary": "Users say it has no forced updates, ads or upselling.", "quotes": [{"id": 791188736, "item_id": 49449296, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49449296", "by": "revolvingthrow", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use CoMaps myself. You download the map(s) you want and it just works, no forced updates or ads", "excerpt": "People are annoyed at apple\u2019s recent lack of polish in software, but the increasing monetization and push into services are a bigger issue imo. You pay the apple premium for hardware and the hardware is indeed great, but you\u2019re increasingly treated like a piggy bank. Line must go up. In regard to Maps: if all you want is a gps, there\u2019s many apps that use OpenStreetMap data. I use CoMaps myself. You download the map(s", "context": "", "use_case": "GPS navigation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple Maps Ads Are Here, and There's No Way to Turn Them Off"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Search", "summary": "Search struggles with places that are not famous landmarks or streets.", "quotes": [{"id": 781015136, "item_id": 48813446, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48813446", "by": "h4kunamata", "date": "2026-07-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use CoMaps, it works like a charm on GrapheneOS + Android Auto.", "excerpt": "I use CoMaps, it works like a charm on GrapheneOS + Android Auto. I have also contributed to the OpenStreetMap by adding POI and requesting logic to be changed. The only major issue which I got used to but sucks, is the search when it does not involved famous places or streets or both. Streets will be shown as minor or major and alike, I do need to use Google Maps Browser version to find the place, and the on CoMaps ", "context": "OpenStreetMap contributor", "use_case": "offline maps and navigation", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps \u2013 FOSS Offline Maps"}, {"id": 781035328, "item_id": 48814708, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48814708", "by": "vladms", "date": "2026-07-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For me CoMaps worked well in the ~6 months for my use-cases", "excerpt": "> it not only seems to be mostly written not by a regular users, but by people who contribute to CoMaps How did you evaluate that? I use CoMaps, I am not a contributor to it, but in the comments I read I do not remember seeing many people specifying clearly if they are or not contributors (there might have been, but it did not feel like \"mostly\"). For me CoMaps worked well in the ~6 months for my use-cases (with some", "context": "", "use_case": "offline maps", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps \u2013 FOSS Offline Maps"}]}, {"label": "Missing features", "summary": "Users miss traffic data, track recording, public transit and OsmAnd's Wikivoyage guides, and some keep a backup app.", "quotes": [{"id": 791287680, "item_id": 49455480, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49455480", "by": "jech", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm using CoMaps myself.", "excerpt": "> It has more features but is slower and clunkier Just to clarify: OsmAnd has more features, CoMaps and Organic Maps are much faster. (Aside: I'm using CoMaps myself. The main missing features are tracking (I use OpenTracks for that) and public transportation (I use a website for that). End of aside.)", "context": "", "use_case": "offline maps", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}, {"id": 780975440, "item_id": 48810965, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48810965", "by": "Magicrafter13", "date": "2026-07-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This is what I use in my main GrapheneOS profile.", "excerpt": "This is what I use in my main GrapheneOS profile. I still have a dedicated profile for Google Maps though as I still have not been able to give up their greater datasets (i.e. traffic) in all cases. Decent app though. I saw someone here mention proprietary code but I wouldn't worry about it, just install the F-Droid version. That's why I use F-Droid - to guarantee I don't get proprietary blobs.", "context": "GrapheneOS user", "use_case": "offline maps", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps \u2013 FOSS Offline Maps"}, {"id": 791394608, "item_id": 49462163, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49462163", "by": "Vinnl", "date": "2026-08-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "the simplicity of CoMaps makes it much more pleasant to use for the thing I mostly use it for: getting around cities.", "excerpt": "To illustrate this, look at OsmAnd's most recent blog post [1]. They've recently been looking at adding pretty extensive Astronomy features. Before that, they added a lot of nautical tooling [2]. This is all very cool if you use that, but if you don't, the laundry list of such features make it harder to find the features you do use. I used OsmAnd for a long time, and it's a great app that I learned how to use well. A", "context": "former long-time OsmAnd user", "use_case": "getting around cities", "switched_from": "OsmAnd", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}]}, {"label": "Android Auto install", "summary": "Android Auto support requires installing from