Hey, who wants to go to the #cinema in #Hanover? If you think that sounds like a good idea, don’t use a #map app that automatically scrapes #Wikipedia for locations to find one – unless you’re fine with watching a film on #AppleTV instead. Because where once was the historic cinema Palast Theater is now an #AppleStore. 
(The cinema shut down before #OpenStreetMap even existed, so don’t blame them!)
I ditched #MagicEarth (which appears to be also losing features with the paid app!) for #OsmAnd Plus Pro.
Earlier in the year I got a Google Play gift card for my birthday. I don't play mobile games so it seemed worth getting, especially as its currently the same price as the paid #TomTom app)
the app (which I'd used before for recording #GPX tracks of long drives on a separate device) has way more features *and* an active #FOSS community with repos, issue tracker etc.
Speed monitoring and warnings work on #AndroidAuto (with more configurable options). The main feature it lacks is live traffic, but not that big a loss as there's 0 way of avoiding jams at peak time in my region anyway due to limited routes in and out of it!
Interestingly #MagicEarth pushed an update a few days ago on #Android but still didn't ask for their 0,99€ (nor did they add or remove any features, and they don't even publish release notes).
Worryingly though on Reddit folk with new IOS app (subscription) are claiming speed warnings have disappeared which would be a big feature loss..
There's a hard limit to how much they can enshittify though as users would just go to TomTom (either the free Amigo app or the paid one which is about 14-19€ per year (I'd mistakenly thought it was per *month*) but even the paid app lacks features (blaming Android Auto rules which doesn't seem to be 100% true)
Hopefully the MagicEarth devs realise this, given their HQ is in NL I'd expect a fair few of them could be ex TomTom staff..
So, maps and navigation app Magic Earth bought Atari or what?!
Will I be able to play E.T. if I zoom in really reeeeaaaally close to that place in New Mexico?
It seems #MagicEarth are at least listening to the user community and holding off on the switch to a paid app for #Android until they can find some payment method that doesn't require Google service (I hope this doesn't mean that development stalls until they can get their revenue stream)
IMO if fhey are charging for it the app they should have a full website portal with payment facility *and* access to support with a ticketing system and facility to add crowdsourced map updates (rather than expecting endusers to work out which is #OSM and which is #Foursquare or other third parties), and not relying just on email or worse, Reddit) - basically all that #TomTom *used* to have not that long ago but abandoned...
So far #MagicEarth seems least worst of the #navi apps to work with #AndroidAuto - although devs appear very cagey about exactly which version(s) of #OpenStreetMap they are using, and where they are getting their shop / business data from which makes correcting it a bit harder - I've still not heard anything about the spelling mistake I reported (other than an auto acknowledgement) and as its closed source they only have email as a contact method.
It seems to be OSM based but with proprietary datasets tacked on and "crumbs from the table" of their commercial projects (providing navi solutions to transport networks in Germany)
Even so its a better app than many paid ones, especially after #TomTom has become increasingly enshittified, and #CoMaps still lacks features..
@kuketzblog
Da ich mittlerweile wieder sehr viel mit Fahrrad unterwegs bin, bin ich wieder zu #Osmand zurückgekehrt. Die Navigation mit #MagicEarth taugt wirklich nur für Straßenverkehr, abseits davon wird es im besten Fall chaotisch. Viele Wege, über die seit über Jahrzehnte offizielle Fahrradrouten gehen, fehlen halt.
Des Weiteren bleiben mir die Entwickler / Firma suspekt, mittlerweile ist die Webseite etwas informativer, aber nicht in den Belangen, dass ich mit denen eine Geschäftsbeziehung eingehen möchte.
Alas, #CoMaps fell at the first hurdle in my test of #Navi software - it doesn't show #speed limit nor #GNSS speed on the screen on #AndroidAuto - a big missing feature! #OrganicMaps (which it is forked from) doesn't have this either, there's an open issue for it but 0 reply / acknowledgement from the devs..
(Curiously the speeds are shown if you use the device standalone, and other Android Auto apps do have this display so its not a Google UI restriction..)
So I will stick to #MagicEarth for the moment..
@dirksche ich habe schon eine Antwort erhalten, habe ich ehrlich gesagt nicht so wirklich mit gerechnet, vor allem nicht innerhalb weniger Tage.
