Navigation app in Cyprus: great Organic Maps / OpenStreetMap

https://www.reddit.com/r/cyprus/comments/1igms8m/navigation_app_in_cyprus_great_organic_maps/

created by Intelligent-Maybe-56 on 03/02/2025 at 11:14 UTC*

2 upvotes, 4 top-level comments (showing 4)

Maps in Cyprus are not as good as they are in other countries. In particular I am thinking about the maps for navigation apps, to get around the island.

I understand that Waze is currently the most common app for navigation. However, I would like to point out that Organic Maps (and other apps that use OpenStreetMap as reference, like OsmAnd) are becoming better and better.

In fact, I am writing this because last week I started to talk in the street with a food delivery cyclist that could not find a place. He was using Google Maps, and when I opened Organic Maps I was shocked by the huge difference. We could find the place thanks to a better display of the environment.

Let me highlight some advantages of Organic Maps (and OsmAnd) vs Waze (and Google Maps):

It works offline, it does not require internet connection. Good if you travel to Troodos or any other remote area.
No information is sent in the background, no battery drainage.
Good map definition for cars (turning lanes, speed limits, speed bumps, stop signs, etc.), at least in Nicosia.
Location of shops, information about touristic places (websites, opening hours, etc.).
Addresses and names of buildings.
In addition to car routes, routes for walking, hiking, and cycling.
Terrain elevation. This is specially useful when hiking and cycling.
It is easy to set a "do not cross the green line area" setting (at least in OsmAnd), if you cannot cross the line by car.
Multilingual support.
Height of buildings. The look and feel is really nice. See the screenshot.
It is Open Data (OpenStreetMap). It is easy to update. If something is missing, it can be added in a moment, from the app itself. This is great in case a food delivery cyclist has to repeat the same route to the same client or restaurant; once the client/restaurant is found once, it can be marked in OpenStreetMap for everybody.
It is free and Open Source software (at least Organic Maps). No tracking. No private information is sent to nobody-knows-who for nobody-knows-what.

I can only imagine a negative aspect: Organic Maps (and OsmAnd) has no real-time information about traffic. But this is not really a bug, but a characteristic. Because it aims at keep maximum privacy.

Some relevant links:

https://organicmaps.app/[1][2]
https://www.openstreetmap.org/[3][4]

https://preview.redd.it/p57a3xj4swge1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=16ddb2523bb969de54d1495ec251a66dbe97b546[5]

1: https://organicmaps.app/

2: https://organicmaps.app/

3: https://www.openstreetmap.org/

4: https://www.openstreetmap.org/

5: https://preview.redd.it/p57a3xj4swge1.png?width=1080&format=png&auto=webp&s=16ddb2523bb969de54d1495ec251a66dbe97b546

Comments

Comment by AutoModerator at 03/02/2025 at 11:14 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

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Comment by CupcakeMurder86 at 03/02/2025 at 13:09 UTC

5 upvotes, 0 direct replies

Waze is popular because of the police reports and the warnings for traffic light cameras.

Not to mention, that because of the live updates, it might divert your route in case of an accident or heavy traffic through the normal/more direct route. This is also the case in Google maps.

Comment by RunningPink at 03/02/2025 at 12:51 UTC

2 upvotes, 0 direct replies

I'm using Openstreetmap based maps always when going inland and especially to some villages or to hiking tours.

Google Maps is plainly wrong sometimes on small roads far from highway or cities in Cyprus. Roads missing. Road labelled wrong (dirt road vs normal road). Or roads in Google Maps which are not existing in real life. Also Border crossing to the North wrong in Google Maps in the past.

I can recommend OSMand and Magic Earth.

Comment by NaiveImprovement323 at 03/02/2025 at 19:45 UTC

1 upvotes, 0 direct replies

If you actually want "privacy" don't use a smartphone.