the Play Store rather than F-Droid.", "quotes": [{"id": 777133552, "item_id": 48570847, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48570847", "by": "NoGravitas", "date": "2026-06-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use CoMaps in the owner profile with Android Auto.", "excerpt": "I use CoMaps in the owner profile with Android Auto. Only caveat is that even with Android Auto developer mode enabled, I still had to install CoMaps from Play Store to get it to show up in Android Auto.", "context": "GrapheneOS user", "use_case": "navigation with Android Auto", "switched_from": "", "story": "GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17 and official releases are coming soon"}, {"id": 797320306, "item_id": 49832519, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49832519", "by": "silverbluep", "date": "2026-09-24", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "android auto capability usually requires the app to be installed from play store (CoMaps)", "excerpt": "I use droid-ify as frontend; and it's been fine to use f-droid repos for most of my needs. I try to install my apps from there in general. Biggest issue for me is android auto capability usually requires the app to be installed from play store (CoMaps) and my music player app (GoneMAD) has a companion unlocker that is from paid app store. I need banking and bunch of vendor related apps. I need play store for them; so", "context": "", "use_case": "maps with Android Auto", "switched_from": "", "story": "F-Droid 2.0"}]}, {"label": "App store availability", "summary": "CoMaps is not available in the Accrescent store, so one GrapheneOS user stays with Organic Maps.", "quotes": [{"id": 781269185, "item_id": 48829324, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48829324", "by": "bentley", "date": "2026-07-08", "stance": "compare", "quote": "I use Organic Maps over CoMaps simply because Organic Maps is available in Accrescent", "excerpt": "To be honest, I use Organic Maps over CoMaps simply because Organic Maps is available in Accrescent (which is in turn provided by the GrapheneOS App Store), and CoMaps is not. Both Google Play and F\u2010Droid are just enough of a hassle (and I mildly dislike both of them) to keep me on the map app that doesn\u2019t require either one.", "context": "GrapheneOS user", "use_case": "offline maps", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps \u2013 FOSS Offline Maps"}]}, {"label": "Hiking map detail", "summary": "One alpine hiker found the map lacking detail except at maximum zoom, with cluttered contour lines.", "quotes": [{"id": 780870257, "item_id": 48804391, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48804391", "by": "ffaser5gxlsll", "date": "2026-07-06", "stance": "warn", "quote": "the detail is visibly lacking at anything except maximum zoom level", "excerpt": "I'm also a regular OSM contributor and I cycle between various apps/layers. I'm in the alpine region, regular hiker, and osm is the only map source I use (frankly, I find gmaps to be garbage for anything except looking up businesses). I regularly try comaps, but while it's pretty smooth at rendering, the detail is visibly lacking at anything except maximum zoom level. When enabling contour lines, it's cluttered and h", "context": "OSM contributor, alpine hiker", "use_case": "hiking maps", "switched_from": "", "story": "Organic Maps"}]}, {"label": "Drive time estimates", "summary": "One user found drive-time estimates 5 to 15 minutes off Apple Maps on two-hour drives.", "quotes": [{"id": 780964640, "item_id": 48810290, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48810290", "by": "Cider9986", "date": "2026-07-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use CoMaps, it works great.", "excerpt": "I use CoMaps, it works great. You get notified in the app to download the updated maps you selected every 2 weeks or so. Could be wildly different than that, just what I notice. It's timing estimates are often 5-15 minutes off Apple Maps, which I find accurate, on ~two hour drives, but I imagine it depends on the traffic. To improve OpenStreetMap, which CoMaps uses as the data source, I use StreetComplete[1]\u2013it puts ", "context": "", "use_case": "offline maps", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps \u2013 FOSS Offline Maps"}]}], "who": [{"by": "Vinnl", "context": "former long-time OsmAnd user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49462163", "date": "2026-08-27"}, {"by": "r0xsh", "context": "bikepacker", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49457529", "date": "2026-08-26"}, {"by": "NoboruWataya", "context": "long-distance walker", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49456250", "date": "2026-08-26"}, {"by": "zikduruqe", "context": "Linux user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49454994", "date": "2026-08-26"}, {"by": "nickspacek", "context": "traveling with family", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49454931", "date": "2026-08-26"}, {"by": "goobatrooba", "context": "cyclist", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48816759", "date": "2026-07-07"}, {"by": "Freak_NL", "context": "OpenStreetMap contributor", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48814925", "date": "2026-07-07"}, {"by": "h4kunamata", "context": "OpenStreetMap