Auszug:
Wir möchten Ihnen versichern, dass unser Team aktiv an der Einführung von alternativen Zahlungsoptionen arbeitet, die es Ihnen ermöglichen, direkt zu abonnieren, ohne dass Sie sich
bei Google oder Apple anmelden müssen. Dies wird Nutzern mit angepassten ROMs oder de-gegoogelten Geräten ermöglichen,
weiterhin Magic Earth zu nutzen, ohne ihre Privatsphäre zu gefährden, nachdem sie einen Link zu einer APK-Datei erhalten haben.
Cool! Und danke #magicearth
@kuketzblog Antwort von #magicearth:
”Hello,
Thank you for reaching out and for sharing your concerns.
We completely understand your frustration regarding the current requirement to use a Google or Apple account for subscriptions. You're absolutely right, privacy is one of the core values Magic Earth stands for, and we truly appreciate users like you who are committed to maintaining control over your digital footprint.
We want to assure you that our team is actively working on introducing alternative payment options that will allow you to subscribe directly without needing to sign in with Google or Apple. This will enable users with custom ROMs or de-Googled devices to continue using Magic Earth without compromising their privacy, after receiving a link to an APK file....
Dear Magic Earth team,
I am a very happy user of your navigation software and fully support your decision to go for a paid only approach. In fact, I think the price is more than fair.
However, another aspect of the announced system will make it impossible to continue using it. And that is the requirement to pay using the Google Store.
Your product is one of those used by the rising population of de-googled Android users. In fact, I have not met anyone using it who is not using it to avoid Google.
Having to install Google Services on the phone is a price many of your customers, me included, won't be able or willing to pay.
Please introduce another payment option by credit card, so I can continue to use and recommend your product.
Thank you very much.
Best wishes,
....
@kuketzblog Hab soeben über das Kontaktformular auf https://www.magicearth.com/contact die Bitte um eine alternative Bezahlmöglichkeit für die bald anfallenden 99 cent für die Nutzung von #magicearth hinterlassen.
Je mehr schreiben umso eher kann was passieren.
Anmerkung: Favorisieren ist super. Teilen noch besser 
@kuketzblog
Ja, schade eigentlich - anscheinend scheint es ein größerer Aufwand zu sein, einen eigenen Webshop aufzusetzen und google ist halt einfach der bequemere Weg.
Und leider sind schon einige (gute) Karten- und Navigationsapps eingegangen. Weil viele bis nahezu alle google maps nutzen.
#magicearth #navigation
Magic Earth wird künftig kostenpflichtig – grundsätzlich nachvollziehbar. Problematisch wird’s allerdings für Nutzer ohne Google-Dienste: »You can manage or cancel your subscription through the App Store (iOS) or Google Play Store (Android) at any time.« Tja. 
https://www.magicearth.com/pricing
#gps #navigation #magicearth #android
/kuk
#MagicEarth devient payant. Je n’ai pas de souci à payer 1€ par an, mais je ne veux pas acheter via l’Apple Store (je ne l’ai jamais fait).
Je leur ai demandé si on pouvait procéder au paiement autrement, j’attends leur réponse.
Häää? #magicearth kostet jetzt jährlich 99 cent?
Gerade im #iode blog gelesen.
https://blog.iode.tech/de/iodeos-juli-vorschau-grosse-upgrades-fur-smart-cars-esims-und-app-kompatibilitat/
Also das mit den 99 cent steht eher hier: https://www.magicearth.com/pricing
Finde ich voll okay, was mich aber stört ist das ich das abo wohl über den #playstore abschließen muss und das ist doof.
Wenn das nicht anders geht muss ich wohl wechseln, wäre schade.
Anyone here know what arrangement the #MagicEarth devs have with #OpenStreetMap ? Been using app for a while and downloaded latest UK #map updates, but in spite of statements its an OSM basemap they do not reflect latest OSM for my area (an entire new housing estate is missing on MagicEarth but present on OSM).
Is there some kind of validation that occurs before the OSM maps appear? There is 0 info about how this process works on MagicEarths website, and as its closed source there is no public GitHub repo or issue tracker #navi #GIS
Viele Dienste wie Google Maps erfassen Bewegungsprofile und nutzen Standortdaten kommerziell. Es geht auch anders: Datenschutzfreundliche Alternativen bieten Navigation ohne Tracking – teils komplett offline, quelloffen und werbefrei. Eine Übersicht für Android & iOS (plus: BRouter für Planungsprofis) hier. 