contributor", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48813446", "date": "2026-07-06"}, {"by": "Magicrafter13", "context": "GrapheneOS user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48810965", "date": "2026-07-06"}, {"by": "NoGravitas", "context": "GrapheneOS user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48570847", "date": "2026-06-17"}], "tags": ["for hikers", "for cyclists", "for offline use", "for GrapheneOS users", "for less technical users"], "use_cases": ["offline maps", "maps and navigation", "maps", "hiking navigation", "maps and walking routes", "maps with android auto"], "compared": [{"slug": "organic-maps", "name": "Organic Maps", "co": 22, "switched_from": 4, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "osmand", "name": "OsmAnd", "co": 16, "switched_from": 2, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "google-maps", "name": "Google Maps", "co": 11, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "apple-maps", "name": "Apple Maps", "co": 5, "switched_from": 1, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "grapheneos", "name": "GrapheneOS", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "f-droid", "name": "F-Droid", "co": 3, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "droid-ify", "name": "Droid-ify", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}], "makers": [{"id": 780714097, "item_id": 48794631, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48794631", "by": "eisa01", "date": "2026-07-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "CoMaps, that is gaining different features", "excerpt": "Organic Maps was my go to app for a navigation app where you can fix errors yourself immediately! So much better than having to work for free on the proprietary apps, and hope they accept your edits There\u2019s a fork from one year ago, CoMaps, that is gaining different features E.g., I am adding CarPlay Dashboard support that you can test by joining the TestFlight We are in great need of both more testers and some prope", "context": "contributor adding CarPlay support, not an iOS dev", "use_case": "offline navigation", "switched_from": "Organic Maps", "story": "Organic Maps"}], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49452671", "title": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela", "mentions": 13}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48808928", "title": "CoMaps \u2013 FOSS Offline Maps", "mentions": 9}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48794446", "title": "Organic Maps", "mentions": 8}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49801939", "title": "Apple has added persistent 'ads' to iOS, and it's driving users crazy", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50313661", "title": "Digital minimalism", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49831968", "title": "F-Droid 2.0", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 1}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"neutral": 1}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 11, "compare": 2, "warn": 1}, "2026-08": {"recommend": 12, "neutral": 3}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 2}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 1}}, "quotes": [{"id": 805127008, "item_id": 50320438, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50320438", "by": "Flere-Imsaho", "date": "2026-10-31", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I found some remote paths on CoMaps in the UK which I walked recently", "excerpt": "You are missing out on a lot. And I don't mean the social media apps, or any of that nonsense. Allow me to try and explain: Maps: Knowing what's around me physically, up-to-date information, public transport routes, etc. I found some remote paths on CoMaps in the UK which I walked recently, without the aid of the app I would have not known about these. AntennaPod: the wealth of information and interesting topics I've", "context": "", "use_case": "maps and walking routes", "switched_from": "", "story": "Digital minimalism"}, {"id": 797320306, "item_id": 49832519, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49832519", "by": "silverbluep", "date": "2026-09-24", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "android auto capability usually requires the app to be installed from play store (CoMaps)", "excerpt": "I use droid-ify as frontend; and it's been fine to use f-droid repos for most of my needs. I try to install my apps from there in general. Biggest issue for me is android auto capability usually requires the app to be installed from play store (CoMaps) and my music player app (GoneMAD) has a companion unlocker that is from paid app store. I need banking and bunch of vendor related apps. I need play store for them; so", "context": "", "use_case": "maps with Android Auto", "switched_from": "", "story": "F-Droid 2.0"}, {"id": 796869586, "item_id": 49804349, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49804349", "by": "al_borland", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I can't help but see significant limitations where it might be nice when it works, but I'd always need a backup", "excerpt": "I find Apple is better at turn-by-turn navigation, while Google is better at business and POI data. I will usually look stuff up on Google Maps, but use Apple Maps in the car for navigation. Google's navigation is (last I used it) bad at telling me what's next. I'll turn, it will say nothing, then wait until I'm right on top of something to tell me to do it... I find it stressful. I've seen several people in this tre", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple has added persistent 'ads' to iOS, and it's driving users crazy"}, {"id": 796863712, "item_id": 49803982, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49803982", "by": "JumpCrisscross", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I\u2019ve switched to CoMaps.", "excerpt": "> lose your luxury and loyal customers IMO You lose customers to those products. I\u2019ve switched to CoMaps. Some of my friends went back to Google Maps\u2014the differentiator for Apple was privacy and that seems to have been lost in kind even if not yet in magnitude.", "context": "", "use_case": "maps and navigation", "switched_from": "Apple Maps", "story": "Apple has added persistent 'ads' to iOS, and it's driving users crazy"}, {"id": 791615073, "item_id": 49475942, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49475942", "by": "yonatan8070", "date": "2026-08-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "translates them into geo: links that I can open in CoMaps", "excerpt": "There's an app for that! I use GeoShare, and configured Android to open links to Google Maps, Waze, etc. in GeoShare, and it translates them into geo: links that I can open in CoMaps", "context": "", "use_case": "maps", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps integration with the wider FLOSS ecosystem"}, {"id": 791394608, "item_id": 49462163, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49462163", "by": "Vinnl", "date": "2026-08-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "the simplicity of CoMaps makes it much more pleasant to use for the thing I mostly use it for: getting around cities.", "excerpt": "To illustrate this, look at OsmAnd's most recent blog post [1]. They've recently been looking at adding pretty extensive Astronomy features. Before that, they added a lot of nautical tooling [2]. This is all very cool if you use that, but if you don't, the laundry list of such features make it harder to find the features you do use. I used OsmAnd for a long time, and it's a great app that I learned how to use well. A", "context": "former long-time OsmAnd user", "use_case": "getting around cities", "switched_from": "OsmAnd", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}, {"id": 791320464, "item_id": 49457529, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49457529", "by": "r0xsh", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I recently started tinkering with CoMaps to make it more useful for bikepacking", "excerpt": "Funny to see this app pop up on Hacker News. I recently started tinkering with CoMaps to make it more useful for bikepacking, since I do quite a bit of it. I don\u2019t plan to turn this fork into a product, it\u2019s mostly something I\u2019m building for my own needs ; but I figured it might be interesting to share: https://github.com/r0xsh/CoBike", "context": "bikepacker", "use_case": "bikepacking maps", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}, {"id": 791310353, "item_id": 49456897, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49456897", "by": "aguacaterojo", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Seems like Comaps is the open fork", "excerpt": "I've been using its predecessor organic maps for years. Maps.me before it. Been great in the outback and rural areas. Seems like Comaps is the open fork https://openletter.earth/open-letter-to-organic-maps-shareholders-a0bf770c", "context": "", "use_case": "offline maps", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}, {"id": 791310032, "item_id": 49456877, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49456877", "by": "amatecha", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Mega kudos to the CoMaps devs for doing such a great job with it.", "excerpt": "Yeah! CoMaps was actually what I used for my very first contribution to OSM! Nice lil gateway to an awesome ecosystem. Mega kudos to the CoMaps devs for doing such a great job with it.", "context": "", "use_case": "contributing to OSM", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}, {"id": 791300000, "item_id": 49456250, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49456250", "by": "NoboruWataya", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The offline map support and being able to load and display GPX tracks are really helpful there.", "excerpt": "I use this regularly when I go on long walks out of the city (including the couple of times I've done stretches of the Camino de Santiago). The offline map support and being able to load and display GPX tracks are really helpful there. Not only because you can sometimes find yourself with spotty reception in remote areas, but also because if you are out all day and your phone battery is not the best, you can just sti", "context": "long-distance walker", "use_case": "offline hiking navigation", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}, {"id": 791291472, "item_id": 49455717, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49455717", "by": "swasheck", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "after about 6 years of using OSMAnd, i\u2019m pivoting to CoMaps for a hike through switzerland", "excerpt": "after about 6 years of using OSMAnd, i\u2019m pivoting to CoMaps for a hike through switzerland that i\u2019m leaving for tonight. i don\u2019t actually need all of the features of OSMAnd and just downloading maps costs a subscription now. id pay outright for it but i just can\u2019t justify a subscription for how infrequently i use it", "context": "", "use_case": "hiking navigation", "switched_from": "OsmAnd", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}, {"id": 791288577, "item_id": 49455536, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49455536", "by": "nkjvhb", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "My family members, especially the older ones, all use CoMaps because it is much more friendly to them.", "excerpt": "OsmAnd is a great powerusers app. I use it daily. However, I would not recommend OsmAnd to a normie. My family members, especially the older ones, all use CoMaps because it is much more friendly to them.", "context": "", "use_case": "easy maps for family", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}, {"id": 791287808, "item_id": 49455488, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49455488", "by": "gedankenstuecke", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "CoMaps is my main map app that I use basically every day and works perfectly for all of my common/normal use cases", "excerpt": "100% agree - I think even some of the CoMaps contributors use OsmAnd for the rare specialist use cases. I know I do: CoMaps is my main map app that I use basically every day and works perfectly for all of my common/normal use cases. but once in a while I have a map/nav need beyond that and then OsmAnd's customizability is great!", "context": "", "use_case": "daily maps and navigation", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}, {"id": 791287680, "item_id": 49455480, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49455480", "by": "jech", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I'm using CoMaps myself.", "excerpt": "> It has more features but is slower and clunkier Just to clarify: OsmAnd has more features, CoMaps and Organic Maps are much faster. (Aside: I'm using CoMaps myself. The main missing features are tracking (I use OpenTracks for that) and public transportation (I use a website for that). End of aside.)", "context": "", "use_case": "offline maps", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}, {"id": 791283456, "item_id": 49455216, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49455216", "by": "BlackRabbit1", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love it for hiking, walking in cities and driving a bicycle.", "excerpt": "I love it for hiking, walking in cities and driving a bicycle.", "context": "", "use_case": "hiking, walking, cycling", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}, {"id": 791279904, "item_id": 49454994, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49454994", "by": "zikduruqe", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use CoMaps on my linux laptop, with a USB GPS receiver.", "excerpt": "Even neater, I use CoMaps on my linux laptop, with a USB GPS receiver. It beats using IP based Geocoding.", "context": "Linux user", "use_case": "offline maps on Linux laptop", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}, {"id": 791278896, "item_id": 49454931, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49454931", "by": "nickspacek", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It worked great!", "excerpt": "I used this for my family's recent trip in Lisbon and Prague. It worked great! The OSM data was reasonably up-to-date for all of our destinations; I don't remember encountering bad information, even though I often double-checked with other mapping providers (which aren't immune to issues with out-of-date information). One awesome feature was being able to find \"drinking water\" while we were walking around. I did come", "context": "traveling with family", "use_case": "offline travel navigation", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}, {"id": 791268016, "item_id": 49454251, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49454251", "by": "dariosalvi78", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "it's a great app, I use it whenever I have bad Internet coverage or when I want to use open street map", "excerpt": "it's a great app, I use it whenever I have bad Internet coverage or when I want to use open street map, for example when hiking. It's really a competitor of commercial apps.", "context": "", "use_case": "offline maps, hiking", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps: The Offline App That Guided Rescuers Without a Signal in Venezuela"}, {"id": 791188736, "item_id": 49449296, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49449296", "by": "revolvingthrow", "date": "2026-08-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use CoMaps myself. You download the map(s) you want and it just works, no forced updates or ads", "excerpt": "People are annoyed at apple\u2019s recent lack of polish in software, but the increasing monetization and push into services are a bigger issue imo. You pay the apple premium for hardware and the hardware is indeed great, but you\u2019re increasingly treated like a piggy bank. Line must go up. In regard to Maps: if all you want is a gps, there\u2019s many apps that use OpenStreetMap data. I use CoMaps myself. You download the map(s", "context": "", "use_case": "GPS navigation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple Maps Ads Are Here, and There's No Way to Turn Them Off"}, {"id": 783867568, "item_id": 48991723, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48991723", "by": "exploraz", "date": "2026-07-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "which at a glance is a nice addition to CoMaps", "excerpt": "Found this open reviews platform while reading the 2026-07-16 CoMaps update change log,[1] which at a glance is a nice addition to CoMaps (still WIP I think). [1]: https://codeberg.org/comaps/comaps/releases/tag/v2026.07.16-10 Feature request tracking: https://codeberg.org/comaps/comaps/issues/556", "context": "", "use_case": "maps", "switched_from": "", "story": "Mangrove Reviews \u2013 Read and Write Reviews/Ratings (Open Reviews Association)"}, {"id": 781269185, "item_id": 48829324, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48829324", "by": "bentley", "date": "2026-07-08", "stance": "compare", "quote": "I use Organic Maps over CoMaps simply because Organic Maps is available in Accrescent", "excerpt": "To be honest, I use Organic Maps over CoMaps simply because Organic Maps is available in Accrescent (which is in turn provided by the GrapheneOS App Store), and CoMaps is not. Both Google Play and F\u2010Droid are just enough of a hassle (and I mildly dislike both of them) to keep me on the map app that doesn\u2019t require either one.", "context": "GrapheneOS user", "use_case": "offline maps", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps \u2013 FOSS Offline Maps"}, {"id": 781068144, "item_id": 48816759, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48816759", "by": "goobatrooba", "date": "2026-07-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Been using Comaps for a while, mainly for cycling, and it works very well.", "excerpt": "Been using Comaps for a while, mainly for cycling, and it works very well. Before that I used also organicmaps and it was fine as well but I think made a few more mistakes in routing. That said, obviously this is not a parallel test but rather successive. Of course the split happened with drama, but I just like the Comaps vibe and am happy with it.", "context": "cyclist", "use_case": "cycling navigation", "switched_from": "Organic Maps", "story": "CoMaps \u2013 FOSS Offline Maps"}, {"id": 781038800, "item_id": 48814925, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48814925", "by": "Freak_NL", "date": "2026-07-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "So we recommend CoMaps and OsmAnd, and carry on mapping.", "excerpt": "I don't really think it's primarily the CoMaps devs and contributors warning others about OrganicMaps. It's mostly OpenStreetMap contributors (e.g., mappers) like myself who followed the relevant discussions and events and decided that the community is better off routing around the problem. OrganicMaps could be the best app there is in terms of functionality (it isn't), but if there are significant issues with their ", "context": "OpenStreetMap contributor", "use_case": "offline maps", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps \u2013 FOSS Offline Maps"}, {"id": 781035328, "item_id": 48814708, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48814708", "by": "vladms", "date": "2026-07-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For me CoMaps worked well in the ~6 months for my use-cases", "excerpt": "> it not only seems to be mostly written not by a regular users, but by people who contribute to CoMaps How did you evaluate that? I use CoMaps, I am not a contributor to it, but in the comments I read I do not remember seeing many people specifying clearly if they are or not contributors (there might have been, but it did not feel like \"mostly\"). For me CoMaps worked well in the ~6 months for my use-cases (with some", "context": "", "use_case": "offline maps", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps \u2013 FOSS Offline Maps"}, {"id": 781016129, "item_id": 48813508, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48813508", "by": "ponkipo", "date": "2026-07-06", "stance": "compare", "quote": "why exactly anybody should migrate from established app", "excerpt": "I've read both Organic Maps thread https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48794446 (as it's my favorite map app I use for years around the world, and I'm an active OSM contributor as well) which quickly became overrun with CoMaps followers trash-talking about OM, now this thread appears. What I find interesting to see, and I think it's not just me who can see this - that basically every mention of CoMaps and why it is ", "context": "active OSM contributor, long-time user", "use_case": "offline maps", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps \u2013 FOSS Offline Maps"}, {"id": 781015136, "item_id": 48813446, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48813446", "by": "h4kunamata", "date": "2026-07-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use CoMaps, it works like a charm on GrapheneOS + Android Auto.", "excerpt": "I use CoMaps, it works like a charm on GrapheneOS + Android Auto. I have also contributed to the OpenStreetMap by adding POI and requesting logic to be changed. The only major issue which I got used to but sucks, is the search when it does not involved famous places or streets or both. Streets will be shown as minor or major and alike, I do need to use Google Maps Browser version to find the place, and the on CoMaps ", "context": "OpenStreetMap contributor", "use_case": "offline maps and navigation", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps \u2013 FOSS Offline Maps"}, {"id": 780987040, "item_id": 48811690, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48811690", "by": "femto", "date": "2026-07-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "When coMaps forked, I changed to it.  From my perspective there were no negatives.", "excerpt": "I used to use OrganicMaps. When coMaps forked, I changed to it. From my perspective there were no negatives. If anything, coMaps looked to be under more active development.", "context": "", "use_case": "offline maps", "switched_from": "Organic Maps", "story": "CoMaps \u2013 FOSS Offline Maps"}, {"id": 780975440, "item_id": 48810965, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48810965", "by": "Magicrafter13", "date": "2026-07-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "This is what I use in my main GrapheneOS profile.", "excerpt": "This is what I use in my main GrapheneOS profile. I still have a dedicated profile for Google Maps though as I still have not been able to give up their greater datasets (i.e. traffic) in all cases. Decent app though. I saw someone here mention proprietary code but I wouldn't worry about it, just install the F-Droid version. That's why I use F-Droid - to guarantee I don't get proprietary blobs.", "context": "GrapheneOS user", "use_case": "offline maps", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps \u2013 FOSS Offline Maps"}, {"id": 780964640, "item_id": 48810290, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48810290", "by": "Cider9986", "date": "2026-07-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use CoMaps, it works great.", "excerpt": "I use CoMaps, it works great. You get notified in the app to download the updated maps you selected every 2 weeks or so. Could be wildly different than that, just what I notice. It's timing estimates are often 5-15 minutes off Apple Maps, which I find accurate, on ~two hour drives, but I imagine it depends on the traffic. To improve OpenStreetMap, which CoMaps uses as the data source, I use StreetComplete[1]\u2013it puts ", "context": "", "use_case": "offline maps", "switched_from": "", "story": "CoMaps \u2013 FOSS Offline Maps"}, {"id": 780870257, "item_id": 48804391, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48804391", "by": "ffaser5gxlsll", "date": "2026-07-06", "stance": "warn", "quote": "the detail is visibly lacking at anything except maximum zoom level", "excerpt": "I'm also a regular OSM contributor and I cycle between various apps/layers. I'm in the alpine region, regular hiker, and osm is the only map source I use (frankly, I find gmaps to be garbage for anything except looking up businesses). I regularly try comaps, but while it's pretty smooth at rendering, the detail is visibly lacking at anything except maximum zoom level. When enabling contour lines, it's cluttered and h", "context": "OSM contributor, alpine hiker", "use_case": "hiking maps", "switched_from": "", "story": "Organic Maps"}, {"id": 780839489, "item_id": 48802468, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48802468", "by": "ponkipo", "date": "2026-07-06", "stance": "compare", "quote": "Tried CoMaps, saw no reason to migrate to it at all", "excerpt": "As a active OSM contibutor with 7k+ changesets, Organic is my favorite map app I use for years traveling around the world, also donated to them. Only use GMaps for finding businesses. Tried CoMaps, saw no reason to migrate to it at all - why migrate to basically no-name app (in terms of popularity) which is developed by who knows who (not even a Maps Me or OM devs) if Organic is totally good, has updates, stable, wor", "context": "active OSM contributor with 7k+ changesets", "use_case": "offline maps", "switched_from": "", "story": "Organic Maps"}, {"id": 780824432, "item_id": 48801527, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48801527", "by": "h4kunamata", "date": "2026-07-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It is already implemented and it works like a charm.", "excerpt": "It is already implemented and it works like a charm. I have been using it to explore trails and 4WD tracks, just enabled it on the map at the top left corner. You will see Outdoors which enables the trails/4WD tracks, Contour Lines and Subway.", "context": "", "use_case": "trails and 4WD tracks", "switched_from": "", "story": "Organic Maps"}, {"id": 780824208, "item_id": 48801513, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48801513", "by": "h4kunamata", "date": "2026-07-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Yes, CoMaps has it and I used it this weekend.", "excerpt": "Yes, CoMaps has it and I used it this weekend. Trails and 4WD tracks have a distinctive colour semi-continue lines. I am using exactly that to discover new places and it has been awesome.", "context": "", "use_case": "discovering hiking trails", "switched_from": "", "story": "Organic Maps"}, {"id": 780804049, "item_id": 48800253, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48800253", "by": "epihelix", "date": "2026-07-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "CoMaps is a much simpler and faster interface, that I use for driving navigation.", "excerpt": "OsmAnd~ is great for hiking, when you need topographic contour info, 3D relief shading, etc. CoMaps is a much simpler and faster interface, that I use for driving navigation. (I use a 7 year old S10e, though, so it's possible that on a modern phone you'd not notice the difference?) YMMV, but they're both free, so it's easy to try and see for yourself :)", "context": "", "use_case": "driving navigation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Organic Maps"}, {"id": 780730992, "item_id": 48795687, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48795687", "by": "jraph", "date": "2026-07-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I strongly recommend you to seriously look into comaps or organic maps if you don't know them.", "excerpt": "> It's not fully private if it requires GPS connection though!! How so? GPS is like FM radio: you send nothing, you only receive. Apps like organic maps or comaps let you use the maps fully offline and you can compute itineraries without GPS when your need this (from point A to point B, with as many stops as you wish). I strongly recommend you to seriously look into comaps or organic maps if you don't know them. Now,", "context": "", "use_case": "offline maps and routing", "switched_from": "", "story": "Organic Maps"}, {"id": 780714592, "item_id": 48794662, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48794662", "by": "efrecon", "date": "2026-07-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I used comaps on a hike. It really is good at not draining your battery.", "excerpt": "I used comaps on a hike. It really is good at not draining your battery. I've wanted to run it on my wear OS watch, but while you can sideload the APK, wearOS does not have a file browser, so it's not possible to import a planned route or similar. Has anyone here any idea for how to solve this?", "context": "", "use_case": "hiking navigation", "switched_from": "", "story": "Organic Maps"}, {"id": 777133552, "item_id": 48570847, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48570847", "by": "NoGravitas", "date": "2026-06-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use CoMaps in the owner profile with Android Auto.", "excerpt": "I use CoMaps in the owner profile with Android Auto. Only caveat is that even with Android Auto developer mode enabled, I still had to install CoMaps from Play Store to get it to show up in Android Auto.", "context": "GrapheneOS user", "use_case": "navigation with Android Auto", "switched_from": "", "story": "GrapheneOS has been ported to Android 17 and official releases are coming soon"}, {"id": 772892720, "item_id": 48305795, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48305795", "by": "cocoto", "date": "2026-05-28", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It's simply miles ahead of Google Maps and Apple Maps for hike and biking.", "excerpt": "For hiking trails, I highly recommend https://www.comaps.app/. It's simply miles ahead of Google Maps and Apple Maps for hike and biking.", "context": "", "use_case": "hiking and biking maps", "switched_from": "", "story": "DuckDuckGo search saw 28% more visits after Google said people love AI mode"}, {"id": 754796624, "item_id": 47174789, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47174789", "by": "h4kunamata", "date": "2026-02-26", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "CoMaps is by far one of the best offline navigation map app available.", "excerpt": "CoMaps is by far one of the best offline navigation map app available. They forked from Organic Maps project which seems to have gone evil. CoMaps calculation is very fast, map update is constant, it is very lightweight, it has a very clean layout, usability is top tier. CoMaps can find places by the business name, there is still room for improvement but it works. I was using EarthMagic before that, it was the perfec", "context": "GrapheneOS user", "use_case": "offline navigation", "switched_from": "EarthMagic", "story": "OsmAnd's Faster Offline Navigation"}, {"id": 752638224, "item_id": 47039889, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47039889", "by": "celsoazevedo", "date": "2026-02-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For offline maps, I switched to CoMaps when they forked Organic Maps. Development seemed to be moving faster there.", "excerpt": "For offline maps, I switched to CoMaps when they forked Organic Maps. Development seemed to be moving faster there. I still have Google Maps and Here Maps installed, both with offline maps of the areas I'm usually at or to where I'm travelling. Too much redundancy perhaps, but no service/data source is good everywhere and I have a lot of free space on my phone, so it's not a problem for me. For communications, I've b", "context": "", "use_case": "offline maps", "switched_from": "Organic Maps", "story": "We Need Apocalypse-Proof Software"}]}